Ultra Games
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- Episode
318 - Konami cheated to get around Nintendo's rules and created Ultra Games. Today we take a look at games they published under that label.
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#ultragames #konami #nes 
Игры
There was a time when Konami was so much into gaming that they had parallel companies to realease more games.
Atari too
Atari Games couldn't use their main company to release games on the NES, so they created the Tengen brand. Fun fact: The most confusing NES Copyright screen goes to the Japanese version of Klax. Four companies are listed: Hudson Soft, Tengen Inc., Atari Games Corp., and Tengen Ltd. Why there are three different companies for Atari Games is beyond me.
@@Dwedit because Atari games was a diff company than sub tengen atari games and tengen Ltd was going to be new name for Atari games but Nintendo lawsuit crushed tengen
Yeah, because attempting to oversaturate a market with quantity OVER quality for the purposes of corporate greed at the risk of repeating the Video Game Crash a second time as Nintendo is trying to take steps to HEAL the industry from those same tactics that ripped it apart just a few years ago was SOOOO noble on Konami's part.
Maybe instead of releasing rushed and terrible cash grabs like the TMNT game, they could have let it cook in development that extra year so that it had competent level design, proper difficulty balance and better gameplay and use of it's IP. But no, they had to have that sweet consumer money RIGHT AWAY and you guys were the rubes that got suckered by it.
And yet somehow this is Nintendo's fault, and you guys still make excuses for the Ninja Turtles game and others like it being poorly rushed garbage, and Konami putting their bottom line over what was best for you, even back then.
Too bad Dave left before the Keeps sponsorship. He could have had long flowing locks today.
That’s exactly right!
Dave might be gone, but we can always call in Bob Cornhole. Totally different person
I don't think there's much keeps could ever have done for dave
Lmfaooo!
Stellar
I guess they went for Ultra Games because NTSCcom doesn't really roll of the tongue.
Take this 👉🏻🏆. You've earned it. 👏🏼
@@k4rec4 Thanks! Much appreciated.
The start screens actually say Konami on them. They couldn’t have been trying to hide that fact too much.
Where
@@rustymixer2886 Almost every title screen he shows says Konami on it.
@@emmettturner9452 really cuz at 3:36 it dont etc it don't etc etc hmmm
@@rustymixer2886 LOL! Can’t believe you went there after the first one (Metal Gear - 1:40). “Almost every” != “every” ;)
The reason they didn’t give themselves a developer credit at 3:36 is because Konami did not develop it… Electronic Arts did. Same for Ski or Die. EA self-published Skate or Die 2.
In addition to Metal Gear, all of these games featured in the video show the Konami name on the title screen exactly as the OP claimed:
5:09 - Q*Bert
7:58 - Motocross Maniacs
9:41 - Snake’s Revenge
12:35 - TMNT Fall of he Foot Clan
14:31 - Mission: IMPOSSIBLE
16:12 - Roller Games
18:44 - Quarth
19:58 - TMNT II: The Arcade Game
24:28 - Operation C
26:06 - Blades of Steel
26:56 Ultra Golf
27:42 World Circuit Series
Most Ultra Games releases say Konami on the title screen, even where they also show Ultra. It seems Konami wasn’t hiding too deep.
@@emmettturner9452 indeed thx to Atari lawsuit they could release more than 5 Konami games a year but by then nes was flat lining
It's that time again.
About to close our eyes to sleep and we all get Game Sacked.
It's great to be alive.🙌💕
I’m surprised Craig Stadler didn’t make an appearance when talking about Ultra Golf
hahahaha
"Think you can get it inside mine?" 😳
🏌️♂️🏐👉🏽🍩
Nothing else sounds quite like an 8-bit Konami game. Unless it's an Ultra game.
Apart from a Sunsoft game.
You're GAY
@@Godzillafan1980 its the 21st century bro. Gay is cool 😉
@@shawnwax9576 Speak for yourself, ya butt-pirate...
@@kyokusanagi616 Sunsoft games don't sound like Konami games. They sound like Sunsoft games (and that is a GREAT thing).
O . O
HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU _GET_ FOOTAGE OF ROLLERGAMES IN SUCH HIGH QUALITY?!?!?
[consults Google]
RUclips has a fan channel, RollerStars, that has all 13 episodes in remastered, stretched 16:9, 1080P60, high, freakin', definition.
. . . DAMN! o.o
Pretty sure Nintendo knew and just looked the other way. The rule was to prevent low quality shovel ware from flooding the market to prevent a repeat of what happened to Atari
I’ll never forget the commercial for the TMNT NES game and seeing Ultra at the end and was like…. “Who?”
Such a generic sounding brand name too.
@@penuts17 true. Cool logo though ;)
"Skate or die" is a classic... on the C64! 🐰
Agreed, I had it back in the day on both the C64, and NES(parents split when I was 2 so one would buy me a C64 game, and the other an NES, or Game Gear game), but the C64 wins hands down, but I have to admit I also had Skate or Die 2 on the NES, and it had a kickass Intro tune, and the half pipe once you got the hang of the controls was really fun.
I like how Joe is trying to be the complete opposite of the Angry Video Game Nerd. This is the first time I have seen somebody actually praised the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Metal Gear!
Yeah Metal Gear tests my patience, it hasn't aged well imo. But TMNT is a decent game! Just walk over the little gap instead of trying to jump ;)
TMNT is definitely one of those games that took a bad rap from the internet in spite of actually being a really strong game. It was very satisfying to beat, even if it did take a lot of effort.
AVGN is just an act, James actually likes most of the games he plays. He's just making things up for the sake of entertainment.
@@tt128556 I think most folks are aware of this these days, but those early videos still contributed to the negativity toward many games such as Milon's Secret Castle by making it cool to crap all over games.
Cinemassacre did an entire video explaining why TMNT is actually not bad.
My mother bought me Motocross Maniacs for my birthday many years ago for my birthday. When she saw the motorcycle on the box she knew I'd love it and I played the hell out of it and I was very good at it.
Pirates! (a.k.a. Sid Meier's Pirates!) was my personal favorite NES game under the Ultra Games label.
Rare did a decent port, but Pirates wasnt the same without Sid Meier...I argue that Rare's port made the AI too predictable.
I wouldnt be surprised that Nintendo refused to let "Sid Meier" have his name attached due to the name being a reference to a real life person, so they took it off.
Hey Joe! On your TMNT2 segment, I noticed you weren't using the "super attack" (A+B, with a very very slight delay on one of the two buttons I think). No more hit-and-run, just faster one hit kills!
Yep...That move is a must for single-player gaming~~~~
This isn't the Erik S show
@@brownshoeblues2014 sick 🔥 dude
@@brownshoeblues2014 guess the Joe R show needs to pick it up then. Erik S show auditions start tomorrow
@@brownshoeblues2014Erik's Sack*
I have the best memories of TMNT 2 for NES. Being able to play the arcade game without having to go to the putt-putt golf.
Don't forget the two extra stages in the winter and the dojo.
@@retro9263 five bucks in quarters was a lot back then!
Your editing is Ultra stellar.
For a second I thought it said Ultra 64. Oh well, at least we got a tmnt game out of Ultra games. :P
Horny brook? Wow, your ancestors were wild naturists?
@@anonamatron Farmers, but I guess you could say that. lol
That No Collision thing smells like "Damn we keep having bugs due to the collision in this game, but it's got to ship out tomorrow." "remove the collision"
LOL yeah that's probably what happened.
Thanks to Joe uploading on Saturday nights I haven't been to church in months!
Man, I remember my brothers and I gathered around the TV just in awe that we could play TMNT arcade at home.
Seriously cool you have those memories, but If it was not a sports game like Blades of Steel, or Tecmo Bowl my brothers usually did not care about playing the NES, so I would usually have it all to myself. Same for my C64(later C128), and Apple II IE we had at the time as well.
I've been watching a few old episodes of Game Sack this week, so hearing Joe without Dave again was a bit jarring. That said, I think Joe is actually funnier on his own. Dave added his own flavor as well, but for comedy, Joe has gotten a lot funnier, and his regular delivery way stronger. I think that at this point, I actually like it better how it is now, with Dave cameos as an occasional treat.
I liked it with both of them. But Dave is holding it down solo.
i dont know about you but Dave sounds negative in some of his reviews
Joe without dave? then you must accept life without death
ok I only commented twice just to get you to notice silent service, this would be number 3 ahh!and!. come one did just do it!
thought I was reading a review on a TV guide for a moment. How many stars out of 5?
I love that TMNT is playing in the background at the very first, since the TMNT games were the first ones I thought of when I saw the video’s title
Konami lost it totally. Only a shadow of it's glorious 80s and 90s days. Even new Castlevania and Metal Gear Games suck.
The only good thing they do anymore is make the PES games. The PES games have always been miles better than the FIFA games, and that's still true today. It's easy to install the fan-made patch to get all the correct kits and so on. Even on the PS4/ps5 versions. Just like back in the day, we had a USB stick for the ps2 and would load the real kits onto the stick from the pc and then plug it into the ps2 and upload all the real kits. Nowadays it's easier cos consoles are already connected to the Internet
But yeah. PES, I love you. You're still the king of football games. Even with the bizarre decisions Konami have made about it recently. But it doesn't matter. The gameplay is king and that's all that matters. FIFA players care more about the gambling aspect of it and don't really care about the actual football matches you can play
@@duffman18 agree. But what Happens with this New eFootball Version Konami's planning right now? I will gibt's ihr a short, definitely.
Most fun I ever had with Roller Games was when I found a PAL copy at the West GA Flea Market that was full of fentanyl. ;) Found some inside a suspiciously-heavy copy of Golf too and caught the discovery on video. Of all days to find something like that, it happened on April Fools Day 2018 so many thought it was a joke. World keeps on turning on April 1st too, you know.
I love episodes like this focused on specific publishers or developers. Random idea but I dunno if you've ever considered making an episode on Sega Technical Institute? That'd be a fun one.
"fun"
Does make me chuckle when people say how wholesome Nintendo are - and you remind them of their very sketchy history with things such as this.
Nintendo literally used those rules to re-ignite the video game industry which they did successfully. What sketchy behavior are you talking about?
@@adamvalerio1377 My favorite one was Nintendo ordering retailers to never place their games on sale (in the belief that if people saw an NES game on sale then they would think it's a BAD GAME thereby devaluing the "value of the brand"), then hiring secret shoppers to ensure that rule was kept. When Nintendo learned that someone dared to place an NES game on sale, that retailer found their orders for new stock suspiciously unfulfilled. You know, *illegal price control.*
Then there was Nintendo's war on game rentals; lawsuit against Galoob & the Game Genie; their skeezy Nintendo Seal of Approval insinuation that it meant the game was good & not meaning that "it just works!"; anti-competitive exclusivity contracts for third party developers; their absolute control over cartridge doll-out to said third party devs; outrageous royalty fees; their incredibly restrictive content control rules... Really, the forced mandate that 3rd party publishers couldn't release more that six titles per year was the least of Nintendo's market & consumer manipulations.
Yeah, 80's Nintendo was a sleazy company. It took multiple lawsuits/failed lawsuits on their part to slap their shit down and make them a some-what consumer-friendly company in the West.
Anyone who says stuff like this didn't live through the era. Nintendo's policy of limiting releases stopped a ton of shovelware. Look at the 2600 library as a comparison, where more than half the games are basically unplayable garbage.
And as Konami showed, you didn't have to work that hard to get around the restrictions because Nintendo didn't really care if Konami released 10 games a year (because the games were good).
@@adamvalerio1377 that's just american youtube revisionist history though - the videogame crash was predominantly in america. And ultra / palcom was years after this - so it wasnt for nintendo to reignite the market at all - it was to control it for themselves. Good job sega rocked up when they did to reduce their strangle hold. I'm saying this as a massive ninty fan boy - their business practices in the 80s were pretty dodgy
@@TheyCallMeBruce13 I grew up in the 80s - just not in america. We never had a videogame crash here - youtuber revisionist history stating how bad it was, yet this was predominantly in america. We had a boom in the UK - nothing to do with Nintendo.
In terms of the 2600 library you are correct - american companies got super greedy and forced any old rubbish out the door. America caused the crash due to over saturating the market.
Nintendo didn't limit games due to the marketing ploy of a seal of quality - they did it to stranglehold the market, not for the good of the market. If you are no1 you cut off the legs of your opponent before they can walk. Simple ruthless business - which Nintendo are all about. They're a cut throat faceless company the same as the rest, not the saviors of video gaming.
I'm a huge ninty fanboy but blinkered revisionism is not the way to go.
I played Motocross Maniac a bunch back in the day.
It was a ton of fun.
Thanks for the memories. 🙂
Motocross Maniacs is fantastic. One of my favorite GB games.
The comedy is so on point this episode! Great one Joe!
MY ASS is on point when it shoots ACIDIC DIARRHEA and LIQUID sandcastles that smell of methane
I love Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES. I'm happy you said positive things about it. It's total revisionist history to claim it isn't a good game.
It has its rough edges for sure, but it's excusable, given its release date.
I would have liked to see a proper sequel, with some quality-of-life improvements (and the difficulty toned down a little bit), but retaining the exploration elements.
@Ryan Pyle So you want force people to like it? Because there a saying different stoke for different folks.
@@karlaboerger3619 No. anybody can love or hate any game. Its all opinion. There's nothing objective about art. I wasn't totally clear in what I meant in my comment, so I apologize. I meant it's revisionist history when people claim this game wasn't well received back when it released.
About Motorcross Maniacs, there's some hidden items in some of those jumps up ramps. If you do a backwards spin in the right spots, you'll obtain them. Like the ability to use up your nitros to basically fly across the top of the screen, and up to 3 tiny little motorcycles following behind you copying your moves.
I love the smooth animation of going through loops in Motocross Maniacs. Maybe it's not much and it's actually using a simple technique, but I always liked the look of it. Not even Sonic was that smooth when going through loops.
I LOVE YOU GAME SACK! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH YOU'RE APPRECIATED EVERY SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love the energy from Joe on this one. great episode that i'm definitely gonna watch a bunch
How many times will you watch?
It will only take 6 hours to watch this 12 times.
There aren’t even any bees to chase you! I caught that 720 shoutout. I was the outcast that had 720 as my only skating game.
The thing is with the Motocross Maniacs you have to hold up almost all the time to maintain your "balance". After figuring that up the game is much more enjoyable. And you can do flips to get more points and getting shadow racers (which you can have 3 shadows I guess). With a power up you can fly as long as you have nitro which is really fun.
Good episode but love to see Working Designs episode if its gonna happen.
Yes!
i definitely enjoy these publisher dives, it's cool to see the best and WORST that a company released.
I remember playing Skate or Die just to rock out to the music. Another excellent and informative episode! Also enjoyable.
Fall of the foot clan was the first game boy game I ever owned. I still have my copy and play from time to time
Keeping the Sunday tradition alive. Watching a New episode of Game Sack.
Wow! Even the Sponsor section is Fun! Love Game Sack!
I *love* episodes like these, where you break down releases by publisher-- and this enjoyable effort is no exception. A couple of my favorite Ultra releases didn't make the cut:
Base Wars was a fun Ultra release for the NES, in late spring of 1991. Combining the concept of robots and sports wasn't a new concept, but Konami-- I mean, Ultra did a nice job with the concept here. A battery backup allowed for season play and editing teams. For the few sports video game fans out there (like me, weirdo that I am), it was a blast to play. I used to manually track sports game stats and standings in a binder back then when battery backups weren't a thing-- so I enjoyed this game doing most of the work for me. :)
The Ultra Games port of Gyruss for the NES is also worth a mention. It's an interesting conversion of Konami's coin-op, adding a few things (like boss battles) while keeping what made the coin-op fun very much intact. I'm... not very good at the coin-op, but I can hold me own with this conversion.
Many thanks for all of your efforts. I've been rewatching a lot of past episodes during my summer downtime and it's been a happy walk down memory lane-- which you continue to build with every episode.
You should do KEMCO and ATLUS's pre Sega days, they both have some interesting gems back in the day.
The MacVenture games Kemco did for the NES were great back in the day. Great puzzle solving action lol.
@@rayrosini8907 Absolutely, my favorite is probably Uninvited! North and South is another great port from them too.
@@sketchfabe9133 I was just thinking of Uninvited. Shadowgate and Deja Vu as well. Man, top games!
Motocross maniac was one of my first gameboy game and I got really good at it, it was my favorite when you do tricks you could get little motorcycles behind you which allowed you to use multiple nitros. Also love the tmnt games on gameboy got so good at it and could beet it really easy those are some of my favorite games. And super c I knew exactly what to do to not loose a single life and where to get the auto Aim gun, definitely one of my favorite game
Glad youre still digging deep Joe. It always makes my weekend knowing theres gonna be a Sack.
Game Sack’s throwing some serious heat with this one.
hahahaha
@Pro Tengu I still hope Tude Sack gets a part 2.
I am loving the snappy humor in this episode. Great episode Joe.
Thanks for finally doing these. I never realized growing up just how many of my NES and GB games were Ultra games! I wonder if my parents got a package deal.
Motocross Maniac was my favorite gameboy game. Surprised it didnt get more love from you
I would buy a Gameboy JUST for Motocross Maniacs. Amazing game for the time.
Love it! The gba version is solid too! Ever play it?
I kinda love how Hideo Kojima made Metal Gear 2 out of spite.
No, he didn't. According to Kojima himself, one of the planners for Snake's Revenge specifically requested him to make a real sequel, because they didn't consider SR as one. Kojima also doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards SR, even though he absolutely despises the NES port of the original game.
@@Koivusilta correct and he thought snakes revenge was pretty good for its time
Damn, you actually made that ad entertaining. Very smart, as it means that most will probably watch it instead of skipping it as they'd normally do. Great episode as always.
I love these episodes. Thanks for all the effort keeping us all entertained over the years :)
And here I thought I was the lone defender of TMNT. It's tough, sure, but it's completely possible to go through the dam stage without taking damage.
@@Gatorade69 The only thing I feel needed to be fixed was Michelangelo's and Raphael's relative uselessness in combat. They only really ever worked as damage sponges for charging through spots in the game.
But otherwise yeah, I agree and really like the game Still do. Even made a video demonstrating that it is possible to go through the seaweed without taking damage and try to spread the word that it is a grossly misunderstood section. Did you know that the current is usually activated accidentally by players, and in doing so, makes the section harder than it needs to be? Yep, there's a hidden trigger that people don't realize they're hitting. If you know where it is, you can actually avoid it and make it through without taking a single hit.
@@Gatorade69 I keep seeing people cite the AVGN episode. I should probably get around to watching it at some point. See how much he exaggerates things.
I was real good at Motocross Maniacs back then.
wow the best version of qbert "had a knocker that you could feel"? I wish I had found that version when I was younger
"knocker that you could feel" sounds very suggestive.
Oh wow, I had no idea RollerGames was based on a TV show!
There's also an arcade game Konami released in 1989.
Great as always, Joe. The skit at the end might be my favorite one of all...
It should be mentioned that Konami's ownership of this company name is the reason Nintendo had to rename the "Ultra 64" as a precaution to avoid a potential lawsuit.
I remember rollergames, some guy ate a cigarette. The 80s were great.
Perfect! Sunday Morning sack!
Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.
This is the funniest outro I've seen on this channel in years
So glad you’re keeping it going… thank you!
Not gonna lie, that "Erectile Dysfunction" line, made me guffaw.
And it isn't often that you truly experience a guffaw.
I know you weren't going to talk about every Ultra game, but you really should have mentioned Nightshade, it was such an underrated gem.
Love how you made a point to pronounce it "Gradius" AND "Gradius!"
Fun trivia I noticed with Skate or Die: It parallels a lot of scenes from the movie Thrashin that came out a year prior. Skate or Die has the pool joust, Thrashin has this weird joust thing in a ditch with a boxing glove connected to a stick with a chain. Skate or Die has the half pipe, Thrashin has a half pipe scene. Skate or Die has the Downhill Jam where a second character chases after you and tries to hit you, Thrashin has a scene where they chase after the main character through town trying to beat him up. Skate or Die has the big downhill race, the end of Thrashin has a big downhill race for the finale. The only thing that wasn't paralleled in the movie was the high jump, but I think that was just added because they already had the artwork from the half pipe competition.
Also, Skate or Die is awesome, you just have to learn how to play it. Could use more levels for each competition, though.
Game Sack is definitely my favorite youtube channel
I was also surprised to later learn in TMNT that each turtle got his own unique power boost once at half health or lower.
Wait, what?
@@JazGalaxy Not joking. It wasn't mentioned anywhere in the manual. Leave it to speedrunners to discover it. The guides on GameFAQs explain it in plenty of detail. Most I remember is that Mikey's basic attack almost becomes as strong as Donnie's at low health.
Konami was a master of recycling musics and sound effects. They were great anyway.
The glorious days of Ultra Games, 1988-1992, were also my most feverish NES and Game Boy playing times.
Dude that gameboy jewel of motorcycle, I pass many hours riding all the courses, learning curve is slow, but when you get it and do all the flips and tricks is the best.
Okay so, that ending legit scared me...
@@The_Real_ScaryD it really is
2:03 - he said it! Now we need a Sack episode about all Toobin' games. Oh...
I get incredible nostalgia feels whenever I see TMNT. Never completed it, but have played it again over the years and no game frustrates me so much and still has such a prized place in my gaming memory. Total classic to me.
Your Ultra Games logo sweeping was indeed fun, Joe!
Many of these games literally said "KONAMI" on the title screen somewhere, so it wasn't too hard to figure out that Ultra Games = Konami.
I realized this at a young age when playing TMNT II The Arcade Game on the NES.
It's a shame Ultra went away before they could give us Cake or Die.
Woke up feeling good today. One of those rare days that I'm not immediately haunted by my missing Pizza Hut coupon making Turtles 2 incomplete.
And then Joe comes along....
Wow, I remember playing most of these games...even the motocross one.
Man, the ad at the end was funny as hell. I didn't even think that was possible.
Comedy was on point Joe keep them coming man I love this channel and always will, ya got moxie.
As much as I miss Dave this new era of gamesack is still cool. Hope you're good dave wherever you are...
Balls I feel old lol thanks man...Great video as always though. Gamesack is still sorely underrated.
That end skit was just incredible.
The skit caught me off guard xD. Love your content as always.
Damn Konami. It's such a shame really. Castlevania and Metal Gear are 2 of my favorite game series ever. :(
Legendary. Classic library. With some of the toughest games around. Crazy idea, but still were able to pull it off.
Logo design. Excellent
Love this look back, at their library
Confession, I never finished TMNT either. That water level.
14:10 I'm surprised they had the restraint to have water not instantly kill a turtle.
That slow motion mullet wave at the end 😂😂
I honestly can’t believe Gamesack doesn’t have over a million subscribers
Motocross Maniacs is awesome, one of the best 2 player link ups on gameboy
I remember the Ultra games version of Metal Gear mainly for the fact that it is the only game that I can recall passwords causing permanent damage to the games' code.
Entering the code to appear near the end game broke many areas in the game and removed certain items needed to advance when attempting to play through the game legitimately afterwards.
That is just another advantage that the MSX version has over the Ultra cartridge.
Wow the lighting on Joe's face in the end skit is great!
When I was younger I suspected somehow Ultra was linked to Konami because the pause sound effect was the exact same in Konami and Ultra games.
Thank YOU for making Game Sack !
nintendo's rules were strict back then, but its often forgotten that they had witnessed the collapse of the entire industry due to the amount of atari shovelware just half a decade prior.
Title cards for RUclips ad breaks? Awesome sauce!
The quality of your videos is excellent. love your channel!!!