D-lag Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 I've recently received a strange Klax cartridge in a lot. It is very different from the ones I'm used to see : - the label is different - the back is different too, it's not a CMS - it's been made in Japan Have you ever seen that kind of cartridge? Are they common or rare? Any kind of information would be welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toughacton Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 well ive certainly not seen or heard about it before. i even own 2 copies of the game. i dont even think its pictured in the cartridge scans on this site. so you might send a pic of it in as a new cartridge type. did it come with a box/instructions? and are they the same or different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Probably the Japanese release, even if it does have English on/in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toughacton Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 interesting. I wasnt aware that the lynx was marketed there at all. neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimtene Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 How about peeling back the sticker, so we can see what it looks like under it? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Yea, the Japaneese Atari fans hit JagFest every year. One of them created his own Lynx "magazine" and brought a professionally printed book of Atari stuff completely written in Japanese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 There was a thread here a few months ago about the Japanese version of Klax: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21827 Unfortunately, the pictures in that thread are no longer available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-lag Posted July 31, 2003 Author Share Posted July 31, 2003 Thanks Agent X, I wonder how I missed this topic back then :S I wrote to the guy who posted this message, I hope he can be helpful. At the moment I still haven't fully compared the game with a "classic" Klax cartridge but it looked to me it was identical. I will have a deeper check to tell you more. I don't have the box here, I bought many games in France but as I'm in Argentina I've got them without boxes or manual. I have to write there to know if there was box and manual with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_lynx1989 Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 that is a weird card you have there,you know.the label is like the one i have on my game gear cart from back in those days.i'm not familiar with the curved lip "well" cartridge either.that thing almost looks like that it has an eprom beneath the sticker or something.kind of weird.would like to see a scan of what is behind the sticker with the chip and board that reside in that well.curious cart. --chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvgene Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 Sorry about losing the images. I don't have any space to put them up for long. Here the manual and box again. Sorry again, the images are huge! As I stated before, the game is different than the American release as far as I can tell. There are fewer voices for the game, and no intro. I am still perplexed by this cart, and would love to know any info anyone has on it. I tried sending my pics to Atariage, but got no reply and that was months ago. If anyone wants me to send all of mine again, I have them as well as pics of Ms. Pacman and Slime World's Japanese manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 Sorry about losing the images. I don't have any space to put them up for long. Here the manual and box again. Sorry again, the images are huge! As I stated before, the game is different than the American release as far as I can tell. There are fewer voices for the game, and no intro. I am still perplexed by this cart, and would love to know any info anyone has on it. I tried sending my pics to Atariage, but got no reply and that was months ago. If anyone wants me to send all of mine again, I have them as well as pics of Ms. Pacman and Slime World's Japanese manuals. I'm sure Albert would be very interested in having your Japanese manuals scanned. You might try contacting Tony (Xot) re: these items; he scanned my French-only posters for "Scrapyard Dog" and "Ninja Gaiden" and passed them on (I think) to Albert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 Those are the biggest damn pics I've ever seen on my computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xot Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 I'm sure Albert would be very interested in having your Japanese manuals scanned. You might try contacting Tony (Xot) re: these items; he scanned my French-only posters for "Scrapyard Dog" and "Ninja Gaiden" and passed them on (I think) to Albert. I did in fact send those images to Albert and the Lynx gallery is now online... I don't know if he plans on putting the French SYD manual up or not. I would suggest contacting Al and if he want 'em scanned he can put you in touch with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crc_73 Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 This KLAX card, does anyone have any more info on it? Rarity? Value? Source (official or otherwise)? Comparison of data? (I won one on eBay a short time ago, but haven't physically got it yet, so eventually I might be able to provide an answer to the last question). Also, were any other Japanese releases made with this type of card? I have a Japanese Gates of Zendocon, and the only difference seems to be with the manual (some nice childish-cartoony graphics). As far as I can tell from the scans in the Lynx section, the boxes are identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crc_73 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 As far as I can tell from the scans in the Lynx section, the boxes are identical. 883439[/snapback] Actually, the boxes are different. The GOZ box I have is the larger type, and contains a FLAT card. Artwork and screenshot is the same, title is placed a little differently on the front, but the text on the back is different. I'm guessing that the box up in the Lynx section is the later, smaller box? I can have proper scans done, if someone from the site wants them, and of the manual. The quirky cartoons might be of interest, pictures of the Lynx within are of the type I casing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvgene Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 (edited) This KLAX card, does anyone have any more info on it? Rarity? Value? Source (official or otherwise)? Comparison of data? (I won one on eBay a short time ago, but haven't physically got it yet, so eventually I might be able to provide an answer to the last question). Also, were any other Japanese releases made with this type of card? I have a Japanese Gates of Zendocon, and the only difference seems to be with the manual (some nice childish-cartoony graphics). As far as I can tell from the scans in the Lynx section, the boxes are identical. 883439[/snapback] Yea, AFAIK, this is the only different cart that Japan got. It's still a mystery as to why Japan would have modded the rom and put it in this special cart. Klax is the only one that got a complete overhaul of box, manual, cart and (it seems) ROM. Most of the other games had Japanese manuals that were modified, but that's it otherwise. Here's a picture of a Japanese auction that shows some of the manuals. Blue Lightning seems to have gotten two manuals, a black and white one and the one in this picture. Edited July 5, 2005 by intvgene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crc_73 Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Klax is the only one that got a complete overhaul of box, manual, cart and (it seems) ROM. Most of the other games had Japanese manuals that were modified, but that's it otherwise. First up, thanks for your reply - didn't think resuscitating a topic as old as this would get a response. I finally got my JAP Klax card, and ran it side-by-side with a regular curved lip card, and I couldn't notice any difference between the two. The intro section is there, and so are the sound effects such as the clapping and voices. Your original post from 2003 said that these were missing. Have you rechecked your card since then? Maybe in another unit. It could turn out that your card is normal, somehow when you tested it something may have been amiss (sticky buttons, dirty contacts, sub-space interference). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimtene Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 I finally got my JAP Klax card, and ran it side-by-side with a regular curved lip card, and I couldn't notice any difference between the two. The intro section is there, and so are the sound effects such as the clapping and voices. Your original post from 2003 said that these were missing. I have a Japanese version of this cartridge as well. I validate the observations that Intvgene has made. Here's a listing of what I see in the original version: Static Title Screen (quiet) Title Screen (w/ Background Music, Animated, w/ Changing Programming Credits) Skill Select Screen (w/ Background Music) Select A Wave Screen (1,6,11,11, w/sound effects when moving cursor) How to Play Screen (Animated, w/ sound effects) Klax Wave Screen (w/ voice effects introducing 'Klax Wave') Main Game (tapping as tiles come down, sound/voice effects as Klax are made, clapping when a level is passed) Here's what happens in my Japanese version of Klax: Static Title Screen (quiet) Select A Wave Screen (1,6,11,11, no sound effects when moving cursor) Klax Wave Screen (quiet) Main Game (tapping as tiles come down, no sound/voice effects as Klax are made, no clapping when a level is passed) In summary, I've observed a number of things missing from my Japanese version, such as: The main animated title screen and credits, the skill select screen (I haven't tried to figure out what skill level the Japanese version defaults to), the 'how to play' screen; Moreover, the main game is lacking most of the sound/ voice effects of the 'real' version. In my opinion, this takes away a lot of the visceral appeal of the original, and makes it a far less enjoyable version to play. I haven't played this version all the way to completion, but it wouldn't surprise me if the end of game sequence has been removed as well (seeing as it appears that they were trying to save ROM space by truncating the game.) I've tried my cartridge on several different Lynx (including both Model I and II), and have gotten the same result on all of them. My best guess as to why you are not seeing these differences would be that you have a variation of the japanese varation. But if you have a complete working version, that means perhaps that at some point during production they switched back to the the full released version. Maybe peeling back the sticker, and looking at the markings on the pcb will solve this mystery, but I'm not quite brave enough to attempt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crc_73 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 I appreciate the comprehensive reply, thanks. I was hoping before mine arrived, that it would have had a little bit of lift at one of the corners, so I wouldn't have been so nervous about taking it off to have a look, but it's in very good condition, and like yourself, can't pick up the courage to do it. I did it to the first card I ever got, a Rygar, and it has never stuck back properly, and the sticker has what I would describe as tide-marks, where the graphic ink has come away in lines as the sticker was peeled back. There is no way in hell I'm going to attempt that again, definitely not on something as potenitally rare as this. Thing is, your one might be even rarer than mine, even if it does have hacked information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Laird Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Just landed one of these in a job lot off e-bay, boxed with instructions and in superb condition. In the one have there no differences at all to the English version. Here is a pic: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Laird Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 box front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Laird Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 (edited) Strange back of game card. Edited June 2, 2006 by mr.kizza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I have a Japanese version of this cartridge as well.I validate the observations that Intvgene has made. Would be interesting to compare the ROM content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Hmmm... something new to look for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I wonder if they removed the voices and sound due to cultural differences? They probably would have had to translate the voice, and I'm not sure if the Japanese clap hands to show approval. Then again, knowing Atari Corp. removing the sounds and voices just saved them a few cents on a sound chip or something.... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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