| The Game Mage is a SNES Game Genie
clone from Hong Kong (the Mecca of weird pirate game stuff). It uses the same 8 digit
codes the Game Genie does, as well as its own 7 digit codes. The Game Mage comes with 2000
codes built in, plus, it can save the codes that you enter into the Game Mage, so you
don't have to keep entering them each time you play a game you wish to use a cheat with;
this requires an optional RAM cartridge. I would assume there is some sort of battery
backed RAM inside it. The Game Mage looks simililar to other such devices, and plugs
inbetween the SNES deck and the cartridge, just like the Game Genie. It is a little
smaller then the Game Genie, is pale grey, and has a faceplate on the front with the dorky
looking "Game Mage" (which looks more like "Game Taged") logo as you
can see above. According to their ad, the Game Mage is
"America's Hottest New Game Enhancer!" Yeah. Good luck trying to find this pup
in your favorite game store. The only time I ever saw this was in an ad buried in the back
of EGM #54. I have been told this product was available through Carl Industries, and you
could also order it directly from the importer. I think it is fair to say this is a rare
device, probably as rare as other weird unlicensed peripherals like the Super 8/Tri-Star.
I was sent this additional info from a contributor who owns this
device. This provides a lot more info than I was able to find online or in magazines etc.
The manufacturer is Leisure Product International, not sure what year it was made.
The unit looks the same as the picture you have on your site, the box it came in has a
similar design as the label. Behind the cartridge connector shown in the picture you can
see a smaller slot, inside this is another connector that supposedly is for a RAM cart
add-on. The Game Mage doesn't save the codes you enter unfortunately - it probably
requires the RAM cart. It does have quite a few built in codes, however. Also, the game
connector slot supports the extra set of connector pins, so it'll work with games like
StarFox unlike the Game Genie.
When starting up the Game Mage, a white Leisure logo appears, then fades to the main menu
screen. The main menu has a picture of a wizard and three options: Auto-code Play Game,
Play Game and Input Code.
The Auto-Code Play Game option will only be available if the Game Mage has built in codes
for that game (most popular early SNES/SFC titles such as Street Fighter 2, Super Mario
World, Final Fight, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy V, etc.) If the option is available,
selecting it will instantly bring you to the game with all the codes the Game Mage has for
it, usually around 6-7 codes. For example, with Final Fight it gives you infinite lives,
power, time, etc. automatically. Play game option just brings you to the game without
codes. Input code option is the most complex. It brings you to a screen with a weird
animated 'raindrop' background, a listing chart of 8 codes (Game Mage supports up to 8
codes at once) and several options at the bottom. The input codes options brings up a
keypad type entry screen where you enter codes. Game Mage supports two code formats, the
Game Mage 7 digit
format (the code books it came with has all the codes in this format) and it supports the
8 digit Game Genie Format. The code library brings you to a screen which shows all the
built in codes for that game, if any. You can manually select the codes you want from the
list. A neat feature is a bar
at the top which displays the cartridge name. And finally, the Play Game option which
brings you to the game with the codes you entered/selected.
Sources: Brad Van Zee bpvanzee@ls.wustl.edu, EGM #54,
Jared (lukas@westworld.com) |
