If you’ve been around in the ‘90s, you know them. They are the cheap alternatives to games that your parents would buy you instead of going for an official release. Or sometimes you would buy them, thinking you uncovered a rare gem. We are talking about bootleg games!

These games, even though they still exist to this day, were popular during the time of cartridge-based gaming (hence NES/Famicom had an abundance of them). They were poorly designed knockoffs of popular series, and sometimes they would be badly reskinned editions of preexisting games.

For example, it was very common for Mortal Kombat wannabes to circulate. They would promise to the players that they include 20+ characters, but it was just the same five or six ones reused in different colors. Or you could play a Pokémon game that had absolutely nothing to do with the actual series.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/@MeatySpag

Most of these games also had really bad gameplay, as they were programmed solely to cash in on the success of a series.

But, of course, there were bootleg consoles too! These consoles could run bootleg cartridges, but they also included many games saved in memory. However, they might promised 200+ games, while only had 50. The rest 150 were the same ones but with a different title. These systems are still being manufactured to this day, and they are made-on purpose-to resemble official consoles. Make sure you don’t get fooled.

Do you want to know more? Watch the video below.

Bootleg Games

Get Ready to Fight!

Hidden Games on Websites