general home video games FAQ
Information needed:
-- Since Donkey Kong Country is now a pack-in, I'd like codes for it.
-- Information on that Genesis modem.
-- Pointers to classic video game material.
-- SSF2 home version codes.
-- Bibliographical references for historical videogame-related books.
-- System specifications for the 3DO and for all the new 32 bit systems
(Saturn, Sony Playstation, Nec PC-FX, Playdia)
-- Information on Nintendo/Atari lawsuits.
-- Need SNES Pro Action Replay format.
-- Can you make a language switch in the redesigned Genesis? How?
-- Someone tell me how to make that SNES 50/60 hertz switch. Please.
-- The TurboExpress and TG-16 information are inconsistent in CPU and Mhz.
-- Other pack-in game secret codes.
-- Language switch/lockout Genesis/Mega Drive examples.
-- What is the Supergrafx mode? And how can a Turbo Express play games at a
higher resolution than the TE supports?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes since last time:
o Fixed Ultima listing.
o Fixed Sega Programming listing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Last modified 3/2/95]
[Last posted 3/2/95]
Section 0: Introduction:
=======================
This is the general home video games FAQ list. It doesn't have cheats for
most games except for pack-ins and obvious hits like Street Fighter II. It
does have just about everything else, and will probably continue to do so at
least until we get full FAQs for each system (which as far as I know, the
Genesis and SNES don't have). If anyone wants to do regular FAQs for these
systems, tell me, and send me a copy of your FAQ, and I'll remove the
information from the general FAQ.
It mostly omits information about ``classic'' systems, though I've included
references to other sources of classic system information and classics are in
the "first game to..." list.
Prices that are close to round numbers have been rounded (you will not see a
$99 anywhere here except this sentence). All references to "megs" and "M" of
memory refer to megabytes (I hate 'megabits').
If you think something is wrong or missing, _email_me_corrections_. Please.
I'm not a mind reader.
Section 0: Introduction
Section 1: Newsgroups List
Section 2: Basic Questions
Section 3: When is a ... coming out?/Give me information on ...
Section 4: Can I use a...?
Section 5: What is a...?
Section 6: Game-Specific Questions (including spoilers for pack-in games)
Section 7: System Capabilities
Section 8: Connecter/Controller Pinouts
Section 9: Compatibility
Section 10: Game Magazines
Section 11: Historical References
Section 12: Other FAQ's/regular postings/mailing lists
Section 1: Newsgroups List:
==========================
World-wide newsgroups that deal with video games are as follows:
rec.games.video.classic \
rec.games.video.sega \
rec.games.video.nintendo \
rec.games.video.3do \________ Home video games. Obvious.
rec.games.video.atari /
rec.games.video.cd-i /
rec.games.video.cd32 /
rec.games.video.misc /
comp.sys.amiga.cd32 (For discussion on computer aspects of the CD^32.)
rec.games.video.advocacy (For arguments such as "my system is better".)
rec.games.video.marketplace (For buying and selling.)
rec.games.vectrex (This is an inet group. Inet groups are for most practical
purposes part of Usenet. I will not get into the details here.)
rec.games.video.arcade \___ Arcade games.
rec.games.video.arcade.collecting /
Obsolete groups are alt.super.nes, alt.sega.genesis, and
alt.games.video.classic. Use the rec.games.video groups instead.
alt.2600 discusses 2600 magazine, not the Atari 2600. alt.atari.2600 and
alt.atari.2600vcs were created to divert the misposts out of alt.2600; these
groups aren't "obsolete" in the sense that they were created after
rec.games.video.classic, but there's little reason not to use r.g.v.classic
(which has better propagation anyway) instead.
I've heard of alt.games.final-fantasy, and alt.atari-jaguar.discussion,
which I don't get at my site. I doubt either of these groups is propagated
much.
Section 2: Basic Questions:
==========================
``Some people have complained about questionable business practices of
Nintendo. What are they?''
People are soured on Nintendo business practices because of:
1) NES cartridges have a ``lockout chip'' with availability controlled by
Nintendo, which must be there to run the game. (One common excuse is "to
preserve quality". Many games come from Japan, where lockout chips aren't
used, but the quality is the same. Also, most people agree that Tengen Tetris
is higher quality than the Nintendo one.)
2) Price-fixing. Nintendo lost in federal court, and had to give away $5
coupons good towards cartridges; they did not actually admit guilt. (Not
much of a punishment.)
3) There is a rumor that Nintendo wouldn't let stores have popular cartridges
unless they also were willing to sell the Game Boy. [Information anyone?]
4) The Game Genie: This product fits between a cartridge and machine and
changes certain bytes on the fly. Nintendo sued, alleging copyright violation,
and delaying the Game Genie for a year. (Nintendo lost.)
5) Nintendo has sued stores for renting Nintendo games. (Actually, suing
for copying the copyrighted instructions.)
6) Nintendo would for a while not let licensees make the same game for other
systems (which delayed Genesis Batman for some time).
7) Nintendo's censorship policy on games (no blood, cannot fight females) in
games such as Final Fight, where all the female-appearing enemies were changed
to male, Final Fantasy 2, which had praying changed to "wishing", naming hell
hounds "heck hounds" in Secret of Mana, or the best-known example, Mortal Kom-
bat (no blood or violent fatalities). SF2 doesn't have much censorship, but
Nintendo _was_ planning to censor it and only relented after a _lot_ of pro-
tests. [This may be changing with a new ratings system; Mortal Kombat II keeps
the blood and fatalities.]
``Please tell me about those 100 games in 1 cartridges.''
Most of them are bootlegs, made in Hong Kong or South Korea. I've heard of
some for Nintendo, Gameboy, and Game Gear, as well as Mega Drive/Genesis ones
with 4-8 games. There might be such things for PC Engine. (If you have one,
I may be interested in buying it. :-)) They often have some early, lower-
quality games and some games which vary only by small details like background
color. They also tend to be expensive (though people often try selling
used ones at prices which are out of hand, even considering this). If you
really want one, you will probably have to go to Asia or buy one used.
Copiers seem to have replaced multicarts for newer console systems.
There are a number of legal 4-in-1 Nintendo cartridges, and there is at least
one (legal) 52 games in 1 cartridge for Nintendo advertised in a US magazine.
There is supposedly a Genesis cartridge with many games, about which I know
little; advertisements for it show some questionable "games" added just to in-
crease the count, like the 15-puzzle. There's also the 4-game Super Mario
All-Stars.
On classic systems, there are various versions of multiple-game Atari 2600s
and multiple-game Atari 2600 cartridges; because the games are so small, a
hundred games can actually fit in. These also come from outside the USA, and
I have _no_ idea how or where to get one. Old Vectrex games are public
domain now, and various people have made Vectrex multi-carts; see the Vectrex
FAQ.
``What is the relationship between Tengen and Atari Games?''
They are two branches of the same company; however, both are separate from the
Atari which makes the Lynx and Jaguar. (Even though many Lynx games are
licensed from Atari Games.)
``Where is a good source for Japanese games?''
Check the ads in an American video game magazine. (Unless you know someone who
is going to Japan, or Taiwan or Hong Kong, or has contacts there.) Also,
Stephen Pearl posts a partial list of sources regularly (see below).
Watch out for pirate game carts. They generally lack copyright notices and
references to "Sega" or "Mega Drive", have no manuals, and are in odd boxes.
``What happened to that version of Tetris they're not making any more?''
It was the Tengen Tetris for NES. Tengen didn't have the proper US rights, and
was forced in court by Nintendo to stop making and to recall it. (See _Game
Over_, for details. This was separate from lawsuit threats over Tengen's at-
tempt to work around the lockout chip.) A Tetris for the Mega Drive in Japan
was never legal to begin with.
``What are the differences between a "new" and "old" Genesis or Mega Drive?''
Machines made after about October 1991 are "new" machines. They won't play
certain old third party US games: Ishido, Budokan, Populous, Onslaught, Zany
Golf, or certain pirated Asian cartridges. You can usually get around this
problem with a Game Genie or Action Replay. (No codes, just plug it in, but
not everyone has been able to get this to work, so your mileage may vary.) It
doesn't matter whether the new machine is a Mega Drive or a Genesis, and the
change has no effect on the ability to play Japanese games. (If the machine
says "produced by or under license to Sega" when turned on, it's a "new"
machine.)
The specific cause of the difference is that the new machines scan the ROM for
the text "SEGA" in locations $100-103, and won't run if it's absent.
There are similar "new" Game Gear machines. I'm not sure if they have
lockout.
The change between "old" and "new" came around the same time that the pack-in
game was changed from Altered Beast to Sonic the Hedgehog. This isn't a
reliable way to tell the difference, but every so often you still hear people
refer to the "Altered Beast" and "Sonic" versions, which isn't quite right.
Some people also refer to the redesigned Genesis as "new". It's a new shape,
and has no volume control or headphone jack. Stereo jacks have been added.
There's no difference in what games it can play.
Sega/Accolade lawsuit.
The lawsuit started with Sega suing Accolade, an unlicensed maker of Genesis
cartridges who reverse-engineered Genesis games to discover how to write them.
Sega also claimed that Accolade was "misleading consumers" because playing
its games still gives the "produced by or under license to Sega" message.
(Of course, the Genesis, not the cartridge, puts up the message.) The result
of the suit is that Accolade will become an official developer for the Genesis
and Game Gear; nobody knows who has to pay how much to whom ....
Atari/Nintendo lawsuit.
A recent lawsuit over the "114 Patent", which seems to be connected to
horizontal scrolling in video games, was settled by March 25, 1994. Atari
claims that Nintendo had to pay Atari, which Nintendo denies.
Atari/Sega lawsuit.
This lawsuit, over Atari's claims that Sega infringes its patents, was
settled out of court on 9/28/94. Sega gets to use Atari's patents. Sega
had to pay Atari a total of $50 million covering the remaining 7 years of
patents. (All the money was to be paid immediately.) Sega also has to buy
4.7 million shares of Atari stock for $40 million. Sega and Atari get to
cross-license a certain number of games (I think 5), excluding Sonic games.
Game copiers.
Yes, it is true that customs is (or was) stopping deliveries of them.
Yes, it is legal to copy games for your own private use.
No, it is not legal to give away or sell the copies.
No, it is not legal to give away or sell the original and keep the copy.
No, there is no known cheap way to copy CD-ROMs yet.
Yes, they have legal uses: to copy your own games for backup, to try developing
your own games, and to directly modify the game code without a Game Genie-type
device. It's questionable how many copier owners actually use them mostly for
this.
Zenith TV's.
Certain older Zenith TV's have a problem working with video game systems.
The following information is for the SF5749W model. To access the service
menus, press and hold the menu button, then the volume and channel, so all
three are held at the same time. The regular controls search through the
menus, and select and adjust change them, with enter to confirm a change. On
menu 1 is a "vforced" option which might be necessary to get VCR menus--or
games--to work....
``Does 'Sega' really mean 'masturbate' in some European language, like I've
heard?''
'Farsi una sega' is Italian for 'masturbate'.
``What is the first game to...?''
(The KLOV is a list of arcade games that can be ftp'ed from wiretap.spies.com.)
The 'firsts' tend to be mostly arcade games, but I'm listing them here anyway.
Most of these listings are a bit uncertain. (By the way, anyone got month
dates for these games?)
First arcade game: Computer Space (Nutting Associates, 1972) (_Not_ Pong.)
First arcade vector game: Space Wars (Cinematronics, 1978)
First arcade color vector game: Tempest (Atari, 1981)*
First trackball game: Football (Atari, 1978)
First game with speech: Stratovox (Taito, 1980)
First move-horizontally-and-shoot game: Space Invaders (Taito/Midway, 1978)
First game with intermissions: Deluxe Space Invaders (Taito/Midway, 1979)
First maze/chase/dots-eating game: Dodgem (Atari, 1978)
First platform game: Space Panic (Universal, 1980)
First platform jumping game: Donkey Kong (Nintendo, 1981)
First game with multiple screens with different gameplay: Gorf (Midway, 1981)
(Donkey Kong was 1981 also. I'm not sure of the exact date.)
First first-person driving game: Night Driver (Atari, 1976)
First first-person flying/shooting game: Red Baron (Atari, 1980)
First one-on-one fighting game (Street Fighter-like): Karate Champ (Data East,
1984). (Swashbuckler, 1982, for the Apple II came first, but had no
player versus player combat.)
First beat-em-up scrolling game: Kung-Fu Master (Data East, 1985) (Double
Dragon was 1986)
First X-axis tourism scrolling shooting game: Cosmic Avenger (Universal, 1981)
(Scramble was 1981 too, but according to the KLOV came later).
First Y-axis tourism scrolling shooting game: Sky Raider (Atari, 1979) [Bet
_you_ thought it was Xevious too.]
First X-axis tourism jumping game: Pitfall! (a home game; Activision, 1982)
(This game did _not_ scroll.)
First "Super-Mario-like" game: This depends on what qualifies as "Super-
Mario-like". Pitfall II (Activision) is a contender.
First side-scrolling jumping/attacking game: Jungle King/Hunt (Taito, 1982)
(which scrolled left, not right)
First laserdisk game: Dragon's Lair (Cinematronics, 1983)
* The KLOV says Tempest is 1980, but the Tempest game itself, Microsoft
Arcade, and Tempest 2000 all claim 1981. Tempest apparently still did come
before Space Fury (Sega, 1981), or at least Atari claimed so.
Some I have yet to find out:
First arcade game not requiring a second player. (I first thought 'Breakout',
but the KLOV lists several racing games that came earlier.)
First game that ended.
First game with an ending (special graphics, not just 'game over').
Phone numbers for video game companies:
Nintendo: 1-800-255-3700 0400-2400 PT Mon-Sat; 0600-1900 PT Sun
Sega: 1-800-USA-SEGA 0900-1800 PT
Atari: 1-800-327-5151, 1-800-221-3343. (These were the lines to order Lemmings
and Gordo 106; I don't know if they are general lines). The 900 number for
hints is 1-900-737-ATAR (95 cents per minute).
SNK: 1-310-371-1965 (the earlier toll-free number is gone)
Section 3: When is a ... coming out?/Give me information on ...
===============================================================
... Genesis modem?
It's available in Japan (1200 baud), but had no US release. Newer Genesis
machines don't even have a modem port. Baton Technologies had a modem for the
Genesis and SNES called the Teleplay System (2400 baud), but the company shut
down without producing it. AT&T has announced and shown a 4800 baud modem
called The Edge 16, but recently said it won't be doing modems.
There's a service named "Catapult" which is meant to allow Genesis and SNES
modem downloading and playing. We'll see.
There is some modem currently available and in stores for the Genesis. I
have no idea what it is. (I only know a lot of stuff for the FAQs if _you_
tell me.)
... Sega CD-ROM?
The earlier version was $250 (plus $90 for a Genesis), with an arcade classics
disk (Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Columns), Sol
Feace, and Sherlock Holmes. The classics are mostly unchanged except for some
CD music and sound. The two-player mode on Golden Axe was removed, for some
reason.
The newer version is $230 with Sewer Shark or John Madden. I've seen them as
low as $190.
Sherlock Holmes is replaced by Cobra Command in Europe. The classics disc also
contains Super Monaco GP; the files for this are on the American disc but the
game has been disabled.
The CDX (not to be confused with the Pro-CDX adaptor for foreign games) is
$400. (Hey, guys, what's in it aside from a Genesis and CD?)
... Sega Saturn?
The Saturn was released in Japan in November 1994, for a price of 44800 yen.
EGM claims a US equivalent of $475, which is not 44800 yen, so I don't really
know what the price is. It is a CD-ROM system; the similar Jupiter by Sega is
not. The planned US release is Fall 1995.
... Sega 32X?
The 32X costs $150 and is an add-on to the Genesis. It's supposed to use chips
developed for the Saturn, but does not run Saturn games. The system _does_
exist in Japan. Sega has announced a system named Neptune which is a combined
Genesis and 32X, to sell for $200.
... Greater than 16 bit SNES system?
The system from Nintendo, formerly named Project Reality, is now known as the
Ultra 64. It supposedly does greater than 100000 polygons per second and has
a 64 bit RISC processor. I have little idea about it.
... Neo-Geo CD (formerly the Neo Star)
It's out. At least in Japan. The system is separate from the cartridge
machine, not an add-on, and won't run Neo-Geo cartridges. Some importers have
machines, but I have no idea if or when there will be a real US release.
... Atari Jaguar?
The target for the Jaguar was November 1993 in "test markets", because Atari
couldn't get enough of the needed chips. The general release was supposed to
be for various dates, but the system seems to have slowly been increasing
market penetration rather than having any specific time when it suddenly
becomes general-sale. (A press release did give the date of Atari's
advertising campaign as September 12, 1994.) Cybermorph is the pack-in game.
For full information see the Jaguar FAQ.
The price is reduced to $190 in several stores, though not officially, and
to $160 with no games.
The CD is to be priced at $150. It was supposed to be out by now, though
we're still waiting. Reportedly there _will_ be a pack-in game.
... Jaguar 2?
According to the current rumors, the Jaguar 2 is a combined Jaguar and Jaguar
CD. The next generation Jaguar will be the Jaguar 3, late 1996.
... 3DO system?
The Panasonic version is officially now at $400, with pack-ins of Crash and
Burn and Jurassic Park Interactive. Many other companies plan to release
3DOs (I've seen one). For full information see the 3DO FAQ. It is rumored
the price will be going down further.
... 3DO 2 system?
Supposedly a unit which costs $270-400 or a $100 upgrade to existing 3DO
systems. It does 100,000,000 pixels per second, 250,000 textured polygons
per second, or 150,000 triangles per second. It has hardware texture mapping,
and built-in MPEG-1. It will be available Christmas 1995. (Yeah, right.)
... Sony Playstation?
This system (formerly named the PSX) is a 32-bit double? triple?-speed CD
system based around the R3000A processor. The price is 40000 yen, roughly
$400 US (it was announced at under 50000 yen). There has not yet been an an-
nouncement of the US release.
... NEC PC-FX?
The system came out November 1994 at 50000 yen. It is CD-based. There are no
current plans to release the system outside Japan.
... Bandai BA-X?
This system was announced at 29800 yen and it came out fall 1994 in Japan. It
supposedly emphasizes full motion video rather than normal games. (I feel
like buying one now. Not.)
The dead systems:
----------------
CD-I:
Old system which uses CDs and displays primitive graphics on top of the
graphics displayed off of the CDs. I really don't know much about it,
except it seems remarkably persistent in the software stores, occasionally
appearing alongside the 3DO and confusing customers who don't know any
better.
CD^32:
Released in Europe and Canada, this system was to be made available in the
US on March 1, 1994, at a suggested retail price of $400. The pack-in games
were Pinball Fantasies, Wing Commander, and Oscar, and the system was basical-
ly an Commodore Amiga 1200 with a CD system and no keyboard. Commodore
International is now dead, along with the system.
Clearance prices have been for the equivalents of $140-190.
TG-16, TG-16 CD, and Turbo Duo:
The Duo was the last gasp of the Turbographics-16 system, known as the PC
Engine in Asia. The PCE dates back to 1987 in Japan, being the first 16-bit
system there (barring arguments about whether it's 'really' 16 bit or not),
had a popular CD expansion, and generally did very well. It never really took
off in the US.
The TG-16 had a CD system, and a separate Super CD card introduced later to
add more memory to it (the CD had 64K memory, and the SCD had 256K). The SCD
card was available in the USA only through the toll-free number (1-800-366-
0136), not in stores. The toll-free number 1-800-995-9203 is for "Turbo
Zone", who had the SCD card. I have no idea if either of these still sells
them.
The Duo combined the TG-16, the CD system, and the SCD card together. When
on clearance, it was $100.
The final expansion was the Arcade Card, which replaced the CD card and had
2M memory; there were different versions of it for the Duo and the separate
CD player. It was never released in the USA, though a Japanese version
works with an adapter. Most of its games were Neo-Geo fighting game ports.
There is a FAQ and a mailing list for the TG-16/Duo.
Pioneer LaserActive:
This system played both laser discs and CD's, and cost $720 (and $480 each
for add-on modules allowing Sega CD and TG-16 CD compatibility, more than the
cost of a complete separate Sega or TG-16 CD system). The add-on modules only
allowed the overlaying of graphics on laser discs; the discs were used only
for backgrounds. You can see why the system never took off, I hope.
Section 4: Can I use a...?
=========================
... monitor?
The Genesis can connect to an analog RGB monitor with a similar scan rate;
this means an analog RGB monitor for use with an Amiga, Atari ST, or Apple
//gs. An analog RGB multisync monitor _may_ work; a digital monitor (CGA or
EGA only for PC's) will not.
The SNES will work with an S-video or RGB monitor provided you have the right
cable; the right scan rate us 15.75 horizontal.
The Neo-Geo works with the same monitors the Genesis works with.
Basically, I know very little about monitors and have tried my best to
summarize some usenet information here....
... store-bought battery with my battery-backup game cart?
Yes, but you'll lose all the saved data (which happens when the battery dies
anyway).
... Atari/Amiga/C64 joystick on a Genesis?
You can; the button serves as both A and B. C and Start are absent.
If you use an Atari 7800 joystick, the left button is both A and B, and
pressing and releasing both buttons simultaneously gives C and Start.
The joysticks also work the other way; the B button replaces the single fire
button (left fire button on the 7800; there's no right fire button).
... CD player with my computer?
There was going to be an SCSI adapter for the Duo (it never came out).
A PC CARD will allow use of a 3DO as a CD-ROM drive on a PC, with a Macintosh
version possibly following.
... Duo/TG-16 controller on a TG-16/Duo?
There are, or should be, adapters both ways. (Different people who called up
TTI got different answers on this one.) I've never seen either kind or had
anyone tell me they've owned one.
The Duo controllers are the same as PC Engine controllers, so the adapter is
good for Japanese games that need special controllers (Forgotten Worlds,
Street Fighter II).
The 6 button controller for PCE/Duo and the TG-16 controller have an internal
plug of the same size. You can therefore open the controllers up and combine
them to have a 6 button controller usable on the TG-16.
Section 5: What is a...?
=======================
``What is "Blast Processing"?''
Sega hype. The phrase means exactly nothing. Sega later tried to explain it
by claiming it describes the methods used by Sega to get characters like Sonic
moving on the screen very fast. (Which still means nothing, of course.) Sega
_again_ explained that this is because characters can be drawn on the screen
while a different screen is being displayed (which is known as page flipping
and isn't new) and that background processing is ignored so sprites can be
moved really fast (which isn't new either).
``What is anime?''
Anime refers to Japanese animation. It's often better done, less censored,
and aimed towards an older audience than, American animation. (Cautionary
note: some American fans go overboard in thinking anime adult; a lot of series
popular in America _are_ aimed at children or teenagers.) In the past, lots of
anime was hacked up and changed for the US market (Speed Racer, Star Blazers,
Robotech), but in the last few years new companies have released unedited anime
with better translations. The connection with video games is that many
Japanese video games are anime-based or have anime-style art (not to mention
anime being videogame-based), and also that such games are often either not
ported or drastically changed for American release because of supposed lack of
interest in anime.
``What is a Tera Drive?''
It's a Japan-only system combining a PC and a Mega Drive (Japanese version
of the Genesis); it's not available in the US. There are similar systems in
Europe and Australia, though. The connection between the Mega Drive and PC
parts is minimal.
``What is a Wonder Mega?''
It's a system combining a Mega Drive (Japanese version of the Genesis) and
Mega CD with a JVC CD system. The US version is the "X-Eye".
``What is a Super Gun or a Mach 4?''
These are "home" systems which play a JAMMA arcade board at home. This plays
the same as the arcade game, of course, but the board costs about as much as
the arcade game.
The systems are legal, but at least the Super Gun is often sold with illegal,
pirated, arcade boards. They are not 32-bit (nor can they meaningfully be
called any-bit) and you could build one yourself with $100 or so in parts.
``What is Valis I/II/III/IV?''
The original Valis game was a MSX game (early Japanese home computer), later
released for the Famicom. Valis II was released for the TG-16 CD, then Valis
III for the Genesis and TG-16 CD. Valis IV was released for the PC Engine CD,
but only in Japan, and then later for the SNES. Valis I came out for the PC
Engine SCD (also only in Japan) and the Genesis, long after Valis III. At
around this time, SD Valis came out in Japan for the Mega Drive ("Syd Valis"
for the Genesis). So no one system has all the games (though the PCE has all
except the nearly unrelated SD one).
``What is Thunderforce I?''
It is a game produced by Technosoft for Japanese personal computers. It
resembles the "overhead" stages of Thunderforce II.
``What is Phantasy Star I?''
It's a Sega Master System (8 bit) game.
``What is Cosmic Fantasy I?''
It's a Japanese PC Engine CD game, with no US release. Cosmic Fantasy
Stories for the Mega CD includes both I and II.
``What is Street Fighter I?''
This old game only let you use Ryu (player 1) and Ken (player 2); versus mode
was always Ryu versus Ken. The hurricane kick, fireball, and dragon punch
existed and were done the same way as in SF2; there were no throws. The only
other character that also appeared in SF2 was Sagat, who was the final boss for
SF1.
There seem to have been two versions of this game, one with six buttons and
one with two buttons where the move depended on how hard you push them.
The game was adapted for PC clones, for the Atari ST, for the Commodore 64,
and for the TG-16 CD (the latter under the name Fighting Street).
``What does 3DO stand for?''
It is allegedly from the sequence "audio, video, 3DO" and isn't an acronym.
Early information did say that it stood for "three dimensional object" or
"three dimensional optics". Probably, they changed their minds.
``What does "Atari" mean?''
The word is from the Japanese game Go. It's used when making a threat, like
"check" in chess.
``What does "Sega" actually mean?''
It is supposed to stand for "Service Games".
Section 6: Game-Specific Questions (including spoilers for pack-in games):
=========================================================================
Debug mode and level select on Sonic the Hedgehog.
Level select:
1) U, D, L, R, A+Start
2) U, D, D, D, L, R, A+Start (Japanese version)
Debug mode:
1) U+C, D+C, L+C, R+C, then A+Start.
2) U+C, D+C, D+C, D+C, L+C, R+C, A+C+Start. (Japanese version)
3) C, C, C, C, U, D, L, R, A+Start.
4) U, C, D, C, L, C, R, Start, Hold A [immediately after start]
The best information is that 1)-2) do it on older Sonics, and 3)-4) on newer
ones. I have no idea if 3) and 4) work on the Japanese version. Keep your
fingers on A and Start until Sonic first appears in an act. Within debug mode,
B toggles between sprite mode and normal mode; A selects the sprite, and C
places it. There should be a bunch of hexadecimal numbers on top of your
score. (Sonic also can't die by getting hit or falling onto spikes in this
mode.)
Codes for Sonic II.
For the level select, go to the sound select screen, set it to 19, press C, set
to 65, press C, set to 9, press C, set to 17, press C. Go to the main screen
and wait until the 1 player/2 player menu appears, and press A+start.
For 14 continues, the code is 1, C, 1, C, 2, C, 4, C on the sound test screen.
To become Super Sonic without collecting emeralds, the code is 4, C, 1, C, 2,
C, 6, C. Select a stage and hold down A while pressing START. (You still
need to collect 50 rings.)
For debug mode, go into the level select and in its own sound test, 1, C, 9, C,
9, C, 2, C, 1, C, 1, C, 2, C, 4, C. Select a stage and hold down A while
pressing START.
The 96 worlds on Super Mario World.
> All Stages, All Exits (Yes, Virginia, there are 96)
(NOTE: exits marked with '*' do NOT contribute to the *96 total)
Stage Exit 1 Exit 2
---------------------- --------------------- -------------------------
Yoshi's House *Yoshi's Island 1 *Yoshi's Island 2
Yoshi's Island 1 Yellow Switch Palace
Yoshi's Island 2 Yoshi's Island 3
Yoshi's Island 3 Yoshi's Island 4
Yoshi's Island 4 Iggy's Castle
Yellow Switch Palace Yellow Switch Palace
Iggy's Castle Donut Plains 1
Donut Plains 1 Donut Plains 2 Donut Secret 1
Donut Plains 2 Donut Ghost House Green Switch Palace
Green Switch Palace Green Switch Palace
Donut Ghost House Donut Plains 3 Top Secret Area
Top Secret Area
Donut Plains 3 Donut Plains 4
Donut Plains 4 Morton's Castle
Donut Secret 1 Donut Ghost House Donut Secret House
Donut Secret House Donut Secret 2 Star Road 1
Donut Secret 2 Donut Plains 3
Morton's Castle Vanilla Dome 1
Vanilla Dome1 Vanilla Dome 2 Vanilla Secret 1
Vanilla Dome 2 Vanilla Ghost House Red Switch Palace
Red Switch Palace Red Switch Palace
Vanilla Ghost House Vanilla Dome 3
Vanilla Dome 3 Vanilla Dome 4
Vanilla Dome 4 Lemmy's Castle
Lemmy's Castle Cheese Bridge Area
Vanilla Secret 1 Vanilla Secret 2 Star Road 2
Vanilla Secret 2 Vanilla Secret 3
Vanilla Secret 3 Vanilla Fortress
Vanilla Fortress Butter Bridge 1
Cheese Bridge Area Cookie Mountain Soda Lake
Soda Lake Star Road 3
Cookie Mountain Ludwig's Castle
Butter Bridge 1 Butter Bridge 2
Butter Bridge 2 Ludwig's Castle
Ludwig's Castle Forest of Illusion 1
Forest of Illusion 1 Forest of Illusion 2 Forest Ghost House
Forest of Illusion 2 Forest of Illusion 3 Blue Switch Palace
Blue Switch Palace Blue Switch Palace
Forest of Illusion 3 Forest Ghost House Roy's Castle
Forest Ghost House Forest of Illusion 4 Forest of Illusion 1
Forest of Illusion 4 Forest of Illusion 2 Forest Secret Area
Forest Secret Area Forest Fortress
Forest Fortress Star Road 4
Roy's Castle Chocolate Island 1
Chocolate Island 1 Choco-Ghost House
Choco-Ghost House Chocolate Island 2
Chocolate Island 2 Chocolate Island 3 Chocolate Secret
Chocolate Island 3 Chocolate Island 3 Chocolate Fortress
Chocolate Fortress Chocolate Island 4
Chocolate Island 4 Chocolate Island 5
Chocolate Island 5 Wendy's Castle
Chocolate Secret Wendy's Castle
Wendy's Castle Sunken Ghost Ship
Sunken Ghost Ship Valley of Bowser 1
Valley of Bowser 1 Valley of Bowser 2
Valley of Bowser 2 Valley Ghost House Valley Fortress
Valley Ghost House Valley of Bowser 3 Larry's Castle
Valley of Bowser 3 Valley of Bowser 4
Valley of Bowser 4 Larry's Castle Star Road 5 & Front Door
Valley Fortress Back Door
Larry's Castle Front Door
Back Door *END
Front Door *END
Star World 1 Star Road 1 Star Road 2
Star World 2 Star Road 2 Star Road 3
Star World 3 Star Road 3 Star Road 4
Star World 4 Star Road 4 Star Road 5
Star World 5 Star Road 1 Star Road 6
Gnarly Tubular
Tubular Way Cool
Way Cool Awesome
Awesome Groovy
Groovy Mondo
Mondo Outrageous
Outrageous Funky
Funky Star Road 7 (Yoshi's House)
(Mario Mania)
> Super Mario World Map
**********
*MAIN MAP*
**********
P3---27---28---29---30---31---32---.
| |
.---34---33 | |
| | `---' |
P4 | |
| |
35 |
P3 23------. | |
| | | | |
*---20 21--. 24 * .' |
| | | | | | |
`---18--' 22 25 `--' |
| | |
| 26 |
| | |
| P4 |
| .--38---37---.
14 | | | |
| | 41---+-------39--40
.--13--------15---. | | | |
| | | | | 42 `---43---'
| | | 16---17 | |
12---9 10--. `-P2 *---45---' 46--'
| | | |
| | | |
`---8 11--P1 To Valley Of P5 |
| | Bowser Map \ 48-----47
| * | \ |
| | \ |
7-. P6 .----56 \|
| | | .--. +
1 6 | | | | |\
| | `--55 51---+--50--49 \
| 5-' | | | | | |
| | 53-------52 `--' `--'
2---3--4
********************** ************
*VALLEY OF BOWSER MAP* *STAR WORLD*
********************** ************
19----P2 *
| / \
P1 / \
*----58 59 *-----54 57-----*
| | | \ /
60---61 62 \__36 * 68_/
| | | / | \
63---64---65---66---To Main Map / 67 \
/ / \ \
*----' `----*
P6-------44---------P5
*********
*SPECIAL*
*********
*--76--75--74--73--.
******** |
*LEGEND* *--69--70--71--72--'
********
1- Yellow Switch Palace 31- Butter Bridge 2 61- #7 Larry's Castle
2- Yoshi's Island 1 32- #4 Ludwig's Castle 62- Valley Fortress
3- Yoshi's House 33- Cookie Mountain 63- Valley Of Bowser 3
4- Yoshi's Island 2 34- Cheese Bridge 64- Valley Ghost House
5- Yoshi's Island 3 35- Soda Lake 65- Valley Of Bowser 2
6- Yoshi's Island 4 36- Star World 1 66- Valley Of Bowser 1
7- #1 Iggy's Castle 37- Forest Of Illusion 1 67- Star World 5
8- Donut Plains 1 38- Forest Ghost House 68- Star World 4
9- Donut Plains 2 39- Forest Of Illusion 2 69- Gnarly
10- Donut Secret 1 40- Blue Switch Palace 70- Tubular
11- Donut Secret House 41- Forest Of Illusion 4 71- Way Cool
12- Green Switch Palace 42- Forest Secret Area 72- Awesome
13- Donut Ghost House 43- Forest Of Illusion 3 73- Groovy
14- Top Secret 44- Chocolate Secret 74- Mondo
15- Donut Plains 3 45- Forest Fortress 75- Outrageous
16- Donut Plains 4 46- #5 Roy's Castle 76- Funky
17- #2 Morton's Castle 47- Chocolate Island 1 * - Star Road
18- Vanilla Dome 1 48- Chocolate Ghost House P1..6- Pipes
19- Donut Secret 2 49- Chocolate Island 2
20- Vanilla Secret 1 50- Chocolate Island 3
21- Vanilla Dome 2 51- Chocolate Fortress
22- Red Switch Palace 52- Chocolate Island 4
23- Vanilla Ghost House 53- Chocolate Island 5
24- Vanilla Dome 3 54- Star World 2
25- Vanilla Dome 4 55- #6 Wendy's Castle
26- #3 Lemmy's Castle 56- Sunken Ghost Ship
27- Vanilla Secret 2 57- Star World 3
28- Vanilla Secret 3 58- Front Door
29- Vanilla Fortress 59- Back Door
30- Butter Bridge 1 60- Valley Of Bowser 4
Sol-Feace code:
Press the sequence A, B, C, A, B, C, B, C, B, A on the title screen. Select
continue. This will let you select the starting stage and get 99 ships in the
options screen.
Streets of Rage code:
Press start on controller 1 to enter options, then press right+A+B+C on
controller 2. On the non-CD version, you can do this on controller 1.
Streets of Rage II code:
Go to the screen before the options screen, go to the "options" line, and
press A and B on the second controller and hold, then go to the options screen.
The options screen will now have a stage select and extra difficulty levels.
Keith Courage code:
Reset the game, and hold I, II, and SELECT at the same time until "start"
appears. Press U 8 times for the debug screen.
Ninja Spirit code:
Press START while holding SELECT at the title screen for the sound test option
to appear in the menu.
For a stage select, on the title screen press II, I, II, II, I, II. Hold
SELECT and press RUN. You can now stage select 1-3. To select 4-6, hold down
SELECT while choosing a level.
The message "Have you played Mr. Heli" appears with I, II, II, I, SELECT, RUN
or I, II, II, I, SELECT, II, I, I, II. (the latter unconfirmed)
Gate of Thunder code:
On the title screen, I, II, II, I, S, I, II, I, II, S, S, RUN and enter the
configuration menu for a stage select.
Bomberman on Turbo Duo pack-in CD:
The following code on the Gate of Thunder/Bonk CD will let you play
Bomberman, a hidden fourth game: U, R, D, L, II.
``What are all the home Street Fighter II versions?''
SNES versions: SF2 (2 meg), SF2HF (turbo) (2 1/2 meg), SSF2 (4 meg)
Genesis versions: SF2HF (turbo) (3 meg), SSF2 (4 1/2 meg)
PC Engine: SF2' (Japanese name for Champion Edition) (2 1/2 meg)
3DO: Super SF2 Turbo
Amiga: SF2
IBM PC: SF2
The HF games don't have a true Champion Edition mode; Champion Edition
mode removes the HF-specific moves but leaves in other differences.
The PC Engine version in Japan, Champion Edition, sold at 9800 yen; it's
available heavily discounted. The game is 2 1/2 megabytes (2 1/2 times as
large as any other PC Engine cartridge of the time). The controller was
released separately for 3980 yen.
There's an illegal Famicom version of SF2; EGM claimed a legal NES version,
which Capcom denies.
There is an Amiga version, sold only in Europe. (Some dealers can get you one
in America anyway.) There's also a legal IBM PC version (which is not very
good) and a widely circulated Asian pirate version.
Mortal Kombat versions and codes:
There are versions for SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, Game Gear, Gameboy, and PCs,
with an upcoming CD-32 version. The Nintendo one is censored; fatalities are
renamed to "finishing moves"; blood is removed and bloody fatalities are re-
placed by different fatalities without blood. The Genesis and Game Gear ver-
sions are somewhat censored, but can be fixed with an "Arcade Mode" code. Use
the code on the text screen which talks about codes: ABACABB (Genesis),
2,1,2,down,up (Game Gear).
The Genesis cheat code is DULLARD entered on the title screen. Flags are:
0 Player 2 dies after one hit. (Unless Reptile gives a hint or player 2
is the second computer player on an endurance match)
1 Player 1 dies after one hit.
2 Objects always fly across the moon (makes getting to Reptile easier)
3 Programmer face/initials fly across the moon.
4 Reptile always gives hints at the start of a match.
5 Infinite credits.
6 Lets the computer do fatalities on you (it normally won't).
7 Some sort of difficulty code.
The Game Genie blood codes for the SNES version (use all five) are: ddbfd7a7,
ddb4dd07, ddb4dda7, ddb4df07, ddb4dfa7. On a copier, change
6D 25 AE 29 D0 31 12 36 54 3A 75 42 B7 46 F9 4A to
10 00 18 00 1A 00 1B 00 1C 00 1D 00 1E 00 1F 00. (It should be at offset
1C18, or sector 14 offset 24.) These codes only change the color of the
white 'sweat' to blood, and don't fix the fatalities. The Game Genie codes
just translate to the 00 parts of the copier code. They don't fix the color of
the heart Kano pulls out; I have no idea if the copier codes do.
EGM listed, and printed screen shots for, the one-address code bdb4dd07. I
have no idea how the two codes compare. (If this is equivalent to the first
code, and does it in only one address, it might be possible to do other stuff
in addition, like get that heart color right, or spell "Raiden" with an 'i'....)
There is a code to play as Goro on the Gameboy version. Finish the game, wait
for the credits to finish, and at "The End" hold up+left+select+A. Enter
your initials and press A.
The Japanese (Super Famicom) version of MK doesn't have the blood or violence.
There is no Mega Drive version. The Japanese version of MK2 changes the blood
to green....
Mortal Kombat II is out on the Genesis, Sega CD, SNES (uncensored), Game Gear,
and Game Boy. Probe will be doing a 32X and a Saturn version. There will be
a PC version on CD; I have no idea who is doing it. Williams-Midway is a
Jaguar developer and rumors are common that the Jaguar will get versions of I
and/or II when the Acclaim license runs out in early 1995.
Mortal Kombat II Codes:
The code for a random character select is to highlight the top corner character
and press start while holding up. (SNES, Genesis).
Test mode (Genesis): Go to the options menu and place the cursor on "Done!".
Enter the code LDLRDRLLRR. No, nobody knows what the "Oooh, Nasty!" flag
does. (Some people have suggested it always makes the computer do the
bloodiest fatality on you. Other people have denied this. I don't own a
Genesis MK2 and can't tell the answer.)
"Fergality": Use Raiden on the armory stage and stand outside of sweep
distance. The code is BACKx3, BLOCK.
Holding down and high punch together from the end of the character select
screen to the start of the fight will disable throws (with a message). (SNES,
Genesis; 2-player mode only)
For a two-player survival mode, hold the left and right buttons and press start
(on the title screen at the "start" prompt). (SNES)
Hold the left and right buttons when starting the game to see a new title
screen, (SNES)
The codes for SNES, all on the character select screen in one player mode,
are as follows (press select afterwards):
DURUL: Attacks by player do lots of damage.
ULUUR: Fight Smoke.
UDDLR: Fight Jade.
UDDRR: Fight Kintaro.
RUURL: Fight Shao Kahn.
LUDDR: Fight Noob Saibot.
LURDL: 30 credits (can be repeated later).
UULUD: Triple the time available to do fatalities.
Street Fighter II codes:
Down-Right-Up-Left-Y-B-X-A on the Super Famicom version, Down-Right-Up-Left-Y-B
on the SNES one. Right and left are the buttons, not the right and left on the
control pad. Do this at the start of the Capcom screen and finish it before
the screen fades; when it works a tone will sound. This lets you select a
character versus himself.
The second secret code brings up the CONFIG menu: hold down the select button
and keep holding it while you start the game. This allows you to change
options in the middle of the game.
If you hold down the left and right buttons on the second controller, you
will be taken through the character description scenes and can let go to select
which character you want to see in the demo.
There is no code to let you play as the last four characters. The following
Game Genie code can be used in versus mode with the first player as Ryu, and
the second player selecting an ordinary character but picking the boss
character's screen.
10a40767, f0ae6d04, df80ad64
The code is fairly buggy/crash-prone, and not very useful.
The following code does the same thing without color problems. f0ae6d04, go to
VS mode, select your player and boss stage, and reset at round start. Then add
the codes 10a40767, 67666d0d, df80ad64. Select the same player and boss stage.
To play in one-player mode, add a2a6af04 plus the following codes: M. Bison,
b9a0af04; Sagat, b1a0af04; Vega, 35a0af04; Balrog, cba0af64 and dba0afa4.
On SF2 Turbo, the Down-Right-Up-Left-Y-X code (plus B-A on Japanese versions)
works in two places. On the Capcom logo, it disables all special moves; where
"turbo" is displayed, and done on controller 2, it lets you choose 11 speeds.
You _can_ disable the special moves in a player-versus-player game; do the code
on the VS. Battle stage select option.
The code 7e183e0f lets you play a SNES/SF NTSC Hyper Fighting on a PAL system
using the Game Action Replay, though it still has some problems. The Game
Genie code 6dc0efd5 supposedly works too.
On the Genesis version of SF2 Turbo, the code down, z, up, x, a, y, b, c
disables all the _standard_ moves when entered at the CAPCOM logo, sets the
champion mode to a higher speed if entered while the logo is spinning, and
allows picking the same character twice in the match mode. EGM gives a three-
button controller code as down, c, up, a, a, b, b, c.
On the SNES Super SF2, the code LRLRLRRL on the screen where you select
match/elimination modes, lets you play the same character more times than
usual.
``What is the difference between the Japanese and American versions of SFII?''
One background character's hand motions were changed in the US version to look
less like masturbation.
The bosses' names are also different on both arcade and home versions:
USA Japan
Balrog M. Bison (named after Mike Tyson)
Vega Balrog
M. Bison Vega
The secret codes to play character-versus-character are also different.
On SF2 Turbo Edition, Vega's claw doesn't draw blood when hitting an opponent.
``What are the Ranma 1/2 games available?''
There are a large number of Japanese Ranma 1/2 games; see the anime video
game list. The first Super Famicom fighting game was ported to the US as
"Street Combat", and is unrecognizeably changed. The second was ported as
Ranma 1/2 and had only the voices changed (they do _not_ fit the American dub
voices). The third game, Super Battle, was to be ported as Ranma 1/2: Anything
Goes Martial Arts, with new voices that _do_ fit the dubs; I've heard it
won't be coming out, though.
``What version of Might and Magic is available for the Genesis?''
It's Might and Magic II, even though it's packaged without the number II.
``What are the Japanese Super Mario games which correspond to the US ones? I
hear there was a Mario game in Japan that we never got in the US.''
The Japanese Super Mario 2 was a Famicom Disk System game never ported to
the NES. The US Super Mario 2 was adapted from a non-Mario Japanese game
called "Dream Factory Doki Doki Panic". This game in turn was sold in Japan
as Super Mario USA. The Super Mario All-Stars cartridge (Super Mario
Collection in Japan) is one cartridge with SNES ports of SM1, SM3, and both
the American and Japanese SM2s.
``Can you play Forgotten Worlds (Japanese PCE-SCD) on a TG-16, even though the
controller doesn't fit?''
Button I fires, button II is clockwise. You can make either SELECT or button
III be counterclockwise, so you can play the game on a TG-16 if you don't mind
using SELECT as an action button.
The controller fits on the Turbo Duo, since the Turbo Duo uses PC Engine type
controllers (the regular TG-16 uses its own odd controllers).
``Why did John Madden 93 Championship Edition for the Sega Genesis sell for
such a high price?''
It's priced for rental, not for sale, just like many video tapes. Selling them
to consumers is still legal, but not really intended.
``Is the Japanese version of Mortal Kombat censored?''
The Super Famicom version is. There is no Mega Drive version at all.
``What Final Fantasy games correspond to the US ones?''
FF1 for the NES was the same for the Famicom. 2 and 3 have had no US release.
FF4 easy edition in Japan is FF2 in the US. FF6 in Japan is FF3 in the US.
FF5 was to be released in America as Final Fantasy Extreme, but has been can-
celled.
Mystic Quest is the same in both countries.
Final Fantasy Adventure for the Gameboy was, in Japan, Seiken Densetsu Final
Fantasy Gaiden (Legend of the Holy Sword -- Final Fantasy Side Story). Its
sequel, Seiken Densetsu 2, became Secret of Mana in the US.
The Final Fantasy Legend games were part of a different series (Sa-Ga) in
Japan. They had Super Famicom sequels Romancing Sa-Ga and Romancing Sa-Ga
2, which haven't been released in the US.
``What are the Ultima games that exist for game machines, and how do they
correspond to PC versions?''
Games with PC versions:
Ultima III: Exodus (NES)
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES)
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (NES)
Ultima VI: The False Prophet (SNES)
Ultima VII: The Black Gate (SNES)
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire (SNES)
No PC versions:
Ultima: Runes of Virtue (Gameboy)
Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2 (Gameboy, SNES)
Section 7: System Capabilities:
==============================
______________________________________________________________________________
| | Neo Geo | SNES | Genesis | TG-16 | NES | Sega MS2 |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|Bits (CPU)| 8 + 16 | 16 | 16 | 8 + 8 | 8 | 8 |
|Bits (Gx) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 8 |
|CPU | 68000| 65816 | 68000 | HuC6280| 6502 | Z80 |
|APU (Aud) | Z80| SPC???? | Z80 | | | |
|MHz | 12.5, 4| 3.6 | 7.6 | 3.6 3.6| 1.8 | 3.6 |
|Graphics | 320 x 224| 256 x 224| 320 x 224| 256 x 256| 256 x 240| 240 x 226|
| -2nd mode| | 512 x 448|320 x 448*| 320x256**| | |
|Planes | ? | ? | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|Colors |4096/65536| 256/32768| 61/512 | 482/512 | 16/52 | 52/256 |
|Sprites | 380 | 128 | 80 | 64 | 8 | 16 |
| - size | 16 x 512| 32 x 32| 32 x 32| 16 x 16| 8 x 8 | 8 x 8 |
|Audio | 15-lyr |PCM 8-lyr | 10-lyr | 6-lyr | mono | mono |
|RAM | 64K+68Kgx|128K+64Kgx| 72K+64Kgx| 8K+64Kgx| 2K+ 2Kgx| ? |
| | (+2K Z80)| | | | | |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|CD CPU/MHz| ? | |68000/12.5| 65802/16 |
|CD RAM |430K VRAM | | 768K | CD=64K |
| | 64K SRAM | | | SCD=256K |
| |7 mg DRAM | | | |
|----------+----------+ +----------+----------+
* The 320x448 mode on the Genesis is the Sonic split-screen mode.
** A 512x256 mode is possible through fiddling with registers, but not
officially supported.
Comment: Some listings of colors are probably a bit too high. For instance,
the Genesis has 8x8 tiles which use 16 colors from one of 4 palettes each,
which would be 64 colors, except that the 16th is a "transparent" color that
is the same for all 4. Listings for Genesis colors tend to ignore this and
say "64" instead of "61". It's unclear how many of the other figures are like
this.
______________________________________________________________________________
| | Jaguar | 3DO | CD32 | Saturn | Sony | NEC PC-FX|
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
|Bits (CPU)| 64 + 16 | 32 | 32 | 32 + 16 | 32 | 32 |
|Bits (Gx) | 64 | 32 | 32 | 64 (?)| ? | ? |
|CPU |Proprietary ARM/60 | 68EC020 |HitachiSH2| R3000A | V810 |
| | + 68000| | | (two) | | |
| | | | | + 68EC000| | |
|APU (Aud) |Proprietary ? |Proprietary ? | ? | ? |
|MHz | 13.3 | 12.5 | 14 | 27 | 33 | 21.5 |
|MHz (Gx) | ? | ? | 28 | ? | ? | ? |
|Graphics | 720x526**|320x240***|1280x512**| ? | 640 x 480| 320 x 240|
|Colors | 16777216| 16777216|256/1677.*|?/16777216|?/16777216|?/16777216|
|Sprites | N/A | N/A | 8 | ? | 4000 | 128 |
| - size | N/A | N/A |64x scrnht| ? | 8x8 | ? |
|Audio | unlim | ? |4 channels| 32 chan. | 24 chan. | ? |
|RAM |2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|
|Video RAM | ? |1 megabyte| ? | 1.5m |1 megabyte| 1.25m |
|Audio RAM | ? | ? | ? | 512K | 512K | ? |
|MPEG |MPEG1 opt.| ? | ? | ? | MPEG1 | MPEG1 |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
|CD CPU/MHz| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|CD RAM | 256K | ? | ? | 512K | 256K | 256K |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
(Apparently some pamphlets with mistakes in them list the Playstation as
512K video RAM.)
__________________________________
| | 3DO 2 | Ultra 64 |
|----------+----------+----------+
|Bits (CPU)| ? | 64 |
|Bits (Gx) | ? | ? |
|CPU | ? |R4200 RISC|
|APU (Aud) | ? | ? |
|MHz | 66 | *4 |
|MHz (Gx) | ? | ? |
|Graphics |640 x 480?| ? |
|Colors | 16777216| 16777216|
|Sprites | N/A | ? |
| - size | ? | ? |
|Audio | ? | ? |
|RAM |4 megabyte| ? |
|Video RAM | ? | ? |
|Audio RAM | ? | ? |
|MPEG |MPEG1;2opt| ? |
|----------+----------+----------+
|CD CPU/MHz| ? | ? |
|CD RAM | ? | ? |
|----------+----------+----------+
* Also has Hold and Modify mode which gives 262144/16777216 colors and is
mainly useful for still pictures.
** Jaguar resolution includes overscan. CD32 can do >1300x566 overscanned.
*** Interpolated to 640x480?
*4 Reported as 500, which other people have said is a mistake that is actually
the DRAM speed.
CD-I: I don't know, but very primitive. Most of its capability seems to come
from playing video and video clips, not machine-generated graphics.
Bandai Playdia Quick Interactive System (formerly BA-X): Ditto. It's a lot
newer, so I assume the graphics are better, but I've never seen one....
________________________________________________________
| | GameBoy | Lynx | GameGear | TExpress |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|Bits (CPU)| 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 + 8 |
|Bits (Gx) | 8 | 16 | 8 | 16 |
|CPU | Z80 | 6502 | Z80 | 6502 6502|
|MHz (CPU) | 2.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 7.2 |
|MHz (Gx) | | 16.0 | | |
|ScreenSize| 2.6" | 3.5" | 3.2" | 2.6" |
|Graphics | 160 x 144| 160 x 102| 160 x 144| 256 x 216|
|Colors | mono (4) | 16/4096 | 32/4096 | 482/512 |
|Sprites | 8 | unlim | 64 | 64 |
| - size | 8 x 8 | unlim | 8 x 8 | 16 x 16 |
|Audio | 2-lyr | 4-lyr | 4-lyr | 6-lyr |
|RAM | 16K | 64K | 24K | 8K+64Kgx|
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
Most systems can change colors on successive scan lines, using more colors
than the ones listed.
The game Ex-ranza (Ranger-X in USA) for the Genesis is billed as having 128
colors. It's not clear whether or not this is just a scan line change.
The existence of multiple graphics modes also confuses things--it might not be
possible to use all features at the highest graphics mode, as in the lack of
hardware rotation in the SNES 512x448 mode. I'm not sure if there are
limitations on the double resolution Genesis mode (used for Sonic split
screen).
``Does the Genesis CD-ROM have extra colors, sprites, or resolution?''
No. (Despite at least two errors in Gamepro magazine.)
``What is this megabit stuff? Isn't it supposed to be byte?''
1 byte is equal to 8 bits, so an 8 megabit game is really 1 megabyte. (Also,
``mega'' for computers is 1048576, not an even million). Although it is widely
believed that this was popularized by Sega's "mega cartridges" for the Master
System, the idea of inflating game size this way apparently dates back at least
to Coleco's Adam. (Some memory chips really are measured in bits, though.)
Old Neo-Geo ads claimed "megabytes" for their games, which was a lie.
'Bits' in game systems
There are several processor characteristics that measure in bits; whether or
not a processor counts as 32-bit may depend on what you consider important.
(A 32-bit processor might be one which has a 32-bit address space, performs
operations on 32-bit quantities, or has a 32 bit wide bus). One thing that
you _can't_ do is add the bits in all a system's processors, so a Sega CD
is not a 32-bit system even though it has two 16-bit processors, nor is a
Neo-Geo a 24-bit system.
When discussing graphics, professionals often use "bits" to refer to how many
colors there are: if a system lets a pixel be one of 2^16 colors, the system
has "16-bit graphics". (A common error associated with this definition is to
say that this means the machine can show 2^16 colors at once, although video
game systems don't have enough pixels on the screen to do so.)
This contrasts with video game company hype, which usually says either 1)
"This is a 16 bit machine, so we'll call the graphics 16 bits", or 2) "This is
a 16 bit processor, and we use it for graphics, so we'll say we have 16-bit
graphics". (The latter is the method used at the top of this section of the
FAQ.)
"How many bits of graphics" and "how many bits" are about equally worthless,
er, bits, of information. It's only in the FAQ because people keep asking for
it anyway.
Game Genie Genesis decoding
Merlyn LeRoy posted the method to convert Game Genie codes to real hex codes:
For example, SCRA-BJX0 is a game genie code. Each letter is 5 bits from
the table ABCDEFGHJKLMNPRSTVWXYZ0123456789, A=00000, B=00001, C=00010...
S C R A - B J X 0
01111 00010 01110 00000 00001 01000 10011 10110
ijklm nopIJ KLMNO PABCD EFGHd efgha bcQRS TUVWX rearrange as...
00000000 10011100 01110110: 01010100 01111000
ABCDEFGH IJKLMNOP QRSTUVWX: abcdefgh ijklmnop
24-bit address 16-bit data
MSB LSB MSB LSB
Which is 009c76: 5478
Pro Action Replay format for Genesis
The Pro Action Replay codes for the Genesis are just an address/data format,
AAAAAADDDD. The Pro Action Replay can either intercept reads to ROM, or in-
stall a routine which continually restores RAM values. (Codes which modify
RAM can't be converted to Game Genie formats.) The best educated guesses are
that FF as first two digits of the address indicates RAM, and anything else is
a page pointer for ROM. The data is a 16 bit number, but if the first two di-
gits of the data are 00, the device only inserts an 8 bit number. (You prob-
ably need two codes if you want to insert a 16 bit number which starts with
two zeroes.)
Game Genie SNES decoding
(This is from hexadecimal to Genie, to reverse just run it backwards)
Data - D7 down to D0
Address - A23 down to A0. Bit 15 is always a 1; if you use a 0, the Game
Genie will just change it to a 1 anyway.
DDDD DDDD AAAA AAAA AAAA AAAA AAAA AAAA (Genie Code)
7654 3210 1111 7654 9822 2232 1011 1111 (True address, rearranged)
5432 32 10 98 7610
Example - Force AD at 80C7AA
Data = 1010 1101
Address = 1000 0000 1100 0111 1010 1010
Take the data in order, and then take bit 15, 14, 13, 12, 7, 6, etc. of the
address, to get:
1010 1101 1100 1010 1110 0010 1000 0001 = ADCAE281
The Game Genie hex is encoded from normal hexadecimal, so at this
point you must translate with the following table:
HEX: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
GENIE: D F 4 7 0 9 1 5 6 B C 8 A 2 3 E
Translates to C2AC-346F
SNES/SF Game Finger (copier code) decoding
The general format is: AAAAABBBBBBCCD <- a 14-digit codes
| | | |_ D: target to replace bytes
A: address of the first | | |___ C: checksum
byte to be replaced _______| |_______ B: 3 bytes for replacement
Unused B bytes are replaced by XX. Note that the address only refers to a 1
meg address space.
The checksum format is: stick an 0 in front and then divide into sequences of
two hex digits representing bytes. Add together the first six of these (the
A's and B's). I have no idea if D is added in also, since the person who
originally posted this information used an example of D=0.
Values for D are:
0: replace values in DRAM of copier
1: replace values in backup RAM of copier
2, 8, A, C, F: non-standard codes which may be converted to 0.
The Game Finger codes are in plain hexadecimal, but they use ROM cartridge
addresses while the Game Genie uses CPU addresses. The conversion is as
follows:
CPU ROM (cartridge)
address address
A23 none
A22 none
A21 none
A20 A19
A19 A18
A18 A17
A17 A16
A16 A15
A15 none (A15 is always high for ROM accesses)
A14 A14
A13 A13
A12 A12
A11 A11
A10 A10
A9 A9
A8 A8
A7 A7
A6 A6
A5 A5
A4 A4
A3 A3
A2 A2
A1 A1
[Pro] Action Replay Codes for SNES
The format is AAAAAADD for address and data.
The cumulative intellect of the net doesn't seem to know much about these
codes at all. As for the Genesis, this works by continually rewriting RAM
locations. I don't know the format of these codes, or if they also do ROM
like the Game Genie does (though they _probably_ do).
The Game Action Replay is something different, which saves a copy of the
NES's RAM so it can be used later; for instance in returning to a level in
a game without a level select.
Game Genie codes for Gameboy: see the Gameboy FAQ.
Section 8: Connecter/Controller Pinouts:
=======================================
Genesis A/V connector
Starting from the 1 o'clock position, looking at the Genesis from the back,
and going clockwise, the pins are: red, audio, +5 volts, ground, green,
composite video, and negative combined sync, with blue on the center pin.
Neo Geo A/V connector
Same as Genesis, though the plug is a different size.
SNES controller
_________
1 | U | 20
2 | | 19
3 | | 18
4 | | 17
5 | | 16
6 | | 15
7 | | 14
8 | | 13
9 | | 12
10 |_________| 11
1 : Pad: Down
2 : Pad: Left
3 : Pad: Right
4 : Select
5 : Start
6-9: Output 1-4
10: Gnd (pin 5 on connector)
11: nc
12: nc
13: Y
14: B
15: A
16: X
17: R
18: L
19: Pad: Up
20: nc
SNES output pinouts
From Radio Electronics April 1992:
11 9 7 5 3 1
12 10 8 6 4 2
1. RED VIDEO (requires series 200ufd)
2. GREEN VIDEO (requires series 200ufd)
3. RGB SYNCH (active low combined v+h synch pulses)
4. BLUE VIDEO (requires series 200ufd)
5. GROUND
6. GROUND
7. S-Video "Y"
8. S-Video "C"
9. NTSC COMPOSITE VIDEO
10. +5 Volts DC
11. L+R Sound
12. L-R Sound
SNES cartridge pinouts
(from rolfes@uni-muenster.de)
SNES Slot:
.---------.
| 01 | 32 |
| 02 | 33 |
| 03 | 34 |
| 04 | 35 |
|----+----|
GND | 05 | 36 | GND
A11 | 06 | 37 | A12
A10 | 07 | 38 | A13
A9 | 08 | 39 | A14
A8 | 09 | 40 | If ROM > 8Mbit to LS139, otherwise NC
A7 | 10 | 41 | A15
A6 | 11 | 42 | A16
A5 | 12 | 43 | A17
A4 | 13 | 44 | A18
A3 | 14 | 45 | A19
A2 | 15 | 46 | A20
A1 | 16 | 47 | A21
A0 | 17 | 48 | A22
NC | 18 | 49 | ROM /OE. If RAM via LS139 to ROM
D0 | 19 | 50 | D4
D1 | 20 | 51 | D5
D2 | 21 | 52 | D6
D3 | 22 | 53 | D7
RAM /OE and ROM /CE | 23 | 54 | RAM /W
Pin 1 D413 | 24 | 55 | Pin 2 D413
Pin 7 D413 | 25 | 56 | Pin 6 D413
RAM /E | 26 | 57 | NC
VCC | 27 | 58 | VCC
|----+----|
| 28 | 59 |
| 29 | 60 |
| 30 | 61 |
| 31 | 62 |
`---------'
D413/D411 (Europe/USA) are the security chips
RAM/ROM Select:
RAM - RAM /E low, RAM /OE low, ROM /OE high,
(A20 or A21 must be high if cartridge size is less or equal 8 Mbit)
ROM - ROM /CE low, ROM /OE low, RAM /E high, 40 high
(A20 and A21 must be low if cartridge size is less or equal 8 Mbit)
Cartridge ROM:
EPROM ROM ROM EPROM
.----_----.
A20 | | VCC
A21 | | A22
|----_----|
A19 A17 | 01 32 | VCC VCC
A16 A18 | 02 31 | /OE A18
A15 A15 | 03 30 | A19 A17
A12 A12 | 04 29 | A14 A14
A7 A7 | 05 28 | A13 A13
A6 A6 | 06 27 | A8 A8
A5 A5 | 07 26 | A9 A9
A4 A4 | 08 25 | A11 A11
A3 A3 | 09 24 | A16 /OE
A2 A2 | 10 23 | A10 A10
A1 A1 | 11 22 | /CE /CE
A0 A0 | 12 21 | D7 D7
D0 D0 | 13 20 | D6 D6
D1 D1 | 14 19 | D5 D5
D2 D2 | 16 18 | D4 D4
GND GND | 16 17 | D3 D3
`---------'
LS139 (two binary decoders) in less or equal 8 Mbit cartridges:
.----_----.
ROM /OE /1G | 01 16 | VCC VCC
A21 1A | 02 15 | /2G /1Y3
A20 1B | 03 14 | 2A A19
/OE /1Y0 | 04 13 | 2B RAM /E
NC /1Y1 | 05 12 | /2Y0 NC
NC /1Y2 | 06 11 | /2Y1 NC
/2G /1Y3 | 07 10 | /2Y2 NC
GND GND | 08 09 | /2Y3 NC
`---------'
LS139 (two binary decoders) in more than 8 Mbit cartridges:
.----_----.
ROM /OE /1G | 01 16 | VCC VCC
40 1A | 02 15 | /2G /1Y3
RAM /E 1B | 03 14 | 2A NC
NC /1Y0 | 04 13 | 2B NC
NC /1Y1 | 05 12 | /2Y0 NC
NC /1Y2 | 06 11 | /2Y1 NC
/OE and /2G /1Y3 | 07 10 | /2Y2 NC
GND GND | 08 09 | /2Y3 NC
`---------'
Cartridge pinouts for Gameboy: see the Gameboy FAQ.
Section 9: Compatibility:
========================
FAMICOM: Same as NES. Adaptors reportedly exist.
FAMICOM DISK SYSTEM: No US counterpart. (People kept copying the disks.)
SUPER FAMICOM: Same as Super NES. There are at least four versions:
American/Japanese, at least two incompatible European versions, and Australi-
an. These are incompatible because of lockout chips, but you can buy an
adapter which connects a lockout chip from a native cartridge and a program
from a foreign cartridge.
There are some older adapters that don't include all data lines, and on these,
games like Super Mario Kart or Starfox won't work.
Some games also have PAL protection (PAL is the TV system in Europe and Aus-
tralia.) This problem can't be fixed with an adaptor alone, and only happens
when trying to run American/Japanese games on PAL systems or vice-versa.
Known games with this problem are SF2 Turbo and Super Mario All-Stars. A Game
Action Replay code to get SF2 Turbo to work is listed elsewhere in this FAQ.
One person posted that to bypass the lockout, a circuit on the bottom left,
possibly U8, needs to have pins 1 and 10 connected. (He advised putting a
switch on it instead of making a permanent change). I assume no responsibili-
ty for you ruining your machine by trying this; I have no idea if this works on
all SNES models.
If you're trying to play a Japanese game on an American system, or vice versa,
you can ignore the above; neither of those problems happens. However, the
cartridges are shaped to not fit in each other's machines. If you cut away the
plastic that prevents them from fitting, you can play them; on a US system it's
the two little plastic tabs that slide into the back of cartridges. (Or you
can use an ``adapter'' which just changes the cartridge slot size).
News flash: It is said that some newer SNES systems have metal inside the tabs,
in which case you might actually need the adapter. There are said to be some
newer machines which won't run any Japanese games.
PC ENGINE/COREGRAFX/DUO: Same as Turbografx-16. Cartridge games aren't
compatible, but you can buy adapters for $20-30 through many mail order
places. Japanese CD and SCD games normally run on American machines without
adapters, though if you want to use the Japanese version of the 3.0 card or
Arcade Card (2M expansion) themselves, you need an adapter.
Some existing adapters aren't shaped to fit in a Turbo Duo. Find one that
fits, or do some cutting....
There is a hardware difference between the two machines, which cartridges can
read. Most TG-16 cartridges check it, and won't work on a PCE even with an
adapter. (Known exceptions which _do_ work are Night Creatures, Ghost Manor,
and some runs of Klax. There is a hypothesis that US-only games which aren't
Japanese ports will work.) All known CDs work both ways, and all known
Japanese games work on a TG-16 or Duo with adapter.
The Altered Beast CD does not work, but that's because of an incompatibility
with the CD system version; it won't work on a PC Engine 2.0 or SCD either.
Note: The CD-ROM2 is the the CD, not the super-CD. The "2" comes from the
Japanese name "Rom Rom".
SUPERGRAFX: No US counterpart. (The Supergrafx was an enhanced PC Engine and
can play PC Engine games without modification, though of course these are hard
to get in the US.)
MEGA DRIVE: Same as Genesis. Compatibility is a bit tricky.
The European and Australian machine called the Mega Drive is identical to the
Genesis except that it emits a 50 hertz PAL signal. The Japanese one is
identical to the Genesis except for (sometimes) the cartridge slot, and the
language setting.
First, to play games in the "wrong" machine you must plug them in. You can
buy an adapter, or just cut away the plastic that keeps them from fitting. On
a US/European machine, this is some plastic around the slot; on an older
Japanese machine, this is the cartridge lock (the tab that pushes into the slot
from the left when you turn on the machine). I never even needed to remove the
cartridge lock, but some people have told me they did.
Now that you've plugged the game in, it will usually run. But there are a
language setting and a 50/60 hertz setting that cartridges can read. Some newer
games are programmed to check these settings and decide not to run at all. The
games known to be locked out this way are: (CD games refuse to run even with
a Pro-CDX)
Do not run in English mode: Japanese versions of After Burner II, Bare
Knuckle 3, Chameleon Kid, Doraemon, Gunstar Heroes, Monster World 4,
Ragnacenti, Rolling Thunder II, Super Monaco GP 2, Super SF2, Thunder
Force IV, Virtua Racing, Yuu Yuu Hakusho.
Do not run in Japanese mode: US versions of Aladdin, Bio-Hazard Battle,
Castlevania Bloodlines, Cyborg Justice, Dragon's Fury, Eternal Champions,
Flashback, Gauntlet IV, Gunstar Heroes, Landstalker, Lightening Force,
Majin Saga, Outrun 2019, Ren and Stimpy, Rocket Knight Adventures, SF2,
Shadowrun, Shining Force, Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage II, Streets of Rage
III, Sunset Riders, Thunderstrike (CD), World of Illusion, X-Men.
Do not run in 50 hertz mode: US versions of Flashback, Sonic Spinball,
Streets of Rage II, World of Illusion, World Series Baseball (And
probably most of the ones that don't run in Japanese mode, too.)
Does not run in 60 hertz mode: European version of Xenon2.
To play English/Japanese versions, you need a language switch, or a special
adaptor which acts like one. To play European/non-European versions, you
need a 50/60 hertz switch (see below).
The language switch is useful in its own right. Some games have dual ROMs, and
play US versions in US/European machines and Japanese versions in Japanese
machines; you can see both versions by installing the switch.
For the CD-ROM, there are 4 different versions: American, European,
Japanese, and (other) Asian. There are three combinations to consider; the
disk, CD drive, and console can each be mismatches.
CD drive/disk: You can get around mismatches by replacing the ROM containing
the operating system with one from another country, and replacing the timing
crystal if there is a 50/60 hertz incompatibility. (I have no idea if there
are non-pirated ROMs which let you do this.) The ROM is the big chip near the
connector (at least on older versions). There is an adapter called the Pro-
CDX which usually fixes the problem without replacing anything. (Older Pro-
CDX versions don't work on Japanese drives, and older Pro-CDX versions, in
general, have problems with several games). There is also an adapter called
the CD-Key. I have no idea how well it works, whether it works on the same
principles, etc.
CD drive/console: the American CD player won't start up on a Japanese
console (there are mixed reports about Japanese players and US consoles).
The Pro-CDX (usually), swapping ROMs, or a language/50/60 switch fixes this.
Disk/console: The Pro-CDX does _not_ fix this one, and can't. Use a
language switch or a language switch-type adaptor in addition to a Pro-CDX.
Luckily, this seems to be rare, so far.
There is supposedly a version D ROM, for internal Sega use by game developers,
with which a Pro-CDX is not needed. I have no idea if there are pirated
versions of this floating around either....
(The excuse for incompatibility is that cartridges don't use music or footage
from licensed properties, but CDs do, and licensing might only apply to limit-
ed geographic areas. Needless to say, cartridges _do_ use music, and at least
digitized pictures from, licensed properties. Nor do the compatible PC
Engine/TG CD's, 3DO CDs, or for that matter regular music CDs or laser discs,
have this sort of problem.)
SEGA MARK III: same as and compatible with the Sega Master System.
NEO-GEO: same as and compatible with US version. There is a 1 megabit ROM in
it which is different in different versions. There are at least arcade ver-
sions, English-language home versions, and Japanese language home versions,
and you can make a language and/or version switch if you have an EPROM burner.
The arcade Neo-Geo carts are functionally identical to the home ones, but have
different sized boards to keep arcade owners from using the cheap home versions.
Whether or not there's an adapter for this, I have no idea.
3DO: No known incompatibility.
SEGA 32X: No new incompatibility, but the incompatibility of the underlying
Genesis/Mega Drive (and CD player, if you're playing 32X CD games) still
applies; get a language switch and/or a Pro-CDX, just like for regular Mega
Drive and Mega CD games.
GAMEBOY: same as and compatible with US version.
LYNX: same as and compatible with US version.
GAME GEAR: same as and compatible with US version. The Japanese TV tuner,
however, works on Japanese TV frequencies, some of which differ from US TV
frequencies.
There are reports that US Game Gear games play in Japanese on a Japanese
system, which suggests yet another system with a language switch....
PC ENGINE GT: This is the equivalent of the TurboExpress, and runs PC Engine
games. The same adapter that plays PC Engine games on a TG-16 also plays them
on a TurboExpress. Again, note that Japanese TV tuners work on different
frequencies than US ones.
SATURN: Locked out. Allegedly someone figured out how the lockout works and
how to make it compatible. More news if I get any.
PLAYSTATION: Apparently locked out. Who knows?
MISCELLANEOUS: The "Master Gear" adapter plays Sega Master System games on the
Game Gear. The games won't run at the correct speed if the game is from a
place where TV uses PAL (i.e. Europe). Adapters in reverse, to play Game Gear
games on a Sega Master System, are probably possible, but I've never heard of
any.
The Power Base Converter plays Sega Master System games on a Genesis. (If
the reverse Game Gear/Master System adapter really exists, you could play
Game Gear games on your Genesis....) There are differently-shaped Power Base
Converters for the old and new Genesis shapes; the one for the Genesis 2 is
only available in Europe.
There is a European adapter which plays NES games on a SNES. The price is too
high for this adapter to be a reasonable alternative, in the USA, to buying
the NES separately.
How to make a language switch (Genesis/MD).
On a Genesis/MD, there are jumpers labelled JP1, JP2, JP4, and JP3. The Genesis
has a capacitor on JP1 and a trace on JP2; the Mega Drive has a capacitor on
JP2 and a trace on JP1. The bottom ends of JP1 and JP2 are connected together.
So if you cut the trace and the top end of the capacitor, and install a DPDT
switch between them which reconnects them either unchanged or swapped left to
right, you have a language switch. You'll need some wire, a soldering iron,
solder, and a DPDT switch.
Some machines have an open circuit instead of the capacitor. Also, I've been
told that even if there is a capacitor, you can throw it out and leave an open
circuit. Either way, the switch is a lot simpler, requiring a SPDT switch and
less wire and solder.
Several people have told me that you could just cut both JP1 and JP2 and put a
SPST switch on JP1. This is even simpler, but I'm not sure it really works, as
opposed to putting your machine in an intermediate state that only sort-of
works.
The redesigned Genesis 2 machines don't appear to have either the capacitor or
circuit. Nobody yet knows how to make the language switch for one, though
language switch adaptor/cartridges should still work.
IF YOUR MACHINE HAS NO CAPACITOR (or if you want to cross your fingers and
throw away your capacitor) and is not a Genesis 2:
Cut JP2. The trace might be covered with paint and hard to see. (If you
started with a Mega Drive, JP2 is open and you have to cut JP1 instead.) If
you aren't sure which end I mean by "bottom", just check the back of the board
to see which end is connected together.
Original state of machine: After cutting:
JP2 top JP1 top JP2 top JP1 top
| | | |
| | | |
|
|
|
|
| | | |
\ / \ /
\_______/ \_______/
bottom of both bottom of both
Add a SPDT switch which can be in one of two positions:
._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. .
. . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. . . .
JP2 top JP1 top . .
| | . .
| | _________
| o o |
| \ |
| \ |
\___o___/
| | .
\ / .
\_______/ - - - - - - - - - - - -
bottom of both
._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. .
. . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. . . .
JP2 top JP1 top . .
| | . .
| | _________
| o o |
| / |
| / |
\___o___/
| | .
\ / .
\_______/ - - - - - - - - - - - -
bottom of both
-----------------------------------------------------------------
IF YOUR MACHINE DOES HAVE THE CAPACITOR:
Cut both sides. (Note: if you started with a Japanese Mega Drive the
capacitor will be on the side labelled X instead)
Original state of machine: After cutting:
JP2 top JP1 top JP2 top JP1 top
| | | |
| | | |
| |
| |
| | |
X | ### X | ###
| ### | ###
| ### | ###
\ / \ /
\_______/ \_______/
bottom of both
add switch which can be in one of two positions:
JP2 top JP1 top (Connect 2 to 2
| | and 1 to 1)
| |
2 1 2 1 1 2
______________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | o o o o |
| ` | \ \ |
X | ###` ` | \ \ |
| ### ` ` \____o__o____/
| ### ` ` ' '
\ / ` `- - - - -' '
\_______/ ` _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '
bottom of both
JP2 top JP1 top (Connect 2 to 2
| | and 1 to 1)
| |
2 1 2 1 1 2
______________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | o o o o |
| ` | / / |
X | ###` ` | / / |
| ### ` ` \____o__o____/
| ### ` ` ' '
\ / ` `- - - - -' '
\_______/ ` _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '
bottom of both
50/60 hertz switch.
You can build a 50/60 hertz switch on a Genesis/Mega Drive like a language
switch, but using jumpers JP3 and JP4. The standard setting is 50 in PAL areas
such as Europe, and 60 in NTSC areas like the US and Japan. In the 60 hertz
mode, the game is faster and the screen taller; however, not all TVs and
monitors in Europe can display this mode.
There is some way to build one on a SNES. I don't know how.
Some American/Japanese games are protected to keep Europeans from playing them;
this protection checks the 50/60 hertz setting. You can usually get around it
by installing the switch and switching when starting the game, then switching
back afterwards.
Many European games are simple ports of American or Japanese games and are not
redesigned for 50 hertz, so work faster and with "better" screen proportions
if played at 60 hertz.
Genesis/Mega Drive dual version (language switch) list:
After Burner (32X): has "Super 32X" logo after the Sega logo.
*Battle Mania II: works normally, but without joysticks it gives you a
screen telling your language mode, NTSC/PAL, and system version.
Bonanza Brothers: Game plays in Japanese. (Maybe. There seems to be more
than one version floating around.)
Chase HQ II: speedometer changes to KM/H.
Columns: Game plays in Japanese.
Cosmic Carnage (32X): Turns into "Cyber Brawl", with different characters.
Also shows the Super 32X logo.
*Cyberball: Japanese version has a modem option.
Dragon's Fury: Works only with language set to English. The original,
Devil's Crush MD, works either way.
Dynamite Duke: Harder on the Mega Drive.
Elemental Master: Harder on the Mega Drive.
Fatal Labyrinth: Game plays in Japanese.
Fire Shark: Different title screen with Kanji.
Flicky: Characters have Japanese names and instructions are in Japanese.
Forgotten Worlds: Game plays in Japanese.
Gaiares: only mentions the Japanese licensee on the title screen, and has
Japanese text; you can also select Japanese text from the option screen.
Gauntlet IV: The game has lockout, but you can flick the switch and then
reset. The Japanese version has Japanese text (sound stays English), says
"Megadrive", and has a Gauntlet (not Gauntlet IV) logo on the game screen.
If you reset too late, you have to select the text language manually.
Ghostbusters: Game plays in Japanese.
Ghouls and Ghosts: Different title screen with Kanji. To see it on a
Genesis, select the last music and sound (26 and 56) from the options screen,
then press lower left; A, B, or C; and Start all at the same time. (I never
tried this, but Gamepro magazine claimed it works.) The game shows some other
Japanese text, and when you die during a boss you start out earlier.
Herzog Zwei: company's name is spelled "Tecnosoft".
Insector X: Title screen refers to company as Hot-B, not Sage's Creation.
The MD version shoots more slowly. The ending text is still English.
*Marvel Land: The Japanese version says "for Mega Drive" or "for Genesis"
but the language stays Japanese. (What does an English version do?)
Monaco GP: Game plays in Japanese (also an option on the option screen).
Mystic Defender: This game is actually the anime-based Kujaku-Ou (Peacock
King) 2 game. In Japanese mode, the opening text is replaced by a graphics
screen (never seen in the US version) with Japanese. The levels have names,
the main character wears a white robe, the lightning magic effect is different,
and the character is named Kujaku in the ending text (which is still English).
Outrun: The attract mode lacks sound, the startup screen says "push" (not
"press") start button, and "(C) Sega 1986, 1991" is printed in reverse order.
The default options are KM/H and a different button selection (but can still be
changed on the option screen).
Quackshot: Game plays in Japanese.
Raiden Trad: The "licensed to Sega" line is absent on both title screens,
and the second title screen includes only the Japanese part instead of the
non-Japanese part of the first one.
Revenge of Shinobi: Title changes to Super Shinobi; credits show at the end.
Rolling Thunder II: The Japanese version only works on a Japanese setting.
The US version works either way (and isn't bilingual).
Sonic the Hedgehog II: Tails is renamed to "Miles".
Space Harrier (32X): has "Super 32X" logo after the Sega logo.
Streets of Rage: Title screen changes to Bare Knuckle, and all text is in
Japanese, including the introduction. The clock resets when you encounter the
bosses.
Streets of Rage II: Turns to Bare Knuckle II, and renames Skate to Sammy --
_if_ you change the setting sometime after turning the machine on (to skip the
lockout).
*Super Fantasy Zone: opening cinema changes from English/Japanese.
Super Hang-On: Plays in Japanese, which is also accessible with A+B+C on
the logo screen.
Thunder Force II: Title screen has "MD" on it, and company name is
"Tecnosoft".
Thunder Force III: company's name is spelled "Tecnosoft".
*Thunder Force IV: claims to be licensed for Genesis, if you change the
switch after the lockout check.
*Thunder Storm FX (CD): Turns to Cobra Command in US mode.
Truxton: Japanese title is Tatsujin.
Twin Hawk: Different title screen with Kanji.
*Wrestle War: The wrestler is blond on a Genesis and black-haired on a MD.
* Information from testing a Japanese game
Many games with a standard "Sega TM" screen also omit the TM when played in
Japanese mode, even if the game isn't otherwise bilingual.
Most of the Japanese has been removed from the Sega CD versions of Columns,
Revenge of Shinobi, and Streets of Rage.
Sega Master System and Game Gear Language Switches:
There are rumors that the Sega Master System and the Game Gear had language-
switchable games. I received one report of "World Gran Prix" for the Sega
Master System changing title to "The Circuit" (it was played with a Power Base
Converter on a Japanese Mega Drive).
Further information is welcome (particularly if anyone played it on a regular
Genesis or SMS and _didn't_ get "The Circuit").
Neo-Geo multiple version:
Games do do different things in Japanese and American systems, as well as in
arcade/home. There is a 1 megabit ROM that has to be replaced to change
versions; put a new ROM (copied from a different version Neo-Geo) on top of
the old one and add a switch to toggle the power pin. There are at least 4
different versions (US/Japan, home/arcade). Normally the difference is in the
language for US/Japan and the number of credits for home/arcade, but the most
infamous case is Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits in Japanese), which on a US
home version has no blood or violent killings.
PC Engine/TG-16 pinout.
This information was posted by David Shadoff (david.shadoff@canrem.com)
and is mostly verbatim:
Notes:
(1) For reference, pin 1 is the short pin (on the left, if the card
is to inserted forwards), pin 38 is the long pin on the right.
(2) * - means I think this is what it is
** - means I don't know
(bar) - means it is an active-while low condition (usually denoted
by a bar over top)
(3) I'm telling you all I know (which really isn't much), and it may
contain errors, also - I will not be held responsible for errors
in this list. (or any damages resulting from the use of, or
inability to use, this information, etc...)
Pin Use
--- ---
1 ** 20 D4
2 ** 21 D5
3 A18* 22 D6
4 A16 23 D7
5 A15 24 CE (bar) - chip select
6 A12 25 A10
7 A7 26 OE (bar) - output enable
8 A6 27 A11
9 A5 28 A9
10 A4 29 A8
11 A3 30 A13
12 A2 31 A14
13 A1 32 A17
14 A0 33 A19*
15 D0 34 R/W (bar over W) - read/write
16 D1 35 **
17 D2 36 **
18 Gnd 37 **
19 D3 38 +5V
It is interesting to note that pins 6 thru 29 are basically exact
duplicates of the functions of pins 2 thru 25 on a 2764 EPROM.
Obviously, the design of the chip's die was not a complete re-work;
it just sits on a different package.
I got this information from tracing address- and data-paths through
the PC-E to the 2K static RAM (which has a known pinout), and
extending that information by reviewing an NEC data book on their
1-Megabit factory-programmed PROM's (it's an old data book, so I
couldn't go any further).
The TG-16 differs from the PC-E in that the D0-7 datalines are
reversed (actually, the PROM is programmed that way, and the wires
leading to the data bus in the machine are reversed). I have
shown here, the card pinout (which does not differ). I believe
that this is the PC-E port pinout (TG-16's just reverse the data
lines' order; swap 0 for 7, 1 for 6, 2 for 5, and 3 for 4).
-
Additional information: to copy a TG-16 game to work on a PC Engine with
copier, reverse the bit order. There is then a sequence of code which checks
what machine the game is running on: all known examples start with 78 54 A9,
have the letters NEC at offset 15 hex, and an F0 at offset 0B. If the F0 is
changed to an 80 (changing a conditional jump to an unconditional jump), the
game will work on both PC Engine and TG-16.
This code sequence is usually at the start of the game, but can be in other
places.
Section 9: Game Magazines
=========================
British magazines: To order a British magazine, call first; pay with a VISA
card or an International Money Order:
Title: Computer + Video Games (computer and console games)
Title: Nintendo Magazine System Mean Machines (Nintendo)
Title: Mean Machines Sega (Sega)
Phone: (0858) 410510
Title: ZONE (console games)
Phone: (071) 580 8908
Title: Sega Pro (Sega only)
Phone: (0225) 765086
Title: Sega Force (Sega only)
Phone: (051) 357 1275
Title: TOTAL (Nintendo only)
Phone: (0458) 74011
Section 10: Historical References
=================================
Cohen, Scott, _Zap!__The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Atari_ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984)
A famous book which is supposedly rare. I haven't seen it around recently,
but haven't seen any real evidence that it's rarer than any other
1984-published book, either.
Katz, Arnie, and Worley, Joyce, "The History of Video Gaming" (parts 1-4),
_A.N.A.L.O.G._Computing_, April 1988-July 1988.
Brief articles on video game systems up to and a bit past the crash. Not that
informative.
Sheff, David, _Game_Over:_How_Nintendo_Conquered_the_World_ (New York:
Random House, 1993)
Mostly about Nintendo, this book has a trade paperback edition published in
1994 with a new afterword. It notably omits NEC in Japan and Sega in Europe,
for instance. This book has a bibliography listing a lot of other sources,
though many of them aren't specifically about video games.
Section 11: Other FAQ's/regular postings/mailing lists
======================================================
FAQs:
----
Game Gear FAQ: send mail to Tony Clark (tclark@hptc.mentorg.com) [Someone told
me mail to him bounced, however.]
Game Boy FAQ: send mail to Marat Fayzullin (fms@wam.umd.edu).
Jaguar FAQ: maintained by Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com).
Lynx FAQ: maintained by Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com).
Neo-Geo FAQ: maintained by Ralph A. Barbagallo III (nugget@genesis.nred.ma.us).
Sega programming FAQ: available at sunsite.unc.edu, pub/micro/games/sega.
The author has stopped this FAQ at version 7.
Sega Saturn FAQ: two FAQs, maintained by Gordon Craick
(pred@zikzak.apana.org.au) and hill931@raven.csrv.uidaho.edu. Do not send
Gordon requests for emailing the FAQ. It may be obtained through WWW at
http://www.uidaho.edu/~hill931.
Sony Playstation FAQ: maintained by Will McBee (mcbeew@ucsuc.colorado.edu).
Mailing Lists:
-------------
Game system development mailing lists: send a message to listserv@
busop.cit.wayne.edu with the line "SUBSCRIBE FAMIDEV". There is an ftp site
with hardware information on busop.cit.wayne.edu. There seem to be other
lists there, details of which I'm not sure. (There seems to have once been a
MEGADEV list and Sega files, but both are gone. I have no idea if anyone is
keeping copies of the files.)
Jaguar mailing list: send a message to listserv@ctrc.idde.saci.org with the
message "subscribe jaguar-l firstname lastname".
SNES mailing list: send mail to snes-l-request@io.com with the body
"subscribe snes-l".
Spoiler/Cheat Lists (not mailing lists):
---------------------------------------
Genesis and Sega CD cheat/hint list: maintained by Bill Herzog (whh@rain.org).
Lynx cheat list: atari.archive.cc.umich.edu.
"Secrets of the Sega Sages": maintained bu Brian Preble (rassilon@ai.mit.edu).
Can be found in the Sega archives on sunsite.unc.edu and ftp.cica.indiana.edu.
SNES spoiler list: maintained by Tony Iaconetti (iaconetti_a@spcvxa.spc.edu).
Email Servers:
-------------
Classic system cartridge server: send mail to mail-server@xocolatl.com with
"send CARTS.LST" as the body.
Game Boy email server: send a message to gameboy@mentor.cc.purdue.edu with a
subject of ARCHIVE and a body consisting of commands (try 'help', 'filelist').
Game Genie/Gold Finger/Action Replay code server: send mail to
game-genie-serv@nvc.cc.ca.us (or gold-finger-serv or action-replay-serv). The
server accepts a help command. (This server will translate between GG and GF
formats for you.)
FTP sites:
---------
Arcade video game ftp site: wiretap.spies.com, game_archive directory.
Move lists (and a lot of these other lists): ftp ftp.netcom.com,
pub/vi/vidgames/faqs.
FAQ for Gameboy and SNES: available at io.com, /pub/usr/averyc.
Fighting Game Archive/FAQ site: ftp to brawl.mindlink.net. Includes a lot
of move lists, and includes home games.
Miscellaneous:
-------------
Anime video games list: maintained by me (arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu).
Japanese video game source list: maintained by Steve Pearl (pearl@
remus.rutgers.edu). The list can be ftp'ed from romulus.rutgers.edu
(128.6.13.2).
SNES review list: ftp brownvm.brown.edu, cd james.394.
Semi-Classic System stuff:
-------------------------
Sega Master System FAQ: maintained by Jeff Bogumil (aj809@yfn.ysu.edu).
TG-16 FAQ: maintained by John Yu (jky@csa.bu.edu).
TG-16 mailing list: send mail to turbo-list-request@cpac.washington.edu.
Send a help message for the server.
Classic System stuff:
--------------------
Classic Atari systems: last posted by Andrew K. Heller
(cagsfaq@akh104.rh.psu.edu). I assume he maintains it.
Classic Video Game Book and Periodical List: maintained by Lee Seitz
(lkseitz@iquest.com).
Complete Atari 2600 Game List: maintained by Craig Pell (vgriscep@wam.umd.edu).
Colecovision FAQ: maintained by Joe Huber (huber@tribe.enet.dec.com).
Intellivision FAQ: maintained by Larry Anderson Jr. (larry_a@netcom.com).
Microvision FAQ: maintained by Joe Huber (huber@tribe.enet.dec.com).
Starpath FAQ: maintained by Glenn Saunders (krishna@max.tiac.net).
Vectrex FAQ: maintained by Gregg Woodcock (woodcock@sdf.lonestar.org).
-- Since Donkey Kong Country is now a pack-in, I'd like codes for it.
-- Information on that Genesis modem.
-- Pointers to classic video game material.
-- SSF2 home version codes.
-- Bibliographical references for historical videogame-related books.
-- System specifications for the 3DO and for all the new 32 bit systems
(Saturn, Sony Playstation, Nec PC-FX, Playdia)
-- Information on Nintendo/Atari lawsuits.
-- Need SNES Pro Action Replay format.
-- Can you make a language switch in the redesigned Genesis? How?
-- Someone tell me how to make that SNES 50/60 hertz switch. Please.
-- The TurboExpress and TG-16 information are inconsistent in CPU and Mhz.
-- Other pack-in game secret codes.
-- Language switch/lockout Genesis/Mega Drive examples.
-- What is the Supergrafx mode? And how can a Turbo Express play games at a
higher resolution than the TE supports?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes since last time:
o Fixed Ultima listing.
o Fixed Sega Programming listing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Last modified 3/2/95]
[Last posted 3/2/95]
Section 0: Introduction:
=======================
This is the general home video games FAQ list. It doesn't have cheats for
most games except for pack-ins and obvious hits like Street Fighter II. It
does have just about everything else, and will probably continue to do so at
least until we get full FAQs for each system (which as far as I know, the
Genesis and SNES don't have). If anyone wants to do regular FAQs for these
systems, tell me, and send me a copy of your FAQ, and I'll remove the
information from the general FAQ.
It mostly omits information about ``classic'' systems, though I've included
references to other sources of classic system information and classics are in
the "first game to..." list.
Prices that are close to round numbers have been rounded (you will not see a
$99 anywhere here except this sentence). All references to "megs" and "M" of
memory refer to megabytes (I hate 'megabits').
If you think something is wrong or missing, _email_me_corrections_. Please.
I'm not a mind reader.
Section 0: Introduction
Section 1: Newsgroups List
Section 2: Basic Questions
Section 3: When is a ... coming out?/Give me information on ...
Section 4: Can I use a...?
Section 5: What is a...?
Section 6: Game-Specific Questions (including spoilers for pack-in games)
Section 7: System Capabilities
Section 8: Connecter/Controller Pinouts
Section 9: Compatibility
Section 10: Game Magazines
Section 11: Historical References
Section 12: Other FAQ's/regular postings/mailing lists
Section 1: Newsgroups List:
==========================
World-wide newsgroups that deal with video games are as follows:
rec.games.video.classic \
rec.games.video.sega \
rec.games.video.nintendo \
rec.games.video.3do \________ Home video games. Obvious.
rec.games.video.atari /
rec.games.video.cd-i /
rec.games.video.cd32 /
rec.games.video.misc /
comp.sys.amiga.cd32 (For discussion on computer aspects of the CD^32.)
rec.games.video.advocacy (For arguments such as "my system is better".)
rec.games.video.marketplace (For buying and selling.)
rec.games.vectrex (This is an inet group. Inet groups are for most practical
purposes part of Usenet. I will not get into the details here.)
rec.games.video.arcade \___ Arcade games.
rec.games.video.arcade.collecting /
Obsolete groups are alt.super.nes, alt.sega.genesis, and
alt.games.video.classic. Use the rec.games.video groups instead.
alt.2600 discusses 2600 magazine, not the Atari 2600. alt.atari.2600 and
alt.atari.2600vcs were created to divert the misposts out of alt.2600; these
groups aren't "obsolete" in the sense that they were created after
rec.games.video.classic, but there's little reason not to use r.g.v.classic
(which has better propagation anyway) instead.
I've heard of alt.games.final-fantasy, and alt.atari-jaguar.discussion,
which I don't get at my site. I doubt either of these groups is propagated
much.
Section 2: Basic Questions:
==========================
``Some people have complained about questionable business practices of
Nintendo. What are they?''
People are soured on Nintendo business practices because of:
1) NES cartridges have a ``lockout chip'' with availability controlled by
Nintendo, which must be there to run the game. (One common excuse is "to
preserve quality". Many games come from Japan, where lockout chips aren't
used, but the quality is the same. Also, most people agree that Tengen Tetris
is higher quality than the Nintendo one.)
2) Price-fixing. Nintendo lost in federal court, and had to give away $5
coupons good towards cartridges; they did not actually admit guilt. (Not
much of a punishment.)
3) There is a rumor that Nintendo wouldn't let stores have popular cartridges
unless they also were willing to sell the Game Boy. [Information anyone?]
4) The Game Genie: This product fits between a cartridge and machine and
changes certain bytes on the fly. Nintendo sued, alleging copyright violation,
and delaying the Game Genie for a year. (Nintendo lost.)
5) Nintendo has sued stores for renting Nintendo games. (Actually, suing
for copying the copyrighted instructions.)
6) Nintendo would for a while not let licensees make the same game for other
systems (which delayed Genesis Batman for some time).
7) Nintendo's censorship policy on games (no blood, cannot fight females) in
games such as Final Fight, where all the female-appearing enemies were changed
to male, Final Fantasy 2, which had praying changed to "wishing", naming hell
hounds "heck hounds" in Secret of Mana, or the best-known example, Mortal Kom-
bat (no blood or violent fatalities). SF2 doesn't have much censorship, but
Nintendo _was_ planning to censor it and only relented after a _lot_ of pro-
tests. [This may be changing with a new ratings system; Mortal Kombat II keeps
the blood and fatalities.]
``Please tell me about those 100 games in 1 cartridges.''
Most of them are bootlegs, made in Hong Kong or South Korea. I've heard of
some for Nintendo, Gameboy, and Game Gear, as well as Mega Drive/Genesis ones
with 4-8 games. There might be such things for PC Engine. (If you have one,
I may be interested in buying it. :-)) They often have some early, lower-
quality games and some games which vary only by small details like background
color. They also tend to be expensive (though people often try selling
used ones at prices which are out of hand, even considering this). If you
really want one, you will probably have to go to Asia or buy one used.
Copiers seem to have replaced multicarts for newer console systems.
There are a number of legal 4-in-1 Nintendo cartridges, and there is at least
one (legal) 52 games in 1 cartridge for Nintendo advertised in a US magazine.
There is supposedly a Genesis cartridge with many games, about which I know
little; advertisements for it show some questionable "games" added just to in-
crease the count, like the 15-puzzle. There's also the 4-game Super Mario
All-Stars.
On classic systems, there are various versions of multiple-game Atari 2600s
and multiple-game Atari 2600 cartridges; because the games are so small, a
hundred games can actually fit in. These also come from outside the USA, and
I have _no_ idea how or where to get one. Old Vectrex games are public
domain now, and various people have made Vectrex multi-carts; see the Vectrex
FAQ.
``What is the relationship between Tengen and Atari Games?''
They are two branches of the same company; however, both are separate from the
Atari which makes the Lynx and Jaguar. (Even though many Lynx games are
licensed from Atari Games.)
``Where is a good source for Japanese games?''
Check the ads in an American video game magazine. (Unless you know someone who
is going to Japan, or Taiwan or Hong Kong, or has contacts there.) Also,
Stephen Pearl posts a partial list of sources regularly (see below).
Watch out for pirate game carts. They generally lack copyright notices and
references to "Sega" or "Mega Drive", have no manuals, and are in odd boxes.
``What happened to that version of Tetris they're not making any more?''
It was the Tengen Tetris for NES. Tengen didn't have the proper US rights, and
was forced in court by Nintendo to stop making and to recall it. (See _Game
Over_, for details. This was separate from lawsuit threats over Tengen's at-
tempt to work around the lockout chip.) A Tetris for the Mega Drive in Japan
was never legal to begin with.
``What are the differences between a "new" and "old" Genesis or Mega Drive?''
Machines made after about October 1991 are "new" machines. They won't play
certain old third party US games: Ishido, Budokan, Populous, Onslaught, Zany
Golf, or certain pirated Asian cartridges. You can usually get around this
problem with a Game Genie or Action Replay. (No codes, just plug it in, but
not everyone has been able to get this to work, so your mileage may vary.) It
doesn't matter whether the new machine is a Mega Drive or a Genesis, and the
change has no effect on the ability to play Japanese games. (If the machine
says "produced by or under license to Sega" when turned on, it's a "new"
machine.)
The specific cause of the difference is that the new machines scan the ROM for
the text "SEGA" in locations $100-103, and won't run if it's absent.
There are similar "new" Game Gear machines. I'm not sure if they have
lockout.
The change between "old" and "new" came around the same time that the pack-in
game was changed from Altered Beast to Sonic the Hedgehog. This isn't a
reliable way to tell the difference, but every so often you still hear people
refer to the "Altered Beast" and "Sonic" versions, which isn't quite right.
Some people also refer to the redesigned Genesis as "new". It's a new shape,
and has no volume control or headphone jack. Stereo jacks have been added.
There's no difference in what games it can play.
Sega/Accolade lawsuit.
The lawsuit started with Sega suing Accolade, an unlicensed maker of Genesis
cartridges who reverse-engineered Genesis games to discover how to write them.
Sega also claimed that Accolade was "misleading consumers" because playing
its games still gives the "produced by or under license to Sega" message.
(Of course, the Genesis, not the cartridge, puts up the message.) The result
of the suit is that Accolade will become an official developer for the Genesis
and Game Gear; nobody knows who has to pay how much to whom ....
Atari/Nintendo lawsuit.
A recent lawsuit over the "114 Patent", which seems to be connected to
horizontal scrolling in video games, was settled by March 25, 1994. Atari
claims that Nintendo had to pay Atari, which Nintendo denies.
Atari/Sega lawsuit.
This lawsuit, over Atari's claims that Sega infringes its patents, was
settled out of court on 9/28/94. Sega gets to use Atari's patents. Sega
had to pay Atari a total of $50 million covering the remaining 7 years of
patents. (All the money was to be paid immediately.) Sega also has to buy
4.7 million shares of Atari stock for $40 million. Sega and Atari get to
cross-license a certain number of games (I think 5), excluding Sonic games.
Game copiers.
Yes, it is true that customs is (or was) stopping deliveries of them.
Yes, it is legal to copy games for your own private use.
No, it is not legal to give away or sell the copies.
No, it is not legal to give away or sell the original and keep the copy.
No, there is no known cheap way to copy CD-ROMs yet.
Yes, they have legal uses: to copy your own games for backup, to try developing
your own games, and to directly modify the game code without a Game Genie-type
device. It's questionable how many copier owners actually use them mostly for
this.
Zenith TV's.
Certain older Zenith TV's have a problem working with video game systems.
The following information is for the SF5749W model. To access the service
menus, press and hold the menu button, then the volume and channel, so all
three are held at the same time. The regular controls search through the
menus, and select and adjust change them, with enter to confirm a change. On
menu 1 is a "vforced" option which might be necessary to get VCR menus--or
games--to work....
``Does 'Sega' really mean 'masturbate' in some European language, like I've
heard?''
'Farsi una sega' is Italian for 'masturbate'.
``What is the first game to...?''
(The KLOV is a list of arcade games that can be ftp'ed from wiretap.spies.com.)
The 'firsts' tend to be mostly arcade games, but I'm listing them here anyway.
Most of these listings are a bit uncertain. (By the way, anyone got month
dates for these games?)
First arcade game: Computer Space (Nutting Associates, 1972) (_Not_ Pong.)
First arcade vector game: Space Wars (Cinematronics, 1978)
First arcade color vector game: Tempest (Atari, 1981)*
First trackball game: Football (Atari, 1978)
First game with speech: Stratovox (Taito, 1980)
First move-horizontally-and-shoot game: Space Invaders (Taito/Midway, 1978)
First game with intermissions: Deluxe Space Invaders (Taito/Midway, 1979)
First maze/chase/dots-eating game: Dodgem (Atari, 1978)
First platform game: Space Panic (Universal, 1980)
First platform jumping game: Donkey Kong (Nintendo, 1981)
First game with multiple screens with different gameplay: Gorf (Midway, 1981)
(Donkey Kong was 1981 also. I'm not sure of the exact date.)
First first-person driving game: Night Driver (Atari, 1976)
First first-person flying/shooting game: Red Baron (Atari, 1980)
First one-on-one fighting game (Street Fighter-like): Karate Champ (Data East,
1984). (Swashbuckler, 1982, for the Apple II came first, but had no
player versus player combat.)
First beat-em-up scrolling game: Kung-Fu Master (Data East, 1985) (Double
Dragon was 1986)
First X-axis tourism scrolling shooting game: Cosmic Avenger (Universal, 1981)
(Scramble was 1981 too, but according to the KLOV came later).
First Y-axis tourism scrolling shooting game: Sky Raider (Atari, 1979) [Bet
_you_ thought it was Xevious too.]
First X-axis tourism jumping game: Pitfall! (a home game; Activision, 1982)
(This game did _not_ scroll.)
First "Super-Mario-like" game: This depends on what qualifies as "Super-
Mario-like". Pitfall II (Activision) is a contender.
First side-scrolling jumping/attacking game: Jungle King/Hunt (Taito, 1982)
(which scrolled left, not right)
First laserdisk game: Dragon's Lair (Cinematronics, 1983)
* The KLOV says Tempest is 1980, but the Tempest game itself, Microsoft
Arcade, and Tempest 2000 all claim 1981. Tempest apparently still did come
before Space Fury (Sega, 1981), or at least Atari claimed so.
Some I have yet to find out:
First arcade game not requiring a second player. (I first thought 'Breakout',
but the KLOV lists several racing games that came earlier.)
First game that ended.
First game with an ending (special graphics, not just 'game over').
Phone numbers for video game companies:
Nintendo: 1-800-255-3700 0400-2400 PT Mon-Sat; 0600-1900 PT Sun
Sega: 1-800-USA-SEGA 0900-1800 PT
Atari: 1-800-327-5151, 1-800-221-3343. (These were the lines to order Lemmings
and Gordo 106; I don't know if they are general lines). The 900 number for
hints is 1-900-737-ATAR (95 cents per minute).
SNK: 1-310-371-1965 (the earlier toll-free number is gone)
Section 3: When is a ... coming out?/Give me information on ...
===============================================================
... Genesis modem?
It's available in Japan (1200 baud), but had no US release. Newer Genesis
machines don't even have a modem port. Baton Technologies had a modem for the
Genesis and SNES called the Teleplay System (2400 baud), but the company shut
down without producing it. AT&T has announced and shown a 4800 baud modem
called The Edge 16, but recently said it won't be doing modems.
There's a service named "Catapult" which is meant to allow Genesis and SNES
modem downloading and playing. We'll see.
There is some modem currently available and in stores for the Genesis. I
have no idea what it is. (I only know a lot of stuff for the FAQs if _you_
tell me.)
... Sega CD-ROM?
The earlier version was $250 (plus $90 for a Genesis), with an arcade classics
disk (Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Columns), Sol
Feace, and Sherlock Holmes. The classics are mostly unchanged except for some
CD music and sound. The two-player mode on Golden Axe was removed, for some
reason.
The newer version is $230 with Sewer Shark or John Madden. I've seen them as
low as $190.
Sherlock Holmes is replaced by Cobra Command in Europe. The classics disc also
contains Super Monaco GP; the files for this are on the American disc but the
game has been disabled.
The CDX (not to be confused with the Pro-CDX adaptor for foreign games) is
$400. (Hey, guys, what's in it aside from a Genesis and CD?)
... Sega Saturn?
The Saturn was released in Japan in November 1994, for a price of 44800 yen.
EGM claims a US equivalent of $475, which is not 44800 yen, so I don't really
know what the price is. It is a CD-ROM system; the similar Jupiter by Sega is
not. The planned US release is Fall 1995.
... Sega 32X?
The 32X costs $150 and is an add-on to the Genesis. It's supposed to use chips
developed for the Saturn, but does not run Saturn games. The system _does_
exist in Japan. Sega has announced a system named Neptune which is a combined
Genesis and 32X, to sell for $200.
... Greater than 16 bit SNES system?
The system from Nintendo, formerly named Project Reality, is now known as the
Ultra 64. It supposedly does greater than 100000 polygons per second and has
a 64 bit RISC processor. I have little idea about it.
... Neo-Geo CD (formerly the Neo Star)
It's out. At least in Japan. The system is separate from the cartridge
machine, not an add-on, and won't run Neo-Geo cartridges. Some importers have
machines, but I have no idea if or when there will be a real US release.
... Atari Jaguar?
The target for the Jaguar was November 1993 in "test markets", because Atari
couldn't get enough of the needed chips. The general release was supposed to
be for various dates, but the system seems to have slowly been increasing
market penetration rather than having any specific time when it suddenly
becomes general-sale. (A press release did give the date of Atari's
advertising campaign as September 12, 1994.) Cybermorph is the pack-in game.
For full information see the Jaguar FAQ.
The price is reduced to $190 in several stores, though not officially, and
to $160 with no games.
The CD is to be priced at $150. It was supposed to be out by now, though
we're still waiting. Reportedly there _will_ be a pack-in game.
... Jaguar 2?
According to the current rumors, the Jaguar 2 is a combined Jaguar and Jaguar
CD. The next generation Jaguar will be the Jaguar 3, late 1996.
... 3DO system?
The Panasonic version is officially now at $400, with pack-ins of Crash and
Burn and Jurassic Park Interactive. Many other companies plan to release
3DOs (I've seen one). For full information see the 3DO FAQ. It is rumored
the price will be going down further.
... 3DO 2 system?
Supposedly a unit which costs $270-400 or a $100 upgrade to existing 3DO
systems. It does 100,000,000 pixels per second, 250,000 textured polygons
per second, or 150,000 triangles per second. It has hardware texture mapping,
and built-in MPEG-1. It will be available Christmas 1995. (Yeah, right.)
... Sony Playstation?
This system (formerly named the PSX) is a 32-bit double? triple?-speed CD
system based around the R3000A processor. The price is 40000 yen, roughly
$400 US (it was announced at under 50000 yen). There has not yet been an an-
nouncement of the US release.
... NEC PC-FX?
The system came out November 1994 at 50000 yen. It is CD-based. There are no
current plans to release the system outside Japan.
... Bandai BA-X?
This system was announced at 29800 yen and it came out fall 1994 in Japan. It
supposedly emphasizes full motion video rather than normal games. (I feel
like buying one now. Not.)
The dead systems:
----------------
CD-I:
Old system which uses CDs and displays primitive graphics on top of the
graphics displayed off of the CDs. I really don't know much about it,
except it seems remarkably persistent in the software stores, occasionally
appearing alongside the 3DO and confusing customers who don't know any
better.
CD^32:
Released in Europe and Canada, this system was to be made available in the
US on March 1, 1994, at a suggested retail price of $400. The pack-in games
were Pinball Fantasies, Wing Commander, and Oscar, and the system was basical-
ly an Commodore Amiga 1200 with a CD system and no keyboard. Commodore
International is now dead, along with the system.
Clearance prices have been for the equivalents of $140-190.
TG-16, TG-16 CD, and Turbo Duo:
The Duo was the last gasp of the Turbographics-16 system, known as the PC
Engine in Asia. The PCE dates back to 1987 in Japan, being the first 16-bit
system there (barring arguments about whether it's 'really' 16 bit or not),
had a popular CD expansion, and generally did very well. It never really took
off in the US.
The TG-16 had a CD system, and a separate Super CD card introduced later to
add more memory to it (the CD had 64K memory, and the SCD had 256K). The SCD
card was available in the USA only through the toll-free number (1-800-366-
0136), not in stores. The toll-free number 1-800-995-9203 is for "Turbo
Zone", who had the SCD card. I have no idea if either of these still sells
them.
The Duo combined the TG-16, the CD system, and the SCD card together. When
on clearance, it was $100.
The final expansion was the Arcade Card, which replaced the CD card and had
2M memory; there were different versions of it for the Duo and the separate
CD player. It was never released in the USA, though a Japanese version
works with an adapter. Most of its games were Neo-Geo fighting game ports.
There is a FAQ and a mailing list for the TG-16/Duo.
Pioneer LaserActive:
This system played both laser discs and CD's, and cost $720 (and $480 each
for add-on modules allowing Sega CD and TG-16 CD compatibility, more than the
cost of a complete separate Sega or TG-16 CD system). The add-on modules only
allowed the overlaying of graphics on laser discs; the discs were used only
for backgrounds. You can see why the system never took off, I hope.
Section 4: Can I use a...?
=========================
... monitor?
The Genesis can connect to an analog RGB monitor with a similar scan rate;
this means an analog RGB monitor for use with an Amiga, Atari ST, or Apple
//gs. An analog RGB multisync monitor _may_ work; a digital monitor (CGA or
EGA only for PC's) will not.
The SNES will work with an S-video or RGB monitor provided you have the right
cable; the right scan rate us 15.75 horizontal.
The Neo-Geo works with the same monitors the Genesis works with.
Basically, I know very little about monitors and have tried my best to
summarize some usenet information here....
... store-bought battery with my battery-backup game cart?
Yes, but you'll lose all the saved data (which happens when the battery dies
anyway).
... Atari/Amiga/C64 joystick on a Genesis?
You can; the button serves as both A and B. C and Start are absent.
If you use an Atari 7800 joystick, the left button is both A and B, and
pressing and releasing both buttons simultaneously gives C and Start.
The joysticks also work the other way; the B button replaces the single fire
button (left fire button on the 7800; there's no right fire button).
... CD player with my computer?
There was going to be an SCSI adapter for the Duo (it never came out).
A PC CARD will allow use of a 3DO as a CD-ROM drive on a PC, with a Macintosh
version possibly following.
... Duo/TG-16 controller on a TG-16/Duo?
There are, or should be, adapters both ways. (Different people who called up
TTI got different answers on this one.) I've never seen either kind or had
anyone tell me they've owned one.
The Duo controllers are the same as PC Engine controllers, so the adapter is
good for Japanese games that need special controllers (Forgotten Worlds,
Street Fighter II).
The 6 button controller for PCE/Duo and the TG-16 controller have an internal
plug of the same size. You can therefore open the controllers up and combine
them to have a 6 button controller usable on the TG-16.
Section 5: What is a...?
=======================
``What is "Blast Processing"?''
Sega hype. The phrase means exactly nothing. Sega later tried to explain it
by claiming it describes the methods used by Sega to get characters like Sonic
moving on the screen very fast. (Which still means nothing, of course.) Sega
_again_ explained that this is because characters can be drawn on the screen
while a different screen is being displayed (which is known as page flipping
and isn't new) and that background processing is ignored so sprites can be
moved really fast (which isn't new either).
``What is anime?''
Anime refers to Japanese animation. It's often better done, less censored,
and aimed towards an older audience than, American animation. (Cautionary
note: some American fans go overboard in thinking anime adult; a lot of series
popular in America _are_ aimed at children or teenagers.) In the past, lots of
anime was hacked up and changed for the US market (Speed Racer, Star Blazers,
Robotech), but in the last few years new companies have released unedited anime
with better translations. The connection with video games is that many
Japanese video games are anime-based or have anime-style art (not to mention
anime being videogame-based), and also that such games are often either not
ported or drastically changed for American release because of supposed lack of
interest in anime.
``What is a Tera Drive?''
It's a Japan-only system combining a PC and a Mega Drive (Japanese version
of the Genesis); it's not available in the US. There are similar systems in
Europe and Australia, though. The connection between the Mega Drive and PC
parts is minimal.
``What is a Wonder Mega?''
It's a system combining a Mega Drive (Japanese version of the Genesis) and
Mega CD with a JVC CD system. The US version is the "X-Eye".
``What is a Super Gun or a Mach 4?''
These are "home" systems which play a JAMMA arcade board at home. This plays
the same as the arcade game, of course, but the board costs about as much as
the arcade game.
The systems are legal, but at least the Super Gun is often sold with illegal,
pirated, arcade boards. They are not 32-bit (nor can they meaningfully be
called any-bit) and you could build one yourself with $100 or so in parts.
``What is Valis I/II/III/IV?''
The original Valis game was a MSX game (early Japanese home computer), later
released for the Famicom. Valis II was released for the TG-16 CD, then Valis
III for the Genesis and TG-16 CD. Valis IV was released for the PC Engine CD,
but only in Japan, and then later for the SNES. Valis I came out for the PC
Engine SCD (also only in Japan) and the Genesis, long after Valis III. At
around this time, SD Valis came out in Japan for the Mega Drive ("Syd Valis"
for the Genesis). So no one system has all the games (though the PCE has all
except the nearly unrelated SD one).
``What is Thunderforce I?''
It is a game produced by Technosoft for Japanese personal computers. It
resembles the "overhead" stages of Thunderforce II.
``What is Phantasy Star I?''
It's a Sega Master System (8 bit) game.
``What is Cosmic Fantasy I?''
It's a Japanese PC Engine CD game, with no US release. Cosmic Fantasy
Stories for the Mega CD includes both I and II.
``What is Street Fighter I?''
This old game only let you use Ryu (player 1) and Ken (player 2); versus mode
was always Ryu versus Ken. The hurricane kick, fireball, and dragon punch
existed and were done the same way as in SF2; there were no throws. The only
other character that also appeared in SF2 was Sagat, who was the final boss for
SF1.
There seem to have been two versions of this game, one with six buttons and
one with two buttons where the move depended on how hard you push them.
The game was adapted for PC clones, for the Atari ST, for the Commodore 64,
and for the TG-16 CD (the latter under the name Fighting Street).
``What does 3DO stand for?''
It is allegedly from the sequence "audio, video, 3DO" and isn't an acronym.
Early information did say that it stood for "three dimensional object" or
"three dimensional optics". Probably, they changed their minds.
``What does "Atari" mean?''
The word is from the Japanese game Go. It's used when making a threat, like
"check" in chess.
``What does "Sega" actually mean?''
It is supposed to stand for "Service Games".
Section 6: Game-Specific Questions (including spoilers for pack-in games):
=========================================================================
Debug mode and level select on Sonic the Hedgehog.
Level select:
1) U, D, L, R, A+Start
2) U, D, D, D, L, R, A+Start (Japanese version)
Debug mode:
1) U+C, D+C, L+C, R+C, then A+Start.
2) U+C, D+C, D+C, D+C, L+C, R+C, A+C+Start. (Japanese version)
3) C, C, C, C, U, D, L, R, A+Start.
4) U, C, D, C, L, C, R, Start, Hold A [immediately after start]
The best information is that 1)-2) do it on older Sonics, and 3)-4) on newer
ones. I have no idea if 3) and 4) work on the Japanese version. Keep your
fingers on A and Start until Sonic first appears in an act. Within debug mode,
B toggles between sprite mode and normal mode; A selects the sprite, and C
places it. There should be a bunch of hexadecimal numbers on top of your
score. (Sonic also can't die by getting hit or falling onto spikes in this
mode.)
Codes for Sonic II.
For the level select, go to the sound select screen, set it to 19, press C, set
to 65, press C, set to 9, press C, set to 17, press C. Go to the main screen
and wait until the 1 player/2 player menu appears, and press A+start.
For 14 continues, the code is 1, C, 1, C, 2, C, 4, C on the sound test screen.
To become Super Sonic without collecting emeralds, the code is 4, C, 1, C, 2,
C, 6, C. Select a stage and hold down A while pressing START. (You still
need to collect 50 rings.)
For debug mode, go into the level select and in its own sound test, 1, C, 9, C,
9, C, 2, C, 1, C, 1, C, 2, C, 4, C. Select a stage and hold down A while
pressing START.
The 96 worlds on Super Mario World.
> All Stages, All Exits (Yes, Virginia, there are 96)
(NOTE: exits marked with '*' do NOT contribute to the *96 total)
Stage Exit 1 Exit 2
---------------------- --------------------- -------------------------
Yoshi's House *Yoshi's Island 1 *Yoshi's Island 2
Yoshi's Island 1 Yellow Switch Palace
Yoshi's Island 2 Yoshi's Island 3
Yoshi's Island 3 Yoshi's Island 4
Yoshi's Island 4 Iggy's Castle
Yellow Switch Palace Yellow Switch Palace
Iggy's Castle Donut Plains 1
Donut Plains 1 Donut Plains 2 Donut Secret 1
Donut Plains 2 Donut Ghost House Green Switch Palace
Green Switch Palace Green Switch Palace
Donut Ghost House Donut Plains 3 Top Secret Area
Top Secret Area
Donut Plains 3 Donut Plains 4
Donut Plains 4 Morton's Castle
Donut Secret 1 Donut Ghost House Donut Secret House
Donut Secret House Donut Secret 2 Star Road 1
Donut Secret 2 Donut Plains 3
Morton's Castle Vanilla Dome 1
Vanilla Dome1 Vanilla Dome 2 Vanilla Secret 1
Vanilla Dome 2 Vanilla Ghost House Red Switch Palace
Red Switch Palace Red Switch Palace
Vanilla Ghost House Vanilla Dome 3
Vanilla Dome 3 Vanilla Dome 4
Vanilla Dome 4 Lemmy's Castle
Lemmy's Castle Cheese Bridge Area
Vanilla Secret 1 Vanilla Secret 2 Star Road 2
Vanilla Secret 2 Vanilla Secret 3
Vanilla Secret 3 Vanilla Fortress
Vanilla Fortress Butter Bridge 1
Cheese Bridge Area Cookie Mountain Soda Lake
Soda Lake Star Road 3
Cookie Mountain Ludwig's Castle
Butter Bridge 1 Butter Bridge 2
Butter Bridge 2 Ludwig's Castle
Ludwig's Castle Forest of Illusion 1
Forest of Illusion 1 Forest of Illusion 2 Forest Ghost House
Forest of Illusion 2 Forest of Illusion 3 Blue Switch Palace
Blue Switch Palace Blue Switch Palace
Forest of Illusion 3 Forest Ghost House Roy's Castle
Forest Ghost House Forest of Illusion 4 Forest of Illusion 1
Forest of Illusion 4 Forest of Illusion 2 Forest Secret Area
Forest Secret Area Forest Fortress
Forest Fortress Star Road 4
Roy's Castle Chocolate Island 1
Chocolate Island 1 Choco-Ghost House
Choco-Ghost House Chocolate Island 2
Chocolate Island 2 Chocolate Island 3 Chocolate Secret
Chocolate Island 3 Chocolate Island 3 Chocolate Fortress
Chocolate Fortress Chocolate Island 4
Chocolate Island 4 Chocolate Island 5
Chocolate Island 5 Wendy's Castle
Chocolate Secret Wendy's Castle
Wendy's Castle Sunken Ghost Ship
Sunken Ghost Ship Valley of Bowser 1
Valley of Bowser 1 Valley of Bowser 2
Valley of Bowser 2 Valley Ghost House Valley Fortress
Valley Ghost House Valley of Bowser 3 Larry's Castle
Valley of Bowser 3 Valley of Bowser 4
Valley of Bowser 4 Larry's Castle Star Road 5 & Front Door
Valley Fortress Back Door
Larry's Castle Front Door
Back Door *END
Front Door *END
Star World 1 Star Road 1 Star Road 2
Star World 2 Star Road 2 Star Road 3
Star World 3 Star Road 3 Star Road 4
Star World 4 Star Road 4 Star Road 5
Star World 5 Star Road 1 Star Road 6
Gnarly Tubular
Tubular Way Cool
Way Cool Awesome
Awesome Groovy
Groovy Mondo
Mondo Outrageous
Outrageous Funky
Funky Star Road 7 (Yoshi's House)
(Mario Mania)
> Super Mario World Map
**********
*MAIN MAP*
**********
P3---27---28---29---30---31---32---.
| |
.---34---33 | |
| | `---' |
P4 | |
| |
35 |
P3 23------. | |
| | | | |
*---20 21--. 24 * .' |
| | | | | | |
`---18--' 22 25 `--' |
| | |
| 26 |
| | |
| P4 |
| .--38---37---.
14 | | | |
| | 41---+-------39--40
.--13--------15---. | | | |
| | | | | 42 `---43---'
| | | 16---17 | |
12---9 10--. `-P2 *---45---' 46--'
| | | |
| | | |
`---8 11--P1 To Valley Of P5 |
| | Bowser Map \ 48-----47
| * | \ |
| | \ |
7-. P6 .----56 \|
| | | .--. +
1 6 | | | | |\
| | `--55 51---+--50--49 \
| 5-' | | | | | |
| | 53-------52 `--' `--'
2---3--4
********************** ************
*VALLEY OF BOWSER MAP* *STAR WORLD*
********************** ************
19----P2 *
| / \
P1 / \
*----58 59 *-----54 57-----*
| | | \ /
60---61 62 \__36 * 68_/
| | | / | \
63---64---65---66---To Main Map / 67 \
/ / \ \
*----' `----*
P6-------44---------P5
*********
*SPECIAL*
*********
*--76--75--74--73--.
******** |
*LEGEND* *--69--70--71--72--'
********
1- Yellow Switch Palace 31- Butter Bridge 2 61- #7 Larry's Castle
2- Yoshi's Island 1 32- #4 Ludwig's Castle 62- Valley Fortress
3- Yoshi's House 33- Cookie Mountain 63- Valley Of Bowser 3
4- Yoshi's Island 2 34- Cheese Bridge 64- Valley Ghost House
5- Yoshi's Island 3 35- Soda Lake 65- Valley Of Bowser 2
6- Yoshi's Island 4 36- Star World 1 66- Valley Of Bowser 1
7- #1 Iggy's Castle 37- Forest Of Illusion 1 67- Star World 5
8- Donut Plains 1 38- Forest Ghost House 68- Star World 4
9- Donut Plains 2 39- Forest Of Illusion 2 69- Gnarly
10- Donut Secret 1 40- Blue Switch Palace 70- Tubular
11- Donut Secret House 41- Forest Of Illusion 4 71- Way Cool
12- Green Switch Palace 42- Forest Secret Area 72- Awesome
13- Donut Ghost House 43- Forest Of Illusion 3 73- Groovy
14- Top Secret 44- Chocolate Secret 74- Mondo
15- Donut Plains 3 45- Forest Fortress 75- Outrageous
16- Donut Plains 4 46- #5 Roy's Castle 76- Funky
17- #2 Morton's Castle 47- Chocolate Island 1 * - Star Road
18- Vanilla Dome 1 48- Chocolate Ghost House P1..6- Pipes
19- Donut Secret 2 49- Chocolate Island 2
20- Vanilla Secret 1 50- Chocolate Island 3
21- Vanilla Dome 2 51- Chocolate Fortress
22- Red Switch Palace 52- Chocolate Island 4
23- Vanilla Ghost House 53- Chocolate Island 5
24- Vanilla Dome 3 54- Star World 2
25- Vanilla Dome 4 55- #6 Wendy's Castle
26- #3 Lemmy's Castle 56- Sunken Ghost Ship
27- Vanilla Secret 2 57- Star World 3
28- Vanilla Secret 3 58- Front Door
29- Vanilla Fortress 59- Back Door
30- Butter Bridge 1 60- Valley Of Bowser 4
Sol-Feace code:
Press the sequence A, B, C, A, B, C, B, C, B, A on the title screen. Select
continue. This will let you select the starting stage and get 99 ships in the
options screen.
Streets of Rage code:
Press start on controller 1 to enter options, then press right+A+B+C on
controller 2. On the non-CD version, you can do this on controller 1.
Streets of Rage II code:
Go to the screen before the options screen, go to the "options" line, and
press A and B on the second controller and hold, then go to the options screen.
The options screen will now have a stage select and extra difficulty levels.
Keith Courage code:
Reset the game, and hold I, II, and SELECT at the same time until "start"
appears. Press U 8 times for the debug screen.
Ninja Spirit code:
Press START while holding SELECT at the title screen for the sound test option
to appear in the menu.
For a stage select, on the title screen press II, I, II, II, I, II. Hold
SELECT and press RUN. You can now stage select 1-3. To select 4-6, hold down
SELECT while choosing a level.
The message "Have you played Mr. Heli" appears with I, II, II, I, SELECT, RUN
or I, II, II, I, SELECT, II, I, I, II. (the latter unconfirmed)
Gate of Thunder code:
On the title screen, I, II, II, I, S, I, II, I, II, S, S, RUN and enter the
configuration menu for a stage select.
Bomberman on Turbo Duo pack-in CD:
The following code on the Gate of Thunder/Bonk CD will let you play
Bomberman, a hidden fourth game: U, R, D, L, II.
``What are all the home Street Fighter II versions?''
SNES versions: SF2 (2 meg), SF2HF (turbo) (2 1/2 meg), SSF2 (4 meg)
Genesis versions: SF2HF (turbo) (3 meg), SSF2 (4 1/2 meg)
PC Engine: SF2' (Japanese name for Champion Edition) (2 1/2 meg)
3DO: Super SF2 Turbo
Amiga: SF2
IBM PC: SF2
The HF games don't have a true Champion Edition mode; Champion Edition
mode removes the HF-specific moves but leaves in other differences.
The PC Engine version in Japan, Champion Edition, sold at 9800 yen; it's
available heavily discounted. The game is 2 1/2 megabytes (2 1/2 times as
large as any other PC Engine cartridge of the time). The controller was
released separately for 3980 yen.
There's an illegal Famicom version of SF2; EGM claimed a legal NES version,
which Capcom denies.
There is an Amiga version, sold only in Europe. (Some dealers can get you one
in America anyway.) There's also a legal IBM PC version (which is not very
good) and a widely circulated Asian pirate version.
Mortal Kombat versions and codes:
There are versions for SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, Game Gear, Gameboy, and PCs,
with an upcoming CD-32 version. The Nintendo one is censored; fatalities are
renamed to "finishing moves"; blood is removed and bloody fatalities are re-
placed by different fatalities without blood. The Genesis and Game Gear ver-
sions are somewhat censored, but can be fixed with an "Arcade Mode" code. Use
the code on the text screen which talks about codes: ABACABB (Genesis),
2,1,2,down,up (Game Gear).
The Genesis cheat code is DULLARD entered on the title screen. Flags are:
0 Player 2 dies after one hit. (Unless Reptile gives a hint or player 2
is the second computer player on an endurance match)
1 Player 1 dies after one hit.
2 Objects always fly across the moon (makes getting to Reptile easier)
3 Programmer face/initials fly across the moon.
4 Reptile always gives hints at the start of a match.
5 Infinite credits.
6 Lets the computer do fatalities on you (it normally won't).
7 Some sort of difficulty code.
The Game Genie blood codes for the SNES version (use all five) are: ddbfd7a7,
ddb4dd07, ddb4dda7, ddb4df07, ddb4dfa7. On a copier, change
6D 25 AE 29 D0 31 12 36 54 3A 75 42 B7 46 F9 4A to
10 00 18 00 1A 00 1B 00 1C 00 1D 00 1E 00 1F 00. (It should be at offset
1C18, or sector 14 offset 24.) These codes only change the color of the
white 'sweat' to blood, and don't fix the fatalities. The Game Genie codes
just translate to the 00 parts of the copier code. They don't fix the color of
the heart Kano pulls out; I have no idea if the copier codes do.
EGM listed, and printed screen shots for, the one-address code bdb4dd07. I
have no idea how the two codes compare. (If this is equivalent to the first
code, and does it in only one address, it might be possible to do other stuff
in addition, like get that heart color right, or spell "Raiden" with an 'i'....)
There is a code to play as Goro on the Gameboy version. Finish the game, wait
for the credits to finish, and at "The End" hold up+left+select+A. Enter
your initials and press A.
The Japanese (Super Famicom) version of MK doesn't have the blood or violence.
There is no Mega Drive version. The Japanese version of MK2 changes the blood
to green....
Mortal Kombat II is out on the Genesis, Sega CD, SNES (uncensored), Game Gear,
and Game Boy. Probe will be doing a 32X and a Saturn version. There will be
a PC version on CD; I have no idea who is doing it. Williams-Midway is a
Jaguar developer and rumors are common that the Jaguar will get versions of I
and/or II when the Acclaim license runs out in early 1995.
Mortal Kombat II Codes:
The code for a random character select is to highlight the top corner character
and press start while holding up. (SNES, Genesis).
Test mode (Genesis): Go to the options menu and place the cursor on "Done!".
Enter the code LDLRDRLLRR. No, nobody knows what the "Oooh, Nasty!" flag
does. (Some people have suggested it always makes the computer do the
bloodiest fatality on you. Other people have denied this. I don't own a
Genesis MK2 and can't tell the answer.)
"Fergality": Use Raiden on the armory stage and stand outside of sweep
distance. The code is BACKx3, BLOCK.
Holding down and high punch together from the end of the character select
screen to the start of the fight will disable throws (with a message). (SNES,
Genesis; 2-player mode only)
For a two-player survival mode, hold the left and right buttons and press start
(on the title screen at the "start" prompt). (SNES)
Hold the left and right buttons when starting the game to see a new title
screen, (SNES)
The codes for SNES, all on the character select screen in one player mode,
are as follows (press select afterwards):
DURUL: Attacks by player do lots of damage.
ULUUR: Fight Smoke.
UDDLR: Fight Jade.
UDDRR: Fight Kintaro.
RUURL: Fight Shao Kahn.
LUDDR: Fight Noob Saibot.
LURDL: 30 credits (can be repeated later).
UULUD: Triple the time available to do fatalities.
Street Fighter II codes:
Down-Right-Up-Left-Y-B-X-A on the Super Famicom version, Down-Right-Up-Left-Y-B
on the SNES one. Right and left are the buttons, not the right and left on the
control pad. Do this at the start of the Capcom screen and finish it before
the screen fades; when it works a tone will sound. This lets you select a
character versus himself.
The second secret code brings up the CONFIG menu: hold down the select button
and keep holding it while you start the game. This allows you to change
options in the middle of the game.
If you hold down the left and right buttons on the second controller, you
will be taken through the character description scenes and can let go to select
which character you want to see in the demo.
There is no code to let you play as the last four characters. The following
Game Genie code can be used in versus mode with the first player as Ryu, and
the second player selecting an ordinary character but picking the boss
character's screen.
10a40767, f0ae6d04, df80ad64
The code is fairly buggy/crash-prone, and not very useful.
The following code does the same thing without color problems. f0ae6d04, go to
VS mode, select your player and boss stage, and reset at round start. Then add
the codes 10a40767, 67666d0d, df80ad64. Select the same player and boss stage.
To play in one-player mode, add a2a6af04 plus the following codes: M. Bison,
b9a0af04; Sagat, b1a0af04; Vega, 35a0af04; Balrog, cba0af64 and dba0afa4.
On SF2 Turbo, the Down-Right-Up-Left-Y-X code (plus B-A on Japanese versions)
works in two places. On the Capcom logo, it disables all special moves; where
"turbo" is displayed, and done on controller 2, it lets you choose 11 speeds.
You _can_ disable the special moves in a player-versus-player game; do the code
on the VS. Battle stage select option.
The code 7e183e0f lets you play a SNES/SF NTSC Hyper Fighting on a PAL system
using the Game Action Replay, though it still has some problems. The Game
Genie code 6dc0efd5 supposedly works too.
On the Genesis version of SF2 Turbo, the code down, z, up, x, a, y, b, c
disables all the _standard_ moves when entered at the CAPCOM logo, sets the
champion mode to a higher speed if entered while the logo is spinning, and
allows picking the same character twice in the match mode. EGM gives a three-
button controller code as down, c, up, a, a, b, b, c.
On the SNES Super SF2, the code LRLRLRRL on the screen where you select
match/elimination modes, lets you play the same character more times than
usual.
``What is the difference between the Japanese and American versions of SFII?''
One background character's hand motions were changed in the US version to look
less like masturbation.
The bosses' names are also different on both arcade and home versions:
USA Japan
Balrog M. Bison (named after Mike Tyson)
Vega Balrog
M. Bison Vega
The secret codes to play character-versus-character are also different.
On SF2 Turbo Edition, Vega's claw doesn't draw blood when hitting an opponent.
``What are the Ranma 1/2 games available?''
There are a large number of Japanese Ranma 1/2 games; see the anime video
game list. The first Super Famicom fighting game was ported to the US as
"Street Combat", and is unrecognizeably changed. The second was ported as
Ranma 1/2 and had only the voices changed (they do _not_ fit the American dub
voices). The third game, Super Battle, was to be ported as Ranma 1/2: Anything
Goes Martial Arts, with new voices that _do_ fit the dubs; I've heard it
won't be coming out, though.
``What version of Might and Magic is available for the Genesis?''
It's Might and Magic II, even though it's packaged without the number II.
``What are the Japanese Super Mario games which correspond to the US ones? I
hear there was a Mario game in Japan that we never got in the US.''
The Japanese Super Mario 2 was a Famicom Disk System game never ported to
the NES. The US Super Mario 2 was adapted from a non-Mario Japanese game
called "Dream Factory Doki Doki Panic". This game in turn was sold in Japan
as Super Mario USA. The Super Mario All-Stars cartridge (Super Mario
Collection in Japan) is one cartridge with SNES ports of SM1, SM3, and both
the American and Japanese SM2s.
``Can you play Forgotten Worlds (Japanese PCE-SCD) on a TG-16, even though the
controller doesn't fit?''
Button I fires, button II is clockwise. You can make either SELECT or button
III be counterclockwise, so you can play the game on a TG-16 if you don't mind
using SELECT as an action button.
The controller fits on the Turbo Duo, since the Turbo Duo uses PC Engine type
controllers (the regular TG-16 uses its own odd controllers).
``Why did John Madden 93 Championship Edition for the Sega Genesis sell for
such a high price?''
It's priced for rental, not for sale, just like many video tapes. Selling them
to consumers is still legal, but not really intended.
``Is the Japanese version of Mortal Kombat censored?''
The Super Famicom version is. There is no Mega Drive version at all.
``What Final Fantasy games correspond to the US ones?''
FF1 for the NES was the same for the Famicom. 2 and 3 have had no US release.
FF4 easy edition in Japan is FF2 in the US. FF6 in Japan is FF3 in the US.
FF5 was to be released in America as Final Fantasy Extreme, but has been can-
celled.
Mystic Quest is the same in both countries.
Final Fantasy Adventure for the Gameboy was, in Japan, Seiken Densetsu Final
Fantasy Gaiden (Legend of the Holy Sword -- Final Fantasy Side Story). Its
sequel, Seiken Densetsu 2, became Secret of Mana in the US.
The Final Fantasy Legend games were part of a different series (Sa-Ga) in
Japan. They had Super Famicom sequels Romancing Sa-Ga and Romancing Sa-Ga
2, which haven't been released in the US.
``What are the Ultima games that exist for game machines, and how do they
correspond to PC versions?''
Games with PC versions:
Ultima III: Exodus (NES)
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES)
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (NES)
Ultima VI: The False Prophet (SNES)
Ultima VII: The Black Gate (SNES)
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire (SNES)
No PC versions:
Ultima: Runes of Virtue (Gameboy)
Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2 (Gameboy, SNES)
Section 7: System Capabilities:
==============================
______________________________________________________________________________
| | Neo Geo | SNES | Genesis | TG-16 | NES | Sega MS2 |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|Bits (CPU)| 8 + 16 | 16 | 16 | 8 + 8 | 8 | 8 |
|Bits (Gx) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 8 |
|CPU | 68000| 65816 | 68000 | HuC6280| 6502 | Z80 |
|APU (Aud) | Z80| SPC???? | Z80 | | | |
|MHz | 12.5, 4| 3.6 | 7.6 | 3.6 3.6| 1.8 | 3.6 |
|Graphics | 320 x 224| 256 x 224| 320 x 224| 256 x 256| 256 x 240| 240 x 226|
| -2nd mode| | 512 x 448|320 x 448*| 320x256**| | |
|Planes | ? | ? | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|Colors |4096/65536| 256/32768| 61/512 | 482/512 | 16/52 | 52/256 |
|Sprites | 380 | 128 | 80 | 64 | 8 | 16 |
| - size | 16 x 512| 32 x 32| 32 x 32| 16 x 16| 8 x 8 | 8 x 8 |
|Audio | 15-lyr |PCM 8-lyr | 10-lyr | 6-lyr | mono | mono |
|RAM | 64K+68Kgx|128K+64Kgx| 72K+64Kgx| 8K+64Kgx| 2K+ 2Kgx| ? |
| | (+2K Z80)| | | | | |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|CD CPU/MHz| ? | |68000/12.5| 65802/16 |
|CD RAM |430K VRAM | | 768K | CD=64K |
| | 64K SRAM | | | SCD=256K |
| |7 mg DRAM | | | |
|----------+----------+ +----------+----------+
* The 320x448 mode on the Genesis is the Sonic split-screen mode.
** A 512x256 mode is possible through fiddling with registers, but not
officially supported.
Comment: Some listings of colors are probably a bit too high. For instance,
the Genesis has 8x8 tiles which use 16 colors from one of 4 palettes each,
which would be 64 colors, except that the 16th is a "transparent" color that
is the same for all 4. Listings for Genesis colors tend to ignore this and
say "64" instead of "61". It's unclear how many of the other figures are like
this.
______________________________________________________________________________
| | Jaguar | 3DO | CD32 | Saturn | Sony | NEC PC-FX|
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
|Bits (CPU)| 64 + 16 | 32 | 32 | 32 + 16 | 32 | 32 |
|Bits (Gx) | 64 | 32 | 32 | 64 (?)| ? | ? |
|CPU |Proprietary ARM/60 | 68EC020 |HitachiSH2| R3000A | V810 |
| | + 68000| | | (two) | | |
| | | | | + 68EC000| | |
|APU (Aud) |Proprietary ? |Proprietary ? | ? | ? |
|MHz | 13.3 | 12.5 | 14 | 27 | 33 | 21.5 |
|MHz (Gx) | ? | ? | 28 | ? | ? | ? |
|Graphics | 720x526**|320x240***|1280x512**| ? | 640 x 480| 320 x 240|
|Colors | 16777216| 16777216|256/1677.*|?/16777216|?/16777216|?/16777216|
|Sprites | N/A | N/A | 8 | ? | 4000 | 128 |
| - size | N/A | N/A |64x scrnht| ? | 8x8 | ? |
|Audio | unlim | ? |4 channels| 32 chan. | 24 chan. | ? |
|RAM |2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|2 megabyte|
|Video RAM | ? |1 megabyte| ? | 1.5m |1 megabyte| 1.25m |
|Audio RAM | ? | ? | ? | 512K | 512K | ? |
|MPEG |MPEG1 opt.| ? | ? | ? | MPEG1 | MPEG1 |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
|CD CPU/MHz| ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|CD RAM | 256K | ? | ? | 512K | 256K | 256K |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
(Apparently some pamphlets with mistakes in them list the Playstation as
512K video RAM.)
__________________________________
| | 3DO 2 | Ultra 64 |
|----------+----------+----------+
|Bits (CPU)| ? | 64 |
|Bits (Gx) | ? | ? |
|CPU | ? |R4200 RISC|
|APU (Aud) | ? | ? |
|MHz | 66 | *4 |
|MHz (Gx) | ? | ? |
|Graphics |640 x 480?| ? |
|Colors | 16777216| 16777216|
|Sprites | N/A | ? |
| - size | ? | ? |
|Audio | ? | ? |
|RAM |4 megabyte| ? |
|Video RAM | ? | ? |
|Audio RAM | ? | ? |
|MPEG |MPEG1;2opt| ? |
|----------+----------+----------+
|CD CPU/MHz| ? | ? |
|CD RAM | ? | ? |
|----------+----------+----------+
* Also has Hold and Modify mode which gives 262144/16777216 colors and is
mainly useful for still pictures.
** Jaguar resolution includes overscan. CD32 can do >1300x566 overscanned.
*** Interpolated to 640x480?
*4 Reported as 500, which other people have said is a mistake that is actually
the DRAM speed.
CD-I: I don't know, but very primitive. Most of its capability seems to come
from playing video and video clips, not machine-generated graphics.
Bandai Playdia Quick Interactive System (formerly BA-X): Ditto. It's a lot
newer, so I assume the graphics are better, but I've never seen one....
________________________________________________________
| | GameBoy | Lynx | GameGear | TExpress |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|Bits (CPU)| 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 + 8 |
|Bits (Gx) | 8 | 16 | 8 | 16 |
|CPU | Z80 | 6502 | Z80 | 6502 6502|
|MHz (CPU) | 2.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 7.2 |
|MHz (Gx) | | 16.0 | | |
|ScreenSize| 2.6" | 3.5" | 3.2" | 2.6" |
|Graphics | 160 x 144| 160 x 102| 160 x 144| 256 x 216|
|Colors | mono (4) | 16/4096 | 32/4096 | 482/512 |
|Sprites | 8 | unlim | 64 | 64 |
| - size | 8 x 8 | unlim | 8 x 8 | 16 x 16 |
|Audio | 2-lyr | 4-lyr | 4-lyr | 6-lyr |
|RAM | 16K | 64K | 24K | 8K+64Kgx|
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
Most systems can change colors on successive scan lines, using more colors
than the ones listed.
The game Ex-ranza (Ranger-X in USA) for the Genesis is billed as having 128
colors. It's not clear whether or not this is just a scan line change.
The existence of multiple graphics modes also confuses things--it might not be
possible to use all features at the highest graphics mode, as in the lack of
hardware rotation in the SNES 512x448 mode. I'm not sure if there are
limitations on the double resolution Genesis mode (used for Sonic split
screen).
``Does the Genesis CD-ROM have extra colors, sprites, or resolution?''
No. (Despite at least two errors in Gamepro magazine.)
``What is this megabit stuff? Isn't it supposed to be byte?''
1 byte is equal to 8 bits, so an 8 megabit game is really 1 megabyte. (Also,
``mega'' for computers is 1048576, not an even million). Although it is widely
believed that this was popularized by Sega's "mega cartridges" for the Master
System, the idea of inflating game size this way apparently dates back at least
to Coleco's Adam. (Some memory chips really are measured in bits, though.)
Old Neo-Geo ads claimed "megabytes" for their games, which was a lie.
'Bits' in game systems
There are several processor characteristics that measure in bits; whether or
not a processor counts as 32-bit may depend on what you consider important.
(A 32-bit processor might be one which has a 32-bit address space, performs
operations on 32-bit quantities, or has a 32 bit wide bus). One thing that
you _can't_ do is add the bits in all a system's processors, so a Sega CD
is not a 32-bit system even though it has two 16-bit processors, nor is a
Neo-Geo a 24-bit system.
When discussing graphics, professionals often use "bits" to refer to how many
colors there are: if a system lets a pixel be one of 2^16 colors, the system
has "16-bit graphics". (A common error associated with this definition is to
say that this means the machine can show 2^16 colors at once, although video
game systems don't have enough pixels on the screen to do so.)
This contrasts with video game company hype, which usually says either 1)
"This is a 16 bit machine, so we'll call the graphics 16 bits", or 2) "This is
a 16 bit processor, and we use it for graphics, so we'll say we have 16-bit
graphics". (The latter is the method used at the top of this section of the
FAQ.)
"How many bits of graphics" and "how many bits" are about equally worthless,
er, bits, of information. It's only in the FAQ because people keep asking for
it anyway.
Game Genie Genesis decoding
Merlyn LeRoy posted the method to convert Game Genie codes to real hex codes:
For example, SCRA-BJX0 is a game genie code. Each letter is 5 bits from
the table ABCDEFGHJKLMNPRSTVWXYZ0123456789, A=00000, B=00001, C=00010...
S C R A - B J X 0
01111 00010 01110 00000 00001 01000 10011 10110
ijklm nopIJ KLMNO PABCD EFGHd efgha bcQRS TUVWX rearrange as...
00000000 10011100 01110110: 01010100 01111000
ABCDEFGH IJKLMNOP QRSTUVWX: abcdefgh ijklmnop
24-bit address 16-bit data
MSB LSB MSB LSB
Which is 009c76: 5478
Pro Action Replay format for Genesis
The Pro Action Replay codes for the Genesis are just an address/data format,
AAAAAADDDD. The Pro Action Replay can either intercept reads to ROM, or in-
stall a routine which continually restores RAM values. (Codes which modify
RAM can't be converted to Game Genie formats.) The best educated guesses are
that FF as first two digits of the address indicates RAM, and anything else is
a page pointer for ROM. The data is a 16 bit number, but if the first two di-
gits of the data are 00, the device only inserts an 8 bit number. (You prob-
ably need two codes if you want to insert a 16 bit number which starts with
two zeroes.)
Game Genie SNES decoding
(This is from hexadecimal to Genie, to reverse just run it backwards)
Data - D7 down to D0
Address - A23 down to A0. Bit 15 is always a 1; if you use a 0, the Game
Genie will just change it to a 1 anyway.
DDDD DDDD AAAA AAAA AAAA AAAA AAAA AAAA (Genie Code)
7654 3210 1111 7654 9822 2232 1011 1111 (True address, rearranged)
5432 32 10 98 7610
Example - Force AD at 80C7AA
Data = 1010 1101
Address = 1000 0000 1100 0111 1010 1010
Take the data in order, and then take bit 15, 14, 13, 12, 7, 6, etc. of the
address, to get:
1010 1101 1100 1010 1110 0010 1000 0001 = ADCAE281
The Game Genie hex is encoded from normal hexadecimal, so at this
point you must translate with the following table:
HEX: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
GENIE: D F 4 7 0 9 1 5 6 B C 8 A 2 3 E
Translates to C2AC-346F
SNES/SF Game Finger (copier code) decoding
The general format is: AAAAABBBBBBCCD <- a 14-digit codes
| | | |_ D: target to replace bytes
A: address of the first | | |___ C: checksum
byte to be replaced _______| |_______ B: 3 bytes for replacement
Unused B bytes are replaced by XX. Note that the address only refers to a 1
meg address space.
The checksum format is: stick an 0 in front and then divide into sequences of
two hex digits representing bytes. Add together the first six of these (the
A's and B's). I have no idea if D is added in also, since the person who
originally posted this information used an example of D=0.
Values for D are:
0: replace values in DRAM of copier
1: replace values in backup RAM of copier
2, 8, A, C, F: non-standard codes which may be converted to 0.
The Game Finger codes are in plain hexadecimal, but they use ROM cartridge
addresses while the Game Genie uses CPU addresses. The conversion is as
follows:
CPU ROM (cartridge)
address address
A23 none
A22 none
A21 none
A20 A19
A19 A18
A18 A17
A17 A16
A16 A15
A15 none (A15 is always high for ROM accesses)
A14 A14
A13 A13
A12 A12
A11 A11
A10 A10
A9 A9
A8 A8
A7 A7
A6 A6
A5 A5
A4 A4
A3 A3
A2 A2
A1 A1
[Pro] Action Replay Codes for SNES
The format is AAAAAADD for address and data.
The cumulative intellect of the net doesn't seem to know much about these
codes at all. As for the Genesis, this works by continually rewriting RAM
locations. I don't know the format of these codes, or if they also do ROM
like the Game Genie does (though they _probably_ do).
The Game Action Replay is something different, which saves a copy of the
NES's RAM so it can be used later; for instance in returning to a level in
a game without a level select.
Game Genie codes for Gameboy: see the Gameboy FAQ.
Section 8: Connecter/Controller Pinouts:
=======================================
Genesis A/V connector
Starting from the 1 o'clock position, looking at the Genesis from the back,
and going clockwise, the pins are: red, audio, +5 volts, ground, green,
composite video, and negative combined sync, with blue on the center pin.
Neo Geo A/V connector
Same as Genesis, though the plug is a different size.
SNES controller
_________
1 | U | 20
2 | | 19
3 | | 18
4 | | 17
5 | | 16
6 | | 15
7 | | 14
8 | | 13
9 | | 12
10 |_________| 11
1 : Pad: Down
2 : Pad: Left
3 : Pad: Right
4 : Select
5 : Start
6-9: Output 1-4
10: Gnd (pin 5 on connector)
11: nc
12: nc
13: Y
14: B
15: A
16: X
17: R
18: L
19: Pad: Up
20: nc
SNES output pinouts
From Radio Electronics April 1992:
11 9 7 5 3 1
12 10 8 6 4 2
1. RED VIDEO (requires series 200ufd)
2. GREEN VIDEO (requires series 200ufd)
3. RGB SYNCH (active low combined v+h synch pulses)
4. BLUE VIDEO (requires series 200ufd)
5. GROUND
6. GROUND
7. S-Video "Y"
8. S-Video "C"
9. NTSC COMPOSITE VIDEO
10. +5 Volts DC
11. L+R Sound
12. L-R Sound
SNES cartridge pinouts
(from rolfes@uni-muenster.de)
SNES Slot:
.---------.
| 01 | 32 |
| 02 | 33 |
| 03 | 34 |
| 04 | 35 |
|----+----|
GND | 05 | 36 | GND
A11 | 06 | 37 | A12
A10 | 07 | 38 | A13
A9 | 08 | 39 | A14
A8 | 09 | 40 | If ROM > 8Mbit to LS139, otherwise NC
A7 | 10 | 41 | A15
A6 | 11 | 42 | A16
A5 | 12 | 43 | A17
A4 | 13 | 44 | A18
A3 | 14 | 45 | A19
A2 | 15 | 46 | A20
A1 | 16 | 47 | A21
A0 | 17 | 48 | A22
NC | 18 | 49 | ROM /OE. If RAM via LS139 to ROM
D0 | 19 | 50 | D4
D1 | 20 | 51 | D5
D2 | 21 | 52 | D6
D3 | 22 | 53 | D7
RAM /OE and ROM /CE | 23 | 54 | RAM /W
Pin 1 D413 | 24 | 55 | Pin 2 D413
Pin 7 D413 | 25 | 56 | Pin 6 D413
RAM /E | 26 | 57 | NC
VCC | 27 | 58 | VCC
|----+----|
| 28 | 59 |
| 29 | 60 |
| 30 | 61 |
| 31 | 62 |
`---------'
D413/D411 (Europe/USA) are the security chips
RAM/ROM Select:
RAM - RAM /E low, RAM /OE low, ROM /OE high,
(A20 or A21 must be high if cartridge size is less or equal 8 Mbit)
ROM - ROM /CE low, ROM /OE low, RAM /E high, 40 high
(A20 and A21 must be low if cartridge size is less or equal 8 Mbit)
Cartridge ROM:
EPROM ROM ROM EPROM
.----_----.
A20 | | VCC
A21 | | A22
|----_----|
A19 A17 | 01 32 | VCC VCC
A16 A18 | 02 31 | /OE A18
A15 A15 | 03 30 | A19 A17
A12 A12 | 04 29 | A14 A14
A7 A7 | 05 28 | A13 A13
A6 A6 | 06 27 | A8 A8
A5 A5 | 07 26 | A9 A9
A4 A4 | 08 25 | A11 A11
A3 A3 | 09 24 | A16 /OE
A2 A2 | 10 23 | A10 A10
A1 A1 | 11 22 | /CE /CE
A0 A0 | 12 21 | D7 D7
D0 D0 | 13 20 | D6 D6
D1 D1 | 14 19 | D5 D5
D2 D2 | 16 18 | D4 D4
GND GND | 16 17 | D3 D3
`---------'
LS139 (two binary decoders) in less or equal 8 Mbit cartridges:
.----_----.
ROM /OE /1G | 01 16 | VCC VCC
A21 1A | 02 15 | /2G /1Y3
A20 1B | 03 14 | 2A A19
/OE /1Y0 | 04 13 | 2B RAM /E
NC /1Y1 | 05 12 | /2Y0 NC
NC /1Y2 | 06 11 | /2Y1 NC
/2G /1Y3 | 07 10 | /2Y2 NC
GND GND | 08 09 | /2Y3 NC
`---------'
LS139 (two binary decoders) in more than 8 Mbit cartridges:
.----_----.
ROM /OE /1G | 01 16 | VCC VCC
40 1A | 02 15 | /2G /1Y3
RAM /E 1B | 03 14 | 2A NC
NC /1Y0 | 04 13 | 2B NC
NC /1Y1 | 05 12 | /2Y0 NC
NC /1Y2 | 06 11 | /2Y1 NC
/OE and /2G /1Y3 | 07 10 | /2Y2 NC
GND GND | 08 09 | /2Y3 NC
`---------'
Cartridge pinouts for Gameboy: see the Gameboy FAQ.
Section 9: Compatibility:
========================
FAMICOM: Same as NES. Adaptors reportedly exist.
FAMICOM DISK SYSTEM: No US counterpart. (People kept copying the disks.)
SUPER FAMICOM: Same as Super NES. There are at least four versions:
American/Japanese, at least two incompatible European versions, and Australi-
an. These are incompatible because of lockout chips, but you can buy an
adapter which connects a lockout chip from a native cartridge and a program
from a foreign cartridge.
There are some older adapters that don't include all data lines, and on these,
games like Super Mario Kart or Starfox won't work.
Some games also have PAL protection (PAL is the TV system in Europe and Aus-
tralia.) This problem can't be fixed with an adaptor alone, and only happens
when trying to run American/Japanese games on PAL systems or vice-versa.
Known games with this problem are SF2 Turbo and Super Mario All-Stars. A Game
Action Replay code to get SF2 Turbo to work is listed elsewhere in this FAQ.
One person posted that to bypass the lockout, a circuit on the bottom left,
possibly U8, needs to have pins 1 and 10 connected. (He advised putting a
switch on it instead of making a permanent change). I assume no responsibili-
ty for you ruining your machine by trying this; I have no idea if this works on
all SNES models.
If you're trying to play a Japanese game on an American system, or vice versa,
you can ignore the above; neither of those problems happens. However, the
cartridges are shaped to not fit in each other's machines. If you cut away the
plastic that prevents them from fitting, you can play them; on a US system it's
the two little plastic tabs that slide into the back of cartridges. (Or you
can use an ``adapter'' which just changes the cartridge slot size).
News flash: It is said that some newer SNES systems have metal inside the tabs,
in which case you might actually need the adapter. There are said to be some
newer machines which won't run any Japanese games.
PC ENGINE/COREGRAFX/DUO: Same as Turbografx-16. Cartridge games aren't
compatible, but you can buy adapters for $20-30 through many mail order
places. Japanese CD and SCD games normally run on American machines without
adapters, though if you want to use the Japanese version of the 3.0 card or
Arcade Card (2M expansion) themselves, you need an adapter.
Some existing adapters aren't shaped to fit in a Turbo Duo. Find one that
fits, or do some cutting....
There is a hardware difference between the two machines, which cartridges can
read. Most TG-16 cartridges check it, and won't work on a PCE even with an
adapter. (Known exceptions which _do_ work are Night Creatures, Ghost Manor,
and some runs of Klax. There is a hypothesis that US-only games which aren't
Japanese ports will work.) All known CDs work both ways, and all known
Japanese games work on a TG-16 or Duo with adapter.
The Altered Beast CD does not work, but that's because of an incompatibility
with the CD system version; it won't work on a PC Engine 2.0 or SCD either.
Note: The CD-ROM2 is the the CD, not the super-CD. The "2" comes from the
Japanese name "Rom Rom".
SUPERGRAFX: No US counterpart. (The Supergrafx was an enhanced PC Engine and
can play PC Engine games without modification, though of course these are hard
to get in the US.)
MEGA DRIVE: Same as Genesis. Compatibility is a bit tricky.
The European and Australian machine called the Mega Drive is identical to the
Genesis except that it emits a 50 hertz PAL signal. The Japanese one is
identical to the Genesis except for (sometimes) the cartridge slot, and the
language setting.
First, to play games in the "wrong" machine you must plug them in. You can
buy an adapter, or just cut away the plastic that keeps them from fitting. On
a US/European machine, this is some plastic around the slot; on an older
Japanese machine, this is the cartridge lock (the tab that pushes into the slot
from the left when you turn on the machine). I never even needed to remove the
cartridge lock, but some people have told me they did.
Now that you've plugged the game in, it will usually run. But there are a
language setting and a 50/60 hertz setting that cartridges can read. Some newer
games are programmed to check these settings and decide not to run at all. The
games known to be locked out this way are: (CD games refuse to run even with
a Pro-CDX)
Do not run in English mode: Japanese versions of After Burner II, Bare
Knuckle 3, Chameleon Kid, Doraemon, Gunstar Heroes, Monster World 4,
Ragnacenti, Rolling Thunder II, Super Monaco GP 2, Super SF2, Thunder
Force IV, Virtua Racing, Yuu Yuu Hakusho.
Do not run in Japanese mode: US versions of Aladdin, Bio-Hazard Battle,
Castlevania Bloodlines, Cyborg Justice, Dragon's Fury, Eternal Champions,
Flashback, Gauntlet IV, Gunstar Heroes, Landstalker, Lightening Force,
Majin Saga, Outrun 2019, Ren and Stimpy, Rocket Knight Adventures, SF2,
Shadowrun, Shining Force, Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage II, Streets of Rage
III, Sunset Riders, Thunderstrike (CD), World of Illusion, X-Men.
Do not run in 50 hertz mode: US versions of Flashback, Sonic Spinball,
Streets of Rage II, World of Illusion, World Series Baseball (And
probably most of the ones that don't run in Japanese mode, too.)
Does not run in 60 hertz mode: European version of Xenon2.
To play English/Japanese versions, you need a language switch, or a special
adaptor which acts like one. To play European/non-European versions, you
need a 50/60 hertz switch (see below).
The language switch is useful in its own right. Some games have dual ROMs, and
play US versions in US/European machines and Japanese versions in Japanese
machines; you can see both versions by installing the switch.
For the CD-ROM, there are 4 different versions: American, European,
Japanese, and (other) Asian. There are three combinations to consider; the
disk, CD drive, and console can each be mismatches.
CD drive/disk: You can get around mismatches by replacing the ROM containing
the operating system with one from another country, and replacing the timing
crystal if there is a 50/60 hertz incompatibility. (I have no idea if there
are non-pirated ROMs which let you do this.) The ROM is the big chip near the
connector (at least on older versions). There is an adapter called the Pro-
CDX which usually fixes the problem without replacing anything. (Older Pro-
CDX versions don't work on Japanese drives, and older Pro-CDX versions, in
general, have problems with several games). There is also an adapter called
the CD-Key. I have no idea how well it works, whether it works on the same
principles, etc.
CD drive/console: the American CD player won't start up on a Japanese
console (there are mixed reports about Japanese players and US consoles).
The Pro-CDX (usually), swapping ROMs, or a language/50/60 switch fixes this.
Disk/console: The Pro-CDX does _not_ fix this one, and can't. Use a
language switch or a language switch-type adaptor in addition to a Pro-CDX.
Luckily, this seems to be rare, so far.
There is supposedly a version D ROM, for internal Sega use by game developers,
with which a Pro-CDX is not needed. I have no idea if there are pirated
versions of this floating around either....
(The excuse for incompatibility is that cartridges don't use music or footage
from licensed properties, but CDs do, and licensing might only apply to limit-
ed geographic areas. Needless to say, cartridges _do_ use music, and at least
digitized pictures from, licensed properties. Nor do the compatible PC
Engine/TG CD's, 3DO CDs, or for that matter regular music CDs or laser discs,
have this sort of problem.)
SEGA MARK III: same as and compatible with the Sega Master System.
NEO-GEO: same as and compatible with US version. There is a 1 megabit ROM in
it which is different in different versions. There are at least arcade ver-
sions, English-language home versions, and Japanese language home versions,
and you can make a language and/or version switch if you have an EPROM burner.
The arcade Neo-Geo carts are functionally identical to the home ones, but have
different sized boards to keep arcade owners from using the cheap home versions.
Whether or not there's an adapter for this, I have no idea.
3DO: No known incompatibility.
SEGA 32X: No new incompatibility, but the incompatibility of the underlying
Genesis/Mega Drive (and CD player, if you're playing 32X CD games) still
applies; get a language switch and/or a Pro-CDX, just like for regular Mega
Drive and Mega CD games.
GAMEBOY: same as and compatible with US version.
LYNX: same as and compatible with US version.
GAME GEAR: same as and compatible with US version. The Japanese TV tuner,
however, works on Japanese TV frequencies, some of which differ from US TV
frequencies.
There are reports that US Game Gear games play in Japanese on a Japanese
system, which suggests yet another system with a language switch....
PC ENGINE GT: This is the equivalent of the TurboExpress, and runs PC Engine
games. The same adapter that plays PC Engine games on a TG-16 also plays them
on a TurboExpress. Again, note that Japanese TV tuners work on different
frequencies than US ones.
SATURN: Locked out. Allegedly someone figured out how the lockout works and
how to make it compatible. More news if I get any.
PLAYSTATION: Apparently locked out. Who knows?
MISCELLANEOUS: The "Master Gear" adapter plays Sega Master System games on the
Game Gear. The games won't run at the correct speed if the game is from a
place where TV uses PAL (i.e. Europe). Adapters in reverse, to play Game Gear
games on a Sega Master System, are probably possible, but I've never heard of
any.
The Power Base Converter plays Sega Master System games on a Genesis. (If
the reverse Game Gear/Master System adapter really exists, you could play
Game Gear games on your Genesis....) There are differently-shaped Power Base
Converters for the old and new Genesis shapes; the one for the Genesis 2 is
only available in Europe.
There is a European adapter which plays NES games on a SNES. The price is too
high for this adapter to be a reasonable alternative, in the USA, to buying
the NES separately.
How to make a language switch (Genesis/MD).
On a Genesis/MD, there are jumpers labelled JP1, JP2, JP4, and JP3. The Genesis
has a capacitor on JP1 and a trace on JP2; the Mega Drive has a capacitor on
JP2 and a trace on JP1. The bottom ends of JP1 and JP2 are connected together.
So if you cut the trace and the top end of the capacitor, and install a DPDT
switch between them which reconnects them either unchanged or swapped left to
right, you have a language switch. You'll need some wire, a soldering iron,
solder, and a DPDT switch.
Some machines have an open circuit instead of the capacitor. Also, I've been
told that even if there is a capacitor, you can throw it out and leave an open
circuit. Either way, the switch is a lot simpler, requiring a SPDT switch and
less wire and solder.
Several people have told me that you could just cut both JP1 and JP2 and put a
SPST switch on JP1. This is even simpler, but I'm not sure it really works, as
opposed to putting your machine in an intermediate state that only sort-of
works.
The redesigned Genesis 2 machines don't appear to have either the capacitor or
circuit. Nobody yet knows how to make the language switch for one, though
language switch adaptor/cartridges should still work.
IF YOUR MACHINE HAS NO CAPACITOR (or if you want to cross your fingers and
throw away your capacitor) and is not a Genesis 2:
Cut JP2. The trace might be covered with paint and hard to see. (If you
started with a Mega Drive, JP2 is open and you have to cut JP1 instead.) If
you aren't sure which end I mean by "bottom", just check the back of the board
to see which end is connected together.
Original state of machine: After cutting:
JP2 top JP1 top JP2 top JP1 top
| | | |
| | | |
|
|
|
|
| | | |
\ / \ /
\_______/ \_______/
bottom of both bottom of both
Add a SPDT switch which can be in one of two positions:
._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. .
. . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. . . .
JP2 top JP1 top . .
| | . .
| | _________
| o o |
| \ |
| \ |
\___o___/
| | .
\ / .
\_______/ - - - - - - - - - - - -
bottom of both
._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. .
. . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. . . .
JP2 top JP1 top . .
| | . .
| | _________
| o o |
| / |
| / |
\___o___/
| | .
\ / .
\_______/ - - - - - - - - - - - -
bottom of both
-----------------------------------------------------------------
IF YOUR MACHINE DOES HAVE THE CAPACITOR:
Cut both sides. (Note: if you started with a Japanese Mega Drive the
capacitor will be on the side labelled X instead)
Original state of machine: After cutting:
JP2 top JP1 top JP2 top JP1 top
| | | |
| | | |
| |
| |
| | |
X | ### X | ###
| ### | ###
| ### | ###
\ / \ /
\_______/ \_______/
bottom of both
add switch which can be in one of two positions:
JP2 top JP1 top (Connect 2 to 2
| | and 1 to 1)
| |
2 1 2 1 1 2
______________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | o o o o |
| ` | \ \ |
X | ###` ` | \ \ |
| ### ` ` \____o__o____/
| ### ` ` ' '
\ / ` `- - - - -' '
\_______/ ` _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '
bottom of both
JP2 top JP1 top (Connect 2 to 2
| | and 1 to 1)
| |
2 1 2 1 1 2
______________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | o o o o |
| ` | / / |
X | ###` ` | / / |
| ### ` ` \____o__o____/
| ### ` ` ' '
\ / ` `- - - - -' '
\_______/ ` _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '
bottom of both
50/60 hertz switch.
You can build a 50/60 hertz switch on a Genesis/Mega Drive like a language
switch, but using jumpers JP3 and JP4. The standard setting is 50 in PAL areas
such as Europe, and 60 in NTSC areas like the US and Japan. In the 60 hertz
mode, the game is faster and the screen taller; however, not all TVs and
monitors in Europe can display this mode.
There is some way to build one on a SNES. I don't know how.
Some American/Japanese games are protected to keep Europeans from playing them;
this protection checks the 50/60 hertz setting. You can usually get around it
by installing the switch and switching when starting the game, then switching
back afterwards.
Many European games are simple ports of American or Japanese games and are not
redesigned for 50 hertz, so work faster and with "better" screen proportions
if played at 60 hertz.
Genesis/Mega Drive dual version (language switch) list:
After Burner (32X): has "Super 32X" logo after the Sega logo.
*Battle Mania II: works normally, but without joysticks it gives you a
screen telling your language mode, NTSC/PAL, and system version.
Bonanza Brothers: Game plays in Japanese. (Maybe. There seems to be more
than one version floating around.)
Chase HQ II: speedometer changes to KM/H.
Columns: Game plays in Japanese.
Cosmic Carnage (32X): Turns into "Cyber Brawl", with different characters.
Also shows the Super 32X logo.
*Cyberball: Japanese version has a modem option.
Dragon's Fury: Works only with language set to English. The original,
Devil's Crush MD, works either way.
Dynamite Duke: Harder on the Mega Drive.
Elemental Master: Harder on the Mega Drive.
Fatal Labyrinth: Game plays in Japanese.
Fire Shark: Different title screen with Kanji.
Flicky: Characters have Japanese names and instructions are in Japanese.
Forgotten Worlds: Game plays in Japanese.
Gaiares: only mentions the Japanese licensee on the title screen, and has
Japanese text; you can also select Japanese text from the option screen.
Gauntlet IV: The game has lockout, but you can flick the switch and then
reset. The Japanese version has Japanese text (sound stays English), says
"Megadrive", and has a Gauntlet (not Gauntlet IV) logo on the game screen.
If you reset too late, you have to select the text language manually.
Ghostbusters: Game plays in Japanese.
Ghouls and Ghosts: Different title screen with Kanji. To see it on a
Genesis, select the last music and sound (26 and 56) from the options screen,
then press lower left; A, B, or C; and Start all at the same time. (I never
tried this, but Gamepro magazine claimed it works.) The game shows some other
Japanese text, and when you die during a boss you start out earlier.
Herzog Zwei: company's name is spelled "Tecnosoft".
Insector X: Title screen refers to company as Hot-B, not Sage's Creation.
The MD version shoots more slowly. The ending text is still English.
*Marvel Land: The Japanese version says "for Mega Drive" or "for Genesis"
but the language stays Japanese. (What does an English version do?)
Monaco GP: Game plays in Japanese (also an option on the option screen).
Mystic Defender: This game is actually the anime-based Kujaku-Ou (Peacock
King) 2 game. In Japanese mode, the opening text is replaced by a graphics
screen (never seen in the US version) with Japanese. The levels have names,
the main character wears a white robe, the lightning magic effect is different,
and the character is named Kujaku in the ending text (which is still English).
Outrun: The attract mode lacks sound, the startup screen says "push" (not
"press") start button, and "(C) Sega 1986, 1991" is printed in reverse order.
The default options are KM/H and a different button selection (but can still be
changed on the option screen).
Quackshot: Game plays in Japanese.
Raiden Trad: The "licensed to Sega" line is absent on both title screens,
and the second title screen includes only the Japanese part instead of the
non-Japanese part of the first one.
Revenge of Shinobi: Title changes to Super Shinobi; credits show at the end.
Rolling Thunder II: The Japanese version only works on a Japanese setting.
The US version works either way (and isn't bilingual).
Sonic the Hedgehog II: Tails is renamed to "Miles".
Space Harrier (32X): has "Super 32X" logo after the Sega logo.
Streets of Rage: Title screen changes to Bare Knuckle, and all text is in
Japanese, including the introduction. The clock resets when you encounter the
bosses.
Streets of Rage II: Turns to Bare Knuckle II, and renames Skate to Sammy --
_if_ you change the setting sometime after turning the machine on (to skip the
lockout).
*Super Fantasy Zone: opening cinema changes from English/Japanese.
Super Hang-On: Plays in Japanese, which is also accessible with A+B+C on
the logo screen.
Thunder Force II: Title screen has "MD" on it, and company name is
"Tecnosoft".
Thunder Force III: company's name is spelled "Tecnosoft".
*Thunder Force IV: claims to be licensed for Genesis, if you change the
switch after the lockout check.
*Thunder Storm FX (CD): Turns to Cobra Command in US mode.
Truxton: Japanese title is Tatsujin.
Twin Hawk: Different title screen with Kanji.
*Wrestle War: The wrestler is blond on a Genesis and black-haired on a MD.
* Information from testing a Japanese game
Many games with a standard "Sega TM" screen also omit the TM when played in
Japanese mode, even if the game isn't otherwise bilingual.
Most of the Japanese has been removed from the Sega CD versions of Columns,
Revenge of Shinobi, and Streets of Rage.
Sega Master System and Game Gear Language Switches:
There are rumors that the Sega Master System and the Game Gear had language-
switchable games. I received one report of "World Gran Prix" for the Sega
Master System changing title to "The Circuit" (it was played with a Power Base
Converter on a Japanese Mega Drive).
Further information is welcome (particularly if anyone played it on a regular
Genesis or SMS and _didn't_ get "The Circuit").
Neo-Geo multiple version:
Games do do different things in Japanese and American systems, as well as in
arcade/home. There is a 1 megabit ROM that has to be replaced to change
versions; put a new ROM (copied from a different version Neo-Geo) on top of
the old one and add a switch to toggle the power pin. There are at least 4
different versions (US/Japan, home/arcade). Normally the difference is in the
language for US/Japan and the number of credits for home/arcade, but the most
infamous case is Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits in Japanese), which on a US
home version has no blood or violent killings.
PC Engine/TG-16 pinout.
This information was posted by David Shadoff (david.shadoff@canrem.com)
and is mostly verbatim:
Notes:
(1) For reference, pin 1 is the short pin (on the left, if the card
is to inserted forwards), pin 38 is the long pin on the right.
(2) * - means I think this is what it is
** - means I don't know
(bar) - means it is an active-while low condition (usually denoted
by a bar over top)
(3) I'm telling you all I know (which really isn't much), and it may
contain errors, also - I will not be held responsible for errors
in this list. (or any damages resulting from the use of, or
inability to use, this information, etc...)
Pin Use
--- ---
1 ** 20 D4
2 ** 21 D5
3 A18* 22 D6
4 A16 23 D7
5 A15 24 CE (bar) - chip select
6 A12 25 A10
7 A7 26 OE (bar) - output enable
8 A6 27 A11
9 A5 28 A9
10 A4 29 A8
11 A3 30 A13
12 A2 31 A14
13 A1 32 A17
14 A0 33 A19*
15 D0 34 R/W (bar over W) - read/write
16 D1 35 **
17 D2 36 **
18 Gnd 37 **
19 D3 38 +5V
It is interesting to note that pins 6 thru 29 are basically exact
duplicates of the functions of pins 2 thru 25 on a 2764 EPROM.
Obviously, the design of the chip's die was not a complete re-work;
it just sits on a different package.
I got this information from tracing address- and data-paths through
the PC-E to the 2K static RAM (which has a known pinout), and
extending that information by reviewing an NEC data book on their
1-Megabit factory-programmed PROM's (it's an old data book, so I
couldn't go any further).
The TG-16 differs from the PC-E in that the D0-7 datalines are
reversed (actually, the PROM is programmed that way, and the wires
leading to the data bus in the machine are reversed). I have
shown here, the card pinout (which does not differ). I believe
that this is the PC-E port pinout (TG-16's just reverse the data
lines' order; swap 0 for 7, 1 for 6, 2 for 5, and 3 for 4).
-
Additional information: to copy a TG-16 game to work on a PC Engine with
copier, reverse the bit order. There is then a sequence of code which checks
what machine the game is running on: all known examples start with 78 54 A9,
have the letters NEC at offset 15 hex, and an F0 at offset 0B. If the F0 is
changed to an 80 (changing a conditional jump to an unconditional jump), the
game will work on both PC Engine and TG-16.
This code sequence is usually at the start of the game, but can be in other
places.
Section 9: Game Magazines
=========================
British magazines: To order a British magazine, call first; pay with a VISA
card or an International Money Order:
Title: Computer + Video Games (computer and console games)
Title: Nintendo Magazine System Mean Machines (Nintendo)
Title: Mean Machines Sega (Sega)
Phone: (0858) 410510
Title: ZONE (console games)
Phone: (071) 580 8908
Title: Sega Pro (Sega only)
Phone: (0225) 765086
Title: Sega Force (Sega only)
Phone: (051) 357 1275
Title: TOTAL (Nintendo only)
Phone: (0458) 74011
Section 10: Historical References
=================================
Cohen, Scott, _Zap!__The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Atari_ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984)
A famous book which is supposedly rare. I haven't seen it around recently,
but haven't seen any real evidence that it's rarer than any other
1984-published book, either.
Katz, Arnie, and Worley, Joyce, "The History of Video Gaming" (parts 1-4),
_A.N.A.L.O.G._Computing_, April 1988-July 1988.
Brief articles on video game systems up to and a bit past the crash. Not that
informative.
Sheff, David, _Game_Over:_How_Nintendo_Conquered_the_World_ (New York:
Random House, 1993)
Mostly about Nintendo, this book has a trade paperback edition published in
1994 with a new afterword. It notably omits NEC in Japan and Sega in Europe,
for instance. This book has a bibliography listing a lot of other sources,
though many of them aren't specifically about video games.
Section 11: Other FAQ's/regular postings/mailing lists
======================================================
FAQs:
----
Game Gear FAQ: send mail to Tony Clark (tclark@hptc.mentorg.com) [Someone told
me mail to him bounced, however.]
Game Boy FAQ: send mail to Marat Fayzullin (fms@wam.umd.edu).
Jaguar FAQ: maintained by Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com).
Lynx FAQ: maintained by Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com).
Neo-Geo FAQ: maintained by Ralph A. Barbagallo III (nugget@genesis.nred.ma.us).
Sega programming FAQ: available at sunsite.unc.edu, pub/micro/games/sega.
The author has stopped this FAQ at version 7.
Sega Saturn FAQ: two FAQs, maintained by Gordon Craick
(pred@zikzak.apana.org.au) and hill931@raven.csrv.uidaho.edu. Do not send
Gordon requests for emailing the FAQ. It may be obtained through WWW at
http://www.uidaho.edu/~hill931.
Sony Playstation FAQ: maintained by Will McBee (mcbeew@ucsuc.colorado.edu).
Mailing Lists:
-------------
Game system development mailing lists: send a message to listserv@
busop.cit.wayne.edu with the line "SUBSCRIBE FAMIDEV". There is an ftp site
with hardware information on busop.cit.wayne.edu. There seem to be other
lists there, details of which I'm not sure. (There seems to have once been a
MEGADEV list and Sega files, but both are gone. I have no idea if anyone is
keeping copies of the files.)
Jaguar mailing list: send a message to listserv@ctrc.idde.saci.org with the
message "subscribe jaguar-l firstname lastname".
SNES mailing list: send mail to snes-l-request@io.com with the body
"subscribe snes-l".
Spoiler/Cheat Lists (not mailing lists):
---------------------------------------
Genesis and Sega CD cheat/hint list: maintained by Bill Herzog (whh@rain.org).
Lynx cheat list: atari.archive.cc.umich.edu.
"Secrets of the Sega Sages": maintained bu Brian Preble (rassilon@ai.mit.edu).
Can be found in the Sega archives on sunsite.unc.edu and ftp.cica.indiana.edu.
SNES spoiler list: maintained by Tony Iaconetti (iaconetti_a@spcvxa.spc.edu).
Email Servers:
-------------
Classic system cartridge server: send mail to mail-server@xocolatl.com with
"send CARTS.LST" as the body.
Game Boy email server: send a message to gameboy@mentor.cc.purdue.edu with a
subject of ARCHIVE and a body consisting of commands (try 'help', 'filelist').
Game Genie/Gold Finger/Action Replay code server: send mail to
game-genie-serv@nvc.cc.ca.us (or gold-finger-serv or action-replay-serv). The
server accepts a help command. (This server will translate between GG and GF
formats for you.)
FTP sites:
---------
Arcade video game ftp site: wiretap.spies.com, game_archive directory.
Move lists (and a lot of these other lists): ftp ftp.netcom.com,
pub/vi/vidgames/faqs.
FAQ for Gameboy and SNES: available at io.com, /pub/usr/averyc.
Fighting Game Archive/FAQ site: ftp to brawl.mindlink.net. Includes a lot
of move lists, and includes home games.
Miscellaneous:
-------------
Anime video games list: maintained by me (arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu).
Japanese video game source list: maintained by Steve Pearl (pearl@
remus.rutgers.edu). The list can be ftp'ed from romulus.rutgers.edu
(128.6.13.2).
SNES review list: ftp brownvm.brown.edu, cd james.394.
Semi-Classic System stuff:
-------------------------
Sega Master System FAQ: maintained by Jeff Bogumil (aj809@yfn.ysu.edu).
TG-16 FAQ: maintained by John Yu (jky@csa.bu.edu).
TG-16 mailing list: send mail to turbo-list-request@cpac.washington.edu.
Send a help message for the server.
Classic System stuff:
--------------------
Classic Atari systems: last posted by Andrew K. Heller
(cagsfaq@akh104.rh.psu.edu). I assume he maintains it.
Classic Video Game Book and Periodical List: maintained by Lee Seitz
(lkseitz@iquest.com).
Complete Atari 2600 Game List: maintained by Craig Pell (vgriscep@wam.umd.edu).
Colecovision FAQ: maintained by Joe Huber (huber@tribe.enet.dec.com).
Intellivision FAQ: maintained by Larry Anderson Jr. (larry_a@netcom.com).
Microvision FAQ: maintained by Joe Huber (huber@tribe.enet.dec.com).
Starpath FAQ: maintained by Glenn Saunders (krishna@max.tiac.net).
Vectrex FAQ: maintained by Gregg Woodcock (woodcock@sdf.lonestar.org).
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