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.

Programmer "Masando Vision" published a Youtube demo, attempting to remake SNK's 1979 arcade game Yosaku, on the Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom, using Family Basic V2.

This hack from Garrett Gilchrist recreates that demo and features some new graphics, replacing the generic Family Basic graphics.

Family Basic was only available in Japan, and allowed for minigames to be programmed in Basic, within limited RAM space and using default graphics. Family Basic V3 (1985) has more RAM but is still limited.

The results resemble the familiar Yosaku game, although you do not actually lose life if hit by enemies, so you're basically on the honor system. The woodcutter must chop down both sides of two trees while avoiding snakes, charging boars, and the droppings of birds. He can jump with A and swing the ax with B.

Source is included, for other hackers and programmers recreating this game.

Yosaku (与作) is an action arcade game developed by Shin Nihon Kikaku in 1979. One of the first SNK games, it is extremely rare today and a ROM has not been dumped to the internet.

"Yosaku" (与作) is a 1978 song by Saburō Kitajima. It is an enka song about the labors of a woodcutter named Yosaku, which means something like gifted work or participation work. A brief quote from the song was licensed for the arcade game, and is retained here (hei hei ho).

The player is a woodcutter who cuts down trees while being attacked by animals. To avoid the dangers, the player must hide behind trees or attack animals with the ax. The dangers are: a boar that charges by, snakes that rise from the ground, branches that fall from the trees and birds that fly above and launch projectiles.

In 1981 a simpler, unauthorized conversion named Kikori no Yosaku (きこりの与作) was made by Epoch Co. for Cassete Vision. In 1991 a clone of the Cassette Vision version was released for Sharp's X68000 home computer. Sancho's Forest for the Atari 2600 VCS (1983) is also based on Yosaku. In 2000 a remake of Yosaku was included on The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise for Neo Geo Pocket Color as a secret mini-game.

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