Makon Soft (also known as Yong Yong) was a Chinese company that originally produced bootleg video games for the Game Boy/Game Boy Color.[1] They also made several Android games in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Their Game Boy productions are known for being of a notably poor quality, even when compared to other bootleg video games. Yong Yong closed down in 2011.
| Makon Soft | |
| Type: | Private |
| Founded: | 1997 |
| Defunct: | 2011 |
| Hq Location Country: | China |
| Products: | Bootleg video games for the Game Boy/Android games |
It is unknown exactly where or when Makon Soft was founded, but the year they were founded is 1997. They were infamous for making unauthorized ports of popular 16/32-bit games to the Game Boy/GBC. An example is Sonic 3D Blast 5, a port of Sonic 3D Blast for the Sega Saturn,[2] and Super Mario Special 3, a port of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES.
Makon Soft later released several ROM hacks of their earlier games, such as Pokémon Diamond, a hack of Super Mario Special 3 replacing Mario with Pikachu and the coins with Poké Balls.[3] They also created colorized hacks, such as Super Donkey Kong 5, a hack of Super Donkey Kong 3, a bootleg port of the SNES game which replaced the menu art with that from Diddy Kong Racing.[4] Their colorized games originally consisted of a very limited color palette,[5] but this was improved later on.
Their Game Boy games contained strong encryption techniques, which made dumping the ROMs difficult.[6]
Makon also developed several games for Android. An example is Rolling Ball (a puzzle game where you roll differently colored balls into holes of their respective colors while avoiding enemies, inspired by Rockball by Sachen.)
Because their ports were riddled with issues, Makon Soft gained a degree of notoriety. Examples of these issues are platforming glitches, poor controls, and poorly composed music. For example, a glitch in Super Mario Special 3 renders level 4 unbeatable. The glitch involves the ending item not appearing. Many of their other games have similar problems. Their engine is likely based on that of Sonic 3D Blast 5, which lacks velocity and causes the player to slow down when jumping.
| Sonic 3D Blast 5 | An unauthorized port of Sonic 3D Blast for the Sega Saturn. Contrary to its name, it is not 3D, and has gameplay reminiscent of Sonic Jam for the Tiger Electronics Game.com. | 1997 | |
| Super Donkey Kong 3 | A bootleg port of for the Super Nintendo. | 1997 | |
| Super Mario Special 3 | A port of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. |
| Rolling Ball | A puzzle game around moving differently colored balls into sections of a map that are the respective colors while avoiding enemies. | 2010 |