Family Basic V3 is a game creation cartridge for the Nintendo Family Computer / Nintendo Entertainment System.

Family BASIC is an accessory for the Family Computer (Famicom) created by Hudson Soft, Nintendo, and Sharp Corporation. It allowed users to create programs in the BASIC programming language, more specifically the NS-HuBASIC language which stands for Nintendo, Sharp, and Hudson Soft respectively. This accessory came with a specially designed cartridge and keyboard, similar in function to that of a Commodore computer of that era. There was also the Data Recorder peripheral which was sold separately. It was preceded by the nearly identical Playbox BASIC for the Sharp C1 Famicom TV. Family BASIC V3 was released on February 21, 1985 as a stand-alone cartridge.


The Playbox BASIC and Family BASIC were both released in 1984 and came with NS-HuBASIC v1.0. Their initial retail price was the same as the Family Computer. V1.0 cartridges are now rare and Playbox BASIC ones are extremely rare as the only people who bought it were owners of the expensive C1 TV sets.

Family BASIC V3 was sold as a separate title with NS-HuBASIC v3.0 in red cartridges. It was marketed to people who already owned a previous version so it did not come with a keyboard and its manual served as an addendum to the previous v2.x manual. As a result of its narrow market, it sold poorly and is now rare. Unlike the previous versions, it did away with the message, calculator, and music boards to concentrate solely on programming. It had double the RAM capacity and came with pre-programmed mini-games.

Many of the sprites and tilesets were taken directly from the Arcade Classics Series version of the Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario Bros. There are 16 animated sprites built-in. There are four sample games and instructions on making others.

This 1987 minigame is a rudimentary RPG, and ambitious by Family BASIC standards, which only allowed for small amounts of code.

You have defeated the evil dragon, taken the town and driven demons from the country. You saved your lover. But that dragon has returned and caught your fiancee. You set off again. You must walk around the country typing commands. You have to defeat the monsters and level up.

Find three hidden holy swords. Find the Dragon Castle. Get gold, talk to certain monsters and get to the bottom of things. Defeat the dragon and save your lover.

This is a preservation of a game by Norio Kitajima published on pages 85-86 of Micom BASIC (マイコン BASIC) 03/1987. It requires the Family BASIC Keyboard or a similar emulated setup. This was an 1985 add-on for the NES/Famicom available in Japan only, which allowed for programming in the BASIC language. Hobbyists created original minigames within limited RAM space. Some were published in magazines, which provides our source code. Further ROMHacking has been done in this presentation.

The original used the generic Family BASIC graphics, including Mario and the Donkey Kong/Mario Bros enemies. The characters have been replaced with more appropriate art, similar to games like Dragon Warrior. This could be undone easily if you're a purist. A large dragon graphic has also been added.

The original had some Japanese text which has been translated roughly to English here. Other small changes have been made to improve the game experience.

Database match: Family BASIC V3 (Japan)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: 018ABD50D60EDD8DF30D9F8894F94FB3FCE95A4A
File CRC32: 55211022
ROM SHA-1: E232C621BFEDBFC6B100677BFBFC50B910248282
ROM CRC32: B2530AFC