The Super Cartridge series is a series of nine multicarts for the Famicom and NES made by Sachen. These compilations are notable for containing the vast majority of the Sachen library (inlcuding the Joy Van titles) in their latest revision as well as some unique games not released standalone. They seem to originate from the mid 90s, as they only feature games from 1989-1993 (except for the few games developed exclusively for these cartridges). They do not contain any of the later Sachen titles, likely to not compete with their single-cart releases.
Overview[]
Super Cartridge (Version 1)[]
The first cartridge of the series. Games featured are:
- Bingo 75 (Chinese version; a slot machine simulator)
- Lucky 777 (Another slot machine simulator.)
- Honey Peach (A rock-paper-scissors strip game.)
- Chess Academy (Poker-esque game but with Chinese Chess pieces.)
Super Cartridge (Version 2)[]
The second installment compiling World of Card Games, Poker II and Hidden Chinese Chess into a single cartridge. The former two's games are segmented into their own "game" and feature a brand new title screen for each. The last two games (which are technically one game) are a fortune-telling game. This one lacks a fancy logo, likely to fit the entire game list on the screen.
- Hidden Chinese Chess (Banqi/Dark Chess clone.)
- Omnibus Hearts
- Fan Tan
- Chinese Rummy
- Max 2 (Big 2)
- Ghost-Buster (Seems to be Sets.)
- 99
- Change Around (Hearts)
- Poker Fortune-Telling (Chinese) (Based on World of Card Game's "The Clock"; The player gets to choose to get their fortune on love, work, money, or other and how many sets they get before drawing four kings determines their fortune's outlook. This one's in Chinese.)
- Poker Fortune-Telling (English) (Same as above, but in English. Labeled as "Foretell" on the title screen)
Super Cartridge (Version 3)[]
The third installment featuring primarily Joy Van games. The games in question seem to be based on the Sachen-published English versions. There's also 3 new games, all of which are different versions of Minesweeper.
- Jovial Race (Rally-X clone.)
- Little Red Hood (Adventure/action game; English)
- Twin Eagle (A horizontal shooter; English)
- Silent Assault (English; The semi-final stage has a glitch that prevents a crucial moving platform from spawning, making completion impossible.)
- Super Pang 1 (Based on the arcade Pang game.)
- Mine Sweeper 1 (Unlicensed port of the classic Windows game, with three difficulty levels.)
- Mine Sweeper 2 (Same as above, except you can choose a custom board size or number of mines (choosing a board too large will crash the game, however.))
- Mine Sweeper 3 (A two-player competitive version of Minesweeper.)
Super Cartridge (Version 4)[]
The fourth installment once again featuring Joy Van games and some later Sachen games.
- Master Chu (Action game where you collect hidden objects to progress; English version)
- Metal Fighter (A horizontal shooter; English Sachen version.)
- Galactic Crusader (A vertical shooter; English Sachen version.)
- Auto-Upturn (Puzzle game where you rearrange tiles with a small character. Last two stages strangely feature nudity in an otherwise kiddie game.)
- Magic Cube (A Columns clone but with 2x2 arranged pieces)
- Super Pang 2 (Based on the arcade Super Pang game.)
Super Cartridge (Version 5)[]
The fifth installment features early SA-numbered games with some later games thrown in.
- Penguin and Seal (Pengo-like puzzle game; English version)
- Middle School English (Educational game that teaches Chinese speakers English.)
- Pyramid I (Tetris clone with triangular pieces; SFW Sachen version.)
- Magical Mathematics (Educational game teaching various math formulas.)
- Strategist (Competitive Poker game with unique themes and gimmicks.)
- Olympic I.Q. (Puzzle game featuring various logic puzzles.)
- Chinese Checkers
Super Cartridge (Version 6)[]
The sixth installment features several SA-numbered games from early to middle in the lineup.
- Colorful Dragon (Puzzle game where you bite other dragons' tails in a maze; Sachen version.)
- Pyramid 2 (Official sequel to Pyramid, has a 2-player mode.)
- Pipe 5 (Pipemania clone.)
- Millionaire (Monopoly clone.)
- Dancing Blocks (Puzzle game where you collect fruit and utilize the sides of your block to attack.)
- Locksmith (Part exploration and shooting, part Rubik-style puzzle solving.)
Super Cartridge (Version 7)[]
The seventh installment featuring a mixture of TC and SA games.
- Sidewinder (Vertical shooter; Chinese version)
- Happy Pairs (Mahjong solitaire game.)
- Tasac (Vertical space shooter.)
- Silver Eagle (Action game similar to the 8-bit Metal Gear games)
Super Cartridge (Version 8)[]
The eight installment is probably the most interesting; instead of featuring only previous NES/Famicom releases it actually has three new games, two of which are ports from the Game Boy/Mega Duck. Said games never got single-cart releases on home consoles.
- Final Combat (Battle City clone with an adjustable turret. The only previously-released game on this cartridge.)
- Worm Visitor (Frogger derivative where you have to avoid moving objects.)
- Frog Adventure (Another Frogger derivative, but this time you jump on the objects instead of avoiding them. Several assets from Worm Visitor are re-used here.)
- Magical Tower (Single-screen maze-platformer where you play interactive rock-paper-scissors of sorts; you have to touch an enemy with a hand yours is good against and defeat all the enemies in order to progress. This game has a 2-player mode.)
Super Cartridge (Version 9)[]
The ninth and final installment is somewhat lacking, as it only has three games and, much like Version 2, also lacks the fancy logo.
- Challenge of the Dragon (Double Dragon clone; English version)
- Rockball (Puzzle game very similar to the Turbografx-16 game Chew Man Fu.)
- Popo Team (Clone of Oil's Well)
Trivia[]
- All the previously-released games had the copyright year removed, possibly to make one feel the games weren't old, though their respective graphics still exist in the games' CHR data.
- Frog Adventure, Magical Tower, and Worm Visitor (from Version 8) also still have the graphics for copyright years in their CHR data (despite not being used anywhere), likely suggesting that they were initially planned for a 1993 standalone release, though this never came to be.
- All three Minesweeper games (from Version 3) and all of Version 2's segmented games, on the other hand, lack such years in their CHR data, likely suggesting they were made exclusively for their respective cartridges. The former therefore never saw standalone releases.
- The early prints of these cartridges were sold in a cardboard box advertising the included games.
- At some point (around 2000), Sachen started to use bland covers for these cartridges. These ones only showed a list of the included games. They were apparently made with a cheap inkjet printer.
Gallery[]
