Nice Code Software/8-bit plug & play console games (C-E)

This is a list of 8-bit (NES/Famicom and enhanced VT) games made, assumed to be made, or otherwise distributed by Nice Code Software, organized by original game name, from C-E.

Index • Intellivision & Atari ports • Nature Clan games • Casino and casual games • Olympic games • Disney's Math Quest with Aladdin level clones • 8-bit educational programs • VT32 educational programs • NES/Famicom hacks • Famicom cartridge games
Plug and play console games: 0-A • B • C-E • F • G-L • M-O • P • Q-S • T-Z

Candy Workshop

Title screen.

Originally produced for Power Joy Ltd (though the title screen features no direct credit). A clone of Activision's Pressure Cooker for Atari 2600. The player controls a bear, and must collect and box up the specified candies on the conveyor belt. Candies and box tops are launched from tunnels on the righthand side of the screen; incorrect candies can be thrown back at the tunnels by holding down the A button. The game only features the assembly room portion from the original Pressure Cooker game, not featuring the wrapping room.

This game is one of several Nice Code titles that is derived from an Activision/Imagic Atari 2600 game; the others including Aim Cruise, Ice Ocean, Little-Witch, and possibly Sky Dreamer. This may suggest that Nice Code originally developed these games as licensed ports for a seemingly-unreleased Activision/Imagic plug & play, likely for Techno Source (who did release an Activision plug & play in 2005, albeit on non-NES-based hardware).

Hamburger (VT03)

Title screen.

A VT03 conversion; the graphics are completely redrawn in comparison. The player is changed to a waitress that assembles burgers; the music is changed to a slowed-down rendition of "Skip to My Lou".

Circle Racing

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd. A car racing game at a top-down angle, similar to Super Sprint (though it does not appear to be modified from Nice Code's Sprintmaster port.

Fuel

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd. Changes the racers to be motorcyclists in space.

Champion Boat (VT03)

A VT03 conversion; the graphics are completely redrawn in comparison, with the players changed to boats.

Track Racing (VT03)

A VT03 conversion; uses similar theming to the original Circle Racing, but the graphics are fully redrawn in comparison.

Climbing

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd. Climb to the top of the tower while avoiding obstacles. The player can switch between climbing the left and right sides of the tower, which is required to get past broken areas. As the player progresses, flames light up in the tower windows.

Tower (VT03)

A VT03 conversion; the graphics are completely redrawn in comparison. The player is changed to an angel that climbs up the tower via ladders; the tower is also drawn to be much larger (though this doesn't affect gameplay). The flames are changed to a princess waving a flag.

High Tower (Qi Sheng Long)

Basic title screen variant of Climbing; the originally-animated title screen is replaced with a static one.

Colliding

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd. The player controls a tiny car in a top-down city, and must run into other cars. This leads to a battle segment where the player must bump into the car (with mechanics similar to Nice Code's PongPong) until it catches on fire and disintegrates.

Commando (VT03)

Title screen.

A Contra-style game. The player controls a man armed with a gun, and must shoot oncoming enemies. It is VT03-exclusive.

Cookies Labyrinth

The player guides a mouse through a maze, and must collect all cookies before the timer runs out. The game features no music and limited sound effects.

This game, alongside Happy Match, shares a close resemblance to the four "Elmo's World"-based Nice Code games (River Jump, Aquarium, Goal Keeper, and Meccano). In particular, all of the games use similar fonts (often in rainbow coloring) that are not widely used in other Nice Code titles. However, Cookies Labyrinth does not have an equivalent game on the Elmo's World plug & play; suggesting it may have been a scrapped concept for the console.

Cookies Labyrinth (alternate revision)

An uncommon variant that replaces the mouse with a character resembling Nature Clan with long hair. This variant is only known to appear on the Lexibook "JL1895" 150-in-1 handheld.

Mike Pig (VT03)

A VT03 conversion; changes the player to a pig that collects cheese. Also adds a music track to the game.

Crash Bandicoot

Title screen.

An unauthorized adaption of one of the Crash Bandicoot games (likely a Game Boy Advance one) that was originally commissioned exclusively for the Family Karaoto system. The game is a side-scrolling platformer where the player controls Crash Bandicoot, who jumps with the A button, spins with the B button, and ducks with the down button on the D-pad, which throughout the entire game is not required to progress. Like in official Crash Bandicoot games, crates appear throughout levels. The only crates in the entire game are regular crates, "?" crates, metal crates, and wooden bouncy crates. The regular and "?" crates give Crash one Wumpa Fruit, although the game does not have a Wumpa Fruit counter and collecting any amount of them in this game does not do anything of note.

There are 4 levels in the entire game. The first level takes place in a village, the second level takes place in a jungle, and the last 2 levels take place in ancient ruins. After finishing the fourth level, the game abruptly ends with an image of Crash giving a thumbs up with the words "END" on screen. The game has no bosses, and there are only two enemies: a lizard and a man-eating plant.

Trivia

• The art of Crash on the title screen is taken from the cover of Crash of the Titans, dating the production of this game somewhere as early as the late 2000s.
• There are unused sprites for other crates such as the TNT crate and the extra life crate.
• The game shares its CHR data with Mario Kart, likely so both games' graphics could be read off of one file.

Crystal Blast

The player controls a plane that must destroy all of the red spheres and crystals from above. The plane increasingly flies closer to the bottom of the screen; the player will get a game over if the plane crashes into any objects.

A version of this game would later be developed for 16-bit handhelds that uses the same name, which is presumed to have been developed by Nice Code.

Gem Game (Qi Sheng Long)

Basic title screen variant of Crystal Blast.

Cub Adventure

The player (somewhat contrary to the title) controls a snowman with a ponytail, who has to collect all of the hearts in the level while avoiding seals and polar bear cubs. The seals only move in straight lines, while the polar cubs solely move in square rotations, clockwise or counter-clockwise. When all hearts are collected, a propeller appears on the screen, which flies the player to the next level when collected. The game only features three levels before presenting an "END" screen. Credited to Power Joy Ltd. This game appears to run on the same engine as Jungly Guy.

Grot Kid

Changes the player to a boy in a pink hat, who collects objects such as popsicles and candies; seals and polar cubs are changed to fire creatures and bats, respectively. The propeller is changed to a balloon; the flying animation is altered so that it plays where the balloon is collected (whereas Cub Adventure abruptly cuts to the player flying in the center of the screen). This version features six levels instead of three; the added stages use the same maze layouts, but with additional enemies. Features a "Copyright 2004" legal notice.

Devil Palace (VT03)

A VT03 conversion; the graphics are completely redrawn in comparison to other versions. The player is changed to an angel, who avoids ghosts and devils while collecting treasure chests.

Polar Cub

Basic title screen and slight color variant of Cub Adventure.

Curly Monkey (VT03)

A side-scrolling platformer featuring a monkey as a playable character, who has to jump from platform to platform while simultaneously collecting items and shooting at enemies with a boomerang. It is VT03-exclusive.

Curly Monkey 2 (VT03)

Sequel to the original Curly Monkey. Uses similar mechanics to the first game, but has larger and more vibrant graphics. Each level features circular portals that take the player to another area; for instance, the first level takes place above a waterfall, with the portal areas taking place underwater. The game only features two levels and no ending sequence (though the levels themselves are rather long). One of the enemies is a modified sprite of Hot Head from Kirby's Adventure. This game is VT03-exclusive.

Danger Bridge

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd. An Amidakuji-like game where the player must guide mushrooms across the broken bridge; this is done by switching between two sets of platforms for the mushrooms to cross. Uses a rendition of the title screen theme to Amagon.

Tadpole (Qi Sheng Long)

Changes the mushrooms to tadpoles swimming down a river; rather than switching between platforms, the player must move boulders out of the way to prevent the tadpoles from crashing into them. The game adds a decorative frog that hops around. The originally-animated title screen is replaced with a static one; the game is also an NROM/"mapper 0" conversion (whereas Danger Bridge is MMC3-based).

Homing Chicken (VT03)

A VT03 conversion of Danger Bridge; the graphics are completely redrawn in comparison. Contrary to the title, the mushrooms are changed to penguins.

Deerstalking

A first-person shooter where the player hunts for deer. Some versions use lightguns, while others feature a joystick-operated crosshair. The game appears to have originally used CHR-RAM for graphics (as remnants of graphic tiles can be seen in its PRG).

Defier (VT03)

Title screen.

The player must carry sticks of dynamite up a series of ropes to explode three bases at the top of the screen. While climbing up the screen, the player must avoid moving, spiked obstacles on top of the ropes, in a similar manner to Frogger. After exploding a base, the player must climb back down to retrieve another stick of dynamite; when all bases are destroyed, an exit opens to the next level. The player character heavily resembles Terry Bogard from The King of Fighters/Fatal Fury; the game also uses the Bubble Bobble Part 2 font. It is VT03-exclusive.

Depth Bomb

A Battleship clone. Only features a single-player mode played against a CPU opponent. Three revisions of this game are known to exist with alternate graphics; what appears to be the original version features a large, detailed submarine on the title screen. Features a "Copyright 2004" legal notice.

Depth Bomb ("Submarine" title)

Uses different graphics compared to other versions. This variant's title screen changes the submarine graphic to a solid-colored shadow. Features a "Copyright 2004" legal notice.

Depth Bomb ("Crosshair" title)

Uses different graphics compared to other versions. This variant's title screen shows a crosshair pointing over a submarine on the ocean. Features a "Copyright 2004" legal notice.

Bomb King

Variant that has the player bombing buildings instead of ships. Features a "Copyright 2004" legal notice.

Ghost Ship (Waixing)

Features different graphics compared to other variants.

Ghost Ship (Waixing, VT03)

VT03-enhanced version of the 8-bit Ghost Ship; graphics are given added colors/shading.

Submarine Bomb

Title screen variant of original version of Depth Bomb. The title screen features no music and has a fade-in effect.

Sub Attack

Basic title screen variant of the original version of Depth Bomb. Created as part of a bulk-retitling of games featuring "violent" (or otherwise less child-friendly) words, likely developed for the European market.

Diamond

An Arkanoid clone coded from scratch. The goal is now to hit the diamond at the top instead of destroying all of the bricks. For unknown reasons, the player begins with 15 lives. At least three versions of this game under the Diamond name are known to exist, all of which have different graphics from each other. What is believed to be the original version uses graphics that closely mimic the actual Famicom/NES version of Arkanoid. All known versions feature no copyright notation.

On a related note, despite Waixing producing the uncommon VT03 variant of this game, they would also distribute a separately-coded Arkanoid clone on numerous types of multi-game systems titled Diamond, originally developed for Famicom/NES hardware by the unknown JungleTac affiliate. This game is more common on systems carrying Waixing's plug and play games. A similar practice occurred with Nice Code's Mad Xmas.

Diamond ("Candy" revision)

Complete graphical overhaul of the original version. The bricks are changed to pieces of candy, and the large diamond in each level is replaced with an exit door. The background patterns are changed to solid black.

Diamond ("Flower" revision)

Complete graphical overhaul of the original version. The large diamond in each level is replaced with a flower; the background patterns are changed to solid black. Believed to have been produced by Inventor, although this has not been confirmed.

Blocks Array (Qi Sheng Long)

Basic title variant of the original version of Diamond.

Dungeon Escape

Uses the same paddle and brick sprites as the original game, but changes the diamond to a key. Uses solid gray backgrounds and has a large torch on the scoreboard. The player's only has 6 lives in this variant.

Dice Legend

A game where the player has to maneuver their die to match face-up with the die in the middle of the playfield; the player's die can be rotated in any direction. Later stages have bombs on some tiles that destroy the player's die upon contact. What appears to be the original release features no music, and possibly no copyright notice; a later variant (possibly tied to the "Advanced" Inventor hack set) adds a music track that plays throughout the entire game.

Dice Legend appears to be tied to a "set" of puzzle-based games, which also includes Dringle, Hurry Burry, and Strong Pill. The games share a similar engine, and their origin is unclear; despite having Nice Code/Power Joy variants, they are uncommon in their respective game sets. Some versions appear to be connected to Inventor.

The game's music (from the later variant) would be reused on several plug & play consoles' title screens (e.g. the "Game Prince RS-1" series).

Dice

Features a new title screen and different background graphics, including giving the dice tops a star instead of a circle. The stage select indicator is blanked out (as well as the "1" in the game's font), but can still be accessed by pressing left/right. Features a "Copyright 2004" legal notice. The original release features no music; a later variant adds a music track (which is different from Dice Legend).

Snaffle (BBG)

Features a new title screen and different background graphics. Features no music. Credited to BBG (an alias of Inventor); appears to have tiles for a Power Joy Ltd. copyright notice, though it is unconfirmed if a Power Joy variant exists.

Play Dice (Waixing)

Published in Waixing's game set; virtually identical to Snaffle version visually, save for a new title screen and a modified font. Adds a music track that is taken from the second level of Magic Jewelry, modified to be played in a different key.

Play Dice (Waixing, VT03)

VT03 conversion of the 8-bit version. The originally-animated title screen is replaced with a static one; features different background graphics and music. This is one of few Waixing Nice Code releases that appears to be fully customized; as most others are simple color/shading hacks, and/or are modified from other companies' preexisting variants.

Difference

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd. A spot-the-difference game where the player is shown two pictures side by side and has to spot the differences in both of them. The player has a limited amount of "hints" that will automatically show where a difference is. The images are presented in a random order. One image uses the frogs from Amusement Park: Jumping Kid.

Difference Picture (Qi Sheng Long)

Changes some (though not all) of the pictures compared to the original version; this variant also has different music. Some graphics appear corrupted due to poor hacking; with the player sometimes having to spot differences between the glitched tiles.

Distinction (VT03)

A VT03 conversion; appears to use the same pictures as the original, but with added colors/shading. Also features different music.

Dolphin

The player controls a pink dolphin, and seemingly has to catch eggs laid by a turtle; when an egg is caught, an empty black square appears. Appears to feature an "Exit" screen that merely softlocks the game. This game is only known to appear on the ColaCao mini arcade.

This game may be a carry-over from an "educational computer" Famiclone. It is possible that it is a poor conversion of a CHR-RAM game that did not properly convert its graphics; thus the empty black squares with no logical context. The game's scarcity on plug & plays may also suggest this.

Dringle

Clone of Shikinjoh for Sega Genesis; the graphics are closely modeled after the original. The player must push through mahjong pieces to reach the exit goal; matching tiles disappear when connected. What appears to be the original release features no music, and possibly no copyright notice; a later variant (possibly tied to the "Advanced" Inventor hack set) adds a music track that plays throughout the entire game. The version with added music often freezes and/or resets at random intervals from level 2 onward. to Several different program revisions are known to exist, though the exact differences between them are unclear.

Dringle appears to be tied to a "set" of puzzle-based games, which also includes Dice Legend, Hurry Burry, and Strong Pill. The games share a similar engine, and their origin is unclear; despite having Nice Code/Power Joy variants, they are uncommon in their respective game sets. Some versions appear to be connected to Inventor.

Dringle (Nature Color)

Features a Nature Color copyright notice; adds a custom music track. This version often freezes and/or resets at random intervals from level 2 onward. Despite crediting Nature Color directly, this is likely not the original version of the game; as the code used to load the company logo is suspect, and is not present in other revisions. The graphics are unaltered compared to other versions.

Dringle (Waixing)

Published in Waixing's game set; adds a custom music track. The music in this variant is a rendition of the title screen music from the unlicensed Sega Mega Drive game Ghost Hunter (抓鬼大師) by Jumbo Team. The graphics are unaltered compared to other versions. This version does not appear to suffer from any glitches or crashes.

Carrier (Waixing, VT03)

A VT03 conversion with completely different graphics; adds a custom music track. The originally-animated title screen is replaced with a static one; the player is changed to a pink creature pushing fruits. The walls are changed to a modified sprite of Lakitu's cloud from Super Mario Bros. This is one of few Waixing Nice Code releases that appears to be fully customized; as most others are simple color/shading hacks, and/or are modified from other companies' preexisting variants.

Egg Contest

A chicken is laying eggs onto a conveyor belt; the majority of eggs are white, while a handful are golden. The player controls a rat, who must catch a set amount of the golden eggs without letting them hatch or go off the ends of the conveyor belt. If a golden egg hatches, a chicken will pop out and attack the player. White eggs can be collected for bonus points. The direction the conveyor belt goes can be changed via a switch on the lefthand side of the screen. The hatched chicken graphic is taken from Alfred Chicken; the number font is lifted from Bubble Bobble Part 2. The game's music is a rendition of the opening theme to Crystalis ("The End Day").

Judging from the CHR data, three versions with different copyright notices were produced concurrently: reading "Power Joy Ltd", "Copyright 2004", and "Nature Color Game". However, not a single one of these variants has surfaced, with all known versions featuring no copyright notation.

Bear vs Thief (Qi Sheng Long)

Changes the chicken to a burglar with a broken sack dropping presents; white and golden eggs are blue and red presents, respectively. The player is changed to a bear with green eyes. The bear artwork on the title screen appears to be a storybook illustration of Winnie the Pooh.

Bear vs Thief originally featured a two-player mode, but it is zeroed out on some one-player only plug & plays. While this is common for Nice Code titles in general, it is one of only eight Qi Sheng Long VT02 variants to have this distinction.

Eggs

Gameplay.

Nice Code's most infamous title. A robot collects eggs laid by a bird, and each time an egg is caught, a picture of what was inside the egg is shown. The majority of these pictures make no logical sense by either not coming from eggs (e.g. House and Camera), having a nonsensical name (e.g. a bubble labeled as "Bleb"), or both (e.g. Saturn being referred to as "Earth"). The game's music is a rendition of the first level theme from Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers for the NES/Famicom.

This game may be a carry-over from an "educational computer" Famiclone, and appears to have possibly used CHR-RAM for graphics originally (as a large section of blank areas can be seen in its PRG). Its gameplay is similar to a (non-Nice Code-developed) "Word Game" featuring an elephant, which is common on "educational computer" systems.

Eggs ("Pikachu" variant)

An alternate revision of Eggs (possibly the original?) where the robot is replaced with Pikachu wearing a Santa outfit; the bird is also redrawn. This variant is only known to appear on the DreamGEAR Wireless Video Game Station (200-in-1), a VT368-based console (though the game itself is 8-bit).

Eggs ("Firecore" affiliate)

Likely originates from the unknown Firecore-affiliated game set. Appears to be based on the Pikachu version, using the same bird and color values, though Pikachu is replaced with a differently-drawn robot.

Extreme Rally

Originally produced for Power Joy Ltd (though the title screen features no direct credit). A racing game at a side angle; the player races against an opponent on the same track, and must reach the finish line while avoiding obstacles. The game features a split-screen view for both racers; the cars can bump into each other if they make contact. The original version of the game uses an odd control scheme; pressing the left and right buttons moves the car up and down at a very fast pace. The poor controls can result in the car losing momentum and slowing down. Also features a two-player simultaneous mode. There is an alternate revision that features no music, and blanks out the "k" in the "km/h" meter (presumably to show the meter counted in miles).

Extreme Rally (alternate revision)

An alternate version of Extreme Rally that uses a more traditional control scheme, similar to the one used in Highway Rider (see below). This variant disables the two player mode; if the mode is enabled, it can be seen that the second player controls were left unhacked from the original.

Highway Rider (Power Joy)

Originally produced for (and credited to) Power Joy Ltd; the cars are replaced with motorcycles. Rather than both racers sharing the same track, each player is designated to a separate track, with differing obstacles between them. The controls are hacked to a more traditional format; in which up and down are pressed to move, with more consistent momentum.

Racing Rivalry (VT03)

A VT03 conversion of Extreme Rally; the graphics are completely redrawn in comparison.