Aleck 64 on the Everdrive 64

Aleck 64 was some arcade hardware released by Seta and co-developed with Nintendo in 1998. It is based on the Nintendo 64 hardware and uses cartridges to load games. The system never really caught on and received only a few releases until it was discontinued in 2003. There was never a release for it outside of Japan.

In early 2015 Assembler forum user Zoinkity found a way to get these Aleck64 Arcade games to run on the Nintendo 64 system using a flashcart. Originally support was for the 64drive but Krikzz released an update to get these working on the Everdrive 64 as well. To play these Aleck64 games on the Everdrive 64 you'll need to be running OS 2.09 or higher and have the CRC Check option set to off. Additionally you'll need to set the save type to EEP4K if you want to save your settings and scores. Also you need an Expansion Pak, but I'm sure you bought one of those ages ago.

Patching these games is very easy. With most Aleck 64 games you simply and apply the patch with Lunar IPS to an unbyteswapped ROM. With a couple of these downloads you must instead combine two pieces of the ROM. To do this you simply open up both of these files in a hex editor, copy everything from the second file, and then paste it all at the end of the first file. Then save and apply the patch like normal. If you need any help then check the readme file that all of these patches come with.

Currently there are 6 Aleck 64 games that are working on the Nintendo 64. This is a full list of them:

Donchan Puzzle Hanabi de Doon!

Released 2003. Developed by Aruze. Published by Aruze. 1-2 Players. Saving available. Most text is Japanese but easy enough to figure out. Download Patch.

Donchan Puzzle is certainly a strange one. The goal of this game is to match coloured bombs, create combos, and send enough junk over to your opponent to fill their screen. The pieces are not just given to you though; they're determined by your slot machine. 3 buttons are each used to control one reel of the slot machine and once you've stopped them all you'll have your piece. Your Slot machine can land on coloured bombs, character tiles which clear everything of that colour, balls of paper which are just garbage, or just on nothing at all. If your slot machine lands on 3 of the same character tiles then you'll be given a chance to send a massive amount of junk to your opponent. When this happens a timer will appear and your goal is to just do as many spins of your slot machine as possible as everything you land on before time runs out will be sent over to your opponent.

Although this game sounds weird it's not too hard to pick up on. The voice samples in this game are all Japanese and the text is 99% Japanese as well. Setting up a game is not hard but changing any settings may take some trial and error. This game supports 2 players so bring a friend to join in on the madness.

Controls:

Eleven Beat: World Tournament

Released 1998. Developed by Hudson. Published by Seta. 1-2 Players. Saving not available. Japanese Language not required. Download Patch.

Eleven Beat: World Tournament was the first Aleck 64 release and it's definitely one of the better games for the system. This soccer game takes place in a cartoony world with a total of 16 teams featured. You pick your team and then work your way up the tournament ladder scoring more goals than your opponents until you eventually make it to the top. The game is fast-paced and a real blast to play through. It can also be played with a second player, just be sure to hit the Start button on the player 2's controller. In the single player mode each half lasts 1:40 and requires another credit to play the second half of the game. In the two player mode the halves last 2:20 and the game even goes to a shootout mode if you're tied at the end. This game requires no knowledge of the Japanese language to play as all the text and voice samples in this game are in English.

Controls: (Easy Type)

Kuru Kuru Fever

Released 2003. Developed by Takumi. Published by Aruze. 1-2 Players. Saving available. Japanese Language mostly not required. Download Patch.

If you're familiar with Puyo Puyo then you'll likely pick up on this game pretty quickly. In this game you match different fruit, create combos, and send garbage over to your opponent in the hopes that they'll eventually fill up their play area and have no room left. What makes this different from Puyo Puyo is that each character has a favourite fruit and clearing that one will cause the play area to flip upside down. Any Subsequent matches will cause further flips and this reduces the number of fruits needed for a match. Two different modes are available, Story Mode and Challenge Mode. In Story Mode you pick a character and work your way up defeating all the other characters in the game. Challenge Mode is essentially score attack where you see how long you can keep going. A second player can join in on either of these modes but you won't be able to advance the Story that way. This game has some English text and some Japanese text. The instructions on how to play are all in Japanese but everything else is English. Playing this game should be no problem for an English speaker.

Controls:

Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth

Released 1998. Developed by Hudson. Published by Seta. 1 Player. Saving available. Japanese Language not required. Download Patch.

Star Soldier Vanishing Earth is a scrolling shooter that was released in the Arcades as well as on the Nintendo 64. The arcade version featured here has just the story mode present which is pretty well the same on both systems. The story takes place 6 years after the last battle where the Zeograd has returned and has launched a second attack on the human race. The SIA has built you 3 new ships they call the "F98 series". It is of course your job to destroy the Zeograd and restore peace. The F98 ships are each unique in their own ways having their own advantages and disadvantages. This is definitely a fun title and despite already being on the N64 I think both versions are still worth playing. The text and voice samples found in this game are all in English. Unfortunately both the Arcade and N64 versions are just 1 player games.

Controls:

Tower & Shaft

Released 2003. Developed by Aruze. Published by Aruze. 1 Player. Saving available. Most text is Japanese but easy enough to figure out. Download Patch.

English translation by Zoinkity available here.

Tower & Shaft is essentially 2 fun games in one. When playing Shaft the goal is to keep falling. The screen keeps moving downward and you must continue to stay ahead of it by falling and landing on platforms below. Should you miss a platform and fall all the way down you'll lose a life. In Tower you're instead traveling up. Your character moves left and right and you control his jumps. How high he jumps is determined by what his power meter is at. The meter goes up and down as you hold the jump button. Should your character fall below the screen you'll lose a life. Both of these games give you 2 lives with one credit. When you lose a life you'll start out 10 floors off from where you were when you died. The game is easy enough to figure out if you're an English speaker but the Story and menus are all Japanese. This is also another single player-only game.

Controls:

Vivid Dolls

Released 1998. Developed by Visco Corportation. Published by Seta. 1-2 Players. Saving available. Japanese Language not required. Download Patch.

Vivid Dolls is one of those games that only someone in Japan would come up with. In this game you control a little ball and must draw pieces of a picture of a partially naked woman while avoiding enemies. You start with one small piece already drawn and must draw 70% or more of the picture to move onto the next stage. There are 8 girls to choose from with each one having 3 stages. There are also a few power ups you can find that do things such as increase your speed or slow down the enemies. This game can be played with a second player if desired. The text found in this game is all in English so no knowledge of Japanese is needed to play. As you probably guessed this game is absolutely not safe for work.

Controls:

Once again thanks very much to Zoinkity for patching these games.

Written by Kevin Ames
February 8th 2015