Puzzle Bobble

Tech&Music

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May 14, 2016
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I've talked a bit about Neo Geo to my family, and a really cool relative bought me a copy of Puzzle Bobble since they remembered I mentioned that game, since that was the game I remembered playing on an MVS in a small amusement park. He specifically looked for original cartridges, because yes I did also tell him about the fact bootlegs exist, and before buying it he asked the seller if it was original, which he assured him it was. I've looked at the ad, and yes, that is what it says. But the label, and the boards, raise my suspicions a bit, and I almost have the feeling he got duped into buying a bootleg.

The label, next to being kind of jacked up, lacks a serial number, Taito logo, Taito copyright date, and "Made in Japan" writing. The MVS logo itself looks real, but the "Multi Video System" looks to be in a different font. The font used for the game title looks a little bolder than the MVS Scan one, to me at least.

Click here for a high-res picture of the label.

After having seen that, I opened the case up. And again, it made me suspicious.
Board 1 has no windowed EPROMs, but has two weird ROM chips marked PV-4 and PG-3. The ROMs are also in a different layout than what I've seen on the MVS Scan ones.

Click here for a pic of board 1.

Board 2 however has two windowed EPROM chips instead of the usual one found in legit PB/BAM cartridges. And it has two ROM chips marked PC-1 and PC-2, in between the usual Toshiba mask ROMs.

Click here for a pic of board 2.

Something is icky about this. Is this a legit cart, or has the seller mistaken it for one?

EDIT: I just looked at the ad again, and the pictures are supposedly the exact same cart we should have received, but it's not. That one does have the original label (or at least a very good reproduction compared to this one), and has a few more windowed EPROMs on the boards, but none of these weird PC/PG/PV ROMs. It keeps getting worse, don't it?
 
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Niko

Whip's Subordinate
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May 15, 2014
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Sorry, its a boot.

Puzzle Bobble is one of the most booted games out there.

You can tell by the NGH number of the official ROMs. The CHA board has 063 C-ROMS which are from SamSho2. And The PROG board uses 069 V-ROMS which are from Fatal Fury 3.
 

Kid Panda

The Chinese Kid
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Possibly a SNK repair? Most Puzzle Bobbles/BaM will have at least one eprom due to being conversions from Power Spikes II.
 
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Tw3ek

69Vapelord420
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Just for the record, Puzzle Bobble is a Japanese label, which do not contain serial numbers.

You can compare to MVS-Scans as well if you are unsure!
 

Tech&Music

Another Striker
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Yeah, I realize that now, but that still doesn't make up for the fact that the rest of the label is also fishy. Gonna see if he can get a refund on this, as the seller specifically told him it was original after he asked, the seller had 100% feedback so he trusted it, but apparently even that doesn't always guarantee it'll be the right thing!
 

Tech&Music

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Alright, problem solved. I've send the guy an email, explaining it, and he sent back that he would refund my relative if that's what we would want, but insisted it was an original SNK cart. I found that slightly amusing, but oh well. Sent him back that I would like him to refund it, and also sent him the pictures of what we received, asking if he could agree that is not what was advertised. He promptly refunded both the cart and shipping costs, so that's cool. In the email afterwards he apologized for the mistake, so I dunno, not willing to say he did this on purpose, but at least I hope he will be more wary of this when selling again.
 

skate323k137

Professional College Dropout
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Practically every PB cart you'll find looks like a boot or repair. If it's on legit SNK boards honestly (for just this game in particular) I personally don't care.
 

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
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Practically every PB cart you'll find looks like a boot or repair. If it's on legit SNK boards honestly (for just this game in particular) I personally don't care.

Yeah, it's small enough where there aren't going to be glitches. I used a PB boot for years without issue.

As for this one, yeah, bootleg. Looks a step above the usual pure EPROM carts, but still a boot. I doubt many sellers know as much as we collectively know on here, so it's probably an honest mistake. SNK boards, SNK chips, I can see how one would be fooled.
 

wyo

King of Spammers
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PROGBK1 was originally Fatal Fury 3
CHA256 was originally Samurai Shodown 2

Always check the NGH numbers on the chips match the master list: http://www.neo-geo.com/snk/master_list-ngh.htm
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move is an exception though. It should have a mix of 068 (Power Spikes 2) and D96 mask ROMs plus one EPROM per PCB.
 

Tech&Music

Another Striker
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May 14, 2016
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PROGBK1 was originally Fatal Fury 3
CHA256 was originally Samurai Shodown 2

Always check the NGH numbers on the chips match the master list: http://www.neo-geo.com/snk/master_list-ngh.htm
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move is an exception though. It should have a mix of 068 (Power Spikes 2) and D96 mask ROMs plus one EPROM per PCB.

Even if he had checked, the pictures do not match the cart we got in the mail.
 
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