Top Secret (最高機密) is an unlicensed game for the Game Boy. It was originally released as a standalone cartridge in 1993 by Songtly. Development of the game was handled by Chuanpu Technology, who are credited as Jumbo in-game. Both companies are credited on the copyright screen and title screen.
Gameplay[]
Top Secret is a maze game where the player controls a creature that has to navigate through various mazes. The creature somewhat resembles a human, but has facial features more similar to a bird's (i.e., a beak), a string attached to its head with a ball attached to its end, and wings. The game is divided into four stages, each one having five levels. Each level has a different set of enemies that will try to seek the player out to varying degrees of effectiveness. The goal of each level is to collect a set of floppy disks and a key hidden in boxes scattered throughout the maze. To open a box, the player has to walk into it. Some boxes are empty, but the opened boxes can be collected anyway. Other boxes contain items or hazards that benefit the player or inflict damage when interacted with respectively.
Gameplay.
On the first stage, the player starts off collecting two floppy disks and a key. In subsequent stages, an additional floppy disk is added to the items that need to be collected. The player has a single weapon that can be used against enemies: a bouncing ball that is released with the A button that will temporarily kill enemies it comes in contact with. To re-obtain the ball, the player has to let the ball touch the player character's sprite. After a short period of time, enemies hit by the ball will reappear where they were hit. If an enemy touches the player, then they will lose one point of health. Losing all health points, getting in contact with certain hazards, or letting the timer run out will result in the player losing a life.
When all four stages are completed, the game plays a short ending cutscene with the player character stepping into a tank and presumably using the floppy disks collected to disintegrate it and reveal a luxury car, which is then driven off screen before the text "PRESS TO START" appears. Pressing start on this screen resets the game back to the copyright splash screen.
Enemies[]
Enemies roaming the mazes are listed below:
| Enemy | Description |
|---|---|
| Bug | Runs around aimlessly and colors the ground black wherever it goes. |
| Chest | Disguises itself as a collectible box. When the player tries to open it, it comes to life and chases the player. |
| Snake | Seeks out the player from further away than the Chest enemy. |
| Big-Eyed Creature | Runs around aimlessly. |
Items[]
Items that can be retrieved from boxes are listed below:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Floppy disk | Key item. |
| Key | Key item. Only one key is present in every level. |
| Potion | Two types of potions are present in the game: one acts as an antidote and relieves the player of any status effects and makes them invincible to enemies for a short amount of time; the other one is present in the later stages and will reverse the up/down and left/right controls on the D-pad, which will persist until an antidote potion is obtained. |
| Clock | Increases time by 20 seconds. |
| 1-Up | Adds a life when collected. Has an icon of a face. |
| Bird | Adds a heart to the player's health bar when collected. |
| Enemy | A box enemy contained inside a box. |
| Bomb | A bomb that explodes shortly after the box it was in is opened. If the player comes into contact with the explosion, then they will immediately lose a life. |
| Lever | Opens a door in a certain section of a maze when touched. Some levers are fake and reveal a bomb when touched. |
Technical information and emulation[]
The cartridge that Top Secret was released on is a standard ROM cartridge with a MBC1 clone mapper chip. The game has been dumped as of 2022, although the raw dump only works on select emulators (i.e., BGB) due to incorrect settings specified in the ROM's header.
Other versions[]
Gowin release[]
On December 1998, unlicensed game company Gowin would release a version of Top Secret in Chinese-speaking territories under the name 迷途之旅, or Lost Trips in English. This release was presumably authorized by the original developers as Gowin previously released monochrome Game Boy games connected to Chuanpu/Jumbo Team and by extension, Gamtec, in 1993, and would re-release said titles in 1998 and the early 2000s with seemingly no legal trouble.
Notable changes introduced in Gowin's release compared to the 1993 original include the replacement of the Songtly/Jumbo splash screen with Gowin's standard "Hot Kid" copyright screen, and the titles on the title screen now reading 迷途の旅 and "Losing Trip" in addition to replacing the original copyright byline with newer Gowin copyrights. Oddly, the copyright year shown on both screens is 1994. The game appears to otherwise function identically to the original Top Secret game.
Lost Trips would also be included on Gowin's KKL-05 3 in 1 multicart released some time in 1998, which additionally includes the games Fire Dragon and Story of Lasama (both of which have ties to Chuanpu/Jumbo). The game would later be re-released in Chinese-speaking territories in the year 2000 in Gowin's newer "Hotkid Color" box using new box art. It is unknown if this 2000 re-release introduces any further changes to the game.
The only version of the Gowin Lost Trips release that is dumped is a crack of the game by "GYY Game Unlock Team", going by the names "Mi Tu De Lu" and "Puzzle Path". This dump adds an intro crediting the group that appears before the game starts and removes the Gowin splash screen and copyright byline on the title screen.
Vast Fame multicart version[]
A version of Top Secret would be included on two multicarts released by unlicensed game developer Vast Fame circa 2002, Silver Version 12-in-1 and Shishang Chaoqiang RPG + Gedou + Yizhi Ban Zuhe Ka 18 in 1 (史上超強RPG+格鬥+益智版組合卡18in1) - these particular multicarts also contain other monochrome games previously published by Gowin as well as Game Boy Color games developed by Vast Fame themselves. The only known changes in this version compared to the 1993 original are the complete removal of the Songtly/Jumbo splash screen and copyright byline on the title screen, with the game being virtually identical to the original version otherwise. The graphics for both are still left intact in the ROM's graphics data, though.
The inclusion of this game was likely the result of former Chuanpu staff who were working for Vast Fame at the time having copies of the game (Vast Fame was primarily made up of former Gamtec and Chuanpu Technology employees), and it is unlikely that this specific release was authorized by any parties previously involved with releasing the game, as Songtly was defunct by the time the multicarts were released and Gowin is not known to have engaged with Vast Fame directly.
The multicarts that contain this version of Top Secret are dumped and emulated in hhugboy, and extracts of the individual ROM of the game have also been made and released, which work in most Game Boy emulators.
Gallery[]
See also[]
External links[]
| Gowin games |
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| Games by Vast Fame |
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