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A good friend of mine who goes by the nickname "merp", you might've stumbled upon his site if you're a fan of emulation
and preservation of NES games. Anyway he contacted me with some news regarding a NES clone being sold by a local
supermarket, seriously a supermarket. But this was not just any NES clone, and judging from the name, DreamGear, you would
think that it had something to do with Sega's Dreamcast, but it doesn't except from borrowing the design from the DC controller.
Right now some of oyu may be yelling out "GameStation Arcade!" and yeah it does use the exact same controller design, except
that the DreamGear doesn't have an RF output or requires a powersupply, instead it takes 4 x AA batteries and has the A/V
cable attached to the unit, but aside from those differences they look the exact same.
As said, the DreamGear comes with an A/V cable attached so you're able to hook it up to your TV's A/V port or scart by
using an adapter. The unit requires 4 AA batteries, so it's not that difficult to hook up at all.
Most other clones use either old unlicensed games, like the GameStation Arcade, or illegal copies of licensed NES games. But
the DreamGear is different from the rest by including no less than 25 brand new NES games! Of course some are based on the
same game engine, but they're all different and built-into the unit, like the GameStation Arcade has.
The DreamGear is sold for no more than US$15, so there's no reason why you shouldn't pick one up really.
The games are:
GP Race
Very similar to Palcom's Road Fighter game, only this one is with motorcycles instead of cars, and
the graphics in this one is slightly better, the sound is pretty much the same aswell, it actually
sounds like they stole some of them from Road Fighter.
Aero Engine
Clone of R-Type/Gradius. A bug somehow prevents the game's titlescreen from being shown, from the menu you're
thrown directly into the game, or the game doesn't have a titlescreen.
Big Racing
Seems like a bad clone of R.C. Pro Am or Super Sprint, the graphic are nothing special, same goes
for the gameplay. The sound, again, sounds like they were stolen from another game, R.C. Pro Am I
believe.
Road Bumper
A motorbike game that just goes on forever and ever, no turns, no bumps, just press a (speed) and avoid
enemy motorbikes, not that they'll throw you off the track or anything. Eventually you'll die when unless
you pick up green barrels of fuel along the way, then you'll be able to ride until the batteries in your
DreamGear runs dry. Funny part is, the screen that you're presented with when you die, giving you your
score, says Super Moto in the title, tho that's not the name of the game, or is it?. This game has no titlescreen either.
VR Racing
Funny, this game features no titlescreen either, first screen is a stage select which says "Super Moto" just like the game
above. You have a rear view of the motor bike, hang-on style, and it's actually not that badly made.
Bingo Zap
Pretty boring game with a blue ball on a table with a number of holes, your objective is to get the ball into the right hole,
there's a star blinking in the hole, to get to the next stage. Your only problem is, the ball is damn hard to control,
you'll most likely end up beaking the control pad on the DreamGear. Yet another game without a titlescren, boo! Funny thing is,
the sound in this game sounds a bit like the one from the unreleased Drac's Night Out game.
Star Ally
Intense horisontical shoot-em-up, but I've played better to be honest, still one of the better games on the DreamGear.
Spin Ball
Smart Escape
Zero Tiger
Insect Chase
Pinball Track
Excel Racing
Space Castle
Valiant Rescue
Birdie Nest
Pool Pro
Speed Way X
Jewel Master
Ultra Doggy
Built Up Road
Bump Car
Bolt Fighter
Move Fun
Last Cobra
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