Sachen Q-Boy

The Q-Boy (Sachen)
By: The Collector


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A lot of Famicom system pirates try to win over potential customers with unique designs and promises of elaborate features while shying away from the truth that they’re just illegal copies. Some models, like the Polystation, look cool, but their functionality and design are really cheap. Others manage to escape this fate and put out a good design and deliver on their promises. The Q-Boy is one of them.

Put out by the famous unlicensed game developer Sachen, the Q-Boy is one of the most professional pirates I’ve run across. The unit is about the size of an NES 2 and comes in multiple colors with translucent casing (I was given the choice of black, green, or blue. Since I had plenty of systems in black, I opted for the blue). The system itself is really well built, with solid plastic that should be able to stand a beating, should you be so irresponsible. Best of all, it comes with eight games built in (well, six. More on that later).


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The box, which, sadly, is not Engrish-tastic, proudly proclaims that “for less than the cost of a video game you can have a cool looking console with Classic arcade games built-in.” For once, the advertisement is accurate. Speaking of which, the box looks excellent, with professional design and pictures that depict actual games that you can play on system (in other words, not Tomba). The system comes with two color matching controllers, a power supply, and both RF and RCA cords.


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On board, the Q-Boy has a Famicom cartridge slot, the usual two nine-pin control ports, power and reset buttons on top, and the standard mono-RCA, RF, (that’s right, this system does Nintendo one better and puts BOTH options on there), and AC adapter ports. Everything is labeled right in the plastic, making this system easy to set up for those who need help. The system also features a flip-top dust cover for the cartridge slot and a nifty cart eject button like the one found on the SNES. It doesn’t really do much (it’s actually pretty easy to send Famicom carts flying in the air), but it’s still a nice gesture.


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The included games work by simply switching on the console without a game inserted. The unit works perfectly with standard Famicom games, with a cartridge slot that holds the game in very well. It also works with NES games (with an adapter, of course), and even though the carts tower out of the machine, the connection is still wonderfully solid. It’s probably not a good idea to kick the system mid-game, but the connection is way better than the NES. The RCA signal was crisp, but the colors appeared washed out. Ironically, the RF signal is also crystal clear, way better than what Nintendo put out the second time. For as much as Nintendo decries pirates, it’s funny that they actually made a better product than them.

The matching controllers (with “Sachen” molded in, no less) certainly aren’t the worst, but a few glaring flaws remind you that these are pirates. They look really cool (even the silver cord looks great), are marginally comfortable to hold in your hand, the buttons function well, and with turbo buttons, they at least have more features than the standard pads.

The fatal flaw is that, like other pirates, Sachen for some reason decided to connect the wires to the SIDE of the controller, meaning you’ll have to fight them for a grip. Oddly, the second player controller doesn’t have a start or select button. Even though those buttons aren’t necessary for the included games, you’re out of luck if you need them for other titles or the player one controller gets damaged.


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One good thing that can be said about the included games is that they’re all vaguely unique. There are eight listed, but three are basically the same game with slight variations (but in pirate terms, these guys are honest as saints). Included is Jovial Race (a Rally X clone), Little Red Riding Hood (the famous terror of Sachen programming), Twin Eagle (a side-scrolling ship shooter), Silent Assault (a bad platform shooter), Super Pang (a clone of Buster Bros., but a really fun one), and three variations of Mine Sweeper (like the Windows game). Not as many as your standard pirate cart, but at least they’re original.

On a side note, I may have the answer to why this is called the “Q-Boy,” or at least a rationalization. Look at the picture of the top of the console upside-down. Doesn’t that look like a face? I have a hard time believing that this wasn’t intentional. That may explain why it’s likened to something human (plus, it sounds like a little thing called the “Gameboy”). “Quality-Boy,” maybe? Who knows, but it’s still kind of creepy.

So, is the Q-Boy worth the trouble and the price? I paid $40 for it on eBay in early 2004, less than the cost of an NES 2 when it first came out, and about half the cost of what it would cost to get one today, and I’m happy with it. It’s a solid, attractive, and just plain cool little console that is well-built overall (color fading issues aside) and includes six unique and hard-to-find games. You may want to bring your own controllers, but for Famicom gaming with a sturdy machine, you can’t go wrong with the Q-Boy.