Supervision: handheld of the less fortunate

On a truly unrelated note: I was recently on vacation in New Zealand. While there I contacted every arcade I could, just to ask one simple question: “Do you have the game The NewZealand Story?” They answered with a resounding NO. Throwing my hands up in the air in disbelief, I bellowed, “Then what's the point of even having an arcade?!” This world makes no sense.

• September 4, 2023

A Supervision prototype cartridge appeared!! [Cue cricket orchestra.]

Oh. My. God. Which scintillating game could it possibly be? Happy Flappy? No. Devil Paradise?? Of course not, don't be ridiculous.

It's... *sigh* ...Sonny X'Press. Because of course it is. Yep. Sonny, that parasite-ridden scooter jockey, has found a way to capture the dim Supervision spotlight once again. Blech.

You'll have to excuse me for not going ape-solutely bananas over this out of the blue discovery, but after wasting TWENTY YEARS [!] on painstaking Supervision research (with an emphasis on pain), I was hoping for something far better to surface. Can't a Marpol Brother catch a break?!

But, whatever. At the end of the day, a lackluster prototype is better than no prototype at all. And just think: Next time, it could be Wonder Fish!

Anyway, the Sonny X'Press page has been updated, noting several differences between prototype and final version.

• March 19, 2023

An ePay auction for an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly recently caught my eye, as the seller claimed it mentioned the Supervision. Consulting a scan of the issue, I quickly realized said seller was full of snot.

BUT!!

This made me wonder: Had EGM sullied their mag at some point, by including the Supervision amongst its pages? Wasting even more time, consulting scans of later issues, I soon found the answer: Yes. Yes, they had. Thankfully it was only a quick mention, nestled within the reader Q&A section. Hopefully, it didn't inspire any of their readers to actually buy the damned thing.

So anyway, I bought the mag just so I could make a higher quality scan of the (hopefully) innocuous announcement, which I've now added to the website.

• March 6, 2023

More Supervision scans?! To quote Charlie Brown, “AAUGH!”

It's all the variations, damn it. If it weren't for all the different, seemingly endless versions of the packaging, instructions in a half-dozen languages, et Cetera, then I'd, very likely, have been done with all this stuff and nonsense by now. But, nope! No such luck. The Supervision will likely continue to haunt me – and waste countless amounts of my time – until my dying day. *sigh*

OK!! So, buoyed by that cheery introduction [!], let me tell you what was added to the ol' website today:

* New box scans:

- Small boxes for Fatal Craft, Jaguar Bomber, Tasac 2010, Witty Cat.

* New instructions scans:

- Fatal Craft, Witty Cat (Chinese)
- Jaguar Bomber (English, Italian)
- Pacific Battle (English, Italian)
- Tasac 2010 (English, Dutch, French, German)
- Tasac 2010 (Italian, Spanish)

* Improved insert scan:

- TV-Link (PAL-B) instruction sheet (Italian)

* New insert scan:

- TV-Link (PAL-B) warranty information (Watary Italia)

* New advertisement scan:

-	Watary Italia ad featuring a Watara-branded watch & a goofy looking fish (with an overbite?)

And that's all. For now.

• October 14, 2022

Whoa, Nelly! With the selfless assistance of Dante López, I've recently acquired a crapload of previously unpreserved Supervision stuffs. This was especially helpful as I grow tired of seeking out all this junk on my own. (Hint, hint.)

So without further a-doo-doo, let's break down what's been added to the website...

* New box scans:

-	Small boxes for Block Buster, Brain Power, Chimera, Final Combat, Hero Kid, Penguin Hideout, Super Block.
-	Small box top featuring an early, “Game & Watch-esque” Travellmate screen simulation.
-	Game Prince Supervision protective case
-	Vini-Spil Supervision box and instructions, direct from Denmark! Det er fedt!
-	Vini-Spil game boxes for Happy Race, John Adventure, Juggler, Pacboy & Mouse, Penguin Hideout.

The protective case is from Taiwan. The traditional Chinese reads “Game Prince,” despite the fact that even a beggar prince would turn up his nose at the Supervision.

* New cartridge label scans:

- Alien (alternate artwork)
- 4-in-1: Happy Race, Jacky Lucky, Space Fighter, Majong
- Hash Blocks (earliest known label)

Weirdly, the 4-in-1 cart's label doesn't come close to accurately reflecting which games are actually included. This may have been a generic design created for use with a variety of different game compilations. Who knows?

The Hash Blocks label is the one depicted on the Travellmate box. It features an enthusiastic little fellow who reminds me of Krillin from Dragon Ball Z. I've been after this label for A LONG TIME, and am very relieved to have finally found it.

* Improved cartridge label scans:

- Crystball (earliest known label)

The Crystball cartridge contained an alternate game binary with an early Travellmate logo, and pathetic attempt at an accompanying beep sound. Naturally, the binary has been properly archived, and an update has been made to the Crystball game page.

* New instructions scans:

-	Brain Power, Chimera, Final Combat, Pacboy & Mouse, Penguin Hideout, Sssnake (Spanish)
-	Happy Race, Juggler, Pacboy & Mouse, Penguin Hideout (English, Danish)
-	Hero Kid (English, Dutch, French, German)

In addition, I also got my mitts on the earliest known model of the Travellmate, whose outer casing is a total ripoff of the original (DMG) Game Boy. And, much to my surprise (and confusion!), the previous owner installed a backlight in it. Seems he doesn't value his spare time. But who am I to talk?

Whew, what a whale of an update! And what a wail I let out whilst preparing it!

• August 4, 2022

I've been putting off an update because I didn't wanna do it, but by now y'all should know that's kinda par for the course with this website. *yawn*

So what super-de-duper stuffs were added this time round? An alternate set of Treasure Hunter instructions, for one. Those instructions, by the way, accompanied a cartridge that held an alternate version of the game. (Joy!!) It boots with the same energetic female voice crying out, “Shupavishun!” as featured in Classic Casino. It also displays a different copyright year (1993) on the title screen. Furthermore, the music is different. What (sadly) hasn't changed, however, is the fact that the game is still unwinnable: level 6 appears to be impossible to complete, and hacking the game to progress to level 7 instead gives you a glitchy mess. Excellent job as always, Bon Treasure (should be bon voyage). I've added a pic of said mess to the Treasure Hunter page, for your bewilderment.

As was already stated on the Hero Kid page, this game is also unwinnable. Though a congratulations graphic is printed on the game's instruction page, the game crashes after a certain amount of levels are played. Thus the player never sees this graphic in all its “glory.” But, never fear! The infamous congratulations graphic is indeed stored in the game binary and I've plucked it out, adding it to the website.

Ooh!! I hope you're ready for this last one, 'cuz you'll be pounding your chest in primal excitement over it for sure: a crinkled, full color advertisement... showcasing SONNY X'PRESS! Hooray!!

• January 26, 2022

Today I endured the drudgery of scanning a Supervision advertisement from our good ol' bosom chums at Goldnation, as well as, of all things, an official Supervision™ “Authorized Dealer” decal: unused, of course, because who would've cursed their business by actually displaying one of these in their shop window?!

Also, please note that the acronym for Supervision Authorized Dealer is, very appropriately, SAD.

Noticing the trademark symbol on the decal, I wondered, “Did they even file a trademark, or was that just another bunch of BS?” Well, slogging through the United States Patent and Trademark database, I discovered that yes! Indeed, the trademark was legitimately registered. The filing document downloaded from said database has also been added to the scans page.

Lastly for today: Do you remember all the way back to 2009 when I used the Super Fighter Team website design as a template for... this? No, you don't. Regardless, there's irony here! Because just last month, I redesigned the Super Fighter Team website using – wait for it – this website's design to inspire me. I've come full circle, and I am finally home.

• September 24, 2021

Did somebody say Tiger? Oh yeah!! The primary focus of today's update is the “Taike Boy” from Taiwan, a Supervision variant I had been on the lookout for since the dawn of the millennium. Naturally, I am pleased as Christmas punch to now have high-quality scans of its box, instructions, and game cartridge order form. And if you mosey on over to the scans page, you can have 'em, too!

Of hilarious note is the fact that both Street Fighter II and “Mortal Komba” are advertised on the front of the box, suggesting that these two high-profile game titles were on their way to the Supervision. Hogwash! Utter tripe! They were never on their way to the Supervision. (But then again maybe they were, it's difficult to say.) What a shameless way to try'n sell a doomed game system.

Also featured on the box is everyone's (other) favorite Supervision vaporware title, Devil Paradise. Good show, gentlemen: 3 out of 5 (or 60%) of the games shown on your packaging DON'T EXIST!

But, wait! There's more. I've also added:

- A set of Soccer Champion instructions in English, Dutch, and French.
- Scans of some French language product attention & warning labels.
- A better quality scan of the Sonny sticker.

• September 5, 2021

Howdy! Here's the first update for 2021, and boy is it a doozy! New content has been piling up for nearly a year now, but somehow I kept letting everything (and anything) get in the way of properly processing it all. Imagine that!! *wink*

Anyway! Let's itemize all the rad new scans that were added today:

- An Eagle Plan cartridge label variant.
- A better quality TV-Link Adaptor cartridge label.
- A complete TV-Link (NTSC) product set.
- An update to the TV-Link (PAL-B) product set.
- Chinese language instructions for 2-in-1 - Hash Block & Eagle Plan.
- English and Chinese language instructions for Treasure Hunter.
- English and Spanish language instructions for Crystball.
- A “new game cartridges” catalog from AudioSonic France (courtesy of Morgane Dumont).

Now if you'll excuse me, all this Supervision overindulgence has left me exhausted. I'd better go lie down.

• July 23, 2020

A rather interesting update around here, for a change: I've acquired and scanned sets of instructions for Crystball and Hero Kid from the Travellmate era, aka the earliest known issue of what soon became (unfortunately) known as the Supervision.

The Crystball set is especially interesting as it includes text in the game description that doesn't seem to appear in any of the later prints. Specifically, this gem of a line appears: “The animals may disturb you in the game, you can kill them with Crystball ans you will be scored, too.” (Terrible English and misspelling of the word “and” are faithfully reproduced from the source material.) Delightful. So make a beeline for the scans page and have a laugh.

• July 9, 2020

Another variant of the Olympic Trials cartridge label was added to the scans page.

• May 21, 2020

The other night I thought to myself, “I should get pictures of all the Crystball levels.” Then I laughed. Then I paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow. Then, I actually went and got all the pictures!! What is wrong with me?! (Wait, don't answer that.) Playing through Crystball again after all these years... sucked. But, I was able to notice and document some quirky details about the game's behavior. These stunning revelations are now available for you to overlook.

On the scanning front, Mark Canon (aka “stupus”) was kind enough to send in the following: blue boxes for 14 games, Galaxy Fighter and Journey to the West cartridge labels, and the official Goldnation price list and order form. W0w! Thanks, Mark!

Finally! Two more pages of Dixons ads were added to the existing PDF. Apparently the updated file had been sitting here for quite some time, waiting to be uploaded. Sorry, eh!

• April 3, 2020

An alternate set of Italian instructions for Hash Blocks was added to the scans page.

• January 16, 2020

Merry 2020, guys 'n' gals! Our first update of the year is, like the two updates that preceded it, all about scans. For one, I busted Block Buster out of its tight, repressive blister pack to get scans of the insert + English & Italian language instructions. And, two-hoo! There's scans of the Golden Free Trade Supervision box and instructions, from down Mexico way. Fab stuff, amirite?

• December 5, 2019

Surprise!! I'm back with more blister pack inserts, as promised. So... it's not really a surprise. Anyway! You get 2-in-1: Block Buster / Cross High, and Soccer Champion. Soccer Champion's instructions have also been added, in English and Italian. Urrà! Soccer Champion had proven a tough one to find complete. And 2-in-1: Block Buster / Cross High, I noticed, was imported by a firm named Cammarota S.R.L., instead of the more familiar Watary Italia. Curious!

• November 30, 2019

The game instructions archive on the scans page was updated to include Italian language instructions for 2-in-1: Block Buster / Cross High, Delta Hero, Space Fighter, and Super Block. Not exciting enough for ya? Well, keep your eyes peeled 'cuz I've got a few blister pack insert scans coming along shortly.

• September 10, 2019

All righty then! The page for the single-game cartridge version of Cross High actually has some content on it now, but don't get excited 'cuz it's just some screenshots and a note about the (non-)ending.

While preparing this stuff, I've been listening to the soundtrack of the far superior Motocross Maniacs for the Game Boy: the game Cross High poorly ripped off. Irony? Or just common sense? Maybe a little bit of both.

• September 3, 2019

A game page for Cross High was finally added, legitimizing its existence as a single-game cartridge (based on my discovery and acquisition of one late last year). There's no information on the page yet though, because the game is still being researched. Patience, my friends. Also, you'll notice that this website URL now has a fancy-pants “https” in it: just for kicks!

• May 10, 2019

Bought a blister pack version of the QuickShot Supervision online, kindly asked the seller to please protect the cardstock insert against potential shipping damage. So of course, the guy crams the thing into a box an inch too short, and the insert gets bent. Well, whatever. I could still get a scan. And now, that scan is online. I also updated the grey box scans to include the Block Buster & Cross High 2-in-1. Enjoy!

• March 7, 2019

Holy schnikes! I was finally able to make high-quality scans of all the Supervision cartridge label variations that I own. Are you ready for a heaping helping of bad artwork? Then you've come to the right place.

Special thanks to Frank Cifaldi for suggesting an effective way to scan the ~~uniquely shaped~~ inconveniently humped cartridges: by laying them over the edge of a .093 inch thick sheet of acrylic. I had to use a Canon 5600F scanner to get sharp, clear images, as my Epson Perfection V39 has a severe case of nearsightedness.

• February 8, 2019

Game packaging scans update: blue boxes, grey boxes, small boxes, blister pack inserts: all have new content! Most exciting is the addition of the small box for Crystball, which is an early release still sporting the Travell Mate logo. Nice! And as far as blister pack inserts go, which are my personal favorites of the bunch, an alternate design for Treasure Hunter was added. I'd been looking for it, now I've got it.

• January 11, 2019

I finally picked up a sort-of-like-new, boxed Magnum Supervision. I've been wanting one of those for a while, don'cha know. I've added scans of the box and instructions now, just for you. I also managed to get the kinda elusive Sonny X'Press complete in blister pack. So in case any of you were “going ape” over the insert & instructions not being available on the website, they're here now.

What else, what else... OH! There's a scan of a Sonny sticker! Yep. It was adhered to the Sonny X'Press blister package, but I carefully removed it. No more monkey business with this last update: a rather uninteresting Hartung Supervision sticker. That's it for today.

• December 27, 2018

Today I've added blister pack insert scans for 2-in-1 Hash Block / Eagle Plan, Alien, and Dream World. The game instructions archive has also been added to: Especially take note of the Italian version of the Honey Bee instructions, which feature hand-written corrections that were simply xeroxed into the finished product! Amazing!! Finally, the ridiculous “Supervision ninja” makes his second appearance, courtesy Watary Italia's fabulous stickers.

• December 20, 2018

What do you get the Supervision collector who thinks he has everything? Why, a copy of Cross High without Block Buster, of course! *gasp* That's right, it exists! (Previously, I was unable to confirm or deny its existence as a standalone cartridge.) So, cool! That's one Supervision mystery solved. Now where the hell is Happy Flappy?!

So anyway, in this update I've added scans of Cross High's Chinese language instructions, as well as Chinese language instructions for five other games + the Supervision itself. Zowie! Furthermore I recently surprised myself with a practically brand-spankin'-new TV-Link [!], so I scanned the box + its included instructions and added THOSE to the website, too. So there. Merry Christmas!

• October 24, 2018

Scans update: More blue boxes. More grey boxes. All grey boxes re-scanned for better quality. Added scans of the Goldnation and Hartung Supervision boxes and instructions. Whoopee!!

• October 22, 2018

HUGE scans update. Why? Because when I initially combined all my Supervision scans into handy PDFs, I neglected to notice that the image conversion quality settings were on... *sigh*... low. What a load of stewed tomatoes.

What did that mean for me? Well, it meant cranking the image conversion quality settings up to maximum, followed by combining all of the scans into handy PDFs AGAIN. Then, finally, uploading the newly created, much larger and more detailed PDFs to the website.

And what does THAT mean for YOU? It means if you've already downloaded all the content from the scans page, well then it's time for you to download it all again! You had better appreciate this, 'cuz I sure don't.

• October 4, 2018

Get psyched! Today marks this website's GRAND OPENING.

(WHAT HAVE I DONE?! MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON MY PATHETIC SOUL.)

The world is now forced to learn about the Supervision handheld thanks to the official launch of this website. I have more information than the average visitor could possibly give a hoot about, and that's the way I like it!

But seriously though: I started work on this website all the way back in 2003. Why did it take me so fjørkin' long to get it “finished” and online? The joy of real life? My entrepreneurial endeavors? Pursuing Asian women? Frequent trips round the world? Well yeah, all of those. But perhaps the most understandable excuse for my dragging ass on this project for so many years: It wasn't fun. At all. But it was important for me to get the info out there. And here it is. I'm proud of and happy with the result, and hope you dig on it too. Thanks for checking it out.

• December 25, 2017

I've just realized something: This website is my “Magnum Opus.” (Get it?)

• August 9, 2017

In the past month, I've done more work on this website than in the past ten years combined. What drives a man to such madness? Should I be proud? Well let me tell you something: Since its inception, this has been a project of Sisyphean proportions (and let's face it, where the Supervision is concerned it's all downhill). I never thought I'd finish it. But I'll be damned if I'm going to suffer alone. Just you wait, unsuspecting public. Just you wait...

• July 12, 2017

I must be a masochist, because it's back to work on the Supervision website!! At one point I was really passionate about this lousy machine for some reason, so this project MUST... BE... FINISHED!

• May 13, 2009

Sufficient energy or not, this website deserves [?] the best effort I can put forth. That's right, darn it: I'm redoing the HTML... AGAIN! But not from scratch, this time. Nope! I'm using the code from the Super Fighter Team website as a starting reference. Go, go! Supervision!

• April 25, 2009

I don't have the energy to sit and redo the HTML from scratch, so I've decided to swallow my pride and stick with the code that I cobbled together back in 2005. It may be hideous, but then again so is the Supervision! With some minor touches here and there, mayhaps we'll end up with something at least remotely nice to look at!

• July 7, 2008

My recent acquisition of Journey to the West has renewed my otherwise flagging interest in this project. Yippee...?!

• November 14, 2005

HTML rework is now complete. Now, to find something else to do!

• November 7, 2005

My somewhat decent website design is noticeably flawed, meaning I'll need to completely rework the HTML in order to fix it. Let's see how many years this takes to finish!

• April 28, 2004

I finally have a somewhat decent website design to work with. This basically means I must convert my existing data over to this new format. D'oh!

• July 15, 2003

The idea struck me that perhaps someone out there might actually appreciate an in-depth website about the Supervision (Hey, I know I would!). Focusing on this thought, I went to work.