I just figured out a way to tell if your copy of Somari is the real deal, that is, if it's the one made by Somari Team. Open up the cart and take a look at the board. It's actually kinda neat because they've imbedded in the board, using that same gold tracer that links the chips and the pins, the word "Somari." I've got one board that says "Somari P" and one that says "Somari W". I don't know what the difference is. The "P" board comes in a Somari case that had the front label as two different stickers: one sticker is the blue part with the name and the other is the Mario illustration. The "W" one came in a cart that's got the single sticker front label.
EDIT:
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2/jerahcordova/Famicom%20Oddities/SANY0290sm.jpg)
What the... ¿they included selectable mirroring on the board? maybe they used the same board design for some other games!
I don't think that's selectable mirroring (like NROM boards), more like a set of dip switches in the form of solder pads that the pirate cart can read their state at anytime. They're used on multicarts to change the number of displayed games, and in single game HK originals to change the title screen (like in fighting games - Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 56 People Special, etc). This allows the pirates to use a single board for different 'games', just change the dip switches, slap on a new label and there you go. Either that or they're accommodating for different types of Mask ROMs (unlikely).
Maybe if you mess with them on a Somari cart you might get the Family Kid title screen to appear :P.
BTW, awesome find, JC! ;)
Quote from: JC on January 10, 2009, 11:09:11 am
Quote from: Walky on January 10, 2009, 11:07:24 am
selectable mirroring
What's that?
I think mirroring have to do with the way the console handles scrolling. Mirroring can be horizontal (vertical scrolling) and vertical (horizontal scrolling).
These are usually selectable even in licenced games (NES ones, but I'll assume licenced famicom carts are the same, because it's cheaper than manufacturing 2 different carts) by jumpering one of two pads with solder (you can see them on the left of your image of the Somari board, it's almost the same on licenced ones, except the one from somari came jumpered with a thin trace in the copper pad instead of a solder point), but later some mappers introduced automatic mirroring, so it can be switched in-game (mmc3/mapper 4, for example), so games could be more advanced.
My socketed eprom cart, for example, was 10 Yard Fight, and when I put Super Mario Bros in it the game would work fine but the scrolling graphics would look weird (for example, ground and holes would look misplaced so it's easy to fall). I desoldered one pad and soldered the other one (it must always be only one pad soldered at a time) and it fixed it.
Quote from: Walky on January 10, 2009, 12:08:48 pm
My socketed eprom cart, for example, was 10 Yard Fight, and when I put Super Mario Bros in it the game would work fine but the scrolling graphics would look weird (for example, ground and holes would look misplaced so it's easy to fall).
Dream Mary!
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 11:57:07 am
I don't think that's selectable mirroring (like NROM boards), more like a set of dip switches in the form of solder pads that the pirate cart can read their state at anytime. They're used on multicarts to change the number of displayed games, and in single game HK originals to change the title screen (like in fighting games - Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 56 People Special, etc). This allows the pirates to use a single board for different 'games', just change the dip switches, slap on a new label and there you go. Either that or they're accommodating for different types of Mask ROMs (unlikely).
Maybe if you mess with them on a Somari cart you might get the Family Kid title screen to appear :P.
BTW, awesome find, JC! ;)
I didn't know that. It might be nice to see what would happen if someone soldered the other pad on a Somari cart :o
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 12:11:05 pm
Quote from: Walky on January 10, 2009, 12:08:48 pm
My socketed eprom cart, for example, was 10 Yard Fight, and when I put Super Mario Bros in it the game would work fine but the scrolling graphics would look weird (for example, ground and holes would look misplaced so it's easy to fall).
Dream Mary!
http://www.famicomworld.com/Reviews/Dream_Mary.htm
That's wicked sick! I didn't know that game.
EDIT: Removed double post. --JC
I wouldn't go as far to call it a game, since it's just SMB with incorrect mirroring, but people around here swear by it ::).
Quote from: Walky on January 10, 2009, 12:12:00 pm
I didn't know that. It might be nice to see what would happen if someone soldered the other pad on a Somari cart :o
Probably the title screen would change to this:
(http://thewarpzone.classicgaming.gamespy.com/famicom/fk1.jpg)
But wouldn't it also have to change the main character sprite?
Yeah, the game code checks for the state of the switches at startup and selects the according sprites in memory.
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 12:22:29 pm
Yeah, the game code checks for the state of the switches at startup and selects the according sprites in memory.
¿Are you sure it works like that, by software?. ¿Wouldn't it be easier just to change the highest adress lines?. ¿How would the game know the switches' state? ???
Anyway, I suppose that my suggestion could eventually be more expensive since it would be twice the chr data, even for changing a few sprites (because everything would need to be there twice). But some pirates use really big roms anyway!!
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 12:17:24 pm
I wouldn't go as far to call it a game, since it's just SMB with incorrect mirroring, but people around here swear by it ::)
Well, I might as well make a Dream Mary cart, label and all! hahahaha
(JC, sorry for double posting, I'll try to be more careful from now on ;))
Correct, just switching the higher address lines would be a significant waste of money. Chinese pirates always go for the cheapest they can produce :P. As on how the game can read the switches, the pirate mapper contains that function built-in, extra pins from the mapper form the physical switches and the game code can read their state through a specific register in memory space (remember that a memory mapper can significantly augment the Famicom's capabilities - adding a bunch of readable switches is no big deal).
Feel like experimenting? Have a worthless multicart lying around? You know, those 99999999999999999999 in 1 with 6 real games. Crack it open, find the solder pads, start messing with them and test it out. You'll see the number of displayed games change depending on the switch patterns.
Maybe I'll try with my 4-1, the one that has Macross it it. Maybe it has a naked Lynn Minmay version in it! ;D (after seeing that "Super Simpson" thing, I can expect ANYTHING hahahaha)
Aren't 4 in 1 carts really, really old and use simple banking? ???
I'm talking about more modern, glop-top multicarts. Keyword: cheap :P
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 01:03:13 pm
Aren't 4 in 1 carts really, really old and use simple banking? ???
I'm talking about more modern, glop-top multicarts. Keyword: cheap :P
I was just kidding XD
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 12:17:24 pm
I wouldn't go as far to call it a game, since it's just SMB with incorrect mirroring, but people around here swear by it ::).
I just recently discovered Excite Bike on a multicart that has incorrect mirroring, too. It makes the game almost unplayable. The title of the game on the cart is "Knight in Dream World". Anyone else ever run across this 'game'?
Does that multicart happen to be orange also with 3 light gun games ???
Quote from: 133MHz on January 10, 2009, 11:57:07 am
I don't think that's selectable mirroring (like NROM boards), more like a set of dip switches in the form of solder pads that the pirate cart can read their state at anytime. They're used on multicarts to change the number of displayed games, and in single game HK originals to change the title screen (like in fighting games - Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 56 People Special, etc). This allows the pirates to use a single board for different 'games', just change the dip switches, slap on a new label and there you go. Either that or they're accommodating for different types of Mask ROMs (unlikely).
Maybe if you mess with them on a Somari cart you might get the Family Kid title screen to appear :P.
BTW, awesome find, JC! ;)
Where is the dip switch?
How come everyone's expecting Family Kid to come up exactly? Wouldn't that imply Family Kid was made by the same people then?
I always saw it that the first Sonic 1 port was likely just called Sonic The Hedgehog, and Somari came second, followed by Family Kid. If FK is on the cart then that'd it and Somari were both made together, wouldn't it? If it is in fact an original cart.
Off to open my Somari.... ;D
EDIT: And yes, mine appears to be a "Somari W"
(http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i7/4regt4/Somari1.jpg)
And figuring someone that clicks on a thread like this may want to see what a Somari box looks like, I'll show it off ;D
(the little poem thing on the front and back reads, "Don't just sit there and - Waste your precious time - When you want to do something, - do it right away. Do it when you can. - It's the only way to live a life without regrets." -- there are typos on the back of "to live to live" and a capital "P" in "Precious")
(http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i7/4regt4/Somari2.jpg)
(http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i7/4regt4/Somari3.jpg)
Why would they put a weird poem on a pirate game?
As well as, do you think the pirates came up with that, or did they take it off some Sonic box, or just copied a random poem?
I like the copyright which reads (C) 1994 someri team.
Anyone know what it reads on the back and on the cart?
Quote from: cubelmariomadness on October 18, 2009, 04:29:54 pm
Why would they put a weird poem on a pirate game?
As well as, do you think the pirates came up with that, or did they take it off some Sonic box, or just copied a random poem?
I like the copyright which reads (C) 1994 someri team.
Having Googled the poem thing, a bunch of Sonic stuff shows up, so it must be something from an original Sonic game.
All the English and Japanese text is taken directly from I think Sonic 2's JP box art. Maybe it was on the Sonic 1 box, I can't recall.
The Japanese is just more "poetic" crap that's not important.
Thanks for the pics of the back of the box! Never seen that before, very cool. Makes me want a copy!
/\ Yep, the poem is on this Sonic JP box:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/5/454495_2199_back.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/image/454495.html%3Fbox%3D2199&usg=__UOX8YF5Y7Y-VurGvN3s3OITAN7k=&h=895&w=640&sz=152&hl=en&start=89&um=1&tbnid=cyN0EgDQeMF-IM:&tbnh=146&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsonic%2Bjp%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D80%26um%3D1
I hadn't looked at those (JP Sonic games) before.
And here is the Sonic 2 JP box, which looks a bit more similar in layout: http://ocremix.org/files/images/games/gen/cover-front-jp/sonic-the-hedgehog-2-gen-cover-front-jp.jpg
On the first pic of the original sonic box, at the bottom left corner, is it a kid who just rocked himself up with his farts?
Still laughing over someri team copyright. They can't spell their own company's name!
Quote from: cubelmariomadness on October 18, 2009, 04:58:04 pm
On the first pic of the original sonic box, at the bottom left corner, is it a kid who just rocked himself up with his farts?
Still laughing over someri team copyright. They can't spell their own company's name!
:D I never looked at that logo at the bottom that way.
Looks like all the text and general format is stolen from Sonic 2 after all. Sonic 1 doesn't look exactly the same, and the text is different from Somari. Kinda odd that even though it's a port of Sonic 1 they chose to steal all the text and art from Sonic 2. If only they ported Sonic 2!
Quote from: cubelmariomadness on October 18, 2009, 04:58:04 pm
Still laughing over someri team copyright. They can't spell their own company's name!
Even real companies have that problem sometimes. There are at least 2 typos on the 'Press Start' screen in Harvest Moon 64. One of those is the company who made the game. The correct spelling is 'Natsume', and they spelled it 'Natume'. :D
Is family kid considered rare?
It took me awhile to find it, but I don't think it's that rare. I got my copy from Bramsworth.
Is it as rare as somari?
It's more rare than Somari. I've never found Family Kid for sale. Maybe I'm lookng in the wrong places. I've seen tons of Somari carts for sale.
I don't understand why anyone would want it though. It's a hack of a game that's already mediocre, and the main character sprite isn't anything famous.
Versions I like in order:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Somari
Family Kid
Has anyone seen different character hacks of this game other than those three?
Quote from: JC on October 22, 2009, 08:32:10 pm
It's more rare than Somari. I've never found Family Kid for sale. Maybe I'm lookng in the wrong places. I've seen tons of Somari carts for sale.
I saw it on eBay once--was the same seller that was selling that Street Fighter cart I pointed out you had been looking for (some name with "progressive" in the title I think, but I deleted him from my watch list a ways back and couldn't search him out on eBay from memory).
The copy I sold to ericj I got years ago from a trade with Super Donkey Kong. Back then I didn't even know Family Kid existed, but the fact it was Somari was enough for me.
A cart of the original Sonic the hedgehog, that's something I don't think I've seen. That's proven to exist, right? It seems every single Sonic version you come across is one of those Sonic 5 things where you start off at Spring Yard instead of the beginning of the game.
Are you sure there's actually a Sonic version of Somari? I don't remember if there is.
Well, I'm pretty sure it is the same game as Somari, as all the levels are the same. It does start on Spring Yard Zone, though. There's a code for a level select, so if you put that in, and start on Green Hill Zone, I believe it acts as the game actually started there. My copy of Sonic the Hedgehog also does not say "Sonic 5, 6, or Blast 3D", it's just "Sonic the Hedgehog". The label however (which is now off) said Wild Guns, so they didn't even try and advertise it as any kind of Sonic game. :P
Edit* Anyone think that this series (or at least Somari or Sonic) was created by the Hummer Team (JY Company)? The reason I think this is because I saw a video for Donkey Kong Country 4 on Youtube, and when they first turned it on, it said "Hummer Team 1997". Then as I watched the gameplay, I realized that a lot of the sound effects were the same, and the music in DKC4 sounds a lot like the music used in Sonic the Hedgehog. DKC4 and Sonic the Hedgehog are also both ports of popular 16-bit games.
This is the video I was talking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJXfGQgMRQ
I take it not everyone is familiar with ToRP aka The Obscure Ripping Project. Has long articles detailing pirates and goes in depth trying to identify the maker. The owner made a long one about Somari, and I think he said that it's likely Hummer Team, can't remember. Check it out.
http://torp.110mb.com/gamesomari.html
This is a very interesting site. Thanks for posting it, Bramsworth!
Holy cow if anyone has doraemon i will pay a load for it!!!
I wonder if there ever was a regular "Mario" version of this game. If the ROM has that logo hidden inside perhaps that's the very first version of this game. Either that or its an earlier title they decided not to use.
Or an original version of Sonic The Hedgehog(assuming that exists outside of those Sonic Blast hacks).
Quote from: Bramsworth on October 23, 2009, 11:16:54 pm
I take it not everyone is familiar with ToRP aka The Obscure Ripping Project. Has long articles detailing pirates and goes in depth trying to identify the maker. The owner made a long one about Somari, and I think he said that it's likely Hummer Team, can't remember. Check it out.
http://torp.110mb.com/gamesomari.html
Didn't know about the level select. Thanks for posting that.