GAMATE
Known by various names around the world, the 'Super Boy' (Taiwan) and 'Super Child Prodigy' (China) finally arrived on western shores around 1990 under the not at all confusing to pronounce name of 'Gamate'.
Bit Corp's low budget handheld was the first attempt at seriously taking on the Game Boy. Like all of the other Hong Kong/Taiwan originals, it failed, due to a combination of unappealing software, a  poor quality screen (with the ever present ghosting) and a mono speaker that rendered it's nicely programmed stereo sound (pop in some headphones and listen) as little more than the death rattle of a man suffering from terminal flatulence.
Bit Corp folded in 1992, leaving around 70 known titles for the little grey wonder floating around in obscurity. 
Unlike other handhelds of its generation, the Gamate carries a genuine sense of mystery and exploration for collectors as there is very little information about its games online and the system doesn't even have a proper emulator.
Come, let us hold your hand as we guide you through reviews of our tiny little collection. Don't worry, we will try to get more!

​Remember: "Don't touch the golden finger by hands!"

Bomb Blaster

Did you know that 'Game Over' is an anagram of 'Move Rage'? This is one of the many fascinating facts that you'll discover while playing the Gamate's obligatory Bomberman rip-off.  It's also possibly an in-joke by the programmer, hinting at what the player will experience during gameplay. Despite this, the game contains no anagrams of the phrase 'ear bleeding atrocity'. It should.
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Devil Castle

What happens when you combine Castlevania with Rick Dangerous? We've still no idea after playing this distinctly average platformer that might fool you into expecting a clone of either but, sadly, delivers a rather dull experience that is unlike either.

Boom!

Remember how well porting Super Pang to the Watara Supervision worked?
Undeterred, someone thought it would be a good idea to also try to make a version for a system with an even worse screen!
Thankfully, Boom! offers some distinctive and, dare we say, wise gameplay switch-ups that help save it from the fate of that other title.

Brick Blaster

Ah, the early nineties...when Arkanoid clones were still a popular genre and people thought that putting them on non-backlit handhelds with notorious ghosting issues was a good idea...

Snowman Legend

Annoying neighbors: We've all had them.  If you're anything like us you probably roll them up in a giant snowball then bury them alive. Coincidently this is the exact theme of Bit Corps winter themed offering...

Cube-Up

Why is Cube-Up or, to give it its Italian nom-de-plume "Fun at the Cube" named after a 3d geometric shape when its gameplay deals strictly with stacking 2d shapes and doesn't feature cubes at all?
Answer: Somebody already bagged the license for Tetris.
New reviews will be unlocked as regularly as we are able to obtain new games. We only review games played on the original hardware.