Piracy isn't what it once was.
Back in the 80s, 90s and Noughties we constantly had the anti-piracy message rammed under our eyelids.
We've no idea whether piracy is less of a threat, given that The Kids all do streaming, or whether everyone's just gotten bored of talking about it, but you don't hear as much about it these days.
Piracy was theft, of course, but it did at least give us some unique artworks - as valid, in its own way, as the official cover art offered by the legitimate publishers.
Here are 12 such cartridges from the golden age of video game piracy.
Back in the 80s, 90s and Noughties we constantly had the anti-piracy message rammed under our eyelids.
We've no idea whether piracy is less of a threat, given that The Kids all do streaming, or whether everyone's just gotten bored of talking about it, but you don't hear as much about it these days.
Piracy was theft, of course, but it did at least give us some unique artworks - as valid, in its own way, as the official cover art offered by the legitimate publishers.
Here are 12 such cartridges from the golden age of video game piracy.
12. SUPER SIMPSON IV
Remember Super Simpson 1 - 3? Remember those? With all the Super Simpson things? The Simpson, and all the other Simpson-y things? Well now he's back, The Super Simpson - and he's Super-er than ever!
11. SUPER BROS. 4
There's a pizza restaurant near us that hasn't changed since the 1970s. On the wall is a mural, faded and still nicotine-stained from the days when smoking was allowed in restaurants, depicting a ravenous workman consuming a pizza so large it can only be eaten with a shovel. That workman looks eerily similar to the main character in the Super Bros. series...
10. NO IDEA...
The one on the left can't be Mario - he doesn't have a moustache, and is enormous. The tiny one on the right definitely isn't Luigi: his blue hat appears to have a 'V' on it (Vuigi? Vario?). Also, they appear to be poncing around in front of the World's Fanciest McDonald's.
9. SUPER BROS. 11
He'a back, look - as manic of stare and grin as ever.
8. SUPER WONDERFUL MARIO
Super Wonderful Mario is so super and wonderful that everyone wants to come and see him! There's Snow White, Pete's Dragon, Cap'n Crunch there, a llama, somebody's smiling testicle...
7. SUPER MARIO WORLD 9
We don't ever recall one genuine sequel to Super Mario World - Yoshi's Island doesn't count; it was a prequel - let alone another seven. Still, it's good to note that Mario's fashion sense evolved over time: by Super Mario World 9, he's taken to wearing a candy-stripe cap.
6. SUPER MARIO & SONIC 2
Remember when Super Mario and Sonic hung out on the desert island with Tails, and Chip from Chip n' Dale burst out of the foliage and threw an apple in Tails' face so hard that it broke his jaw?
5. PIZZAPOP MARIO
That's not Mario. That's Luigi. And he's never looked more terrified. Evidently, he really doesn't want the cool cats to steal his pizza.
4. SUPER BROS 10
Standard martial arts nonsense. With a Mexican walking past in the background.
3. WRECKING CREW
A semi-accurate depiction of what actually went on in Wrecking Crew, one of the more obscure entries in the Mario canon... A game in which Mario drifted around in zero gravity, apparently, flailing a mallet about in the hope of killing caterpillars and turtles, or smashing open a floating safe.
2. 9999999 IN 1
Can you imagine the menu screen? It'd be almost worse than trying to find something to watch on Netflix.
1. SUPER MARIO BROS.
Super Mario Bros. on the Mega Drive no less. And as if to add insult to injury, Mario is doing Sonic's trademark "with attitude" V-sign. No doubt Sega's lawyers had some V-signs of their own to offer in return...
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