Original vs. Counterfeit Game Boy Cartridges - How To Tell the Difference

All these years i have layed eyes n played with many not original cartridges for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance as well. Judging by the first look counterfeit carts seem quite legit but if u take a closer look many differences become obvious. Ok, fake cartridges might be a little cheaper than the original but they are quite unreliable products. There isnt any guarantee for ur system in case of damage, and the game saves usually get corrupted without any specific reason. Im gonna explain n display with photos some of them, so u know how to tell the difference by urself. 

1. Nintendo Logo

First of all as u all should have noticed on the top of front side of a game boy cartridge u can see clearly the "Nintendo GAME BOY Tm" logo. Well, in the fake cartridges all u can see there is just "GAME BOY" or "GAME" etc. Thats a serious reason to start suspecting that something is wrong with ur cart.

2. Printed Sticker 

There are some cases where the stickers on the fake carts are well made so many times we can be cheated. But in some cases the printed sticker is:

- Blur

- Not fit exactly to the sticker frame

- Wrong colors

- Out of proportion 

- The sticker may say that its a Gameboy Advance game although its on a gameboy cart

Sticker Comparison ( left - original / right - fake)

Original / Fake Gameboy Cartridge Screw

3. Nintendo Screw

On the back of the cart u can see the screw that holds the front n back sides together. In the original carts that screw is a very peculiar one, that needs specific screwdrivers in order to unscrew it. On the other side, the fake carts, use convensional screw that u can find in any hardware store. They cover up those screws with stickers saying things like "dont remove" or something like that, to prevent users from removing it and revealing the fake screw.

4. Bottom Side (Nintendo/Date Printed)

As far as the Gameboy Advance carts there is a very easy way to tell the difference between fake and original ones (if u dont consider things as the not so well printed sticker or the not so well molded logo). If u turn the cart over, u can see the side that actually connects with the Gameboy system in order to function. There are some "golden" stripes (we used to blow them when the cart didnt function right!!!). Right Behind those golden stripes in the original carts u see printed the word "Nintendo" and the release date. Guess what? In the fake ones theres nothing printed there. Here is a link explaining exactly what i mean.

http://www.gamerascal.co.uk/counterfeits.php

You can also open a cartridge to see and compare the inside but that requieres some technical knowledge ( u can also use guides from all over the internet).

    

Kirby's Dream Land Review (Game Boy)

Kirby's Dream Land Game Boy cover 1992

Yesterday night i couldnt go to sleep (maybe cos of the 8 coffees? Who knows) so i decided to play some retro classic masterpieces. I was between Kid Icarus and Kirby's Dreamland (for the old school game boy). Well i think u can tell which one won just by reading the title!

I still remember the awesomeness that the first experience gave me when i first played Kirby's Dreamland on game boy when i was 8 or 9 years old. It was like : "WOW!!! Hey hey look, its a..a..round cute thing that sucks the enemies making the most joyful sounds", or like "Hey thats the sweetest vacuum cleaner ever". And all that feelings were multiplied by the music. But before i get carried away lets start from the beggining. Actually Kirby's Dream Land is a 2D one-way platform game made for the classic Nintendo Game Boy, which was followed afterwards by a bunch of sequels on that very console and its offsprings too.

PLOT: 8/10

Kirby's Dreamland is about a roly-poly little hero, with the happiest smile on his face, that tries to save the day. An evil king has stolen the Twinkle Stars and the Dream Land is doomed without them. So Kirby sets out and starts an non-stop full of action quest to retrieve them and be once again a hero! The plot, if u consider the release date (1992), and also that it was destined for a younger audience, is really good n catchy!

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

The easy-to-learn gameplay of Kirby's Dream Land, soon enough, becomes quite addictive, as all u have to do is run or fly by swallowing air (just press up button), jump with the action button A, and swallow/spit enemies with button B. Just with a few minutes of gameplay u ll find urself trying to suck everything is moving, and to smash enemies Super Mario-like blocks. Id rate that masterpiece with 10/10 just for its simple yet attractive gameplay, but instead i gave it 9/10 cos its really short lenghted. There are 4 stages that u have to finish. Each one has its own boss u need to win as well, n then u have to defeat those bosses again (after a quite short version of each one's stage). And eventually u fight against the final boss King Dedede. It didnt take more than 40 or 50 minutes to beat the game.

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 10/10

Its atmosphere is based mostly on the happy cute n playful music. Simple and catchy yet sweet and addictive ( i remember myself  playing, when i was a boy, going up and down according to the tune like i was injected with caffeine). Its sound effects blend in with the music really smoothly making them an integral part of it. Even if when u die the sound effect is lovely!

Kirby's flying

GRAPHICS: 10/10

Well about graphics. There's not much to tell here except for that they are definitely not poor (u can clearly see the shading even on the clouds and the flowers on the foreground) but they dont become overwhelming either. All those fluffy clouds n cute monsters are so sweetly n well made that u think they are made of sugar! One of the few game boy games that the actual game was as cool as its cover!

OVERALL: 9.25/10

As a conclusion to this review, Kirby's Dreamland is one big lovely dose of fluffy cuteness that every gamer can hardly miss it! Even if u have never played it before give it a try and u surely will be amazed to say the least or if u wont be ... well then u re not worthy to be a gamer!!! :D 

Pink Kirby

Movies Inspired by the Gaming World (Pt.2)

Due to the lack of time last week i didnt add anything new to the blog, but here it comes now the 2nd part of the "Movies Inspired by the Gaming World" article! Im sure that whoever read the 1st one wonders if im gonna refer to some "classic" movies of that "genre" such as Street Fighter or Tomb Raider! Well ur gonna find out just by scrolling down!

Street Fighter

When u hear about Street Fighter several very specific things come to mind! Ryu, Chun-Li, buttons getting smashed to perform combos, spinning kicks and of courses hadukens!!! Those things are so classic as Super Mario himself!

But lets see if the movie was a worthy adaptation. Street Fighter was directed back in 1994 by Steven E. de Souza and in general terms is about Colonel Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme) fighting against the tyranny of M. Bison (Raul Julia) with a team of martial artists by his side. When it was first released i was so excited about watching it and so young, that i couldnt relate it with the game or realise how badly it was made! Oh, and just for the record .. U DONT PUT KYLIE MINOGUE IN AN ACTION FIGHTING MOVIE unless u have mazochistic tendencies! Every single fan of the game wants to see a Street Fighter movie with Ryu as the main character, Blanca as a green, orange-haired, electrifying beast, or M. Bison as a ripped, huge, badass, mothafocka!!!. But instead of those things we got such a laughable ,almost b-movie, attempt (with terrible cast) distorted in so many ways that when u actually watch it u forget that its a Street Fighter movie. The very things that distinguish a game title among the years and make it a "must" and a classic, have to exist in the movie version as well, if its desired to have the same impact on the audience. So  in other words the movie kinda sucked and i could watch it only as a b-movie or a cult one!

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Although i personally never liked Lara Croft as a video game heroine ( just a bunch of enormous, pixelated, out of proportion, badly made boobs n lips for me) i will admit that Tomb Raider game series was and still is one of the most well known, ever. And all that thnx to the sexy Lara Croft of course. The lightly dressed Lara came to a gaming world, exclusively ruled by male examples as main characters, and yet managed to change the facts. In a men's gaming world, Ms. Croft's simple n sexy innovations set new standards in how a game's got to be. After Tomb Raider, many games appear having women as main characters such as BloodRayne, Lula, Syberia, Resident Evil (some of them) etc... That trend still exists till nowadays and its going really good (Bayonetta, Grey Matter etc.). And now having wasted ur time babbling about the nerdy past, lets talk about the movie which was my main goal after all!!!

Well being directed in 2001 and with Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, Simon West surely draws the attention of every Tomb Raider fan. It was finally the time for those boobs that i already mentioned to be incarnated as Angelina Jolie's. In this case, the movie is just about everything the game is. Showing Anjelina Jolie with tight outfits in every angle possible and making sure to highlight her swollen lips n boobs! And come on im not mean here thats the games are all about as well! Have u ever considered if there is any real action in those games at all? Killing tigers and dodo birds every 25 fucking minutes!?! HELL YEAH!! Well back to the movie again, Angelina Jolie is really the applausable person here. She has all the physical characteristics Lara Croft has, plus all the mental ones. She seems quite brave n smart, n full of emotional expressions. The plot, which is not anything new or impressive, is about a planetary allinment that happens every 5000 years amd a secret cult, Illuminati (have u heard that anywhere else before..? Hmmm...) that  searches for an ancient talisman which gives to the bearer the ability to control time!!! So guess what, they have to find it really soon or they have to wait 5000 more years for the next planetary alignment! And who of all the people might possess that artifact without even knowing it? Lara Croft? NO WAY!!! :O !! Anyway the artifact is stolen from her eventually and she has to get it back. Ok, i think I said too much here, so if u want more plot analysis, just watch the movie. The thing is that none of those characteristics are authentic and have we seen it before numerous times before but we cant have everything right? Although Lara Croft seems almost invulnerable, which kinda cancels the plot's menacing atmosphere, its really well directed and with pretty good sound quality really impressive and vivid. Overall the digital, billionaire, british archaeologist couldnt have a better movie adaptation attempt, and that thnx to the many successful resemblances to the main title!

To Be Continued...