Super Cartridge (Sachen)

Super Cartridge Series
A Sachen Super Cartridge.
Publisher	Sachen
Developer	Sachen/Joy Van
Console	Famicom
Date	After 1993

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 made before 1993 with the exceptions of the titles exclusives to those multicarts. They do not contain any of the later Sachen titles, likely to not compete with their single releases.

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 (Essentially poker 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.

• 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)
• 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 is in Chinese.)
• Fortune-Telling (English) (Same as above but in English.)

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 three new games which are different versions of Minesweeper.

• Jovial Race (Rally-X clone.)
• Little Red Hood (The infamous 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 (The well-known game with three difficulty levels.)
• Mine Sweeper 2 (Lets you make a custom game of Minesweeper with a custom grid size and bomb count.)
• Mine Sweeper 3 (A two-player competitive version of Minesweeper.)

Mine Sweeper 1

Mine Sweeper 2

Mine Sweeper 3

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)
• Metal Fighter (A horizontal shooter; English Sachen version.)
• Galactic Crusader (A very difficult 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 slow 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)
• 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 (Similar to Pyramid 1 but with 2-player only modes.)
• 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 (Very simplistic vertical shooter; Chinese)
• Happy Pairs (Mahjong solitaire game.)
• Tasac (A repetitive, 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 adustable turret; the only game on this multi that's from the NES/Famicom previously.)
• Worm Visitor (Frogger clone where you have to avoid moving objects.)
• Frog Adventure (Frogger again but you have to jump on the moving objects instead of avoiding them; seems to be entirely new and not a port of a Mega Duck game.)
• Magical Tower (Maze game 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.)

Super Cartridge (Version 9)

The ninth and final installment is somewhat lacking, as it doesn't have a fancy menu like the others and only three games.

• Challenge of the Dragon (Double Dragon clone; English)
• Rockball (Puzzle game very similar to the Turbografx-16 game Chew Man Fu.)
• Popo Team (Clone of an old computer game called Oil's Well.)

Trivia

• All the games had the copyright year removed, possibly to make one feel the games weren't old.
• Frog Adventure, Magical Tower, Mine Sweeper and Worm Visitor were only seen on the these compilations and so never had their own single cartridge.
• The early prints of some cartridges, the first ones notably, were sold in a cardboard box advertising the included games.
• At some point (around 2000), Sachen started to use bland covers for these cartridges. They beared just a list of the included games and nothing else. They were apparently made with a cheap inkjet printer.

Gallery

Famicom release of Super Cartridge Version 4.

Box that came with Version 4 Famicom cartridge.