FC Game Super Maruo

[Protoman]

http://i.imgur.com/B91IwaM.jpg

The most expensive game at Super Potato. What is it? Just a hack version of Super Mario Bros 1?

[Shumi Nagaremono]

http://i.imgur.com/B91IwaM.jpg

The most expensive game at Super Potato. What is it? Just a hack version of Super Mario Bros 1?

It's the first unlicensed Famicom title.  It's also the first "adult" title.  It was available only through a mail-order and Nintendo shut even *that* down pretty quick.  

The main character sprite is *based* on Mario, but with no 'stache.  The game is an Atari-like single-screen experience where you try to rescue a woman from a dog.    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfzsAWvApqo

[fcgamer]

I would love to own this one someday, as well as some of the more expensive Famicom promotional carts.  Those prices are expensive though, and I honestly can't imagine dropping over a grand on an old game.  Then again, if I had the rest of my collection complete and were only missing this title, maybe I could see pulling the trigger, after several months of saving. 

These "holy grails" are what makes gaming / collecting fun, imo.  I hate when "uncommon" games like Lickle have the price driven up to stupid amounts, but I can appreciate the cost point of a truly rare item such as this.  A rare game for sure, but also a historically interesting / "important" game at that.

[MS-DOS4]

http://i.imgur.com/B91IwaM.jpg

The most expensive game at Super Potato. What is it? Just a hack version of Super Mario Bros 1?

Oh, that's damn cheap, AFAIK while ago loose cart went for about $5000

I question its legitimacy.

[Shumi Nagaremono]

http://i.imgur.com/B91IwaM.jpg

The most expensive game at Super Potato. What is it? Just a hack version of Super Mario Bros 1?

Oh, that's damn cheap, AFAIK while ago loose cart went for about $5000

I question its legitimacy.

The one at SP does have the switch.  I've given it a look over and if it's a fake it's an *incredibly* well done one.  I believe that, were there any question to its authenticity, it'd be a part of their "temporary display" rather than the highest priced item in the store. 

Tried to talk the wife into letting me buy it so I could do a full review, but sadly, she balked at spending more on a thirty year old unlicensed Famicom game than we spent on both of our first cars.   

[MasterDisk]

Quite a few fake Super Maruo cart arrived on the market in 2011. I wouldn't be surprised if Super Potato's is fake.

[bombman]

http://i.imgur.com/B91IwaM.jpg

The most expensive game at Super Potato. What is it? Just a hack version of Super Mario Bros 1?

It's the first unlicensed Famicom title.  It's also the first "adult" title.  It was available only through a mail-order and Nintendo shut even *that* down pretty quick. 

Well technically, it was phone order not mail order.

You can trust me as Im the source of all the currently known info on super maruo and also the source of the rom as I sent my copy off to be dumped by some stupid faggot who proceeded to make really embarrassing repros.
Post Merge: January 18, 2016, 04:14:59 am
Some more details. If I remember the details correctly (which I probably dont), it started selling around November 1986, limited to 500 copies as stated on one of the ads, but it wasn't a great seller... apparently most of the stock was still there by the time Nintendo threatened a lawsuit in January (according to one newspaper article.) I don't know what became of the lawsuit or if they sold all 500 copies, one of these days I'm gonna have to track down those old newspapers.

[bojler]

Hello all. I have been looking for a copy of this game with switch. Does anyone knows what switch does?

If you have this game for sale, please message here. I can pay 2000 USD or more.

Thanks

[bojler]

I have the offer from Thailand.

If anyone lives closer in USA or Canada I would prefer such a deal. I am staying here for 5 more months

Still looking for information about the switch

[bombman]

The switch is a clue as to how the game was manufactured. Back in the early days of Famicom before bankswitching was common, you would find some mail order ads for cart copiers tucked away in the corners of magazine pages. (Fun coincidence, the guys behind Super Maruo were also selling FDS disk copiers this way, which I'm sure didn't help their case against Nintendo)
The blank carts were sold separately. The copiers are pretty rare now and fresh blank carts are extremely rare to find nowadays as they were all filled up with bootlegs. You'd probably have better luck tracking down Super Maruo than finding an unused cart.



The switch on these carts was to toggle VRAM mirroring (i.e. horizontal/vertical scrolling) for compatibility purposes. It probably does nothing in this game, if you want to emulate the effect, you can switch the lowest bit of the... I think 7th byte in the ROM header? (dont quote me on this as it's been a while.)