Firecore Super Arcade

[davidstech]

I recently picked something up from Amazon marketplace that is very intriguing. It is the Firecore Super Arcade Interactive Sports Games, and it is yet another clone of the Wii. Unfortunately, the one I ordered was the last they had and I cannot find anywhere else selling it - I think it may be a Brazilian release. Also, the instructions talk about your "Nova Console" - nova is Portuguese for new. The box also proudly claims 110 games in 1 - but I will talk about that more later.

First of all, it has the killer feature of being able to play Genesis/Mega Drive carts, which is a great feature. The first of built-in games are 20 16-bit games, 7 of which are the pretty decent interactive sports games, the rest filler type games. The sports games have no credits, but the other 16-bit games have a TecToy logo and also credit Devworks Game Technology. Both of these appear to be based in Brazil, and in Brazil Mega Drive/Genesis-based hardware is still common, which increase the likelihood that this was a Brazilian release.

Then there are 95 more games, listed as “Bonus Games” (yes, that totals to 115 games - 4.5% extra free ). These are all hacks of Famicom games, and the background for the game selection screen is the same as on the 101-in-1 Arcade Action and the 88-in-1 joystick. The games are also a similar selection to these two other consoles. However, the sound on these games is really screwed up – I ended up muting the television.

The confusing part of this is that it plays both 8-bit Famicom games (the 95 bonus games) and 16-bit Mega Drive/Genesis (the 16-bit games and the cartridge slot) games. I suspect there is some kind of emulation going on, which explains the screwed-up sound for both cases. Also, there is something available which is also referenced to in the manual called the Firecore Passport which lets you plays ROMs of an SD card.

I can provide pictures/game lists if anyone wants them.

[taizou]

Is it anything like this?
http://www.dooyoo.de/konsolen/millennium-super-arcade/1393501/
i've always been slightly interested in that one, especially since the first two 8-bit games listed in that review (Space Shuttle & Panda Adventure) seem to be ABABsoft/ex-Hummer Team games .. are they on yours too?

[Awesome Panda]

davidstech

Feb 2 2011, 01:49:37 PM

The confusing part of this is that it plays both 8-bit Famicom games (the 95 bonus games) and 16-bit Mega Drive/Genesis (the 16-bit games and the cartridge slot) games. I suspect there is some kind of emulation going on, which explains the screwed-up sound for both cases. Also, there is something available which is also referenced to in the manual called the Firecore Passport which lets you plays ROMs of an SD card.[/quote]Screwed up sound? I'm pretty sure with the Famicom it's because the hacks on the cartridge are made by tone-deaf arseholes, but I think it is poor emulation with the Mega Drive games. Some of AtGames Mega Drive clones have the same problem.

[davidstech]

taizou

Feb 2 2011, 02:05:05 PM

Is it anything like this?
http://www.dooyoo.de/konsolen/millennium-super-arcade/1393501/
i've always been slightly interested in that one, especially since the first two 8-bit games listed in that review (Space Shuttle & Panda Adventure) seem to be ABABsoft/ex-Hummer Team games .. are they on yours too?[/quote]That does look similar, but mine has a different selection of games. Also, it has 95 instead of 90 8-bit games  - I think mine is a new revision or something. However, the 20 16-bit games are the same.

[taizou]

I just picked up the German version with 110 games - the sports games seem to be Mega Drive ports of the ones from the Wiii3/WiWi. apart from those and the Tectoy/Devworks stuff theres one AtGames original, "Mahjong Solitaire". which is what the name suggests. with terrible music.

the 90 8-bit games are mostly just Nice Code stuff, excluding the first two by (ex-)Hummer, and a few scattered hacks and weird things. notably "Across River", a Frogger clone starring something that almost looks like Jigglypuff, with the music from Mars's Pokemon Gold port. it also has Jungle Adventure (glitchy Panda Prince boss rush), Lair's Secret (hack of Sachen's Rockball with Panda Prince music) and Magic Block (a Tetris clone with Sachen-esque music) which I'd only seen on the D-Cat until now.oh yeah, and I think the 8-bit hardware might be a separate Famiclone rather than emulation. i've tried running actual Mega Drive games on it, licensed stuff seems to work fine but Legend of Wukong (the English version by Super Fighter Team) makes it freak out a bit, and it looks like its running the Famiclone and the Mega Drive clone/emu at the same time - the 90 in 1 menu starts up, but the picture's really unstable and flickery and at the same time its displaying what I assume is the MD side saying "SRAM Error!".

it also has a PAL/NTSC switch on the back that doesnt seem to do anything. woo.

[Awesome Panda]

taizou

May 4 2011, 11:34:01 AM

"Across River", a Frogger clone starring something that almost looks like Jigglypuff, with the music from Mars's Pokemon Gold port.[/quote]And I thought it would be impossible to screw up a Frogger clone.

[taizou]

well if theres one thing i've learnt from pirates and cheapo plug-&-play games over the years, its that you can screw up anything

makes me wonder if some of the games on these consoles might be developed by Mars/Union Bond or someone related though. my Excalibur 101 in 1 joypad has Fun Click which is just a de-pokemoned version of Picaclick from Union Bond's Pokemon 4 in 1.

[Awesome Panda]

taizou

May 4 2011, 06:31:56 PM

my Excalibur 101 in 1 joypad has Fun Click which is just a de-pokemoned version of Picaclick from Union Bond's Pokemon 4 in 1.[/quote]That one appears on a few other Famiclones like the Console TV. Not sure where the Union Bond link is there, and what I find odd is that the other three games off the Pokémon 4-in-1 don't appear anywhere else.

[taizou]

ah yeah, forgot about the Console TV. but it is weird that only Fun/Picaclick showed up elsewhere.. I think I've heard the music from Pacman in some other game too. but maybe not.

[Awesome Panda]

I'm willing to bet that Union Bond just took Funclick and added Pikachu so that it doesn't look out of place on the Pokémon 4-in-1. Doesn't explain the Pokémon Gold music in the Frogger clone though. Incidentally, does the game look like either the Hwang Shinwei or JungleTac versions?

[taizou]

Maybe.. the title screens of Funclick/Picaclick and Pacman are very similar though, and all the games on the Pokemon cart have a similar style of music, so it does kinda seem to me like Funclick was originally designed to be part of the 4 in 1 and they decided to make a separate non-copyright-infringing version for famiclones at some point.

the Frogger clone doesn't resemble either Hwang Shinwei's or Jungletac's though - levels 1-10 just have you crossing a river, and in 11-20 you're crossing a road. then 21 onwards combine the two like real frogger.

[NintariousFamicreep]

Firecore? Like on those AtGames Sega Genesis consoles?

[taizou]

Yeah exactly.

[Chowdit1]

Awesome Panda

May 4 2011, 12:02:27 PM

taizou

May 4 2011, 11:34:01 AM

"Across River", a Frogger clone starring something that almost looks like Jigglypuff, with the music from Mars's Pokemon Gold port.[/quote]And I thought it would be impossible to screw up a Frogger clone.[/quote]That's sad. I thought Sachen's Frogger clone, was already bad enough.   ("Worm Visiter")

taizou

May 4 2011, 06:31:56 PM

well if theres one thing i've learnt from pirates and cheapo plug-&-play games over the years, its that you can screw up anything

makes me wonder if some of the games on these consoles might be developed by Mars/Union Bond or someone related though. my Excalibur 101 in 1 joypad has Fun Click which is just a de-pokemoned version of Picaclick from Union Bond's Pokemon 4 in 1.[/quote]Yep. I would imagine that Hummer Team's ones are probably good, but some of them suck majorly, like that Wii clone, that (I think) Tweeterman287 reviewed. Hell, alot of official ones SUCK, like that SpongeBob 5-in-1. It ruined my childhood, somewhat. Well, I only hate it now, back then, I was more stupid, to actually feel like, that I *actually* liked it. But no, it's as bad as Action 52. Hell, now, I rather play Action 52 *somewhat* more than that (fucking) SpongeBob plug-in-play. God, it pisses me off, with boredom. >_< :angry2: Piece of shit. By the way, it seems to be NES / Famicom software, but 2x more better graphics, than it. It was made in 2003, pretty much, when I was first watching SpongeBob (sadly, around when the old classic episodes were close to an end), and had the plug-in-play. The only thing that was mostly cool about was the console design, and the sprites, otherwise, everything else, pretty much sucks. With such cheap rip-offs of other games, such as the original Donkey Kong, to Breakout, ... :angry: :angry2: ... AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I need an AVGN quote!!!

[taizou]

Chowdit1

Dec 20 2014, 07:55:10 PM

Hell, alot of official ones SUCK, like that SpongeBob 5-in-1. It ruined my childhood, somewhat. Well, I only hate it now, back then, I was more stupid, to actually feel like, that I *actually* liked it. [/quote]if you liked it then you liked it. you were presumably a young kid at that point and it is aimed at young kids, clearly it served its purpose, what's wrong with that? the fact that your tastes have changed now doesn't invalidate the fact that you liked it back then, and it certainly doesnt mean it "ruined your childhood" because as a child you literally enjoyed it. like dude dont let all this relentless internet negativity and avgn bullshit make you feel like you have to hate everything and that you have to judge childrens entertainment by your current standards because its totally not worth it.