The hype is sometimes almost funny when you finally turn on the game.

 Time Top's Hand Held Gaming Portable!




I Released in China by Time Top 2003.
Game King II Review
     "Fashionable science & technology outlook / high-brightness function / super-glare imitate color screen." Forgive me, I just had to quote what it says on the front of the box. The GameKing is put out by "Time Top" and manufactured by Guangzhou Daidaixing Tec. Electronics Co., LTD.


       First I would like to say that this is not a clone system. There have been two GameKings. The first one was designed to look like the original Gameboy Advance and this second one is designed to look like the Sony PSP. Is it the same size? Yes, I keep mine in a clam shell case made for a PSP. The only difference would be that the Gameking slightly bumps out a bit in the back due to the battery compartment. I don't know why it is, but I like the Gameking. Maybe it is because it is old school retro fun found in it's games. Or maybe it is because it is a serious attempt to design a portable console. I really have to take my hat off to the manufacturers for making the effort. This is a very elusive and hard to find little system. Unless you are totally into the present generation of gaming design, once found, if you are like me a gadget and retro gaming freak, you will fall in love with it. The box is well designed and thought out, looking no different than anything else you would find on the shelf at your local shopping mart. The back of the box shows the system in four colors, white, black, lite blue, and gray. I have seen it in yellow on an ebay auction. (I keep kicking myself for not getting it.) The unit itself seems to be pretty solid and nicely built. It looks like there should be some care in inserting the game carts, because the PC boards are a bit thin. I had a little trouble lining it up for insertion. One little irritation here, someone please tell me why Chinese handheld systems has this thing about the game cart sticking way out of the unit?








Pros:
Retro Gaming
Great Sound

Cons:
Too terrible blocky, blurry, ghosting, graphics for some people.
The color plastic film between the LCD and backlite.
Game carts that stick way beyond the system.
Three levels to most of the games.



.

I am using an original GameBoy cart on the far left as reference with the GameKing cart on the right. See any similarities?


This is the backlite with the plastic film background removed.
 Games:
       First generation Atari type graphics? Simple and blocky? Somewhat hard to describe. Present generation gamers would probably call it crap graphics. The simple animation is very good. But it gets the job done. The gameplay is what is good about these games.
     The sound is very impressive! I wonder if it is recorded or does this thing have a great sound chip. I am thinking that it is a recorded sound file of some sort. The volume can be turned up to an impressive loud level!
      Really it is the games that stand out on this system. They are mostly copied games and concepts. "Soldier," which is one of my favorites, is obviously taken from Contra, sort-of. The side scrollers are usually 3 to 4 levels. I think it might be due to the game carts being only 128k in size and the way the games are put together. The games are basically old time retro gaming with a mixture of NES and Atari clones, with a few Hong Kong Originals throw in. Not direct clones, but clones none the less with a bit of originality thrown together enough to call it a Gameking Game. There is even a Darkwing Duck type game. It is unknown how many games that are available for this system. And I must add that the box art itself is nothing more than complete over-the-top hype for the game inside. The "Engrish" used to describe the game on the back of the boxes will have you rolling in the floor hysterically laughing out loud.


Why is this growth coming out of the back of every cart?
Controls:
      I wished that they had kept the cross-directional button design from the first Gameking. But I understand what they were trying to achieve, a PSP look-a-like. It has a toggle on and off button that has three places it can be "clicked" to. From an off position it can be moved to on, click passed that you have the backlite on. It has the four directional buttons, A, B, start, and select, an analog control for sound and a contrast control. The control is tight and right on with everything where it should be feeling just right in your hands.
 
 

GameKing Hardware specs

CPU: 65C02 Processor running at 6MHz

Screen Resolution: 48 pixels x 32 pixels

Power: 2 x AA batteries (GameKing), 3 x AAA Batteries (GameKing II)

Sound: Built-in speaker

Media: 60pin cartridges (30 pins each side), 128KBytes



In the box:

    Opening up the box you'll find it is well packaged in a plastic shell bubble to prevent damage, not the usual cardboard. The only thing you will find in the box is your Gameking. The package deal I got, and I have usually found package deals when they are sold, had the Gameking and 13 boxed games. there are 3 games that are built into the system. That is a total of 16 games.


Sort-of Like?
Street Hero= Double Dragon
Dino Adveture Legend= Mario Bros
Popper= Bomberman
Super Motor= Super Hang on
Some Favorite Games are:
Soldier           Trojan legend
Drifter             2003
2004               Lanneret





I tried my best to give you an actual picture of the screen. Here is a game that is sort-of an Adventure Island clone.


 Screen:
    The screen is blurry with ghosting and a very low refresh rate. It is four color gray scale and blocky. The very best you can say for it is that it is better than Tiger's Game.com screen. It would probably remind you of early cell phone screens. The Gameking II has a backlite, but having it on is not good. You see, they advertised on the box that it has a color screen. What that means is that it has this picture in the background that is in color, of mountains, grass, and sky. This is a plastic layer under the LCD. With the light off, thankfully, it cannot be seen. I think, in order to take advantage of the backlite, one would have to open up the system and remove this plastic film. As it is, it interferes with playing the games. It has a contrast control button which is handy to adjust the screen to your needs. The screen is best seen sitting in sun light or next to a good light. Measuring the screen, I find it at a hair above two inches or 55 mm diagonally. The screen is not recessed so it is easily scratched. Mine has a small scratch even now, iiiiiiiiiaaaaaauugghh!!!


      

    To the left is a picture of the Plastic film background. I removed mine. It makes the system more playable and enjoyable.

On the box Advertisment that is interesting:

gameking the next generation

Vogue technology new external appearance

High and bright degree back the light function

Super cool half cold hold the act
Final Thoughts: I totally enjoy this little system and pull it out, from time to time, just to play some of my favorites. Sure it has its flaws, but any true gamer should be able to find something that they would like about this system. For any collector, I would say it is a must have, because it has its place in handheld gaming history. It might be some obscure little niche, but it definitely has a place. The games are retro in its purest form. Here on the back of the system box there is a warning that says, "Forbid to play under the conditions of high pressure power and strong radiation." Wwwwwhaaaattttt!?!!?

 


Redesigned by Retro Junkie