Mystery console / cartridge?

[Katuen]

I had a console I played as a child that I'd like to revisit, but the problem being I don't know for sure what it might be.

Years
Earliest date I can recall are between 2002 - 2006
By no means was I "up to date" and all of these were gifts from family, maybe even hand me downs.

Games
I only had a single cartridge. A X-in-one games
Was it 64 games in one? 80 games in one? My memory doesn't help me on this any more.
What I can remember is the selection menu to select a game was column(s?) of just text names, then it'd take you to the game itself. It had multiple pages
Games I remember in the list:

• Arkanoid
• Circus Charlie
• Balloon Fight
• Duck hunt-esque*

Duck hunt is fuzzy as I don't remember the dog specifically, but it was a clay shooting sort of range with a light gun
I sadly cannot remember more by name as I loved just those ones. I may recognise others visually though but I don't have enough to work from now

The menu was plain text with no decoration, the closest example I can find is


Console & Controllers
This is where it gets a little unusual. From what I can recall it was very similar to a Nintendo 64 in shape, except the power buttons which were grey and diagonal in the corners, and was a small rectangular shape.
It had a cartridge in the same space/area as the N64, as I recall seeing the label of the cartridge in view

Controller wise, I had something that had the centre "handle" so to speak, as I distinctly remember being confused if I were meant to hold it via that
I also had a light gun for maybe-duck-hunt. Child me could not understand how it worked and continued to be amazed.
The closest I've found in photos to my memories of the gun are as follows. And I've also edited a N64 image for the buttons / shape




This may very well be a 3rd party console no one has heard of, or my memories could be completely wrong, but I'd love to know and have a name so I could give them another look!

[LunarLoony]

I'm fairly sure Duck Hunt had a clay pigeon shooting mode, but my recollection is fuzzy. There was definitely some sort of clay pigeon NES game.

Speaking of which, all of these examples are definitely NES games; and your description suggests a bootleg multicart of some kind. These things often had (and still have!) hundreds upon hundreds of games.

The console itself was very likely a Famiclone. Following the release of the NES, lots and lots of manufacturers with low standards would create knockoff NES consoles which were compatible with the original system. They'd also chuck one of these very legitimate 500-in-1 cartridges in for good measure, especially going into the 2000s. Famiclones run the gamut in terms of design - some of 'em look like an NES, or a SNES, or (as in your case) an N64... even the odd PlayStation and PS2!

As for exact model numbers and the precise games included, I'd have to do a bit more research for that. But I'm fairly certain it's an actual NES game.

[Katuen]

I never knew of such bootlegs existing - or rather I knew, but had no idea they had a name or were that far reaching. It would sure explain why I've had no luck in my own searching before now
Feel free to bounce any questions if you need anything to narrow down ideas!

[Katuen]

I got a few gleams of information from family - They estimate it was 2006 or 2007. And it was purchased from "something like ebay"
They are also rather confident that it was "80 games in 1"

[Epic DaVinci]

Hello,
The closest i can get based on your description is the Ultra 8-Bit
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det ... ideo-Game/
N64 shaped console that played NES games.

It also comes with a lightgun and an 84-in-1 cartridge


Here is it on E-Bay too, currently on sale at £16.50
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225603198838 ... olid=10050

[Katuen]

Oh heck, I just looked up some videos (not that there's many) for that, and I do think you have found the exact one right there. This video has a rather good look at it
And it shows off the clay shooting game too as I remember it. And the exact sounds from arkanoid

While I can't afford it at this time I'll be on the look out for that console, it'd be nice to have a go at it again, even just for nostalgia

Thank you!

[Epic DaVinci]

Glad i could help, my pleasure

[Katuen]

As an interesting note, I looked into this a bit more and found that I would have had specifically the AT-001 version of the 84-in-1 cart

I found out via this wiki

Most notable though is how I remembered Balloon Fight, which was only on the 001 version of the cart. Looking up the Powerjoy listed at the bottom of the wiki, I can safely say it's not that.

And this one line is sure interesting-

Another version of this multicart with a different label appears to have been bundled with a near-identical console, with the only known difference with the list of games being that Balloon Fight included instead of Boat Race.

After finding a video showing some of the various games, and I also recognised the games Magic Jewellery and Connection (City connection? a rip/hack?)
So it's still likely an Argo Ultra 8 bit (with 001 cart model), unless it's this now extra mysterious "near-identical console"

[LunarLoony]

Glad i could help, my pleasure

That is some fabulous sleuthing work. Well done!

[Katuen]

I talked to my family who instantly recognised the box, and decided to get it for me as a gift - It's up, it's working, and there's a lot of nostalgia in this very odd audio quality from this very, very light piece of the cheapest plastic box you can imagine

Thank you both!