Ramar International Co., Ltd. (also goes by Rinco which is a shortened version of their name) was a publisher and manufacturer of Famicom/NES games and clone consoles, primarily focusing on distribution in Middle Eastern markets.
Overview[]
The Dragon was the first known original game release by Ramar and was the first known game made by a group of ex-Sachen developers. The Dragon is one of the few games to support both English and Arabic language options.
At least two Hummer Team games, Space Shuttle Exploration and Panda Adventure were first known to be released in 1996 on a Ramar multicart; later surfacing on 2000s multicarts by ABAB Soft and a handful of plug & plays by Trump Grand.
Their game division seems to have reappeared back in the late 90s/early 2000s at some point but their sole purpose was selling games and multicarts for mainland China only.[citation needed] However, there's no known information on these carts and since Ramar wasn't making enough profit, they decided to retire their game division once more.[citation needed] Afterwards, they started selling GPS and computers under the name Mountain Wise International Co., Ltd. and have no remaining recorded history.
Consoles[]
Ramar manufactured various Famiclones and Atari 2600 clones, mostly for the Middle Eastern market.[1] Some were released in other markets under other names such as Thompsonic.
Talkman[]
Ramar also released an enhanced Famiclone called the Talkman, using unique hardware to play digitized sounds higher quality than regular-Famicom DPCM samples, and marketed as "12-bit".[2]
Included with the console is a multicart titled the "Talking Three in One", although it's currently unclear if this was a separate cartridge or was built into the console. The multicart features two games talking advantage of the Talkman's unique hardware; a version of The Dragon featuring added voice samples and music, and an original fighting game by Hummer Team titled Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco or "Super Street Fighter II".
Game List[]
Released/confirmed Ramar games.[]
| Name | Released | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Dragon | 1995 | Developed by ex-Sachen developers. An enhanced version with extensive voice samples and sampled music, as well as a new opening credits roll, was released on the "Talking Three In One" multicart copyrighted 1996. [3] |
| Chu Da D | 1995 | Developed by ex-Sachen developers and released in Taiwan by Ramar. |
| Captain Bassam | Unknown | A hack of Captain Tsubasa Vol. II: Super Striker found on the "Talking Three In One" multicart however the game features no advanced sound effects, possibly meaning the game could've seen earlier release on a standalone cart. [4] |
| Panda Adventure | 1996 | Released on a Ramar multicart[2], later surfacing on 2000s multicarts by ABAB Soft and a handful of plug & plays by Trump Grand. |
| Space Shuttle Exploration | 1996 | Released on a Ramar multicart[2], later surfacing on 2000s multicarts by ABAB Soft and a handful of plug & plays by Trump Grand. |
| Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco | 1997(?) | Released on the "Talking Three In One" multicart with enhanced DPCM samples (for whatever reason being labelled "Super Street Fighter II" in the multicart menu and intro); it is an original fighting game developed by Hummer Team (quite possibly for Ramar specifically) copyrighted 1997 in the multicart. It is unknown if the game saw a standard release without enhanced DPCM samples. Despite the title being in Portuguese, the game is in Arabic. [5] |
| 12 In 1 | 1995 | A multicart clearly developed by ex-Sachen developers. Not much is known about the game itself aside from it including educational minigames. [6] |
Unconfirmed Games[]
- Al Basha's Adventures (an Arabic-themed Super Mario Bros. hack that possibly originates from a Rinco-developed Multicart(s))
Trivia[]
- Another company's name, Tony Tech, also appears on The Dragon's title screen. It's unknown if this is the true name for the EX-Sachen developers, a possible distributor for Ramar or another alias for them.
References[]
- ↑ https://uc.pory.app/gallery-org-basic/record/recixohJLgpiKvPcK?sId=5NJaIL6zOzhf
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://uc.pory.app/2343--talkman
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQrrT_Je5TM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1b0M-MEAZ0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRNRLVFbMxk
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nui_W55DSlw