This is a list of notable, originally-licensed Famicom/NES games that have been pirated under a different name; whether the game's title was actually hacked (with little-to-no further changes to the game), or only the cartridge label/multicart selection menu uses a different name.
NOTE: If you're adding a title to this list, also make a redirect page with that title that links back to here.
Games whose titles were changed in-game[]
| Original Game | Alternate Titles | Links | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Star Wars: Episode I | [1] | Shows up on the 200 in 1 Super Game multicart. |
| Blaster Master | Back to the Future IV | Title screen erroneously reads "Back Goto Future4". | |
| Donkey Kong 3 | Gorilla 3 | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Dr. Mario | Space Hospital | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters III | ||
| King's Knight | Lord of the Ring | Shows up on the 9 in 1 Super Game multicart. | |
| The Lord of King (Astyanax) | Golden Axe IV | ||
| Mario Bros. | Mr. Mary | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Nakajima Satoru Kanshuu - F-1 Hero 2 | High Way Star II | ||
| Pac-Man | Goblin | Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. | |
| Power Soccer | Fifa 99 | ||
| Raid on Bungeling Bay | Helicopter | Name is sometimes hacked in-game and other times not; when it is hacked, the title is written in the Bubble Bobble Part 2 font. | |
| Sky Shark | 1945 | Marketed as a pseudo-sequel to 1942 and 1943. | |
| Super Mario Bros. | "2" | [2] | Title has no real name, just a poorly drawn picture of Mario next to a castle, and the number 2. Single cartridges with the game often feature no game title on the front. Name likely changed to avoid violating Taiwan trademark law, pre-1992. |
| Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (also known as Super Mario Bros 2. in Japan) | •"3" •Mr. Mary 2 |
"3" is the "sequel" to the retitled "2" version of Super Mario Bros., and modifies the title screen with sprites of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and two Cheep-Cheeps. Some graphics are a bit glitched and Mario's name is changed to Rambo. Mr. Mary 2 is the "sequel" to the retitled version of Mario Bros. | |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 (also known as Super Mario USA in Japan) | •Super Bros. 2 •Super Bros. 5 |
[3] | Appears to be based on the PAL version rather than the NTSC version. Super Bros. 2 changes the copyright to "CTC". Super Bros. 5 changes the copyright to "ECE" and changes the year to 1991. Super Bros. 5 is often found under the Super Wonderful Mario label. |
| Target: Renegade | Double Dragon IV | ||
| Tecmo World Cup Soccer | •II International Fifa 97 Soccer •Goal 5 Soccer |
Still referred to as "Tecmo Worldcup" on the pre-game intro, despite the title screen(s) being hacked. | |
| Toxic Crusaders | Turtle Ninja 5 | Renamed as a pseudo-sequel to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. | |
| Werewolf: The Last Warrior | Crash Bandicoot 4 | A simple title screen hack. Only seen on a PocketNES conversion. Not to be confused with the 2020 video game. | |
| Yoshi's Cookie | Super Mario 12 ("馬利12") |
Games whose titles are unaltered in-game[]
| Original Game | Alternate Titles | Links | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astro Fang - Super Machine | Astroid | Seen on some 2000s multicarts and plug & plays; it is unclear if this is a typo or an attempt to market the game as Atari's Asteroids (despite that Astro Fang is an entirely unrelated racing game). | |
| Banana Prince | Sonic / Sonison | ||
| Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa | Mario Baby | Conversion of the Famicom Disk System version to NES; the actual NES release came after the pirate. | |
| Doki! Doki! Yuuenchi | Disneyland / Disney 2 / Disney 3 | ||
| Donkey Kong | Donkey Kong Specia | [5] | This cart label is also used for Super Donkey Kong - Xiang Jiao Chuan as well as pirated carts for Toki. |
| Gimmick! (also known as Mr. Gimmick outside of Japan) | Shui Guan Pipe V | [6] | Removes copyrights (which also triggers the anti-piracy routine), uses a different mapper that doesn't support Sunsoft 5B, resulting in missing sound channels. DPCM samples also appear to be broken. |
| The Goonies | Harry Legend / Contra 6 | Both only remove the title screen without other changes. | |
| Karateka | Tekken | Seen on early 2000s multicarts; likely originates from the Power Player Super Joy III. | |
| Kero Kero Keroppi 2 | •Toads Mario •Frogger |
The "Toads Mario" name appeared on single-cartridges in the 90s, while the "Frogger" name appeared mainly in 2000s multicarts and plug & plays. | |
| Pandamar (Super Mario Bros. hack) | Kung Fu Panda | Seen on some 2020s plug & plays. | |
| Kinnikuman - Muscle Tag Match (M.U.S.C.L.E.) | WWF | Seen on early 2000s multicarts; likely originates from the Power Player Super Joy III. | |
| Mario is Missing! | Super Mario 9 | Possibly done on accident originally, but eventually picked up by other pirates and released under the title multiple times. | |
| Monster in My Pocket | Pocket Monster | Title seemingly "reversed" to imply a connection to the Pokémon series. | |
| Toki (also known as JuJu Densetsu in Japan) | Donkey Kong Specia/Donkey Kong Delux | [7]/[8] | Both cart labels are also used for Super Donkey Kong - Xiang Jiao Chuan. The Donkey Kong Specia label has also been used for pirated carts for Donkey Kong. |
| Yie Ar Kung-Fu | King of Fighter | Seen on early 2000s multicarts; likely originates from the Power Player Super Joy III. |
Additionally, many Famicom/NES titles have bootleg, single-game PocketNES releases on Game Boy Advance, usually under altered names.
See also[]
- Mega Drive Games