Paprium: The Whole Story

A few months back, I wrote about this game in my bulletin posts. This past week the game was not only fully dumped but also made playable via emulation on RetroArch. But how did we get to that point and why is there a whole community who sees this effort as a victory for videogames preservation?

First, I'll tell you what Paprium is in case you didn't know. Paprium was supposed to be an ambitious beat 'em up for the Sega Genesis, developed by WaterMelon Games, the same people behind Pier Solar, also on the Genesis. They promise to deliver one of the most advanced games ever made for the console, with stunning graphics, CD quality music, and an arcade-at-home-worthy experience. But it turns out that's not what was delivered, at least not entirely.

After about 8 years in development (the game was announced in 2012), the cartridge began shipping in 2020. But only to a select few, most of which YouTubers to get the buzz around because most people who pre-ordered the game–many of them paying dearly for collector's editions–never saw a single thing. 

To this day, in 2025, the company has never officially commented on the backlog of orders. Despite this in 2020 they launched a Kickstarter campaign promising versions for Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Dreamcast, and even Game Gear. Expected to ship in December 2022. And of course nothing has been released so far, except for excuses and deathlike silence.

The project raised nearly a million dollars and left more than 3,000 backers in the dark. Literally no digital version was released, let alone delivered to any of the backers. Many rightfully call this one of the biggest scams in the retro scene.

In all this clusterfuck, Fonzie—one of the founders of WaterMelon Games—appeared to say that PayPal was to blame, having blocked the company's funds, which seemed like a lie yet many decided to give him and Watermelon Games the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile, the few who received their physical cartridge found a little surprise inside: the metal cover that would cover the Datenmeister chip was loose.

What was Watermelon's official guidance? Did they issue a recall and stopped producing the game until the quality was improved? Nah, "just stick with school glue." That's right, a company that promised a deluxe game cartridge was recommending children's glue to fix hardware defects. A level of amateurism bordering on mockery.

What was supposed to be a tribute to 16-bit Beat Em Ups turned into a classic example of how not to treat your customers. And this isn't even the worst part, far from it.

Speaking of the darned Datenmeister chip, Fonzie even said that Paprium used an innovative chip called the DATENMEISTER DT128M16VA1LT, produced by a company called Daten Semiconductor. However, after community investigations, it was found that it was all a ruse. No such company existed and the company's website was created by Fonzie himself.

The cartridge contained a standard STM32 and an Intel encryption chip, both covered in epoxy. The goal was to make reverse engineering difficult and, of course, to stop any emulation attempts. As if that ever stopped the internet. With time, patience, dedication, and technical know-how, the community managed to extract the ROM, graphics, sound effects, and music. 

The soundtrack was converted to MP3, and the game began running as sort of an "MSU" type of game on the Genesis Plus GX emulator core for RetroArch, a core that was specially modified for this purpose. It's protection was defeated, and the game, previously locked behind unfulfilled promises, lies and encryption could not only be played by almost anyone but also be preserved.

Less than a week after extracting the ROM, YouTube channels began showing the game running via RetroArch. It started on Windows and quickly spread to Linux (including SteamOS), Android, and even the Nintendo Switch. The community accomplished in a few days what WaterMelon couldn't achieve in years.

Today, Paprium works on multiple platforms. The only current limitations are transparency emulation and direct playback of the soundtrack via ROM, but these are being addressed. Soon, it should also run on Everdrives and even the MiSTer FPGA. It's only a matter of time.

More than that: players now have the chance to fix serious issues present in the original game. Paprium's gameplay is clunky, with problematic hitboxes, also it's a bit repetitive. With the game in the hands of the community, there's hope for an enhanced version or other sort of romhacks—as with many NES, Master System, and Super Nintendo classics.

It was an incredible turnaround. The game that nearly disappeared into the limbo of promises has become a symbol of digital resistance and collaboration. Paprium is now available for anyone and Fonzie is no longer gonna be able to profit from it.