This page details a specific developer for Famiclone plug & play devices, of which the actual development company's name is unknown. The company is known to have some sort of connection to JungleTac, and is even credited as simply "JungleTac" in some releases.
Overview[]
The unknown company is known to have developed various simplistic games for NES/Famicom hardware around the early 2000s, most of which either have unclear origins or do not have their presumed original versions documented as of writing. Many of the unknown company's earliest known games were first seen on a Techno Source TV Play Power 10-in-1 plug & play, which has a 2002 copyright year printed on its box.[1] Several of these games were later republished by Waixing under different titles. Unlike most of Waixing's 8-bit/VTxx plug and play games, a number of games attributed to the "unknown JungleTac affiliate" would later have new iterations for other hardware produced by Waixing (e.g. enhanced VT168 and Sunplus SPG ports). It is unknown to what extent Waixing was involved with any aspect of the original 8-bit versions of these games.
There is a similar group of "ex-Subor developers" who are also affiliated with JungleTac, with an otherwise-distinct development style. It is unconfirmed if the ex-Subor developers are connected to the JungleTac affiliate detailed on this article.
Games[]
"TV Play Power" games[]
A generic set of ten original games, all of which are of a particularly low quality. The games are known to appear on several obscure releases, including a 10-in-1 "TV Play Power" system from Techno Source[1] and a "Handymax" KT-0001 Famicom multicart[2] with "© JungleTac, 2003" notices on the menu and all of the game's title screens. However, their most common form of distribution was by Waixing, who republished some of the games with altered titles.
| Name(s) | Description |
|---|---|
| Balloon Pop | Shoot the oncoming balloons before they reach the top of the screen. Released by Waixing as Shooting Ballons (sic). |
| Boxing (Techno Source) Knockdown (Handymax) |
A very slow boxing game. The Knockdown version adds large portraits of the boxers, which are not present in the (presumably-earlier) Boxing version. Released by Waixing as Boxing Wrestle. |
| Drop Em | A monkey must drop rocks onto mice before they get inside the burrows. Released by Waixing as Hitting Mices. |
| Get Em (Techno Source) Shoot Down (Handymax) |
The player controls a cannon, and must shoot down oncoming aliens who are dropped out of a large UFO; the player must also dodge the UFO's bullets. If multiple aliens fall to the bottom of the screen (without being hit), they will stack themselves in attempt to attack the player's cannon. |
| Highway | Top-down game similar to Frogger. |
| Hungry Worm | A snake game. Released by Waixing as Edacity Snakes. |
| Paddle Fun (Techno Source) Ping Pong (Handymax) |
A Pong clone. Released by Waixing as Table Tennis. The common Waixing release alters some sprites, though a rare alternate version retains the original "Play Power" graphics in-game. |
| Raceway | A generic racing game. |
| Snow Boarding (Techno Source) Skate World (Handymax) |
Hack of the aforementioned Raceway. |
| Submarine (Techno Source) Submarine Adv (Handymax) |
A basic shooting game. |
The "Timemax" library, a plug & play game set formed in 2022 and notably included on the Subor Q6 handheld, reportedly features two additional games: Rocket Cart, which was reworked into Highway Racing I (?), and Present, which was reworked into Xmas Gift. This game set also includes Ping Pong.[3]
Waixing-published VT02 games[]
Many of Waixing's further VT02 titles, of which their origin is unclear, appear to also be developed by the unknown company. This is evident by various aspects of the code of these games. It is unknown if non-Waixing versions of these games exist.
- Desert Gunman - Hack of Wild Gunman.
- Diamond - An Arkanoid clone, but different compared to Nice Code's identically-titled clone. There are no diamonds in this version and the physics are also more consistent, but the game only has one level.
- Explorer - A clone (or possibly a somewhat advanced hack) of Galaxian. The player is only given one life. Appears to feature multiple levels, though the flag indicator does not update upon clearing a stage.
- This game, alongside Plumber, is uncommon on plug & play consoles, likely for legal reasons. However, a .wxn conversion of the VT03 version is commonly seen on certain 32-bit consoles.
- Fireman - A clone of Flying Hero with only one level.
- Guard Farm - Hack of Duck Hunt.
- Highway Racing I - A clone of Road Fighter.
- Lawn Purge - The player must mow the entire lawn before the timer runs out. The game is very similar to JungleTac's Grass Cutter, with nearly identical level layouts.
- Overspeed Racing - Similar to Highway Racing I, but in a pseudo-3D perspective.
- Police Skill - Hack of Hogan's Alley.
- Plumber - A clone of Mario Bros. that only features one level that ends after (approx.) six enemies are defeated. The graphics of the 8-bit version are only loosely modified from the original NES/Famicom game; the VT03 port features fully-customized sprites. The title screen features modified artwork from Super Mario 64 with Mario's head replaced with a generic boy (who is given anime-like spiky hair in the VT03 version).[4]
- This game, alongside Explorer, is uncommon on plug & play consoles, likely for legal reasons. However, a .wxn conversion of the VT03 version is commonly seen on certain 32-bit consoles.
- Tank - Clone of Battle City.
- Xmas Gift - Clone of Nice Code's Mad Xmas, coded from scratch.
- Square - A clone of Tengen's version of Tetris.
Trivia[]
- For unknown reasons, most (if not all) of the unknown company's VT02 games use a CNROM/"mapper 3"-like code format, which is not generally used by other plug & play manufacturers (in which the games are typically designed as NROM or MMC3). The CNROM-like coding is generally only used for the title screen graphics.