->'''Darwin:''' [Picks up a game from a bargain bin] Hey, look! They have a new ''Legend of Zelmore''! [Looks at the game's case] Wait, what? ''The Tale of Zolmore''? For [=PolyStation=]? [Opens the game's case] There's not even a disc inside! It's painted on the box! It's a knock-off!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''

A ShoddyKnockoffProduct in the form of an entire VideoGame. These were most common in the mid 90s, due to the relative ease of spriteswapping before the VideoGame3DLeap.

Though an intent to deceive is usually behind their creation, as is the case with most {{Shoddy Knockoff Product}}s, an unlicensed game can also come about in open defiance of a console manufacturer's policies. This was particularly common with (but not exclusive to) the Platform/Atari2600 and Platform/{{NES}}, as Creator/{{Atari}} and Creator/{{Nintendo}} had a reputation in the industry at the time for putting [[ExecutiveMeddling exceptionally draconian restrictions]] on their licensees. Game cartridges that come about this way may have unique mechanisms for circumventing their respective system's antipiracy measures.

The [[http://bootleggames.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Games Bootleg Games Wiki]] is a considerably large catalogue of these. While SturgeonsLaw definitely applies, some bootleg games have made names for themselves, [[Administrivia/ThereIsNoSuchThingAsNotability and may have tropes of their own]].

See also GameMod, which many bootlegs are, as well as FanGame and FanSequel, which many bootlegs would dubiously qualify as. (Sometimes fan games and mods are outright stolen and sold ''as'' bootlegs.) Compare and contrast HomebrewVideoGames, as the line that separates them can be particularly blurry and often comes down to the context in which it was made.
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!Games under this category include:
[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/Action52''
* ''VideoGame/BibleAdventures''
* ''VideoGame/BibleBuffet''
* ''VideoGame/Caltron6In1'', a compilation of knockoffs of licensed titles:[[/index]]
** ''Magic Carpet 1001'' (''Cloud Master'' clone, appears on other multicarts and plug-n-play systems as ''Franchise/{{Aladdin}} 3'')
** ''Cosmos Cop'' (''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' clone)
** ''Adam & Eve'' (''VideoGame/BalloonFight'' clone)
** ''Balloon Monster'' (''VideoGame/{{Pang}}'' clone)
** ''Porter'' (''VideoGame/{{Sokoban}}'' clone)
** ''Bookyman'' (''Crush Roller/Make Trax'' clone)[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/CheetahmenII''
* ''VideoGame/DianShiMaLi''
* ''VideoGame/{{Dizzy}}'' series:
** ''Treasure Island Dizzy'' (NES port, released on the multicart ''Quattro Adventure'')
** ''The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy'' (NES)
** ''Go! Dizzy Go!'' (only available on the NES multicart ''Quattro Arcade'')
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong5TheJourneyOfOverTimeAndSpace''
* ''VideoGame/Exodus1991''
* ''VideoGame/FelixTheCatByDragonCo''
* ''VideoGame/HellFighter''
* ''VideoGame/HongKong97''
* ''VideoGame/KartFighter''
* ''VideoGame/KingOfKingsTheEarlyYears''
* ''VideoGame/KingOfRing'' (adapted from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'')
* ''VideoGame/LittleRedHood''
* ''VideoGame/MenaceBeach[=/=]Sunday Funday/Miss Peach World''
* ''VideoGame/Mario4ASpaceOdyssey'' and ''Mario 3: Around the World''
* ''VideoGame/MasterChuAndTheDrunkardHu''
* ''Mole Kart'' from the ''VideoGame/MolesWorld'' series
* ''VideoGame/PocketAllStarSmashBrothers''
* ''VideoGame/PocketMonster''
* ''VideoGame/PocketMonstersGoGoGo''
* ''VideoGame/PokemonQuartz''
* ''VideoGame/PokemonVietnameseCrystal''
* ''VideoGame/Raid2020''
* ''VideoGame/SecretScoutInTheTempleOfDemise''
* ''VideoGame/ShiKongXingShou''
* ''VideoGame/{{Somari}}''
* ''VideoGame/Sonic3DBlast5''
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4SNES''
* ''VideoGame/Super3DNoahsArk''
* ''VideoGame/SuperFighter''
* ''VideoGame/SuperFighterMAllStar'' (not related to the above ''Super Fighter'')
* ''VideoGame/SuperMario3D''
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorldNES''
* ''VideoGame/{{Tasac}}''
* ''VideoGame/Terrifying911'' (port of VideoGame/{{MetalSlug}} for the Platform/GameBoyColor with heavily-digitized footage of [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the World Trade Center attacks]] in place of the title screen.)
* ''VideoGame/TheUltimateStuntman''
* ''VideoGame/{{Titenic}}''
** ''Harry's Legend''
* ''VideoGame/WallyBearAndTheNoGang''
[[/index]]
!!Examples covered on the source material's page[[note]]due to having both a lack of unique tropes and significant AdaptationDisplacement[[/note]]
* ''7 GRAND DAD'', a hack of ''VideoGame/TheFlintstonesTheRescueOfDinoAndHoppy''
* ''Pokémon Diamond and Jade'', a poor translation of ''VideoGame/{{Telefang}}''

!!Non-indexed examples
(Remember, you're free to make pages about them!)
* ''Aladdin (Hummer Team)'', based on ''VideoGame/AladdinCapcom''
** ''Aladdin II (Mega Drive)''
* ''Aladdin (Super Game)'', based on ''VideoGame/AladdinVirginGames''
** ''Aladdin II (Famicom)''
* ''Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi'' (Taiwanese ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' clone for the Mega Drive. Received an official English translation and release from Piko Interactigve in 2018, as ''Brave Battle Saga''.)
* ''Bee 52''
* ''Bio Hazard'' (Famicom demake of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' using assets from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilGaiden'')
* ''Bob Bros: The Legend of Time'' (A stripped-down [[MobilePhoneGame mobile device]] asset flip of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'')
* ''Castle of Deceit''
* ''VideoGame/{{Chiller}}'' (NES port of the arcade game)
* ''Chinese Kung Fu/Challenge of the Dragon'' (Sachen knockoff of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonI'', offered to Color Dreams for Western publication but they rejected it and made an original game also titled ''Challenge of the Dragon'')
* ''Deathbots''
* ''Era's Adventures 3D''
* ''F-15 City War'' (FC/NES knockoff of ''VideoGame/ThunderBlade'')
* ''F-22'' (Generic vertical shmup by Inventor, featured in truncated form on various plug-&-play Famiclones)
* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII_(NES_video_game) Final Fantasy VII]]'' (Famicom demake by Shenzhen Nanjing Technology. Received a fan-made UpdatedRerelease with English translation in 2013.)
* ''Firehawk'' (NES ''VideoGame/DesertStrike'' clone by Creator/{{Codemasters}}, unrelated to the arcade game ''Fire Hawk'' or the sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Thexder}}'')
* ''VideoGame/{{Gaiapolis}}'' (Famicom/NES version)
* ''Galactic Crusader''
* ''VideoGame/ImpossibleMission II'' (NES port)
* ''Iraq War 2003''
* ''Lei Dian Huang Bi Ka Qiu Chuan Shuo'' (combination of ''Pokémon Yellow'' and ''Pokémon [=FireRed and LeafGreen=]'')
* ''[[https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Magic_Dragon Magic Dragon]]'' (''VideoGame/RType'' knockoff for Famicom)
* ''Monino Save Story''
* ''Operation Secret Storm''
* ''[[https://www.destructoid.com/chinese-pokemon-go-is-just--380470.phtml Pokeball Coach Pokemon Go]]''
* ''Pokémon Stadium'' for the Genesis
* ''Pokemon 2000'' (Hack of Hudson Soft's ''VideoGame/FelixTheCat'', not to be confused with the aforementioned Dragon Co. game)
* ''Robodemons''
* ''[[Franchise/MegaMan Rocman X (Thunder Blast Man)]]''
* ''[[https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Shi_Kong_Zhi_Lun Shi Kong Zhi Lun]]'' (Famicom demake of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', made by Shenzhen Nanjing Technology who also developed the above mentioned ''Final Fantasy VII'' demake.)
* ''Shui Hu Feng Yun Zhuan'' (''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' clone based on the Chinese novel ''Literature/WaterMargin'', as well as "borrowing" assets from ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'', ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', and ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheRound''. Surprisingly, the game received English translation by Piko Interactive in 2015 as ''Water Margin: A Tale of Clouds and Wind'', with the much of the copyright infringing elements removed.)
* ''Silent Assault''
* ''Squirrel King'' (Platform/MegaDrive knockoff of ''VideoGame/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'')
* ''[[https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Contra_7 Super Contra 7]]'' (Standalone ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' game with sprites and backgrounds ripped from ''Mighty VideoGame/FinalFight''.)
** ''Super Contra X''
** ''Contra Spirits/Super Contra 3'' (Famicom port of ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars'')
* ''Super Evolution'', a generic gacha MobilePhoneGame based around collecting blatant ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[MoeAnthropomorphism gijinkas]] with [[BlindIdiotTranslation poorly translated names]] (e.g. "Shellhelmet" for Shelmet) and poor Japanese voice acting.
* ''Tagin' Dragon''
* ''The Adventures of Captain Comic'' (NES port of the MS-DOS game)
* ''[[https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dragon?so=search The Dragon]]'' (Famicom beat 'em up starring a BruceLeeClone with sprites ripped from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', not to be confused with the aforementioned ''Challenge of the Dragon'')
* ''The P'radikus Conflict''
* ''[[Franchise/TomAndJerry Tom & Jerry 3]]'' (Famicom conversion of the Genesis game ''Tom & Jerry: Frantic Antics'')
* ''Twin Eagle'' (''VideoGame/Area88'' knockoff by Sachen, published by American Video Entertainment as ''Double Strike'' in the US to avoid confusion or legal conflict with the Taito/Seta vertical shmup also called ''Twin Eagle'')
* ''VR Fighter vs. Taken 2'' (Megadrive {{crossover}} of ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' and ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'')
* ''Wait and See!'' (Based on the Russian animated series ''Animation/NuPogodi'', but steals artwork from ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny'')
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