In 1989, Atari Games released a port of their arcade version under their Tengen label for the Nintendo Entertainment System, despite it not being licensed by Nintendo for the system.
There were also issues with the publishing rights for Tetris, and after much legal wrangling, Nintendo itself ended up with the rights to publish console versions, leaving Atari with only the rights to arcade versions.
As a result, the Tengen game was only on the shelf for four weeks before Atari was legally required to recall the game and destroy any remaining inventory of its NES version.
Nintendo produced its own version for the NES as well as a version for the Game Boy. Both versions were commercially successful and Nintendo held the Tetris license for many years. With fewer than 100,000 copies known to exist, the Tengen release has since become a collector’s item, due to its short time on the market.
Various publications have since noted that Tengen’s Tetris was in some ways superior to the official NES release, especially since the Tengen game featured a two-player simultaneous mode not available in Nintendo’s version.
At the time, Nintendo restricted their licensees to releasing only five games per year, mandated that Nintendo handle cartridge manufacturing, and required their games to be NES-exclusive for two years.
Atari Games tried to negotiate for a less restrictive license to produce games for the Nintendo Entertainment System; Nintendo refused, so in December 1987, Atari Games agreed to Nintendo’s standard licensing terms. Tengen was incorporated on December 21 of that year.
In 1988, Tengen released its first and only three games licensed by Nintendo: R.B.I. Baseball, Pac-Man, and Gauntlet.
Tengen was a subsidiary of Atari’s arcade department.
yes, Bubblun and Bobblon appear in their human forms as “Bubby” and “Bobby”, as opposed to the “bubble dragons” of the first game (following on from the first game’s true ending).
web site was down for a while, please can you check out again? if it’s still not working, i can gladly upload them to another server. imgur had my uploads removed without a reason, so i’m trying out the alternatives :)
Wave Race 64 (imgtr.ee)
Source: Mega Fun (Germany), Issue 06/1997
Wave Race 64: Kawasaki Jet Ski (imgtr.ee)
Night Scene Promo from “Nintendo Power” magazine.
Wave Race 64 (imgtr.ee)
Advert from “The Official Nintendo Magazine”, Issue 57, June 1997
Altered Beast (imgtr.ee)
Arcade and home consoles promo ad.
Taco Bell Mario Kart 64 Promo Ad (1997) (imgtr.ee)
Megaman American vs. Japanese Box Art (static1.thegamerimages.com)
One of my favorite examples of regional artwork differences between NA and Japan releases for the first Megaman game.
Perfect Dark (imgtr.ee)
Promotional shoot for the game’s web site.
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ET (Atari 2600, ad) (4.bp.blogspot.com)
Perfect Dark (imgtr.ee)
Print Ad
Tetris: The Soviet Mind Game (imgtr.ee)
Tengen version.
Jason Alexander Plays Metroid: Prime on Gamecube (imgtr.ee)
Source: Nintendo booth at the 2003 People’s Choice Awards Backstage Creations Talent Retreat (Photo by L. Cohen)
Classics from Tengen (Flyer #2) (imgtr.ee)
Classics from Tengen (Flyer #1) (imgtr.ee)
The Bard's Tale (imgtr.ee)
Original Ad
Dragon's Lair (NES Port) (imgtr.ee)
Cover Illustration
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (imgtr.ee)
Japan Arcade Flyer, 1987
Barbarian II: Dungeons of Drax (imageupload.io)
Original poster was included in the boxed Commodore 64 version of the game.