The internet lies: cheat code edition

My perspective on this as someone who has written Atari ST demos and written cross platform atari st/amiga stuff -- C can be a very thin wrapper for m68k programming, and I've used C like this many times to write "near-assembly." This looks a lot like that, because of the way they directly bang registers from the C code. I would say there is a very good chance what you're seeing is the actual original atari ST source.

Second, the very thing about the Atari ST is that it's not exotic hardware. The entire point of the Atari ST was that it was a 68000 hooked up to a TV, essentially. Everything on the ST was software driven. It had no video chip, really. This made the ST a great starting point for when you wanted to port things to serpate machines. The ST would use 68000 traps to jump to drawing routines bundled with the ST ROM, but it was all running directly on the 68000. So when you want to, say, make a game for the ST and Amiga, where the difference is essentially that the Amiga uses custom chips for its video while still using the same CPU, you'd write an interface to map drawing routines to the other hardware. It's kind of like how you approach Doom ports, where basically only 6 files need to be platform specific and the whole game runs.

If you were putting an ST game on the Saturn, it'd be a snap. It's not emulation, the Saturn has a 68000 of it's own. You'd just need to modify the interface to map the correct old software-driven ST routines to the appropriate Saturn hardware. It's not quite as hard as it sounds.

 

Funny thing is, I mention over in my sega pc thread about the nv1 versions of pdragoon, daytona, vcop and vfighter. I completely forgot about them here. No emulation solution at this time, so I can't try them. Very cool that you have real hardware!

 

Started doing the Bubble Symphony high score easter eggs. A crash course in which Taito games have been ported to Sega systems. How did Sega manage to not end up with a version of Arkanoid anywhere!?
Bubble Symphony/Hidden content - Sega Retro

 

Do the "Bunny" and "Girl" high score names (Or any of the other ones on that table) work in the Saturn version?

 

Just gave Bunny a quick go and yes it does (including changing score name to LUCKY). It's a terrific port, I suspect arcade perfect (or as close as can be expected).

I've been messing with Saturn Bubble Bobble as well, and kinda wish Ving had been the devs for that too, although they probably had the actual source code this time around unlike with Bubble Bobble as discussed above. No super mode hurts it as it means you can't even properly finish the game, but it's also things like the bonus item generation using completely different rules and the air currents / bubble behaviour being different.

 

Here are some new ones for Gex!
https://32bits.substack.com/p/under-the-microscope-gex

• Main level select: (Holding R at the overworld pause screen) Left, Right L, Start, Left, A, Y, A, Up, Y
• Planet X level select: (Holding R at the title/mode select screen) Down, Right, C, Right, Right, L, Start, Left, A, Up, Right, L
• Full credits: (Holding R at the title/mode select screen) C, Left, Up, Right, Left, Right, Down, Down

 

I put this one out to the Twitter world, but no ideas yet:

The code was not at all clear, unfortunately!

 

Another minor one:

 

Here's a cool one - Fighting Vipers on Saturn. On the mode select screen, use controller 2 to enter:

You'll get the Options Plus menu, normally unlocked by completing the game, and a BACKUP DEBUGGER that I think was previously unknown! Various details are here.

 

US version of Vipers has the extra characters thoroughly removed (not just disabled), alas.

I'm working on Megamix now - tons of shared code with Vipers, VF2, and VF Kids!

 

Well done! I'm always extra impressed when it's a high profile game, as I always assume that if there was any hidden codes, it would have been found earlier. I guess that's why you never assume!

 

OK, Fighters Megamix: three new cheat codes.

(1) Unlock Extra Options - plug in two controllers, go to the Options screen, and quickly enter these buttons on the second controller:
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, X, Z

(2) Unlock Backup Debug - plug in two controllers, go to the Extra Options screen, and quickly enter these buttons on the second controller:
Up, Up, X, X,
Down, Down, Z, Z,
Left, Left, X, X,
Right, Right, Z, Z

(3) Unlock all Extra Options - plug in two controllers, go to the Extra Options screen, and quickly enter these buttons on the second controller:
Up, Up, X, X, X,
Down, Down, Z, Z, Z,
Left, Left, X, X, X,
Right, Right, Z, Z, Z,
Z, Z, Z

The Backup Debug feature allows you to alter your save and unlock most characters and extra features (but not all).

Details here!

 

Any code that spares me a long grind to get extra content gets the from me! Is Last Bronx on your list? That's another one with grindy requirements to play as the boss character and use bonus weapons. Thankfully for me they ditched all that for the PC version, but I still had to finish the game as every character

 

Via the SegaXtreme Discord, this page has a cheat code for Sakura Taisen that seems to be unknown to everyone else.

Let the title screen time out. During the Sega logo sequence, enter:
L, R, Up, Down, Left, Right, A, B, C, Start

Press start at the title screen this time. Then on the mode select screen, enter:
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left Right, L, R, L, R

You get a Mode Select screen then lets you exercise different parts of the game, the ability to change character stats, and more.

 

NHL 98 accepts 3RD as one of its special passwords (you can see it in plaintext along with the rest in the game data), but damned if I can tell what it does!

 

The internet loves to claim that Enemy Zero has a code to disable enemies. I wish with all my heart it did, but it does not.

 

Enemy Zero: on disc 0, press A+B+C at the main menu to show a hidden (?) video. It's a bit racier than the opening intro. Was this known?