sethmlarson.dev

Archives
Log in
Subscribe
November 1, 2026

Extracting Billy Hatcher “Joycarry Game” ROMs with Python

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg contains a feature called “Joycarry Games” similar to Animal Crossing’s NES game “Advance Play” feature. I wanted to extract the ROMs for these mini-games just like I did for Animal Crossing. Doing so wasn’t as straightforward; the ROMs aren’t available directly in the disc filesystem like they are in Animal Crossing. To extract the ROMs I ported an existing Rust program to Python (“rewrite-it-in-Python”, anyone?) that receives and saves the ROMs from the game running in Dolphin using the GBA TCP and Joyboot protocols.

Joycarry Game menu in Billy Hatcher (JP)
“Joycarry Game” menu in Billy Hatcher (JP)

These games are simple, and I only really played one as a kid: Puyo Pop. The game is similar to “Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine”, which was a favorite of mine. This was the only way I could take that game “on-the-go”, often downloading the game to my GBA before road trips to see my grandparents.

Read more: https://sethmlarson.dev/extracting-billy-hatcher-joycarry-game-roms-with-python

Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to sethmlarson.dev:
← Newer Creating for yourself (7 Year Blogiversary) Older → Bowser’s Fury outshines Sunshine, SA2B, and Billy Hatcher

Add a comment:

Posting this comment will subscribe you to this newsletter with the email address you enter.
Share this email:
Share on Mastodon Share on Bluesky
sethmlarson.dev
Bluesky
Mastodon
Powered by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.