|
|
2-in-1 PC ENGINE HuCard
Chinese Pirate
HYPERDINE SIDE ARMS
& KYÛKYOKU TIGER
Here is another interesting oddity directly shipped from Hong Kong.
Curiously, this Hucart certainly reminds of another oddity, Kabuki Side Arms already
tested here. Same sort of packaging, the back of the media is thick and
probably hides a couple of large Eproms. The black area next to the connectors
is also rough and not as smooth as a traditional HuCard. The label definitively
shows Side Arms and Chinese writing is clearly visible in the
top left corner and says 2-in-1 followed by the name of
two games: it roughly says "Super Compact Warrior" (Hyperdine Side Arms)
and "Powerful Cobra Helicopter" (Kyûkyoku Tiger). If
anyone out there can do a better job at translating these names,
do not hesitate to contact me...
|
Let's first look at Hyperdine Side Arms.
This game is certainly the most interesting Pirate Rom I have ever seen. First of all, the
title screen is very different and was edited. The game's
copyright information was completely removed which is not an
unusual feature in itself, other pirates share the same copyright removal
process. However, and most interestingly, they have been replaced by
someone's name ! I wonder who Jiun Ming Hyang is, who actually 'are', nothing
mentions if we are dealing here with one single person, or more. Then,
even more interestingly, a date "7 25 1989" and the word EDIT are
clearly visible above the name.
Then, if you look at the game title, a kanji was added to the game's title.
So, this title screen now invites us to Push Run Button and I
am now impatient to find out what this EDIT mode is about.
I couldn't really see anything at first, the game look and feel like
the original. Same weapons, same enemy patterns and graphics.
Then I suddenly saw what the difference (or maybe one of the difference,
I haven't been that far in the game) was. The weapon menu at the bottom
of the screen is visible all the time, unlike the original game
where it is displayed only when the Run button is pressed and
the game paused.
There are maybe more differences in later stages but I would have
to spend a bit more time playing the game.
It is interesting to notice that if the edit date was indeed '7 25 1989',
therefore the modification must have been made only 10 days after
the official release of Hyperdine Side Arms
(which was officially released by Nec Avenue and Capcom,
if my sources are correct, on '7-14-1989').
Copyright information was also removed from Kyûkyoku Tiger's title
screen and replaced by a simple date : '1989'. The game
is otherwise identical to the original Rom.
All in all, this cartridge was a real surprise. First of all, I didn't expect
it to be a 2-in-1 and only realized later what the Chinese text
actually meant. Then the difference between the orginal Hyperdine Side Arms
and this edit version was another great surprise. I will end this article
with more pictures if the cartridge for your only pleasure.
Let's put 2-in-1 Hyperdine Side Arms next to
Kabuki Side Arms for
a second.
Both cartridges have about the same thickness ( 2-in-1 is
much flatter though and Kabuki is slightly 'bumped' in the middle).
I also do
not think 2-in-1 Hyperdine Side Arms came with the same kind of
'sliding' cover than Kabuki Side Arms. Connectors
are wider and the sliding cap just doesn't fit. Finally,
Kabuki has the words PC GAME written on it, the
same name is nowhere to be found on our 2-in-1.
It is therefore hard to tell if they were made by the same
manufacturer or not...
|
|