Subor Chinese and English Computer Learning Card (v1.0) (小霸王 中英文电脑学习卡) is an "educational computer" Famicom cartridge, originally released in 1993 by Subor. The cartridge came bundled with the Subor "SB-218" keyboard Famiclone. It would be superseded by a nearly-identical "v1.1", which was bundled with the succeeding "SB-286" console.
The Subor Learning Card(s) were designed for the mainland Chinese market, and were very popular in the region. The v1.0/v1.1 cartridges would be followed by a version 3.0, alongside an "English Word Blaster" game.
Overview[]
Version 1.0[]
Version 1.0 of Subor features three programs ripped directly from Nintendo's Family BASIC for the Famicom, in addition to five unlicensed programs based on the Family BASIC engine (which were reportedly not Subor-developed). The game opens with a screen reading "Subor" in giant text, headlined "Endless Fun" (其乐无穷); the Family BASIC character sprites (including the Mario and Binary Land characters) run across the screen. Upon pressing the Enter key, the player is taken into a selection menu with eight listed options (ranging from A to H):
- Key Exercise (键盘练习, lit. "Keyboard Practice") - a basic typing game where the player must press the highlighted key.
- Letters Invade (打字游戏, lit. "Typing Game") - a typing game where the player must shoot down falling letters.
- Music Appreciate (音乐欣赏) - a program featuring renditions of three songs: "Jasmine", "Edelweiss", and "Happy Birthday".
- Chinese and English Editor (中英文编辑) - a basic text editor.
- Calculator Board (计算板) - a calculator ripped from Family BASIC.
- Music Board (音乐板) - a music creation program ripped from Family BASIC.
- Message Board (留言板) - a text editor ripped from Family BASIC.
- G-BASIC - variant of the BASIC coding language.
Version 1.1[]
Version 1.1 of Subor features identical programs and functions to version 1.0, but adds a secret additional game. Pressing any key outside of A through H will load a pirated version of Dr. Mario; specifically, it is the mapper hacked version with 16k of CHR data removed. The copyright notice is altered to read "1993 SUBOR".
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The original version 1.0 appears to be undumped, despite its large popularity on the market. Version 1.1 is known to have been dumped and emulated.
External links[]
- "Subor Chinese and English Computer Learning Cards (I) v1.0-v7.1" (lainzy.net, Chinese)