Sachen is a hard company to put into words. I think some NES collectors tried (and failed) in the past to make Sachen out to be the "next Panesian," or at least, something bigger than it really is to drive the value and demand of the games upward. Interestingly enough, however, it seems the opposite occured. Because of this unusual disinterest in original unlicensed NES paks, Sachen titles are not commonly considered as part of a "complete collection" in the same way as other unlicensed video games are - like AVE, Color Dreams, and especially Panesian. What this does is leaves Sachen in a closely knit "cult" niche of fans and collectors alike.

Although Sachen lived to be a fairly modern company, the specially manufactered cartridges are not as commonly found because they were not advertised nor released in the U.S. through mainstream outlets. Rather, they were published by other unlicensed U.S.-friendly companies for North American release.

And the games! I almost forgot to mention the games: they are in the running as some of the worst video games ever created. With all of these possible explanations in place, Sachen has developed a kind of an "Ed Wood following" (a notorious b-movie director whose movies are so bad they are enjoyable to laugh at). A typical player can notice the little things and effort attempted to create "fun" games, but all the while realizing that each game is consistently worse than the last. It is primarily because of this reason that the Sachen library has turned into a running joke among the NES crowd.

The Name Game

We begin in 1988 when Thin Chen Enterprises started making games out of Taiwan. Thin Chen Enterprises first developed titles for the Asian markets under the name "Joy Van". Once the unlicensed market was booming in the states, these were then licensed out to various U.S. unlicensed publishers of the time to America and elsewhere. These familiar unlicensed publishers include AVE (Double Strike, F-15 City War, Pyramid, Tiles of Fate), Color Dreams (Master Chu, Metal Fighter), Bunch Games (Galatic Crusaders), the Australian unlicensed company H.E.S. (F-17 City War, Little Red Hood, Penguin & Seal, Pipemania, Pyramid, Sidewinder), and Hacker International, aka Panesian, (Mahjong, Pyramid) to name a few. One of their main programmers was a guy named "L.C. Tchacvosky," who appears as the only credit for many of the Sachen games.

Sachen Console Dubbed the Q-boy. Click to Enlarge Read our review of the Q-boy here.

The company decided to drop the "Joy Van" pseudo-name (or a "JV" icon) and refer to themselves as simply "Thin Chen Enterprises." At this time they were also switching the name for a third instance to "Sachen" (sometimes used in conjunction with "Thin Chen Enterprises"). When they officially became their own publisher and manufacter, Sachen became their official namesake. Around this time Sachen also created their own exclusive "Q-boy" NES and Famicom clone that would serve to play their own special type of 60-pin and 72-pin cartridges - marking the very first time an original, unlicensed developer created a system for its own games to be played on. The Q-boy is now probably the most "highly collectible" Sachen item available due to the low quanities produced.

Up until the closing of the official Sachen website (http://www.sachen.tw) sometime in 2002, the company had its hands full in making pirate plug-and-play systems, original Gameboy Color multi-game paks, and nine different volumes of NES multi-game paks which chronicled their long run of eight-bit software. A fifteen-plus-year-old stretch is not bad by any measure for an unlicensed company to end at.

THIN CHEN ENTERPRISE CO., LTD.
13-2, LANE 778, HUA CHEN ROAD,HSIN CHUANG, TAIPEI TAIWAN
TEL:886-2-8521-7785
FAX:886-2-8521-5163

Plug-and-Play Pirate Devices Sold by Sachen online late in the company's life. Click to Enlarge

Sachen Game Scans (courtesty of Justin Anderson)

-3-in-1
Cart

-63-in-1
Cart

-Honey Peach
Cart

-Little Red Hood
Cart

-The Mahjong World
Cart / Box / Instructions

-Poker 5 in 1
Cart / Box / Instructions

Super Cart v.1
Box

Sachen Game Database

Sachen first got its feet wet by developing for other unlicensed companies. Years after when the company was independently developing and publishing, Sachen converted these past titles to be played on the Q-boy. Nine "versions" (or volumes) were also released for sale as multi-game paks. These offered a compact solution to storing all of their games and varied in game size from eight in one (Version 3) to only three in one (Version 9). This is, to my knowledge, a complete list of 8-bit titles that Sachen has developed, and a short description or history of each game.

Title/Notes

3-in-1 pirate - (w/ King of Fighters and 2 DBZ games. Tthe case on this is flimsy- a single fall to the floor cracked the back panel in 2.) 63-in-1 - (Despite the Ghostbusters label, there is no GB game on this cart.) 99 - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) AUTO-UPTURN - a really annoying slide-puzzle game. (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) AUTO-UPTURN - a really annoying slide-puzzle game. (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) BINGO 75 - not a bingo title in the slightest but rather a slot machine game similar to Panesian's "Hot Slots". That's right, it's got naked ladies in it and all. (Bundled in Version 1 multi-game pak.) CAIAPOLIS CHALLENGE OF THE DRAGON - Terrible, no--God awful Double Dragon clone. (Bundled in Version 9 multi-game pak.) CHANGE AROUND - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) CHESS ACADEMY - (Bundled in Version 1 multi-game pak.) CHINESE CHECKERS - (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) CHINESE CHESS - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) CHINESE RUMMY - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) COLORFUL DRAGON - published in the U.S. by Bunch Games. (Bundled in Version 6 multi-game pak.) COSMOCOP 2 IN 1 - a light gun game. DANCING BLOCKS - (Bundled in Version 6 multi-game pak.) FAN TAN - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) FINAL COMBAT - (Bundled in Version 8 multi-game pak.) FORTUNE TELLING - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) FROG ADVENTURE - (Bundled in Version 8 multi-game pak.) GAIAPOLIS - great graphics, trademark Sachen gameplay. GALACTIC CRUSADER - published in the U.S. by Bunch Games. You play as a butterfly in space in a typical space shooter ala "Gradius". Consumption of alcohol is required for peak enjoyment. (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) GHOST-BUSTER - (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) GREAT WALL - puzzle game ala Tetris. HAPPY PAIRS - (Bundled in Version 7 multi-game pak.) HELL FIGHTER HONEY PEACH - read the review of this pornographic game. (Bundled in Version 1 multi-game pak.) JOVIAL RACE - (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) JURASSIC BOY - manufactered by Sachen. This is a neat, albeit silly, "Sonic the Hedgehog" clone. It's really too bad the game controls like a badly seasick sailor drunk on Captain Morgan's. LITTLE RED HOOD - read the review of this confusing game. (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) LOCKSMITH - (Bundled in Version 6 multi-game pak.) LUCKY 777 - Slot machine porn! (Bundled in Version 1 multi-game pak.) TAIWAN MAHJONG - copyrighted 1990 Sachen and Hacker International (aka Panesian). Mahjong porn! MAHJONG WORLD - Mahjong porn! MAHJONG TRAP - Mahjong porn! MAGIC CUBE - (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) MAGICAL MATHEMATICS - an educational math title more advanced than Nintendo's "Donkey Kong Jr. Math". (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) MAGICAL TOWER - (Bundled in Version 8 multi-game pak.) MASTER CHU - published by Color Dreams. Developed under Joy Van label. Very good graphics is the only saving factor to this "Legend of Kage"-gone-bad action game. The controls are unbearable. (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) MAX 2 - is a card game. (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) METAL FIGHTER - originally published in the U.S. by Color Dreams. This is a side-scrolling shooting game that places you into a robot. Not bad for Sachen, although it is very difficult. (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH - teaches the basics of the English language and phrases. (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) MILLIONAIRE - (Bundled in Version 6 multi-game pak.) MINE SWEEPER I - (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) MINE SWEEPER II - (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) MINE SWEEPER III - (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) MR. STONE I - (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) MR. STONE II - (Bundled in Version 6 multi-game pak.) OLYMPIC I.Q. (5 IN 1) - (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) OMNIBUS HEARTS - is a poker card game. (Bundled in Version 2 multi-game pak.) PENGUIN & SEAL - has also been slapped on pirate copies of "Antarctic Adventure," which was a licensed Famicom game. (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) PIPE V - (Bundled in Version 6 multi-game pak.) POKER - this one shoud look familiar to dedicated NES fans, especially if you're a guy. The game is at its core "Peek-A-Boo Poker" from the famed Hacker International/Panesian line-up. The sad difference between the two is the best part was left out (the nudity) but the worst part (the idiotic CPU) remains intact. Oh Sachen, you cock tease! POKER I (4 IN 1) POKER II (4 IN 1) POKER III (5 IN 1) - could be the most impressive Sachen release to date. Contains five games dedicated to gambling, one of which is a porn game, and another which uses an RPG/story format ripped from the "Super Mario Bros 3" overworld map which forces you to play the other 4 games. Also contains the worst run-on sentences and grammar/spelling mistakes in any game to date. POKE MAHJONG POPO TEM - (Bundled in Version 9 multi-game pak.) PYRAMID I - published in the U.S. by AVE., in Australia by H.E.S., and also published by Hacker International (aka Panesian) in Asian markets. PYRAMID II Q-BOY - an impressive release (at least for Sachen); knock-off of Kirby's Adventure. Same name as Sachen's unlicensed NES hardware console. ROCKBALL - strange little game; objective: roll round balls on top of Buddhist peace swastikas. (Bundled in Version 9 multi-game pak.) SIDEWINDER - your standard vertical-scrolling shooter released in Australia by publisher H.E.S. (Bundled in Version 7 multi-game pak.) SILENT ASSAULT - this game is so close to being fun that it is just sad. Think of "Run N Attack" meets the "Army Men" games - put extra weight on the latter - and you have this game in a nutshell. (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) SILVER EAGLE - (Bundled in Version 7 multi-game pak.) STARATEGIST (2 IN 1) - (Bundled in Version 5 multi-game pak.) STREET HEROES SUPER CART v.1 - box; includes: Bingo 75, Lucky 777, Honey Peach, Chess Academy. SUPER PANG I - a rip-off of the SNES game "Super Buster Brothers". You need to shoot at bouncing balls before they crush you. However, shooting one causes it to pop into more, smaller balls that you need to take care of too. It is the most fun you'll get in a Sachen game. (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) SUPER PANG II - a rip-off of the SNES game "Super Buster Brothers". You need to shoot at bouncing balls before they crush you. However, shooting one causes it to pop into more, smaller balls that you need to take care of too. It is the most fun you'll get in a Sachen game. (Bundled in Version 4 multi-game pak.) TASAC - (Bundled in Version 7 multi-game pak.) THUNDER BLAST MAN - pic is taken from Gameboy version. TOUGH COP 2 IN 1 - two light gun games included, "Tough Cop" and "Super Tough Cop". TWIN EAGLE - released in US by AVE as "Double Strike". (Bundled in Version 3 multi-game pak.) WORM VISITOR - (Bundled in Version 8 multi-game pak.)

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMING!" - Ending to Little Red Hood

Before doing any research into the company, I really did not think much of Sachen. Now having played many of Sachen's titles and learning more about their very disorganized history, I still do not think very highly of them. It is clear Sachen is a fascinating entity - what other game company can you say put out a mindsweep clone, educational titles, and pornography all on the same label and still have the ambition to produce their own NES console clones? Every serious collector, I would suspect, should be at least a little bit versed in this bizarre unlicensed company and look into adding a Sachen game or two to their collection. Sure it might not be worth much now today, and it may be a chore to play if you so desire pain, but it all comes back again to the initial "Ed Wood following" point. Sachen might not be much, but it is worth a nod for its dedication and a lasting reminder to us on why we should have followed Nintendo Power's advice on unlicensed software. I will never forsake the gods again!