The Best Unlicensed NES Game (It's NOT What You Think)

Micro Machines:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_M...)
Codemasters History:
tedium.co/2018/06/15/codemast...
Bypassing the 10NES Lockout Chip:
www.kevtris.org/mappers/lockou...
Codemasters NES Game List:
gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/c...
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:33 Unlicensed NES Games
3:54 Ultimate Stuntman
5:20 Big Nose the Caveman
6:32 Galoob
7:04 Micro Machines on NES
11:37 Game Breaking Glitch
13:04 Conclusion
14:01 Outtro
Special thanks to the following users from pexels.com for the stock footage:
霍天赐, A frame in motion, Andrew Hanson, Anna Hinckel, Artem Podrez, Caleb Oquendo, Cottonbro, Curtis Adams, David McBee, Drones Scot, EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA, Free Videos, George Morina, Glen McBride, Jack Sparrow, Joseph Redfield, Kampus Production, Karolina Grabowska, Kelly, Kindel Media, Ksenia Chernaya, Mikhail Nilov, Miguel Á. Padriñán, Mike B, Monstera, Nicole Michalou, Pavel Danilyuk, Pete Wales, Polina Tankilevitch, Pressmaster, RODNAE Productions, Steve B, Thirdman,Tiger Lily, Tima Miroshnichenko, Tom Fisk, Tony Schnagl, Vlada Karpovich, Yan Krukov, Yaroslav Shuraev
Special thanks to streambeats.com for the music used in this video.
#nes #codemasters #roadto10k

[@Deadguy2322forreal]

The Micro Machines license was easy to acquire, since Camerica was actually a division of Galoob.

[@Larry]

Camerica = Codemasters America.

[@Naedlus]

@@Larry The company existed before hand for crystal pieces and for pottery. They wouldn't publish for Code Masters for another two years

[@polocatfan]

@@Naedlus yeah you tell him.

[@MikeStavola]

​@@Larryit was actually a portmanteau of Canada and America, but I like that more. They had deals with both Codemasters (North American publishing rights) and with Galoob (Canadian distribution) to make it all happen.

[@RawrX32009]

​@@NaedlusAcronyms can change meanings over time

[@robertdanker6193]

I remember the Tengen games back in the day. As a kid i didn't know why the carts looked different only to find out they were unlicensed years later.

[@GarlicMonoxide]

Same. Pacman. Tetris..and alien syndrome stick out for me.

[@MrBoyYankee]

Pacman, Ms.Pacman, Shinobi & the gauntlet games were superb on the NES.

[@eucalipto9724]

i kinda lice the lack of music on these kind of games cause then you can blast your own playlist while still listen to the cars and engines. im familiar with micro machines but didnt knew where it came from. nice video! thanks!

[@Sparkledash1]

I feel like Micro Machines is a game that is less talked about when people talk about the 8 and 16 bit. All the micro machines versions, be it on the NES, SNES, Genesis and even PC where incredibly fun games, singleplayer and multiplayer wise. Truly one of the hidden gems of that era.

[@OnafetsEnovap]

Indeed - the Master System version, particularly. :)

[@chriswillis4960]

Oddly, I completely forgot Micro Machines was unlicensed, thought I should have known via the fact that it was made by Code Masters, one of my favorite Code Masters games was Bee 52, a fun little game where you play as a Bumble Bee collecting Honey from flowers and you have to avoid and/or destroy obstacles to get to the flowers to get the honey and then return to the hive to store it, it also has a risk/reward factor as the more honey you have the more it weights you down, meaning you have to decide how much you can carry and still make it back safely.

[@ThatDjinn]

Big Nose Freaks Out (second Big Nose game) and Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy were my childhood favorites. I remember talking with friends about what items we were using where to try to figure out and beat Dizzy, but none of us ever actually did.

[@ShelbyAQD]

Neat stuff. And that brief footage of Big Nose may have just shown me a game I've been trying to remember for decades, so thanks! One minor nitpick I have with this vid, though, is that I feel like you linger a smidge too long on transitions. Like, you have a nice flow, then the current section ends and just kinda hangs there for a moment. But, admittedly, that may just be me being too particular about a non-issue.

[@TheKillerNacho]

Played the Genesis version a ton as a kid, not aware that it started as an unlicensed NES game. Thanks for the history!

[@Kennephone]

I gotta say, I love your channel. I just discovered it yesterday and I've already watched a ton of your atari videos. Probably my favorite retro gaming channel. When I think of unlicensed games, I think of nintendo and the nes.

[@jakenicholson926]

When I hear ‘unlicensed’, I think flea market and a game made with a camcorder.

[@RockyP77]

I really dig your style and delivery.... idk what it is, but it makes me smile and I have a good time :)

[@einsteinims]

Would be neat to see Code Masters explored more. Usually, Dizzy is the first thing to come to mind when I think of them. I know they also had some unlicensed games on the Genesis, but Sega was generally less uptight than Nintendo about that kind of thing. Also, it's criminal to me that you aren't getting orders of magnitude more views. Your videos clearly come from a place of love both for videos games and for the interesting stories surrounding them. Keep up the great work! I was wondering, though, do you have any socials where viewers could engage with you and your content more? Perhaps a Discord server to hang out in?

[@pojr]

Really appreciate the kind words! Even if the growth is small, I appreciate the community we have right now. I've actually thought about making a discord community. Would you guys be down for that? I do have a smaller community, so I'm not sure if it would be very active.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

I heard that Codemasters did get a license from Sega, but it was after they already started developing without one, which may explain some funny cartridge designs and compatibility issues with their Master System games.

[@SoulforSale]

You could go for days with Dizzy

[@ccricers]

My local video store had this multi-cart and other Codemasters carts. Dizzy was fun, but hard and I didn't get very far in the game. And Bee 52 in particular is a twist on the flying shooter genre I don't see mentioned often.

[@caiusmadison2996]

I personally like the challenge(near impossible trust me) of Super Robin Hood, one of their action 4 games.

[@RainePhoenix]

One of my favorite unlicensed NES games is Krazy Kreatures by American Video Entertainment. It was a puzzle game of a sort where the screen would fill with bizarre animals and random things, and you had to match 3 or more in order to clear them. Each level would continue to fill until a certain amount of time had elapsed, then it was up to you to clear as much as you can before the timer ran out. The coolest feature about this game is that it was also 2-player co-op as well, which really made the game intense and frenetic. It's a very fun, unique game.

[@lukesmith9692]

I honestly love deathbots and solitaire for some reason

[@ccricers]

My local video store had this multi-cart and other Codemasters carts. Dizzy was fun but hard and I didn't get very far in the game. And Bee 52 in particular is a twist on the flying shooter genre I don't see mentioned often.

[@colecantos3273]

Thank you for reading my Tedium article as part of the research for this (I'm the writer and can't believe I wrote that five years ago). I'm still a huge Codemasters fan. Did you know they released an entire collection of these titles for the Evercade?

[@themidcentrist]

Back in the day me and my friend dreamed about a magical NES cartridge that had every NES game ever made on it, both licensed and otherwise. It was a pure fantasy to us that such a thing could exist...certainly it was impossible that anyone could actually make one in the real world. Turns out me and my friend weren't the only ones who had that crazy dream since I now have one of these magical cartridges plugged into my AV Famicom😍.

[@federicovolpi3195]

now you can play snes games also on your watch... what a world

[@FigureFarter]

@@federicovolpi3195And even game boy color on the calculator

[@superbros64deluxe]

I wish one day a company like Digital Eclipse could give us a collection of code masters games such as the entire Dizzy the egg franchise.

[@AmaroqStarwind]

When I think "unlicensed game, but actually good", I also think "fangame".

[@pojr]

i don't blame you for that one lol.

[@jimmyclaw9974]

I think this is the first pojr video to cover a game I’ve actually played since Werewolf: The Last Warrior

[@Dootium]

My favorite Camerica NES game was Big Nose the Caveman :)

[@Dootium]

Still trying to find a copy of Big Nose Freaks Out

[@pojr]

It's a decent platformer, like a Super Mario Bros type game.

[@JacknVictor]

They did a really good job on the NES version of this, especially with what they had to work with, but it really shines on the Amiga version. The amount of times I was late for school while playing micro machines while eating my breakfast is ridiculous.

[@ahirunakamura9592]

Dizzy, Linus and Big Nose were my favorite Code Masters games from back then!

[@FeralInferno]

Interesting how they got around the lockout chip with a jolt. I wonder what the lifespan of those high voltage carts was lol.

[@greenaum]

It was actually a negative voltage, -5V I think. But yeah you've got a point. Imagine breaking your NES playing "Bible Adventure" or whatever!

[@marsilies]

Note that this will fry the top-loader NES, because Nintendo removed the CIC chip, so instead that line goes to important hardware and destroys it.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

​@@marsilies Nintendo: "You want to play unlicensed? You won't be playing anything ever again!"

[@TKdaFox1]

​@@marsilies you could also just remove that pin

[@techdistractions]

there's a few that spring to mind: - Sidewinder and Vindicators, excellent arcade ports

[@SNESMike]

Alwa's Awakening. Hands down best unlicensed game. If it was released during the NES's lifetime, it would been an AAA title (despite the insane difficulty near the end).

[@Tricob1974]

There was also the Tengen version of Ms. Pac-man. It had all the functionality of the original, but it also had numerous options added ... along with a few sets of newer mazes as well. It was not a system exclusive, but it's arguably the best version that Tengen provided us.

[@liltoad9050]

Yeah, the tengen ms pac man was superior over the official namco ms pac man

[@ajthefunkmonster4767]

The "Strange" maze layout slapped hard as well

[@greenaum]

If you like Codemasters, you could do a bit on their Aladdin Deck Enhancer. It was a cart that contained a way to defeat the 10NES, and a couple of other bits and pieces. You would insert it into the NES, and insert a small cart containing the game into the Aladdin. That way Codemasters didn't have to defeat the chip with every cart, just once then you bought the games as just ROM. Made it cheaper for them. And there were some good games, including 2 Dizzy ones, their famous egg adventurer. Of course it pissed Nintendo right off. It's maybe a bit of a repeat of this video, but there were 7 carts released (out of 24 planned), it was a bit late in the NES's life. But interesting, and there's lots of good games you could show footage of. In the UK, their home country, Codemasters were a bit of a joke, they released tons of cheap games for the Spectrum, C64, and Amstrad. "Something of other simulator", and often they were pretty crap. Computer magazines at the time used to take the piss. But I suppose it's economics, they seemed to put the effort into the NES versions. 30 quid or so, compared to £1.99 for their cheap games on cassette.

[@chdreturns]

Aladdin took an upper decker in my toilet ALADDIN TOOK AN UPPER DECKER IN MY TOILET! Can't think of that product without thinking of that AVGN episode.

[@OnafetsEnovap]

I find most of their cheap games for the home computers more enjoyable and playable than a lot of console titles, to be honest (I grew up at the tail-end of that era, so maybe I have a slight bias) - they're more creative and original than the corporate console games being produced at the time.

[@KoopaMedia64]

A fun and similar topic you should cover is licensed NES games that have an unlicensed look and feel, like Color Dreams quality. Some immediate candidates I think of include Rocky & Bullwinkle, anything by Hi-Tech Expressions, PAL Aladdin and PAL The Lion King.

[@fabricatedego]

I never realized this game was unlicensed as a kid nor the Tengen games back then. I played the heck out of some Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom back in the day. Micro Machines I remember renting, but don't remember renting it on NES maybe Genesis or SNES but I do remember playing it which is odd.

[@Charredasperity]

Codemasters had a long history with racing games after this, as they developed the Colin McRae/DiRT series

[@jasonz7788]

Awesome thanks

[@omni-shadow-topiaakaconrad2009]

for me the first code master game is actualy the quatro adventure compilation from there i discovered dizzy and linus serie of game and another thing i love a lot of code master is there music style

[@AirZonkWorldChamp]

I also liked Fire Hawk and Mig29 from Code Masters too.

[@pojr]

yeah those are solid titles. haven't played fire hawk, but mig 29 is absolutely fantastic. basically a better version of top gun on the NES.

[@OtakuNoShitpost]

And here I was expecting Tengen Tetris

[@pojr]

I do cover Tengen Tetris in a different video!

[@Dwedit]

The information about the lockout chip has a lot of mistakes. Tengen illegally got a copy of the lockout chip's program from the Copyright office rather than anything to do with patents. And lockout chip stun works by sending a *high* voltage of the wrong polarity to the lockout chip rather than a low voltage. Camerica/Codemasters also used a lockout stun circuit, just like Colordreams. Their lockout stun was more refined than what Colordreams used, but was the same idea. The switch on the cartridge is just for turning off the lockout stun circuit.

[@pojr]

My bad. I was having trouble understanding and explaining the legal and technical stuff. I appreciate you explaining it. I do want my videos to be 100% accurate and not misleading.

[@MK-of7qw]

I forgot about Micromachines... That game was amazing.

[@f.k.b.16]

I like this title! Could have been called Micro Machines by Code Masters... And I probably wouldn't have cared but this got me interested and I appreciate your efforts making it!

[@pojr]

thanks! i experimented with different titles, and this one was my favorite.

[@chrisb6079]

It was the game I thought of lol you still got me here though

[@HFOfficial]

Tengen Tetris deserves this title, ngl

[@edwin3928ohd]

I may not go back and purposely play micro machines for fun, but I can say that about most NES games. Mario 3 and 2 being exceptions. (And sometimes my guilty pleasure, Castlevania II). However, micro machines is a very solid game for the NES.

[@pojr]

yeah i only have a handful of NES games i replay. if i made a top 10 list, micro machines wouldn't be anywhere close to that list, but for an unlicensed game it's pretty solid.

[@michaelsegal3558]

3:28 I have that game it’s called Big Nose The Caveman

[@wolfik555]

I really want NES Codemasters games to come to Switch.

[@JRBowling1997]

Did any of these classics get re released on Nintendo switch?

[@intel386DX]

How actually this switch A and B even work ? Aan what about this glitch first revision with added PCB, how it looks inside, and it should be very rare and expensive cartridge?

[@wiggy8912]

The switch on the carts short-circuited the 10NES chip, literally disabling it entirely. “A” enables the short-circuit, “B” opens the circuit. Why was there a B setting at all? Because top-loading and aftermarket/bootleg consoles didn’t have the 10NES chip inside, so the short would damage the game and/or console. It’s was a really stupid way to bypass the lockout, but I guess they got away with it without any legal issues.

[@pojr]

I always thought it was strange to do it this way, always having to flip a switch for no apparent reason. Color Dreams games didn't have to do this.

[@JonathanLopez-tw8ef]

nice

[@pixelsncreatures]

The only unlicensed games I've ever had were Tengen.. I have all of em too. I think lol

[@desiv1170]

I'd rate that higher than 31... MicroMachines is one of my favorite NES games...

[@pojr]

I was genuinely surprised at how good it was. Could have passed as an officially licensed game.

[@imspunchdakoopa]

Pac-Man Championship Edition got a semi-unofficial demake on the Famicom

[@michaelsegal3558]

I have the Code Masters game Big Nose The Caveman

[@wolftales5203]

Super Sprint is an amazing unlicensed nes game

[@amydoesart3724]

My personal favorite unlicensed game is noa's 3D ark because like, its Just wolfestein

[@dyscotopia]

Codemasters business model with the 8 bit micros in Britain was to undercut other publishers for something of good but not stellar quality. Cheap and cheerful. They had a very long string of games starring an egg named Dizzy

[@jeffrielly]

Captain Comando and the Dizzy (despite it being weird) series werent to bad.

[@WhoniverseReview]

The a/b switch on the games is just for NTSC/PAL switching. It has nothing to do with the lockout

[@jpjokela1]

While the video is obviously just about Code Masters, title suggests otherwise. Therefore, it's weird to not include the first & better Tetris port to the system, released by Tengen. The later Nintendo version isn't bad either, but doesn't even include 2 player mode! Also, you could have underlined better the reasons why Code Masters didn't want to become official licensed developers: They already had booming business on 8bit home computers (mostly Zx Spectrum & C64), and getting a license would have meant having to throw all of that away (they may not port the same games to the other systems) And since NES wasn't very popular at that time in the UK (or the rest of the europe), that would have been a big gamble.

[@joetheman74]

It's freakin Code Masters. Does anything else really need to be said? They make some of the best and most popular racing games still today.

[@DeadKoby]

Code Masters had a BIG dizzy game that had HOURS of gameplay even if you knew all the puzzles.

[@stevemelo]

I would argue that Tengen's Tetris is technically the best unlicensed game on the NES. Not better than the official Tetris on NES, but they did have a 2 player mode.

[@Mahaveez]

Oh hey, i bought that one from my local shop for like $25. Think i did pretty good.

[@LVPB]

I alwaysed loved that Bee52 game from codemasters. Codemaster actually had some good stuff along with horrible ones

[@nathanfindley399]

Are you related to Dustin from stranger things or a toned down post mallone

[@JoshuaMiller-ny5uf]

So, that was exactly what I thought.

[@pojr]

Nice! It's commonly regarded as one of the best unlicensed games.

[@exodous02]

Our rental place had Micro Machines and I didn't like it back then. We owned RC PRO-AM and that was a way better game I thought. I haven't played Micro Machines for a long time though.

[@GotNextVideo]

There are quite a few unlicensed games that are good. Shout out to the Hong Kong bootleg of Lion King for being better than the official one.

[@pojr]

True, there are quite a few of them out there, some of which I've talked about on this channel

[@LuckyBird551]

Micro Machines was unlicensed? But the game is so good!

[@mirabilis]

I've tried to enjoy MM several times, but I can't. A few levels in and it's much to hard for me.

[@rustymixer2886]

Final fight 3 bootleg is awesome

[@UltimatePerfection]

TFW you invent game patches for NES games just because you're unwilling to throw away broken ROMs.

[@georgeDeming]

they diserved to be licensed alot more than ljn did.

[@cliffjumper1984]

Stuntman and big nose...great music. Oof. No IMO But micro machines and the adventures of dizzy is my jimmy jam. Did enjoy the vid

[@michaelsegal3558]

Fun fact Camerica is actually a Canadian company not American

[@Vanessinha91Pucca]

Kramerica?

[@finnylettuce8566]

Krazy Kreatures is another great unlicensed game

[@scottydu81]

Spiritual Warfare is a decent Zelda clone made by Wisdom Tree

[@oaf-77]

I would have guessed Tetris

[@thewingedavenger1007]

Rolling Thunder

[@jeffm5056]

I hope Richard Darling goes by Dick Darling these days. He should. Dude would get ALL the pr0n stars. Also, Tengen Tetris is by far the best unlicensed NES game.

[@Ayrshore]

I've paused this less than 30 seonds in.. Good unlicenced NES games? Loads. Atari Tetris, Micro machines and Dizzy being the best.

[@Lovuschka]

You're right. It's not what I think. I thhought the best unlicensed NES game is Bioforce Ape.

[@FatAlbertFanClub]

Everybody knows the best unlicensed Nintendo game is Super Noah's Ark 3D

[@funkalicious2002]

In what world is codemasters underrated?

[@the_kombinator]

4 different types of Tetris lol.

[@MisterSpeedStacking]

Let's be honest, it's only notable because of it being unlicensed. It doesn't deserve a top 50 spot in the best NES games list, let alone #31

[@tlazohtlalia]

Codemasters had a game called Dirt

[@greenaum]

Dude, you've got a small channel but you seem serious about it, and I wanna share a couple of opinions. #1 is drop the clickbait titles. If you wanna clickbait, do one of those "lifehack" channels showing unusual ways to use a pencil eraser that don't actually work. Second is, you're a little bit off some of the facts, but only a little bit, I've been in this hobby for far too long so I can't blame you for not knowing everything, but do your best when you're researching. I think your titles need to be descriptive of the content, and not have every one of them be a question. It's a cheap technique to do that, it draws people's curiosity but it also starts to irritate them after a while. I just watched your video on the Centipede title screen, and it didn't actually explain it! You mentioned it used sprites and repetition, and sure it did, but what about the centipede jiggling in the middle? Is he players, or the ball at different widths, or what? Missiles? It'd be nice for you to go through each object on the screen and explain how they're all done. Just some feedback on how I feel, I watch loads of these videos, I was collecting Atari and Sinclair stuff before the Playstation came out. And now people claim the Playstation is "retro"! NEVER! Not on my watch! But never mind that, good luck with the future of the channel.

[@gamingguy9006]

Don't dis the cheetahmen music

[@macmacox]

I like Krazy Kreatures better than Micro Machines. Micro Machines is still an A tier NES game.

[@mikel6989]

Algorithm pleasing comment

[@AdamAtrocity17]

Spiritual Warfare by Wisdom Tree is a pretty good game. Yeah, it's Christian themed but don't let that stop you from giving it a legitimate try. It's like The Legend of Zelda but set in a semi-modern world where you go on a quest to defeat Satan himself! It's also for the Sega Genesis which has slightly better music.

[@beardsntools]

I like the part where you repeated yourself towards the end of the video. the conclusion segment is not needed. But it would be better if that was the whole video.

[@f.k.b.16]

???? Good games with crappy graphics or sound Crappy games with great graphics or sound

[@geog26]

bro ,all nes racing games track you potition in races wtf are u on about =))))))))

[@danieldoherty420]

So you're talking about games, but it takes you four and a half minutes before you name a game. You should work on your editing. Don't tell us what you're about to tell us. If you have to introduce it, give us a sentence or two before jumping in. If there were a TikTok about the same subject the entire thing would be over before your video really got started. Of course KZbin is a slower medium, but that means you have more time to talk about your content, not more time to put off getting started.