Sachen

Sachen聖謙企業股份有限公司
Logo.
Origin	New Taipei City, Taiwan
Years	1988-early 2007
Consoles	Unlicensed: Famicom/NES, Sega Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Boy Color Licensed: Mega Duck, Supervision
First game	Jovial Race
Last game	Developed: 2002 Gedou Zhanlue Published: Huge Insect, or 2002 Gedou Zhanlue
Aliases	Thin Chen Enterprise, Commin
Published games by	Joy Van (pre-merger)
Games published by	HES Interactive, SPICA (Australia), Color Dreams (United States), Milmar (Brazil)
Related companies	Joy Van, Ex-Sachen developers, Makon Soft(?)

Sachen (Chinese: 聖謙企業股份有限公司), also known as Thin Chen Enterprise and Commin (the latter is on handheld games only) was a Taiwanese developer and publisher of unlicensed games for the Famicom, NES, Game Boy and Mega Drive/Genesis, and licensed games for the Mega Duck and Supervision handhelds.

Sachen started activities in late 1988. In 1989 they released their first game, Jovial Race, which was developed by a branch named Joy Van. At the end of 1989, Sachen and Joy Van merged and all subsequent games were credited to Thin Chen Enterprises or Sachen. Around 1992-3, the company started to focus on other consoles than the Famicom such as the Mega Duck and the Game Boy. Sachen stopped actively developing games around 1995-6, but a group of ex-Sachen staff continued to develop games for other publishers after this point. From 1999-2002, Sachen released four new Game Boy Color games, which would be their final new releases. Three of these games were ports of their previous Famicom/NES games.

Around 2001, a few NES collectors started to mail order most of Sachen catalog through their website, including Huge Insect which was advertised in printed leaflets included in some releases. While Sachen initially rejected these orders claiming the game had not been released. As numerous people buying in bulk kept requesting that title, they did eventually manufacture both NES and Famicom versions around 2002. Sachen wouldn't go completely defunct until around 2007.

While most of Sachen's early games were original, albeit sometimes derivative, some of their later releases were unauthorized ports (such as Super Pang I & II, Gaiapolis, and Mei Shao Nu Meng Gong Chang) or used assets of existing games (Samurai Spirits, Mahjong Academy, and Rocman X).

Games

Sachen NES/FC games

NES/Famicom

TC-Numbered Games

• TC-001 Jovial Race (Rally-X clone unrelated to BB Car)
• TC-002 Hidden Chinese Chess (a Banqi/Dark Chess game)
• TC-003 Sidewinder
• TC-004 Little Red Hood
• TC-005 Silent Assault, aka Raid (Contra derivative released in the US by Color Dreams, Brazil by Milmar, and Australia by Home Entertainment Suppliers.)
• TC-006 Twin Eagle (released in the US as Double Strike: Aerial Attack Force by American Video Entertainment)
• TC-007 Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu (a platformer released in the U.S. by Color Dreams and Brazil by Milmar.)
• TC-008 Metal Fighter, aka Joyvan Kid (released in the US by Color Dreams, Australia by Home Entertainment Suppliers(though only on the Funblaster Pak multi) and in Japan by Kinema Music)
• TC-009 Galactic Crusader, aka Incantation or Papillon Gals (released in the US by Color Dreams; the Papillon Gals, sometimes misspelled as Padillon Gais, release adds nudity and was released in Japan by Kinema Music and Asia by Sachen themselves.)
• TC-010 Mahjong Trap (last game released under the "Joy Van" name; contains nudity. An alternate version released in Japan by Hacker International as Shisen Mahjong: Seifuku Hen features a different title and nude images.)
• TC-011 Challenge of the Dragon, aka Chinese Kungfu (少林武者, similar to Double Dragon and unrelated to the Color Dreams game of the same name; credits show the Joy Van logo indicating that this was started before the Joy Van/Sachen merge. Chinese Kungfu version features a basic jump move instead of a jump kick.)
• TC-012 The World of Card Games, aka Poker I (4-in-1: Omnibus Hearts, Fan Tan, Chinese Rummy, The Clock)
• TC-013 Poker II (4-in-1: Max 2 (Big 2), Ghost Buster (possibly Sets), 99, Change Around (Hearts))
• TC-014 Strategist
• TC-015 Olympic I.Q.
• TC-016 Happy Pairs (Mahjong solitaire)
• TC-017 Auto-Upturn (puzzle game, contains nudity in later levels)
• TC-018 Magic Cube (Columns-like puzzle game)
• TC-019 Chinese Checkers
• TC-020 Poker III (5-in-1: King of Casino, King Poker, Poker, Blackjack, The 13 Cards)
• TC-021 Super Pang (port of the arcade Pang)
• TC-022 Super Pang II (port of the arcade Super Pang)
• TC-023 Popo Team (Gameplay based off the old computer game Oil's Well.)
• TC-024 Rockball (gameplay is strikingly similar to the TurboGrafx-16 game Chew Man Fu)
• TC-025 Silver Eagle
• TC-026 Q-Boy (platformer; a prototype screenshot in the back of certain Sachen game manuals shows the game being named Puff Kid at one point and containing an "Options" menu)
• TC-027 Street Heroes, aka Samurai Spirits (one of only four Famicom/NES fighting games to use voice samples, the others being Street Fighter IV,Fighting Hero III, and Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco)
• TC-028 Jurassic Boy (Sonic clone. The NES version's manual mentions abilities from the original Sonic games that this game lacks, such as rolling along the ground and spin dash, and the game itself contains numerous unused sprites, suggesting these features were planned. Says Jurassic Boy 2 on title screen.)
• TC-029 Gaiapolis (Unauthorized port of the 1993 arcade game)
• TC-030 Rocman X, aka. Thunder Blaster Man
• TC-031 (No officially assigned game)
• TC-032 Zhong Guo Da Heng, aka. Millionaire II and Chuugoku Taitei (Virtual board game)

SA-Numbered Games

Most of these games were programmed by Li-Cheang Tchacvosky.

• SA-001 Taiwan 16 Mahjong
• SA-002 The Penguin and Seal (Released in Australia by Home Entertainment Suppliers as Arctic Adventure. The early Famicom version, Dong Dong Nao 1, features a much simpler music track than the better-known NES versions, sounding much like the audio from Taiwan 16 Mahjong. The more common version got a Famicom release afterwards.)
• SA-003 Middle School English (AKA Dong Dong Nao 2)
• SA-004 Lucky 777
• SA-005 Colorful Dragon (maze game; released in the US by Color Dreams as Tagin' Dragon)
• SA-006 Honey Peach (strip rock-paper-scissors game)
• SA-007 Bingo 75 (slot-machine simulator with nudity)
• SA-008 The Mahjong World (Released in Japan as Mahjong Summit Kabukicho Hen by Hacker.)
• SA-009 Pyramid (puzzle game; released in the US by AVE and in Japan by Hacker International with added nudity. The Hacker version was also released by Sachen in Taiwan. It was later renamed as Mr. Stone for their Sachen Superpack series in 1999.)
• SA-010 Pyramid II
• SA-011 Pipe V (released in Australia by HES as Pipemania)
• SA-012 Millionaire (a basic Monopoly clone)
• SA-013 Dancing Blocks
• SA-014 Magical Mathematics, aka Magic Mathematic
• SA-015 Chess Academy (Plays like a five-tile Mahjong game using Chinese Chess pieces. The Cart has a Dip-Switch which switches the copyright to Sachen & Hacker International.)
• SA-016 Hell Fighter
• SA-017 Locksmith (a mix of action and puzzle)
• SA-018 Poker Mahjong (Mahjong game using playing cards instead of Mahjong tiles.)
• SA-019 The Great Wall
• SA-020 Tasac (a basic vertical space shooter)
• SA-021 Final Combat (Battle City clone with an adjustable turret)
• SA-022 Huge Insect (Galaxian-inspired game with a wildlife theme, said to be produced in 1993 but released in 2002 as their final NES game)
• SA-023 Cosmocop (2 in 1: Cosmocop and Cyber Monster; cartridge says "Light Gun Game", red-grey label)
• SA-024 Tough Cop (2-in-1: Tough Cop and Super Tough Cop; cartridge says "Light Gun Game", green label)
• SA-025 Taiwan Mahjong II, aka Bonus Tiles Mahjong
• SA-026 Mahjong Academy, aka Mahjong School (uses the name and title screen of the arcade game Mahjong Gakuen by Capcom {under the pseudonym "Yuga"}, but nothing else is taken from that game)
• SA-027 Mahjong Companion, aka Mahjong Partner (also released by Hacker, which has an extra mode)

Sachen's logo, as frequently seen in their Famicom games.

Other Games

• Mei Shao Nu Meng Gong Chang（美少女梦工厂, literally "Pretty Young Lady Dream-making Factory"） (Chinese-language port of Princess Maker)

Multicart-only Games

These games were only officially released on Sachen's Super Cartridges.

• Cai Di Lei - Ru Men Pian (踩地雷 (入門篇), an unlicensed Minesweeper clone with 3 difficulty modes)
• Cai Di Lei - Bian Ji Pian (踩地雷 (編輯篇), Minesweeper again, but with the difficulty modes swapped out for the option to choose a board size and number of mines)
• Cai Di Lei - Dui Zhan Pian (踩地雷 (對戰篇), A 2-player VS. version of Minesweeper, with a fixed board size and number of mines)
• Worm Visitor (port of the Mega Duck version)
• Frog Adventure (Variant of Worm Visitor)
• Magical Tower (port of the Mega Duck version)

Multicarts (The Super Cartridge series)

• Super Cartridge Version 1: 4-in-1 (Bingo 75, Lucky 777, Honey Peach, Chess Academy)
• Super Cartridge Version 2: 10-in-1 (Hidden Chinese Chess, Omnibus Hearts, Fan Tan, Chinese Rummy, Max 2, Ghost Buster, 99, Change Around, Fortune Telling (Chinese), Fortune Telling (English); all games appear on The World of Card Games or Poker II except both versions of Fortune Telling, which are unique to this cart)
• Super Cartridge Version 3: 8-in-1 (Jovial Race, Little Red Hood, Twin Eagle, Silent Assault, Super Pang, Mine Sweeper, Mine Sweeper II, Mine Sweeper III; the three versions of Mine Sweeper were only released on this cartridge)
• Super Cartridge Version 4: 6-in-1 (Master Chu, Metal Fighter, Galactic Crusader, Auto-Upturn, Magic Cube, Super Pang II)
• Super Cartridge Version 5: 7-in-1 (Penguin and Seal, Middle School English, Pyramid, Magical Mathematics, Strategist {which itself contains Poker Racing and The Battle of Poker}, Olympic I.Q., Chinese Checkers)
• Super Cartridge Version 6: 6-in-1 (Colorful Dragon, Pyramid II, Pipe V, Millionaire, Dancing Blocks, Locksmith)
• Super Cartridge Version 7: 4-in-1 (Sidewinder, Happy Pairs, Tasac, Silver Eagle)
• Super Cartridge Version 8: 4-in-1 (Final Combat, Worm Visitor, Frog Adventure, Magical Tower; all except Final Combat are exclusive to this cartridge)
• Super Cartridge Version 9: 3-in-1 (Challenge of the Dragon, Rockball, Popo Team)

Unreleased

• Bridge [橋牌 - Bridge Game] (going by its Chinese name it was probably gonna be an adaption of Contract Bridge. Had been numbered TC-024 and SA-015 before being cancelled)
• Twin Ball (aka Bio Bola I. It's numbered TC-026 on certain Sachen flyers and is listed as part of their Intellectual Series.)
• 西遊記 [Journey to the West] (listed in the back of Hidden Chinese Chess' Chinese manual with Little Red Hood and Silent Assault; Sachen never ended up releasing a game based on the novel. Given the order they're listed it could've been the original TC-003 game.)

Old Numbering/Titles

On the back of many Sachen carts are a list of other games the company has made, which constantly got updated over time. Some of these labels feature totally different serial numbers, game titles, and even unreleased games. These are some of the noteworthy changes:

• TC-012: Poker/Poker I (What World of Card Game is sometimes called on some of Sachen's back labels.)
• TC-014: Poker Mahjong (Numbering ended up assigned to Strategist)
• TC-016: 水管六代 [Water Pipe Sixth Generation] (Pipe V is listed in its correct spot on the same label as this was found on. Could've been another Pipemania-esque game that got cancelled. Numbering ended up assigned to Happy Pairs.)
• TC-015: 奧林匹克IQ/IQ? (Different Chinese names for Olympic I.Q.)
• TC-024 & SA-015: Bridge (Serial numbering got filled in by Rockball and Chess Academy.)
• TC-025: Puff Kid (Working title for Q-Boy. Numbering ended up assigned to Silver Eagle.)
  • Also TC-025: 雷霆旋風 [Thunderbolt Whirlwind] (Likely Rocman X, as the back box of a Famicom release of Street Heroes calls it "雷霆旋風兒" or "Thunderbolt Whirlwind Kid".)
• TC-026: Twin Ball (Unreleased puzzle game; numbering ended up assigned to Q-Boy.)
• SA-001: 16张麻雀 [16-Tile Mahjong] (Working name for Taiwan 16 Mahjong.)
• SA-006: Bingo 75 (Numbering ended up switched with Honey Peach.)
• SA-008: Taiwan Mahjong 2 (Game was pushed back to SA-025; numbering ended up assigned to The Mahjong World)
• SA-007: Honey Peach (Numbering switched with Bingo 75.)
• SA-013: 宮子 [Palace Kid(?)] (Unknown; Dancing Block ended up using the serial numbering.)
• SA-014: 國中數學 [State Mathematics] (Likely a working title for Magic Mathematics.)
• SA-020: Bonus Tiles Mahjong [台湾花牌麻將 - Taiwan Flower Card Mahjong] (Numbering ended up assigned to Tasac.)

Game Boy/Game Boy Color

Single carts

Most of Sachen's Game Boy single cartridges are Game Boy Color games, almost all of them being ports of their Famicom/NES games except 2002格鬥戰略/2002 Gedou Zhanlue. The only mono games currently known to be produced by Sachen are ports of games that were originally released for the Mega Duck in 1993. More single cart Game Boy games from Sachen may exist but remain undocumented as of writing.

• 1B-001 Beast Fighter - Mono game. The title screen now has an updated 2000 copyright.
• 1B-002 Street Rider (Mi Hun Che)
• 1B-002 Jurassic Boy 2
• 1B-003 Thunder Blast Man (AKA Rocman X) - Likely developed by Makon Soft?
• 1B-004 Street Hero
• 1B-005 2002 Gedou Zhanlue (2002格鬥戰略, 2002 Fighter Strategy) - A strategy game based on The King of Fighters.
• B-007 Magical Tower - Mono game, direct port of the Mega Duck version.
• B-008 A-Force

Multicarts

These cartridges mostly contain titles initially developed for the Mega Duck. Cartridges 7 to 9 have a share of Game Boy exclusives titles.

• 4B-001 4-in-1 Version 1
  Street Rider, Vex Block, Trap & Turn, Duck Adventures.
• 4B-002 4-in-1 Version 2
  Virus Attack, Electron World, Dice, Trouble Zone.
• 4B-003 4-in-1 Version 3
  Taiwan's Mahjong, Japan's Mahjong, Hong Kong's Mahjong, Store Tris.
• 4B-004 4-in-1 Version 4
  Pile Wonder, Snake Roy, Suleiman's Treasure, Puppet Knight.
• 4B-005 4-in-1 Version 5
  Arctic Zone, Magic Tower, Railway, Worm Visitor.
• 4B-006 4-in-1 Version 6
  Bomb Disposer, A-Force, Black Forest Tale, 2nd Space.
• 4B-007 4-in-1 Version 7
  Ant Soldier, Dan Laser, Sky Ace, Zoo Block.
• 4B-008 4-in-1 Version 8
  Captain Knick-Knack, Flea War, Explosive Brick, Magic Maze.
• 4B-009 4-in-1 Version 9
  Zipball, Deep, Crazy Burger, Small Gorilla

• Super 6-in-1
  Street Hero, Jurassic Boy 2, Beast Fighter, Street Rider, Ant Soldiers, Worm Visitor

• 8B-001 8-in-1 Color
  Zip Ball, Final Mission Deep, Crazy Rider, Small Gorilla, Street Rider, Vex Block, Trap & Turn, Duck Adventures.
• 8B-002 8-in-1 Color
  Virus Attack, Electron World, Trouble Zone, Dice Square, Pile Wonder, Snake Roy, Puppet Knight, Suleiman's Treasure.
• 8B-003 8-in-1 Color
  Arctic Zone, Magical Tower, Railway, Worm Visitor, Bomb Disposer, 2nd Space, Black Forest Tale, Armor Force.

  

  Sachen's 8-in-1 Color.

• 8B-004 8-in-1 Color
  Ant Soldier, Sky Ace, Dan Laser, Zoo Block, Cap Knick=Knack (Captain Knick-Knack), Flea War, Explosive, Magic Maze.
• 16B-001 16-in-1 Color
  Zip Ball, Final Mission Deep, Crazy Rider, Small Gorilla, Street Rider, Vex Block, Trap & Turn, Duck Adventures, Virus Attack, Electron World, Trouble Zone, Dice Square, Pile Wonder, Snake Roy, Puppet Knight, Suleiman's Treasure.

• 16B-002 16-in-1 Color
  Arctic Zone, Magical Tower, Railway, Worm Visitor, Bomb Disposer, 2nd Space, Black Forest Tale, Armor Force, Ant Soldier, Sky Ace, Dan Laser, Zoo Block, Cap Knick-Knack, Flea War, Explosive, Magic Maze'.

• 31-in-1 Mighty Mix
  
  Taiwanese Version: Rocman X, Jurassic Boy 2, Street Rider, Bomb Disposer, Dan Laser, Vex Block, Explosive Brick, Small Gorilla, Trap & Turn, Pile Wonder, Arctic Zone, Zoo Block, Magic Maze, Magical Tower, Virus Attack, Electron World, Trouble Zone, Dice Square, Railway, Worm Visitor, 2nd Space, Black Forest Tale, Armor Force, Sky Ace, Flea War, Crazy Burger, Deep, Zip Ball, Captain Knick-Knack, Ant Soldier, Duck Adventures
  
  English Version: Thunder Blast Man, Jurassic Boy 2, Street Rider, Bomb Disposer, Dan Laser, Vex Block, Explosive Brick, Small Gorilla, Trap & Turn, Pile Wonder, Arctic Zone, Zoo Block, Magical Tower, Virus Attack, Electron World, Trouble Zone, Dice Square, Railway, Worm Visitor, 2nd Space, Black Forest Tale, Armor Force, Sky Ace, Flea War, Crazy Burger, Deep, Zip Ball, Puppet Knight, Captain Knick-Knack, Ant Soldier, Duck Adventures

• Note: A 5-in-1 and a third 16-in-1 cart are known to exist.

Sega Mega Drive

• Shizen Mahjong (麻將學園)
• Poker Club 6-in-1 (撲克俱樂部 六合一) - Also named Queen of Poker Club on the game's title screen. Published by Sachen(?) in Taiwan and by Li Cheng in mainland China. While the back of the Taiwanese release's packaging credits Sachen by their Chinese name, the spine features the same "MD Compatible" graphic present in other unlicensed Mega Drive releases unrelated to Sachen, notably from companies like Unite Lucky Technology and Huang Jia Technology (who would publish a number of games connected to Gamtec and Chuanpu Technology). A version of the game is dumped as a ROM, although from what release is currently unknown

Mega Duck

• 2nd Space
• Ant Soldiers
• Arctic Zone
• Armour Force
• Beast Fighter
• Black Forest Tale
• Bomb Disposer
• Captain Knick-Knack
• Duck Adventure
• Five In One (Store Tris, Store Tris 2, Taiwan Mahjong, Japan Mahjong, Hong Kong Mahjong)
• Four In One (Virus Attack, Electron World, Trouble Zone, Dice Block)
• Magical Tower
• Pile Wonder
• Railway
• Street Rider
• Suleiman's Treasure
• Snake Roy
• Trap & Turn
• Vex Block - Named Vex on the packaging and cart label
• Worm Visitor
• Zipball

Watara Supervision

• Balloon Fight (unauthorized clone of the NES game of the same name)
• Chinese Checkers
• Dancing Block
• Final Combat
• Galactic Crusader
• Galaxy Fighter
• Happy Pairs
• Happy Race
• Hero Hawk
• John Adventure
• Kabi-Island: Gold in Island
• Kung-Fu Street
• Magincross
• Penguin Hideout
• Pyramid
• Super Kong
• Super Pang - Port of Sachen's Famicom/NES game of the same name
• Tasac 2010
• Thunder Shooting

Plug'n Plays

• Magic Joy/Mega Joy/Super Mega Joy - Each version contains a selection of Sachen's early NES/Famicom games, either Sachen Superpack version A, B, or C.
• Mahjong 3-in-1

Trivia

• In October 1994, Thin Chen Enterprise opened a store in Shanghai near the airport. This came up as a part of a Shanghai development program with Taiwanese companies selling computers and home appliances.
• Ei-How Yang once worked for Sachen, and is credited in some of their games, mostly as a Game Boy/Mega Duck programmer and tester. He also made the sound engine used in some of the later TC-numbered games.
• Many of Sachen's self-published NES games are simply Famicom boards attached to a 60-72 pin converter, though there are some NES releases (probably the first prints) that use NES boards with a built-in converter switch and serial port. Most of these use a CIC bypass requiring you to connect the game to a licensed NES title with a cable. The copies released by other publishers (such as Color Dreams) are proper 72 pin boards.
• The style of Sachen's Famicom releases (especially the Joy Van lineup) have a very strong resemblance to Namco's Famicom games. This includes the manual and box's designs as well as the plastic clamshell casing. The later cases have a Sachen logo molded inside.
• Interestingly enough, while most unlicensed Genesis/Mega Drive games developed in Taiwan used either Data East's High Seas Havoc sound driver (its use mainly attributed to Chaunpu) or Sega of Japan's SMPS Z80 driver (mainly attributed to Gamtec), Sachen's Mega Drive games used GEMS, which is a sound driver created by Recreational Brainware that was commissioned by Sega of America to assist Western developers struggling with the Genesis' sound hardware (YM2612).

Gallery

1989 advert for the release of Taiwan Mahjong on June 26. (Magazine issue needed)

Incantation ad with a release planned on early August. (Magazine issue needed)

Advertising of Sachen games - Electrolab, Argentina. Action Games Magazine No. 7, 1992

Jovial Race ad from a 25 November 1988 issue of an unknown mag. Photo courtesy of F. Cifaldi.

Magazine ad for Mahjong Trap (TC-010) from the Joy Van era. Issue unknown. Pic courtesy of F. Cifaldi.

Double page ad for Incantation and Master Chu.

Unreleased TC-012 'The Adventure of Monkey King'

References

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