Gamate Discussion

[Macaw]

Holy moly postman you sure are crazy, you should have waited till the the guy had put the price down to at least 200 or something cause no one else is willing to spend nearly that much, I should know cause up until this point I was always the highest bidder on gamate crap hahaha.

The info is much appreciated, I wonder if #70 was the last. I finished game #69 and I think the date in the staff roll was mid-late 1994. The slightly earlier Robin Hood was dated January 1994. If #70 was the last then it probably would have been very early 1995. If you finish it the staff roll will most likely have a month along with the year, like seemingly all the late-era UMC gmes have.

Did you manage to snag that recent BIN auction of the Incantational Couple btw? I'm still curious as to what genre of game it is so I can update my now almost complete Gamate list.

[Mr. Postman]

Macaw

May 17 2013, 12:58:50 PM

Holy moly postman you sure are crazy, you should have waited till the the guy had put the price down to at least 200 or something cause no one else is willing to spend nearly that much, I should know cause up until this point I was always the highest bidder on gamate crap hahaha.

The info is much appreciated, I wonder if #70 was the last. I finished game #69 and I think the date in the staff roll was mid-late 1994. The slightly earlier Robin Hood was dated January 1994. If #70 was the last then it probably would have been very early 1995. If you finish it the staff roll will most likely have a month along with the year, like seemingly all the late-era UMC gmes have.

Did you manage to snag that recent BIN auction of the Incantational Couple btw? I'm still curious as to what genre of game it is so I can update my now almost complete Gamate list.[/quote]Hi Macaw, I would have waited but the Canadian bidder was buying all the good stuff up quick. I offered $125 for the Incantational with a $165 counter-offer, but the Canadian buyer bought it before I could think it over. $400 is a lot of money, but if this copy of Insect War is the only one that's ever surfaced (boxed and complete no less) I wanted it before it would be gone forever (It's been 18 years and nobody even knew it existed at all, and being from 1995 and possibly the final Gamate title is the icing on the cake). In the big picture, a one of a kind vintage official game for the price I paid is a complete steal IMO, whether or not the Gamate has been appreciated yet by the masses.

I'm hoping that there will be a way to emulate these games soon, as I'm utterly sick of the blurry Gamate screen that renders these games almost unplayable. I just received an MSX SoftCard adaptor, but the Gamate cards have thicker plastic and won't fit perfectly (but the pinout is near identical). The Amiga and Commodore also had SoftCard adapters, but I'd like to make the MSX one work since it would be so easy to dump. I'll wire up the MSX adapter to a genesis pinout and see if I can dump with the Retrode. I can only hope that Bit Corp was too lazy to alter the SoftCard pinout for their Gamate console. To answer a possible follow up question, SoftCard MSX games don't boot on the gamate.

As for Insect War, it's like Cave's Mushihime-Sama meets Konami's Gradius. It has 6 levels, and is quite difficult. You will die if you come in contact with stage backgrounds/obstacles. There's front/reverse basic fire functions, and a hefty slew of power-ups & shot types. Your ship's speed is painfully slow before you acquire a first speed-up power up, and if you die you must restart at the very beginning of the stage just like Gradius. There's a moderately extensive option menu (with the Gamate in mind), and each of the 6 stages have different layouts with their own unique bosses.

[Macaw]

Trust me, I'm just happy its you that got the game. Even if the game had a $10 BIN and I didn't see the auction in time I wouldn't feel bad at all if I knew you were the one that got it. The most important thing to me is discovering these cool and unique games and sharing information and screenshots with anyone else that wants to know about them, far better than if some kind of collector with no intention to ever play the game for more than 30 seconds got it.

Side scrolling shooters tend to be less interesting to me than other types of action games like platformers or whatever, but Insect War does look pretty interesting due its theme and that crazy cover art hahaha. I would love to know what the bosses are like and if they are impressive at all in terms of size and design.

By the way thats the 2nd Incantation Couple to show up in a year, and meanwhile no copies of early UMC era stuff like Punk Boy and Metamorphosiser have shown up in 2+ years, so I guess a lot of this stuff has similar rarity after all, Incantational Couple just seemed to be super rare because Jonathon Lux never saw a copy in his 3-4 years of collecting the system.

[Mr. Postman]

Scored a boxed copy of Hannibal the Cat (shmup), and also got a second loose copy of Kiki Island!

Kiki Island is an amazingly rare Adventure Island style game, and Hannibal the cat also speaks for itself.
Never hurts to build up the ol' Gamate collection.

[Macaw]

Ah so the spanish guy finally put the price on those down

Would love some screenshots of Insect War and Hannibal the cat if possible (a boss screenshot of each game in particular considering there aren't any on the back of the boxes) although I know how damn hard it can be taking decent photo's of gamate screens haha.

Did you get the loose Dinosaur Park from Sickertus way back? I'm still curious to know what that one is like.

[Mr. Postman]

Macaw

Nov 6 2013, 08:21:00 AM

Ah so the spanish guy finally put the price on those down

Would love some screenshots of Insect War and Hannibal the cat if possible (a boss screenshot of each game in particular considering there aren't any on the back of the boxes) although I know how damn hard it can be taking decent photo's of gamate screens haha.

Did you get the loose Dinosaur Park from Sickertus way back? I'm still curious to know what that one is like.[/quote]Yep, I'm a sucker for a price drop.

Right now I'm in the process of remodeling my home so my Gamate collection is in storage ATM. I also picked up a loose copy of Mighty Boxer, but haven't played it yet for the aforementioned reason.

When I get my Gamate stuff back in my home I'll gladly take any photos that I can. Insect War is really hard, but luckily there are plenty of images & screenshots in the manual. I might have to build a little kiosk-like stand so I can clamp the Gamate into something to get some nice videos as well. Ultimately, I would love to have someone build me a dumper so we can finally enjoy these games on a screen that human eyes can actually see. ;P

And yes, I did get sickertus' copy of Dinosaur Park. The game has beautiful large sprites, but is difficult. In the story mode the text scrolls by so fast that I couldn't read it unless I took a video and watched it in slow motion (and I'm the type of guy that always sets RPG games to a fast text-speed). I only played this game a couple of times, but if memory serves I was having trouble pulling off special moves. This may be because I'm either very bad at the game, or that I'm a paranoid collector and didn't want to handle my gamate in an aggressive "fighting game" fashion. Please keep in mind that when my package from Sickertus arrived I was overwhelmed by all the games that I bought. I guess I have no excuse for why I didn't revisit Dinosaur Park besides that I just got caught up trying to beat some of the other games.

By any chance have you played Kiki Island? If you enjoyed the Adventure Island/Takahashi Meijin games on the original GB, you'll also love this game. What do you think is the deal with most of the harder to find earlier numbered games? They always seem to stand out as being better quality than the more common Bit Corp games, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were delayed/cancelled titles that UMC eventually finished & published. For example, I don't own Mars Voyage but I expect that it's just as solid or close gameplay wise as Hannibal & Insect War?

[Macaw]

In regards to Dinosaur Park - I'm mainly curious to know if its a strict VS fighter where you choose a character and fight through opponents, or is it you only play as a single character and fight a series of unplayable bosses? Thats the vibe I was getting from the box cover art, although if there is a 'VS Mode' along with the 'story mode' I suppose all the fighters are playable in that, or somthing.

Never played Kiki Island, but seen screenshots on the back of the box. Theres definitely a 'middle period' in the gamate's evolution where UMC probably took over and put out releases such as Kiki Island, Fist of Thunder, Fortune n' Luck, Incantational Couple, etc. Indeed they are much more solid games that the pure trash quality of the early bitcorp stuff, although lots of the graphics and designs are usually still copied from Japanese games (Kiki Inland copies from Adventure Island, Fist of Thunder copies from the Hiryuu no Ken games, Fortress of Fear copies from Ikari no Yousai, Flying Goblin copies from Red Arremer, even just recently I realized that Metamorphosiser is essentially just a kind of remixed version of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game on Gameboy with some sprite edits, and thats a game that comes in the final era UMC packaging.

With the exception of a couple odd titles the only real 100% original games are the final wave of Asian only releases (game #58 and everything onwards)

[Mr. Postman]

Dinosaur park has a basic story mode where you can only play as the default character, which is a little boy (or girl??). There is a true vs mode where you can choose from all the characters as well. I can't remember how many there are to choose from, but I'm pretty sure there was at least 8. Being a later title, I don't believe there was link cable support unfortunately.

 I never did get a link cable to fully work. I did get baseball to display the title screen on two Gamates with only one cartridge and the second Gamate having no batteries in it (The second Gamate powers on automatically no matter which position the power switch is in as soon as you turn on the host/1P Gamate). However, when you press the start button it locks up. I couldn't get it to do anything at all with 2 copies of baseball. I'll mess with this more later when I have the extra free time. There's a *possibility* that I simply need to use a larger gauge of wire for the voltage, or that an AC adaptor with higher amps is needed with no batteries in either console.

[Macaw]

What other games apart from baseball supposedly are link compatible?

[Mr. Postman]

Macaw

Nov 12 2013, 03:52:59 AM

What other games apart from baseball supposedly are link compatible?[/quote] Well, Baseball and Fortune 'n Luck are compatible for sure. Kiki Island shows link cable support on the box, but I'm fairly positive that it's single player only. I'll have to go through every single game and see which have a 2P Option on the title screen that aren't 2P turn-based games.

 If you own a game that has a 2P option on the title screen that you *can't* select no matter which button you press, it's a link-cable compatible game. With my link cable plugged in, it will let you engage the 2P modes (which in my experience causes both consoles to freeze/lock-up after you select said option).

[Mr. Postman]

Mr. Macaw, may I ask which titles you own? I've copied and pasted the wikipedia list, and have put an "O" by those that I own and an "X" by those that I do not.





O    C1-001 Cube-Up
O    C1-002 Witty Apee
X    C1-003 Box Forum
O    C1-004 Mighty Tank
O    C1-005 Enchanted Bricks
O    C1-006 Mini Golf
O    C1-007 Galaxy Invaders
O    C1-008 Legend of Dragon Knight
O    C1-009 Tornado
X    C1-010 Bump N' Run
O    C1-011 Money Maze
X    C1-012 Pharaoh Revenger
O    C1-013 Dino Bibo
O    C1-014 Time Warrior
O    C1-015 Kill Shot
X    C1-016 Volcano Panic
O    C1-017 Devil Castle
O    C1-018 Kung-Fu Fighter
O    C1-019 Dino Ball
X    C1-020 Bad Bud Chou Chu's Adventure
O    C1-021 Myth of Asamia
O    C1-022 Pipemania
X    C1-023 Tennis
X    C1-024 Marauder
X    C1-025 Jackpot
X    C1-026 Flipuzzle
O    C1-027 Monster Pitfall
O    C1-028 Vindicators
O    C1-029 Brick Blaster
X    C1-030 Beach Volleyball
O    C1-031 Bomb Blaster
O    C1-032 Cosmic Fighter
X    C1-033 Fist of Thunder
X    C1-034 Superboy
O    C1-035 Treasure Hunter
O    C1-036 Jewelriss
O    C1-037 Nightmare of Santa Claus
X    C1-038 Mars Voyage
X    C1-039 Fortress of Fierceness
X    C1-040 Incantational Couple
O    C1-041 Mighty Boxer
X    C1-042 Flying Goblin
O    C1-043 Boom!
O    C1-044 Snowman Legend
X    C1-045 World Cup Soccer
O    C1-046 Kiki Inland (Kiki Island)
O    C1-047 Fortune 'n Luck
O    C1-048 Baseball (Super Baseball)
X    C1-049 Punk Boy
X    C1-050 Fortress Of Fierceness
X    C1-051
O    C1-052 Famous (7 Famous)
X    C1-053 Metamorphosiser (Tough Guy)
O    C1-054 Magic Jigsaw
X    C1-055
O    C1-056 GP Race
O    C1-057 Fantasy Travel
X    C1-058 Heaven Clash
X    C1-059
O    C1-060 Further Adventures of Hannibal The Cat
O    C1-061 Dinosaur Park
X    C1-062
O    C1-063 Basketball
X    C1-064 Bao Qing Tian
X    C1-065 Hot Hero (火爆英雄)
X    C1-066
X    C1-067 Robin Hood
X    C1-068 The Golden Pyramid
X    C1-069 Riddle of the Ancient Tomb
O    C1-070 Insect War

Multi-game cartridges

X    C1-401 4-in-1 (Mini Golf, Cube-Up, Brick Master, and Vindicators)

K1 series

X    K1-001 One Million Whys (緑野迷蹤)



--------------


We still have 5 unknown titles, and to be honest I've never seen photographic evidence of C1-020 Bad Bud Chou Chu's Adventure, C1-030 Beach Volley Ball or C1-034 SuperBoy. Heck, C1-070 Insect War was a big surprise to me when it surfaced.

BTW, the darn thing just came out 2 days ago but I would consider trading my opened but gently used PS4 to you if you could fill in enough of my X's with O's.  

I'd also trade my PS4 for the Super A'Can game F012: Rebel Star.

[Barver]

Have you seen the video on Youtube for Rebel Star? Not worth a PS4 Though I'd like to get all undumped games just so I could get them dumped so we can see progress with MESS's A'can emulation. Been eying Ruten forever but nothing not dumped ever comes up these days.

[fcgamer]

Mr. Postman

Nov 17 2013, 11:01:52 PM

Mr. Macaw, may I ask which titles you own? I've copied and pasted the wikipedia list, and have put an "O" by those that I own and an "X" by those that I do not.





O    C1-001 Cube-Up
O    C1-002 Witty Apee
X    C1-003 Box Forum
O    C1-004 Mighty Tank
O    C1-005 Enchanted Bricks
O    C1-006 Mini Golf
O    C1-007 Galaxy Invaders
O    C1-008 Legend of Dragon Knight
O    C1-009 Tornado
X    C1-010 Bump N' Run
O    C1-011 Money Maze
X    C1-012 Pharaoh Revenger
O    C1-013 Dino Bibo
O    C1-014 Time Warrior
O    C1-015 Kill Shot
X    C1-016 Volcano Panic
O    C1-017 Devil Castle
O    C1-018 Kung-Fu Fighter
O    C1-019 Dino Ball
X    C1-020 Bad Bud Chou Chu's Adventure
O    C1-021 Myth of Asamia
O    C1-022 Pipemania
X    C1-023 Tennis
X    C1-024 Marauder
X    C1-025 Jackpot
X    C1-026 Flipuzzle
O    C1-027 Monster Pitfall
O    C1-028 Vindicators
O    C1-029 Brick Blaster
X    C1-030 Beach Volleyball
O    C1-031 Bomb Blaster
O    C1-032 Cosmic Fighter
X    C1-033 Fist of Thunder
X    C1-034 Superboy
O    C1-035 Treasure Hunter
O    C1-036 Jewelriss
O    C1-037 Nightmare of Santa Claus
X    C1-038 Mars Voyage
X    C1-039 Fortress of Fierceness
X    C1-040 Incantational Couple
O    C1-041 Mighty Boxer
X    C1-042 Flying Goblin
O    C1-043 Boom!
O    C1-044 Snowman Legend
X    C1-045 World Cup Soccer
O    C1-046 Kiki Inland (Kiki Island)
O    C1-047 Fortune 'n Luck
O    C1-048 Baseball (Super Baseball)
X    C1-049 Punk Boy
X    C1-050 Fortress Of Fierceness
X    C1-051
O    C1-052 Famous (7 Famous)
X    C1-053 Metamorphosiser (Tough Guy)
O    C1-054 Magic Jigsaw
X    C1-055
O    C1-056 GP Race
O    C1-057 Fantasy Travel
X    C1-058 Heaven Clash
X    C1-059
O    C1-060 Further Adventures of Hannibal The Cat
O    C1-061 Dinosaur Park
X    C1-062
O    C1-063 Basketball
X    C1-064 Bao Qing Tian
X    C1-065 Hot Hero (火爆英雄)
X    C1-066
X    C1-067 Robin Hood
X    C1-068 The Golden Pyramid
X    C1-069 Riddle of the Ancient Tomb
O    C1-070 Insect War

Multi-game cartridges

X    C1-401 4-in-1 (Mini Golf, Cube-Up, Brick Master, and Vindicators)

K1 series

X    K1-001 One Million Whys (緑野迷蹤)



--------------


We still have 5 unknown titles, and to be honest I've never seen photographic evidence of C1-020 Bad Bud Chou Chu's Adventure, C1-030 Beach Volley Ball or C1-034 SuperBoy. Heck, C1-070 Insect War was a big surprise to me when it surfaced.

BTW, the darn thing just came out 2 days ago but I would consider trading my opened but gently used PS4 to you if you could fill in enough of my X's with O's.  

I'd also trade my PS4 for the Super A'Can game F012: Rebel Star.[/quote]I really want that Rebel Star game too, and just missed out on one not so long ago.

I have nine of the 12 Super A'can games CIB, a few are even sealed.  I want to complete this collection sooner rather than later, but it has been stagnant since about a year ago, when I found a game...since then, I have been sitting at 75% endlessly.  

[Mr. Postman]

Barver

Nov 18 2013, 03:19:19 AM

Have you seen the video on Youtube for Rebel Star? Not worth a PS4 Though I'd like to get all undumped games just so I could get them dumped so we can see progress with MESS's A'can emulation. Been eying Ruten forever but nothing not dumped ever comes up these days.[/quote]I just looked up the video, I'm incredibly disappointed to be honest. I always thought it was going to be a Raiden-like Shmup game, not a turn based strategy game.
Looks like I'll be sticking with the Gamate, as the rare titles for it are actually fun for the most part.Don't know if linked images automatically resize here or if large images are frowned upon, but here's the back covers for both Flying Goblin & Heaven Clash. It's really funny how UMC used essentially the same description for Flying Goblin as for Mars Voyage.

[Macaw]

Did you manage to grab those ebay auctions or did someone else beat you to em? I've been super lazy for about a year now and just occasionally go into ebay and search the completed listings lol.

I cant remember all my games, but some of the rarer ones i have include Mars Voyage, Volcano Panic, Punk Boy, Metamorphosiser, Ancient Tomb, Bao Qing Tian, Golden Pyramid and Robin Hood.