Buy this totally fake Sonic's Edusoft cartridge!

Up for auction is the Sega Master System game SONIC EDUSOFT. Tested and works great. This is an educational game, see here for more info:

http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic%27s_Edusoft

Comes with box and cart, both have nice labels! FREE SHIPPING!! 5.00 shipping anywhere else in the world. Please ask questions before bidding.

Someone on eBay has decided to try and sell a fake copy of the unreleased, unfinished and unlicensed Master System game Sonic's Edusoft. They have tried hard to make it look real, but there are some things that give it away.

First, the game is listed as Sonic Edusoft, rather than Sonic's Edusoft. This is probably because it would be hard to add 's to the Sonic logo and still make it look convincing. The choice of font for "Edusoft", Century Gothic, looks out of place as well. The font was released in 1991, the same year this game was supposed to be released.


This is apparently the NTSC version. The last licensed Master System game in North America was Sonic the Hedgehog, so it was unlikely that this would have been released there. Sonic's Edusoft was also programmed in the UK by Tiertex, so it was probably only intended for European release.

The label design is wrong for 1991, as the plain grid covers had been replaced by more colourful boxart by then. If you look at Sonic the Hedgehog's boxart, you will see what I mean. There is heavy pixellation around the areas of text and pictures, suggesting they were edited badly on a computer.


The cartridge in the picture appears to just be half of the shell, with the back missing. Clearly it hasn't been tested and it doesn't "work great"! There is also no instruction book, presumably because the seller didn't want to have to type a whole fake one themselves.

The back of the box is no more convincing. Apart from more pixellation, there is a spelling mistake in the blurb, "aviod the debris", and some bad grammar. Very professional. The screenshots also seem to have been lifted directly from Sonic Retro's Edusoft page.

Here is what the box says:

Sonic the Hedgehog invites you to enter his world of learning and knowledge! You will need to put your thinking cap on to solve puzzles, math problems and letter games.

There are also 3 exciting mini games included: Balloon, Trampoline, and Green Hill Mini Game. These fun games will test your dexterity and skill. Pop as many balloons as possible, see how long you can stay on the trampoline, and aviod[sic] the debris in the Green Hill Zone!

Join Sonic in this delightful, yet challenging game. You'll be entertained for hours with these colorful graphics and fun game-play!

Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the hoax is that a quick Google Images search reveals the clipart used on the front of the box. I really don't think anyone will be paying $39.99 for this now! Shame about the seller's 100% positive feedback.


For more pathetic Sonic hoaxes, see his apparent 2010 live-action movie here! It's that time of year again, isn't it?

EDIT: It seems that these games aren't being passed off as real - they are in fact previously unreleased prototypes that have been burned by the seller. Also up for sale are the Master System games Hook, Pat Riley Basketball and Dinobasher, all never before released on cart.

Some of the labels have been created by the seller, and some have used the ones originally intended for the unreleased games. Rom hacks of games are also being released on cartridge.

Despite this not being a hoax, the games still aren't completely genuine copies. If you do want to play prototypes on your console, however, then feel free to buy one from this seller!

[Source: TSSZ News]