Zemina (Korean: 재미나, originally 제미나) was a South Korean software maker brand of Saehan Trading (Korean: 새한 상사)[2] founded in 1981. They primarily made games for the Daewoo Zemmix, but because it was an MSX computer made to look and be played like a game console, they work on other MSX computers as well. Although many of them were copies of other games, like Super Boy I (based on Super Mario Bros.), they also produced some more original ones in their later years.[3]

Zemina
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded1981
Defunct1992
FateOut of business[1]
Headquarters

Korea did not have a copyright law for computer programs until July 1987.[4] Because of that, many companies, including Zemina, sold unauthorized copies of foreign titles with their own copyright hacked in. Even after that, the new law protected only the program code, not the intellectual property as a whole, so a lot of their "own" games were ports of famous Japanese games.

Most of their titles were converted to the Master System as well. In 1992, they engaged in developing exclusive games for the Master System and Famicom consoles,[5] but not all of them were released.

They even released Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction under official license from Konami under the title Salamander II - all the while still selling multi game cartridges full of unlicensed copies of older Konami games.[6]

Zemina games

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List of clones

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Game Year System(s) Clone of
1942 1987 MSX, MSX 2 1942
Alla II 1990 MSX The Seven Adventures of Sindbad
Block Hole 1990 MSX Quarth
Brother Adventure 1987 MSX, MSX 2 Mario Bros.
Double Dragon 1989 MSX Double Dragon
F-1 Spirit: The Way to Formula-1 1987 Master System F-1 Spirit: The Way to Formula-1
Flashpoint 1990 MSX, Master System Tetris
Green Beret[7] 1987 MSX Green Beret
Hyper Olympic 1[8] 1984 MSX Track & Field
King Kong 2: Yomigaeru Densetsu 1987 MSX2 King Kong 2: Yomigaeru Densetsu (hack of the original with English screen text)
The Micro Xevious 1990 MSX Xevious: Fardraut Saga
Nemesis 1987 Master System Gradius
Nemesis 2[9] 1987 Master System Nemesis 2
New Boggle Boggle 1988 MSX Bubble Bobble (with new stages)
New Boggle Boggle 2[1] 1989 MSX Bubble Bobble (again with new stages)
Penguin Adventure 1987 MSX Penguin Adventure
Soko 1990 MSX Soukoban
Project A2 1987 MSX 2 Project A2[10]
Puznic 1990 MSX Puzznic (with new stages)
Strange Loop 1990 MSX Strange Loop[11]
Street Master 1992 MSX Street Fighter (with characters from Street Fighter II)
Super Bio Man 4 1990 MSX Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Boy (a clone of Super Mario Bros. made by the same company)
Super Boy I 1989 MSX, Master System Super Mario Bros. (only 4 worlds)
Super Boy II 1989 MSX, Master System Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (only 4 worlds)
Super Boy 3 1991 MSX, Master System Super Mario World
Super Boy 4 1992 Master System Super Mario World (different character sprite)
Super Bubble Bobble 1989 MSX Bubble Bobble
Tengoku Yoitoko[12] 1988 MSX Tengoku Yoitoko
The Three Dragon Story 1989 MSX, Master System Knightmare
Volguard 1990 MSX Vanguard
Warp & Warp[13] 1984 MSX Warp & Warp
Won-Si-In 1991 MSX, Master System Adventures of Dino Riki
Won-Si-In 2 Unreleased Master System -

List of original games

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Game Year System(s) Notes
Cyborg Z 1991 MSX, Master System
Eagles 5 1990 MSX Also known as Doksuri 5 Hyeonjae.
Magic Kid Googoo 1992 Famicom Only game from Zemina to be developed for the NES.
Tatica 1990 MSX

Note 1: The clone game Block Hole is also known as Sagak-ui Bimil.
Note 2: Other releases that are merely hacks of Japanese games with Zemina's logo are not listed here.

Hardware

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Zemina also made hardware for the Zemmix. These include:

  • A Cartridge port divider[14]
  • The Zemina Music Box[15]
  • An MSX2 Upgrade Kit[14]
  • A Zemmix PC card[14]
  • MSX RAM expansion cards[16]
  • A 'Family Card' that allows the user to play Famicom games on the Zemmix[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Hardcore Gaming 101: A History of Korean Gaming". hardcoregaming101.net.
  2. ^ Not to be confused with dozens of other companies by the same name or similar names. The Saehan Trading is no longer available.
  3. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Zemina". Generation MSX.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2010-03-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Game World Magazine Issue 2/1992
  6. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Nemesis 3 - The Eve of Destruction". Generation MSX.
  7. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Green Beret (1986, MSX, Konami) - Releases". Generation MSX.
  8. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Hyper Olympic 1 (1984, MSX, Konami) - Releases". Generation MSX.
  9. ^ "Trois jeux inédits pour la Master System et la Game Gear". allgamers.fr.
  10. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Project A2 (1987, MSX2, Pony Canyon) - Releases". Generation MSX.
  11. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Strange Loop". Generation MSX.
  12. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Tengoku Yoitoko (1987, MSX2, TAITO) - Releases". Generation MSX.
  13. ^ Generation-MSX.nl. "Warp & Warp (1984, MSX, NAMCO) - Releases". Generation MSX.
  14. ^ a b c "Zemmix MSX Console". Archived from the original on June 20, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
  15. ^ "The Ultimate MSX FAQ - MSX-Music section". msxnet.org.
  16. ^ "Zemina MSX "boxes"". Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
  17. ^ "Blue-Print Zemmix informational page". blue-print.be.
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