Can't believe I never thought to check for more plaintext passwords in Jurassic Park, I enjoyed that one back in the day. Good finds!
I actually did some digging on this once. From my understand all reports of this stem from the one mentioned Sega-16 review. Everything always referenced that, somehow one person's bugged run became the de facto experience for everyone. Unlike the model 1 MK CD bug, you'll find nary a firsthand mention of this anywhere.
I've got a fair bit out of this, but I'm starting to hit the wall: https://i.imgur.com/y75WuEX.jpg A lot of what's left are dubious passwords, genuine bugs, questions I've already posed in this topic and "this is how to play the game". There's also situations like After Burner Complete where, while we have the code listed, we're not explaining what "Arcade Mode" actually is... and I'm too lazy to check the whole game. Also NBA Jam: Tournament Edition because it's huge. I did the Saturn version a couple of years ago - it took an age. It's unfortunate that the XBAND cartridge isn't dumped/emulated(??) because it looks like there's some weird stuff in there.
Grabbed a random 1997 issue of Tips & Tricks and did a similar thing with the Saturn. It was also fruitful: Panzer Dragoon/Hidden content (yet again) you can manipulate the "Sega man" camera and lighting with the second control pad (and yes this also works if you turn it into a woman). Just goes to show, these mags aren't as redundant as you'd think.
Gungriffon/Hidden content Gungriffon or, "war in Ukraine? surely not" We had nothing on this, because checking a dozen codes in a game I hadn't played was less appealing than checking codes in a game I had. We're still missing some - I think there are more to this game than GameFAQs is suggesting, and the descriptions aren't great. "No radar" doesn't mean no radar, for example, just "enemies don't appear on the radar". Some highlights: You can make the complicated HUD even more complicated with this "debug" code. if you keep pressing C on the second control pad, eventually these windmills will start turning faster. And I do mean "eventually" - you have to press the button a lot to see a difference. No idea if any of this carries through to Gungriffon II.
Now I do - the codes are changed but there are similar ways of turning off parts of the HUD. There doesn't seem to be any known codes for features such as invincibility, unlimited ammo or stage selects, which given the first game had them, seems unusual. But it does have this poorly documented feature (according to GameFAQs): Incredibly vague. It's actually a strange combo counter - if you you destroy two or more enemies in quick succession, a big number shows up: I'm not sure how much there is to this feature - the game can only put a finite number of enemies on-screen at once, and tends to spread them out across the map, so if something happens after say, 10 quick kills in a row, you're not likely to see it. It also offers different colour schemes: Having only two alternative colours isn't unheard of but... it feels like there should be more.
Guardian Heroes/Hidden content Guardian Heroes, or "that's a big debug mode" has never had its secrets documented properly. There's always something wrong, even on TCRF (it's usually little things like pressing more buttons than you need to) - I think I've turned ours from "nonexistent" to "maybe the best?". The Japanese and European debug codes are not nearly as complicated (or unique) as often described. The only thing I'm not sure about is... whether there's secretly more. I mean this one setting seems to activate everything you can think of, so it really wouldn't surprise me if there's animation viewers or something hidden within.
Guardian Heroes is on my list; I'll check it out soon. I looked into Independence Day and found that the Internet is missing some of its special codes. The game cares about these: Code (Text): TRI S DAB DAB RADARMY COCO KIWI ROSA DUONG SCOTTYWAR GREG FM DOOFUS BRENDAN QR KYRA NR FOX ROX MR HAPPY GODZILLA GO POSTAL TOURIST LIVE FREE
Hirokazu Hamamura, former editor of Famitsu, appears in Death Stranding as one of the people you can deliver things to. It raised a question: how is Famitsu's subsequent review going to be impartial? The man who runs the magazine is literally in the game... and yeah, 40/40, top marks. It's not a good look... though given Death Stranding is wonderful and probably worthy of the score, it probably doesn't matter too much in this case. But what if your game wasn't guaranteed top marks, because say, you're NFL Quarterback Club '97 for the Sega Saturn? Well. Shove everyone in there and hope for the best. How can these publications hate us now? Are your staff playable in Madden?? With the aid of modern technology we can find out exactly how that went: NFL Quarterback Club '97/Reception Of these six publications, we only have one review, in which GamePro says it's not as good as Madden, but it might be fine as a rental. I might go hunting for the rest - I suspect most only reviewed the PlayStation version, but it'll be hilarious if any turned out to hate it. Oh yeah also, scratch that comment about Madden 96 maybe having the most hidden teams. This one also apparently has over 100, all unlocked with a single code - dozens of historical NFL teams dating back to the 1950s. And someone might need to clarify a couple of these. Can we play as teams from the future??
Jury's out on whether Ultra Game Players reviewed this version in their (currently missing) Holday 1996 edition, but I found Next Generation's review: https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:NextGeneration_US_24.pdf&page=268 Basically "it's fine, but a bit slow not as polished as others, and not as good as Madden in two player". Nobody else bothered to review it. Though to be fair, Dimension Publishing was a very small player in the video game magazine space and doesn't seem to have had any publications in print around the time of the game's release. I only know of Dimension-3, which didn't really care about consoles, and had stopped circulating by 1996.
Here's a fun one, solved with the help of Kak from Hidden Palace's Discord... Puzzle Bobble 2X / Bust-A-Move 2 - Arcade Edition has two additional title screen codes: Monsta: Down, Z, Up, Z Drunk & Monsta: Right, Y, Y, Left The first code makes the bubbles burst in a fiery explosion. The second enables the "Another World" code, which was already known, plus the exploding bubbles. In addtion, there's these codes that work on the map screen after you clear a stage. You hold the buttons here as the next stage is starting to change characters! Code (Text): When selecting a course, you must clear at least one stage to select a character. After clearing a zone, keep pressing the four buttons to the next stage. The characters can be changed as follows. BABURUN & BOBURUN A, B, C, L (normal characters) Gago A, B, X, Z Kajaku A, C, Y, Z (characters from practice round 2) Monsta B, C, X, Y (characters from practice round 3 & stage 1) Pacchi A, B, Z, R (characters from Stage 2) Urun A, B, X, L (strongest character in stage 3) Pikaru (spark electric light) A, C, Y, R (Stage 4 characters) Garanyo (Tutankhamen) A, C, Z, L (stage 5 character) Handle A, Y, L, R Rabbit C, Z, L, R Computer B, X, L, R Bubble prototype X, Y, Z, R (stage 11 character) BABURUNROBA B, X, Y, L Virugan A, X, Z, L (very strong character in stage 7) Maita B, C, X, R (Stage 8 characters) Chunchun A, Y, Z, R Dorabo B, C, Y, L (Stage 9 characters) Chonchintaa B, X, Z, R (Stage 10 super strong character) Doranku C, X, Y, R (final stage characters) Result You can choose a character
Did some digging: Code (Text): 49ers |San Francisco |the 'Niners |SF Bears |Chicago |Da Bears |CHI Bengals |Cincinnati | |CIN Bills |Buffalo | |BUF Broncos |Denver | |DEN Ravens |Baltimore | |BAL Buccaneers |Tampa Bay |the Bucs |TB Cardinals |Arizona |the Cards |ARZ Chargers |San Diego |the Bolts |SD Chiefs |Kansas City | |KC Colts |Indianapolis |the Ponies |IND Cowboys |Dallas |Da Boys |DAL Dolphins |Miami | |MIA Eagles |Philadelphia | |PHI Falcons |Atlanta | |ATL Giants |New York | |NYG Jaguars |Jacksonville |the Jags |JAX Jets |New York | |NYJ Lions |Detroit | |DET Oilers |Houston | |HOU Packers |Green Bay |The Pack |GB Panthers |Carolina | |CAR Patriots |New England |the Pats |NE Raiders |Oakland | |OAK Rams |St. Louis | |STL Redskins |Washington |the 'Skins |WAS Saints |New Orleans | |NO Seahawks |Seattle | |SEA Steelers |Pittsburgh | |PIT Vikings |Minnesota |the Vikes |MIN Acclaim |New York |Money Bags |ALM Iguanas |Austin |The Iggies |IGU NFC |Pro Bowl | |NFC AFC |Pro Bowl | |AFC Gamepro |Team | |GMP Next Generation |Team | |NXG Deadliners |Ultra Game Players | |GPD Video Games |Team | |VG Dimension Pub. |Team |Foster City Extrem |DMP EGM |Team | |EGM '73 49ers |San Francisco |'Niners |SF '70 Colts |Baltimore | |BAL '70 Cowboys |Dallas |Da 'Boys |DAL '83 Seahawks |Seattle | |SEA '83 Chiefs |Kansas City | |KC '68 Jets |New York | |NYJ '68 Colts |Baltimore | |BAL '86 Browns |Cleveland | |CLE '86 Jets |New York | |NYJ '81 49ers |San Francisco |'Niners |SF '81 Bengals |Cincinatti | |CIN '88 49ers |San Francisco |'Niners |SF '88 Bengals |Cincinatti | |CIN '94 49ers |San Francisco |the 'Niners |SF '94 Chargers |San Diego |the Bolts |SD '81 Dolphins |Miami | |MIA '81 Chargers |San Diego | |SD '90 Giants |New York | |NYG '90 Bills |Buffalo | |BUF '83 Eagles |Philadelphia | |PHI '83 Saints |New Orleans | |NO '75 Steelers |Pittsburgh | |PIT '75 Cowboys |Dallas |Da 'Boys |DAL '91 Jets |New York | |NYJ '91 Packers |Green Bay |The Pack |GB '91 Lions |Detroit | |DET '91 Vikings |Minnesota | |MIN '76 Raiders |Oakland | |OAK '76 Steelers |Pittsburgh | |PIT '71 Dolphins |Miami | |MIA '71 Chiefs |Kansas City | |KC '90 Bears |Chicago |Da Bears |CHI '90 Lions |Detroit | |DET '74 Jets |New York | |NYJ '74 Giants |New York | |NYG '82 AFC |Pro Bowl | |AFC '82 NFC |Pro Bowl | |NFC '87 Cardinals |St. Louis |the 'Cards |STL '87 Buccaneers |Tampa Bay |the 'Bucs |TB '85 AFC |Pro Bowl | |AFC '85 NFC |Pro Bowl | |NFC '80 Bears |Chicago |Da 'Bears |CHI '80 Bengals |Cincinatti | |CIN '79 Steelers |Pittsburgh | |PIT '79 Browns |Cleveland | |CLE '88 Oilers |Houston | |HOU '88 Colts |Indianapolis | |IND '75 Rams |Los Angeles | |LA '75 Chargers |San Diego | |SD '99 Jaguars |Jacksonville |the Jags |JAX '99 Panthers |Carolina | |CAR '84 Saints |New Orleans | |NO '84 Cowboys |Dallas |Da 'Boys |DAL '89 Patriots |New England |the 'Pats |NE '89 Colts |Indianapolis | |IND '82 Dolphins |Miami | |MIA '82 Chargers |San Diego | |SD '78 Patriots |New England |the 'Pats |NE '78 Dolphins |Miami | |MIA '79 Bears |Chicago |Da 'Bears |CHI '79 49ers |San Francisco |'Niners |SF '91 Broncos |Denver | |DEN '91 Oilers |Houston | |HOU '66 Packers |Green Bay |the 'Pack |GB '66 Chiefs |Kansas City | |KC '95 Eagles |Philadelphia | |PHI '93 49ers |San Francisco |the 'Niners |SF '93 Eagles |Philadelphia | |PHI '58 Colts |Baltimore | |BAL '58 Giants |New York | |NYG '95 Dolphins |Miami | |MIA '95 Bills |Buffalo | |BUF '95 Lions |Detroit | |DET '00 Chiefs |Kansas City | |KC '00 Bears |Chicago |Da Bears |CHI '73 AFC |Pro Bowl | |AFC '73 NFC |Pro Bowl | |NFC '78 Vikings |Minnesota | |MIN '78 Packers |Green Bay |the 'Pack |GB '95 Raiders |Oakland | |OAK '95 Buccaneers |Tampa Bay |the Bucs |TB '77 Cowboys |Dallas |Da 'Boys |DAL '77 Broncos |Denver |Orange Crush |DEN '75 Dolphins |Miami | |MIA '75 Colts |Baltimore | |BAL '95 Seahawks |Seattle | |SEA '00 Buccaneers |Tampa Bay |the Bucs |TB '00 Bills |Buffalo | |BUF '95 Cowboys |Dallas |Da Boys |DAL '95 Steelers |Pittsburgh | |PIT '88 Broncos |Denver | |DEN '88 Raiders |Los Angeles | |LA '73 Cowboys |Dallas |Da 'Boys |DAL '95 Browns |Cleveland | |CLE '96 Rookie's |All-Star |The Rookies |ROK There's the 30 standard NFL teams, then 105 secret teams. Do you think there's enough?
College Slam or "NBA Jam but guaranteed to sell less" has nine secret "fraternity teams", according to the internet: And yep, in both versions you do indeed get seven sets of Greek letters and two mysterious teams, "Daytona Beach" and "Palm Springs". At the time of adding the Mega Drive codes, I didn't really want to look into this much further - someone more qualified can do detailed team write-ups for American sports games. Here's what the internet doesn't tell you - if you try and edit the two mysterious teams, you get an extra option: You can change the greek letters at the bottom of the logo, so now all of this noise can be represented in game. A strange amount of effort to put into a secret feature.
I don't know that there's going to be a lot to add beyond the list of colleges represented as teams; at the time the NCAA was very strict in preventing likeness or name licenses for any players, since they're supposed to be amateurs and compensated through scholarships. Which is, obviously, fucked, but does mean that if you're going to try to go through team rosters you're probably not going to find much. College sports games usually just did number and position, but it's possible you could get fake or generated names, and there were a few I know of that did something like the NFL Quarterback Club thing and filled the teams with names from gaming publications.
A scan of GamePro Presents Sega Genesis Games Secrets Greatest Tips 2nd Edition turned up, courtesy of Retromags. I can't imagine there are too many surprises, but there is one... questionable... section: https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:GPPSGGSGT2E_Book_US.pdf&page=227 "Yank the Cart Tricks!" "Cheats" that can occur if you swap cartridges with the system still turned on. Makes you wonder how people discovered these.
Yeah, pretty horrifying to think of people swapping carts over and over looking for this stuff! Starting from the top, need to get the Afterburner II extra missiles stuff in there, although I've only ever tried it on the early levels and the code changes every time (which is probably why it's not there), there's a code for Air Diver we don't have as well (untested). Maybe there's some good stuff here after all... EDIT - to be honest most of it is either 'here's a hidden room with a few bonuses in it' which is just part of playing the game and isn't really hidden content, at least by the definition I use, or generic passwords which again I don't count unless it's a hardcoded cheat password with effects outside of normal play. EDIT 2 - there's a 99 lives code for Thunder Force IV I've never seen before. Must test that one out.
This is a poor one: Star Wars Demolition/Hidden content I don't think the internet has played this (and with only nine review scores, that might suggest the press passed on it too). Even on Sega Retro we've got ... but they seemed alright to me? I wouldn't have said they were out of the ordinary. Anyway GameFAQs lists tons of codes: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/370075-star-wars-demolition/cheats and while yes, they're not specifically labled as "Dreamcast", other sites were happy to copy-paste these lists verbatim and pretend that they were. I too haven't checked every code, but from my brief experiments, I could only get "MOVIE SHOW" and "SAD MOVIES" to function. "WATTO SHOP", which is meant to unlock all the characters, doesn't do anything... unless I'm missing something. I think these are all PlayStation cheats, with the Dreamcast either only receiving a subset of them, or a different set of codes that nobody knows. There wasn't anything obvious jumping out when looking through with a hex editor.
More "probably only works on PlayStation" codes, this time for Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX/Hidden content: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/437423-mat-hoffmans-pro-bmx/cheats The "big tyres" code does seem to register, but I'm not sure it actually affects the tyres? I'm not sure what it does.
