: An extensive article analyzing the game's, and its creator's, bizarre history. The Legacy of HappySoft and Kowloon Kurosawa
When collectors and retro gaming enthusiasts search for the "hong kong 97 magazine link," they are often looking for tangible evidence of the game’s existence in 1990s media, particularly in Japanese magazines that covered independent doujin games. Why the Link Matters
HappySoft, a doujin (homebrew) group founded by Kowloon Kurosawa. Timeframe: The game was allegedly assembled in just two to seven days. Creation Method:
Hong Kong 97 is one of the most infamous relics of 1990s underground gaming culture: a low-budget, shock-value Super Famicom game released in 1995 by an obscure developer known as “HappySoft.” The game became notorious for its crude graphics, offensive content, bizarre development backstory, and later for its role in internet folklore. Over time it has inspired essays, videos, and communities obsessed with preserving and interrogating weird digital artifacts. “Hong Kong 97 magazine link” likely refers to the web of magazine-style writeups, scanned zines, and blog posts that document the game’s history, speculation, and cultural impact. This post summarizes the game, its controversies, why people search for magazine links, and how to approach the topic responsibly. hong kong 97 magazine link
Hong Kong 97 (香港97) was developed and published by HappySoft, a doujin (independent/amateur) developer based in Japan. It is a shoot 'em up designed for the Super Famicom.
Because Hong Kong 97 was sold via mail-order and not through traditional retail, physical evidence of its promotion is rare.
The premise is jarringly political: Following the announcement of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese sovereignty, the game casts the player as a British agent tasked with killing Chinese officials, exploding members of the Chinese parliament, and battling a giant "Gweilo" (a derogatory term for a white ghost). The final boss? A grotesque, floating head of a Chinese premier. : An extensive article analyzing the game's, and
The "Hong Kong 97 Magazine Link": A Quest for Retro Evidence
With rudimentary programming skills, he enlisted the help of an anonymous employee from the Japanese game company Enix, and together they reportedly created the game in just two days. The result was a top-down, multidirectional shooter developed by a homebrew company called HappySoft Ltd., released in Japan in 1995, and sold almost exclusively via a mail-order service.
The origins of Hong Kong 97 are shrouded in mystery, but it's believed to have emerged on the internet around 1994 or 1995. Initially, it may have been a genuine attempt at creating a online magazine or newsletter about Hong Kong. However, as the publication gained notoriety, it's likely that its creators began to experiment with more avant-garde and subversive content. Timeframe: The game was allegedly assembled in just
An incredibly offensive plot involving "Chin" (a likeness of Jackie Chan) sent to eliminate billions of people.
using pseudonyms. He even took out ads for other games (like The Story of Kamikuishiki Village ) that explicitly called Hong Kong 97 "dreadful" and "incomprehensible". Where to find it : You can find digital scans of Game Urara and other underground magazines from that era on the Internet Archive The Creator's Own Magazine: Six Samana
The major magazine databases (RetroCDN, OldGameMags) do not have the link you want. You need to explore smaller, language-specific archives:
In the mid-1990s, the consumer internet was in its infancy. Most Japanese gaming hobbyists used PC-VAN or NIFTY-Serve—closed bulletin board systems (BBS)—rather than the open World Wide Web. The "magazine link" referencing HappySoft often pointed to these ancient, text-based server addresses. Why the Magazine Link Became an Internet Mystery