TV Boy

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TV Boy with power and TV leads attached.

The TV Boy and its successors TV Boy 2 and Super TV Boy are 1990s video game consoles produced by many different companies, including Systema, Akor, and NICS, based upon an unlicensed clone of Atari 2600 hardware. They were widely available across Europe. In the UK they were most visibly available through Argos. An improved version of the TV Boy 2, the Super TV Boy, was made by Akor in 1995.

Users can play any one of 127 built-in games. In the UK, they were marketed with "126 games included"; the Super TV Boy has "127 games included" printed on the packing box.

[edit] Hardware

Resembling a large handheld pad, the systems plug into a TV and operate on either four AA batteries or a 6v power supply. The only difference between a TV Boy and TV Boy 2 is that the former has two 9-pin, Atari-type joystick connectors for the optional use of external joysticks. The TV Boy 2 has no capacity for external joysticks, so only a single player may play using a built-in pad. The system has a jumper labeled NTSC/PAL on its motherboard. There is no cartridge slot for additional games.

[edit] Games

The system contains a single 512kb ROM housing 128 programs. One is the program that enables the others to be selected, so only 127 games are included; none of them use any sort of paged ROM scheme.

All 127 are original Atari 2600 games by companies such as Atari, Activision, and Mattel, hacked to remove copyright notices and other assets demonstrating ownership. The colored bars to the left of the A in the Activision logo remain in some games but the company name is excised. False and ambiguous names — such as Mad Kong (Donkey Kong) and The Flying Man (Superman) — are printed on the packing box and in the instruction manual.

For the UK versions, one game originally included with the TV Boy was removed from the TV Boy 2: game #91: Protection (Defender). No replacement game takes its place (it was left non-operational) making the TV Boy 2 a 126-game handheld console. This space was filled in the Super TV Boy with Winter Adventure (Mountain Man). Also, three games were exchanged in the UK: Maze Town (Maze Craze) with Full Attack, Football (Pele's Soccer) with Besieged (Z-Tack), and Duel (Outlaw) with Laser Attack (Laser Blast).

Some of the games slightly alter the graphics of the originals. All play with altered colors — for example, Pitfall! (retitled as The Jungle) is set in a blue forest — because the game ROMs are NTSC versions played on a PAL console.

[edit] List of included games

The following is a complete list of the Atari 2600 games modified for inclusion in the TV Boy, according to the game number on that device, with the original game name listed beside:

Pyramid War - Chopper Command (Activision)
River Raid - River Raid (Activision)
Pac Man - Pac-Man (Atari)
Mariana - Seaquest (Activision)
Tom Boy - Pitfall (Activision)
Earth Defence - Space Invaders (Atari)
Donkey Kong - Donkey Kong (Coleco)
Super Ferrari - Enduro (Atari)
Frog Crossing - Frogger (Parker Bros.)
Pin Ball - Video Pinball (Atari)
Bank Heist - Keystone Kapers (Activision)
Invader - Megamania (Activision)
Sea Warp - Atlantis (Imagic)
Exerion Jr. - Demon Attack (Imagic)
Sky Destroyer - Missile Command (Atari)
River Crossing - Frostbite (Activision)
Down Town - Berzerk (Atari)
Tunnel Battle - Laser Gates (Imagic)
Teeth Brush - Jawbreaker (Tigervision)
Pig Fighter - Oink! (Activision)
Lunar Ball - Trick Shot (Imagic)
Dig Dug - Gopher (US Games) - does not appear on the TV Boy
Fast Offense - Turmoil (20th Century Fox)
Car Racing - Grand Prix (Activision)
Fire Man - Fire Fighter (Imagic)
Spider King - Pac-Kong (Funvision) - previously PAL only
Robot City - Lock 'n' Chase (M Network)
Cuttle Fish - Name This Game (US Games)
Maze Town - Maze Craze (Atari)
Evil City - Dodge 'Em (Atari)
Spider Fighter - Starmaster X-7 (20th Century Fox)
Asteroid - Mission 3000 (Puzzy/Bit) - previously PAL only
Ark Lost Art - Worm War I (Sirius-Fox)
Machine Camel - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Parker Bros.)
Shrinkage - Fantastic Voyage (20th Century Fox)
Chess - Video Chess (Atari)
Dragon Treasure - Dragonfire (Imagic)
Evil Attack - Spider Fighter (Activision)
Ice Polo - Ice Hockey (Activision)
Tank City - Thunderground (Sega)
Puzzle - Hangman (Atari)
Volley Ball - Realsports Volleyball (Atari)
Defense - M.A.D. (US Games)
Star Force - Earth Dies Screaming (20th Century Fox)
Star War - Tac-Scan (Sega)
Time Warp - Plaque Attack (Activision)
Space Tunnel - Flash Gordon (20th Century Fox)
Fox Fighter - Pooyan (Konami)
Moon Driver - Gas Hog (Spectravision)
Boom Bang - Crackpots (Activision)
Sea-Air-War - Air-Sea-Battle (Atari)
Pigeon - Barnstorming (Activision)
Devil Town - Venture (Coleco)
UFO Ship - Assault (Bomb)
Journey - Mr. Postman (Puzzy/Bit)
Carnival - Carnival (Coleco)
Crazy Attack - Dark Cavern (M Network)
Ocean CITY - Z-Tack (Bomb)
Frogger - Frogs 'N Flies (M Network)
Sea Hunter - Sub Scan (Sega)
King Building - Robin Hood or Save Our Ship (Technovision) - previously PAL only
Treasure - Criminal Pursuit (ZiMAG/Vidco/Emag)
Spiderman - Spider Man (Parker Bros.)
Fast Eddie - Fast Eddie (Sirius-Fox) - graphics altered from original
Robocop - Space Cavern (Apollo)
Top Gun - Air Raiders (M Network)
Ufo Ship II - Assault (Bomb)
Jaw - Fast Food (Telesys)
Walker - Walker (Unknown)
Mega Force - Mega Force (20th Century Fox)
Mouse Trap - Hole Hunter (Unknown) - previously PAL only
Dimax - Astro War (Dimax) - previously PAL only
Robot Attack - Space Robot (Dimax) - previously PAL only
Maze Craze - Bank Heist (20th Century Fox)
Air Force - UFO Patrol (Unknown)
Super Man - Superman (Atari)
Sky Climber - Master Builder (Spectravision)
Base Defenses - Commando Raid (Vidtec)
Fox Trap - Nuts (Technovision) - previously PAL only
Space Ship - Cosmic Ark (Imagic)
Brain Game - Amidar (Parker Bros.)
Laser Duck - Deadly Duck (Sirius-Fox)
Battle - Marauder (Tigervision)
Running - Mouse Trap (Coleco)
Spectra - Planet Patrol (Spectravision)
Rescue - M*A*S*H (20th Century Fox)
Q-Bert - Q*Bert (Parker Bros.)
Sweet Home - Farmyard Fun (Suntek) - previously PAL only
Tennis - Tennis (Activision)
Square Attack - Wall Defender (Bomb)
Cow Boy - Stampede (Activision)
Bowling - Bowling (Atari)
River Driver - Raft Rider (US Games)
Galactic - Challenge of NEXAR (Spectravision)
Last Attack - Yar's Revenge (Atari)
Soccer Game - Pele's Soccer (Atari)
Fishing - Fishing Derby (Activision)
Bermuda - Bermuda (Suntek)
Exerion - Condor Attack (Ultravision)
Seesaw - Circus Atari (Atari)
Chess II - Checkers (Activision)
Ski - Skiing (Activision)
Word Zapper - Word Zapper (Vidtec)
Sea War - Sea War (Unknown)
Alien - Alien (20th Century Fox)
Return Ball - Racquetball (Apollo)
Time Tunnel - Time Tunnel
Baseball Jr. - Super Challenge Baseball (M Network)
Ottello - Othello (Atari)
Mafia - Gangster Alley (Spectravision)
Happy Kid - Dancing Plate (Puzzy/Bit)
Fancy Pot - Snail Against Squirrel (Puzzy/Bit) - previously PAL only
Laser Ship - Cross Force (Spectravision)
Baby Go Home - Bobby Is Going Home (Puzzy/Bit) - previously PAL only
Duck Pass - Challenge (Funvision)
Third Contact - Cosmic Creeps (Telesys)
Karate - Karate (Ultravision)
Laser - Laser Blast (Activision)
Snoopy - Malagai (Answer Software)
Space Journey - Space Jockey (Vidtec)
Submarine - Submarine (Unknown) - a clone of Fox M*A*S*H
Ufo Attack - Great Escape (Bomb)
Ele-Cop - Room of Doom (Commavid)
Shotting - Squeezebox (US Games)
Ice Climber - Brick Kick (Home Vision)
3D Space - 3D Tic Tac Toe (Atari)
Rocket - Missile Control (Video Gems) - previously PAL only