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While I was out in Batavia to celebrate New Year's Eve (2018-2019), I stumbled upon a console that, at first, appeared to be an NES Classic edition. To my dismay, the console is actually a Famiclone, a clone of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, which was released under the name Family Computer, or "Famicom" in Japan.
The Console - Faithful to the original NES with key differences.
The console is designed to look similar to an NES Classic Edition as a way of tricking buyers into purchasing this system, but there are a few key differences that sets it apart from the original NES. On the front of the console, you will find power and reset buttons, though their positions are swapped, and two DB9 ports for controller input, though their positions are swapped as well. The controllers themselves, aside from the different connectors, remain faithful to the original console and are clicky and responsive, aside from the start and select buttons. You will find a micro-USB port for power on the back of the system, along with a 3.5mm TRS Jack used to output composite video and mono audio.
The console itself lacks a cartridge slot, so it instead runs on a built-in multicart that claims to have "620 games in one," a common sight in other Famiclones. While the number of games is impressive, considering the NES Classic only has 30 built-in games, many of the games listed on the Famiclone are just repeats of the games previously listed, but let's talk about the games themselves....
The Games - A mixed bag of pirated, unlicensed software.
Unlicensed ports of official NES games
Most of the games on the system I tested are just unlicensed ports of regular NES games, such as Super Mario Bros., Balloon Fight, and Ice Climbers. Although most of these games play well and are faithful to their original ports, many have certain assets removed and lack support for save features and light guns such as the NES Zapper. There are even instances where the games are listed on the multicart menu with unrelated titles, such as Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu (A Japan-Exclusive fighting game by Technōs Japan) being titled "BLOOD WRESTLE." Some games are rendered unplayable due to their backgrounds not updating correctly, but those that run well are just as fun as their licensed counterparts.
When I booted up the first game listed, Contra, I was greeted to a 12-in-1 menu with the first eight listings leading to the original game, though the numbers represent which stage you started at. "Contra 1" lets you start from scratch while "Contra 8" starts you off at level 8 instead of from the very beginning. When playing Super Mario Bros, the music was playing at a rather rapid speed due to the port being optimized for PAL regions and being played on the system at 120% speed.
Hacks of licensed games
Along with the unlicensed ports of official NES games, there are also hacks of official NES games where certain characters and sprites are replaced with those from other titles. The console I tested had three Mario-related ones, each different in terms of design.
The first was "Super Bros. 10: Kung Fu Mari," which is just a hack of Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu which replaces the title screen and puts Mario's head on Jackie Chan's body.
"Super Mario 12" is a simple title screen hack of Yoshi's Cookie, nothing else has changed aside from the title screen.
The most intricate of them all, however, is "Super Mario 14," a hack of the Japan-exclusive title Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3: Taiketsu! Zouringen. Along with the title screen being replaced and Mario's head being put on Kid Niki's body, some enemies were replaced with koopa troopas and spinies and some items were replaced with coins and super mushrooms. The best part about this port, however, was the copyright information on the title screen that reads "© 1993 Wario. "
Aside from Mario hacks, I did find a game on the system titled "PIKA CHU," leading me to believe that it is a Pokemon-related game when, in reality, it's just a hack of the Tegen version of Tetris with Pikachu all over the screen, even though the original game is on the system under the name of "Tetris 2."
There is even a game titled "Chip and Dale 3," which is just a hack of the run and gun game Heavy Barrel with the character replaced with one of the two chipmunks.
Pirated Games
The rest of the games on the system are basically pirated versions of games that weren't planned for release on the original NES. One such example is "Mortal Kombat 4," which was developed by Hummer Team. Despite the title, the game is actually a pirated version of Mortal Kombat 3 with only seven playable characters, each repeated three times so the game has 28 selectable character slots.
Like other fighting games developed by Hummer Team, this port runs on their "Street Fighter II Engine," meaning that the A and B buttons are used for punches and kicks respectively, and each fighter has three special moves accessed by inputting commands that are all the same for each fighter (Nightwolf and Shao Khan have four special moves, but the commands for all four are the same.) Fatalities and other finishing moves are omitted in this port, despite being an essential aspect of the series as a whole.
Another pirated game on the system, titled "SMALL MARIO," is a port of the Taiwanese gambling game Xiao Ma Li developed by Nei-Hu Electronics. The objective of the game is to gain as many credits as possible by betting on the numerous icons found in typical slot machines. Despite being titled "SMALL MARIO," the iconic plumber doesn't really appear anywhere in this game.
Other NES adaptations of the game exist with a poorly pixelated version of the character, which also appears in other Mario hacks such as the popular "7 Grand Dad," a hack of The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy.
Summary - Grading the system
Design - B+
Despite the swapped locations of the controller ports and the Power and Reset buttons, along with the omission of all Nintendo branding, both the console and the two included controllers remain faithful to the original console.
Hardware - B-
While this system offers more playable games without the need to use an emulator, as this is basically an NES on a chip, it does not feature a cartridge slot and uses a 3.5mm TRS jack instead of HDMI to output video and audio.
Controller - C+
The controller remains faithful to the original NES controller, with every button aside from Start and Select being clicky and responsive, though it isn't the most ergonomic due to it's boxy design and the positioning of the A and B buttons. But, much like the NES Classic, the cords used to plug into the system are only 2 feet in length, and I am unsure if there's even a working extension cord or not, so you're probably out of luck if you wanna sit comfortably.
Software/Games - D
While the library of playable games is much larger than that of the NES classic, almost every single game was illegally ported onto the system and listed numerous times so the console can "round out" to "620 games in one." Although most of the games are genuine, you will have to rummage through an assortment of hacked and/or pirated titles, all of which shouldn't be on the system in the first place.
Value - D-
Although the system is cheaper than the NES classic, despite having more games than the former and two included controllers, a listing for the system on Amazon will cost you $20.49 though it's essentially worthless due to how many games were illegally ported onto the system. Consider this as a caveat emptor, because this console is probably worth five dollars at most.
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