I posted the attached picture on Twitter this afternoon, which is a scan I did of one of my Nintendo Power mags. It's a trick for RoboWarrior/Bomber King that allows for unlimited items (and a level select + way to walk over terrain). This is a code/secret that isn't on GameFAQs or anywhere else I've searched over the years (I haven't looked on Japanese sites though).
What I found remarkable about this trick is, IMHO, how convoluted it is. This is something that seems substantially more complicated than the "minus world" in SMB or Konami's UUDDLRLRBA+Start code (latter was intentionally coded). There are many requirements that must be done in a specific order:
1. Must have Megaton bomb from first idol room
2. Must have exactly 62 bombs
3. Shoot/kill a Lurcher (spider)...
4. ...with the normal weapon only
5. ...while facing downward (final shot that kills the Lurcher must be done while facing down)
6. After, must press Select to go into the Inventory screen...
7. ...and move the cursor to Energy Tank item (far left, 2nd from top) -- but NOT use it yet
8. ...then on controller 2 press and hold Up+Left
9. ...then on controller 1 press A twice (will attempt to use the Energy Tank)
The level select and walk-over-anything tricks are only possible after doing the above. I'll also note that, if my memory serves me right, you don't need an Energy Tank for it to work.
rainwarrior felt that this is most likely a bug that manifests itself in such a way where a leftover debug mode feature is enabled (and I agree that it very much feels like a development/debug mode feature), but that he feels it's certainly possible that someone may have come across this particular trick/bug in the course of gameplay and/or game testing. The Twitter thread (be sure to click on View more replies): https://twitter.com/koitsu2009/status/7 ... 4592673792
That's where I disagree: to me, the odds of someone stumbling upon this specific series of events by happenstance seem astronomical. But even if someone did, they'd still have to work out *exactly* how to reproduce it for a Nintendo Power submission/publication. If someone was to find another way (possibly easier), I'd believe it -- but that isn't what got published. It's just so incredibly specific; the step that gets me the most is that the Lurcher must be killed while facing downwards.
I feel it's more likely that Nintendo either got the trick from Hudson Soft directly, or that it was published in something like Famitsu or some other Famicom enthusiast mag (possibly as a result of the programmer or devteam leaking it?) and essentially the tip/trick got "brought overseas".
While normally I love disassembling and digging into innards of classic games, this is one that seems really convoluted and likely painful given how many different things are involved -- lots to track. RoboWarrior and Bomber King are both 128KByte mapper 2 (UNROM, i.e. PRG-ROM + CHR-RAM).
Thoughts/opinions?
Please note up front this isn't a "debate" thread (i.e. "who is right/wrong, rainwarrior or I?"), but rather just something to pontificate on. Have you see more convoluted codes that involve several aspects of a game (i.e. not just pad/button sequences)? What are your thoughts?
What I found remarkable about this trick is, IMHO, how convoluted it is. This is something that seems substantially more complicated than the "minus world" in SMB or Konami's UUDDLRLRBA+Start code (latter was intentionally coded). There are many requirements that must be done in a specific order:
1. Must have Megaton bomb from first idol room
2. Must have exactly 62 bombs
3. Shoot/kill a Lurcher (spider)...
4. ...with the normal weapon only
5. ...while facing downward (final shot that kills the Lurcher must be done while facing down)
6. After, must press Select to go into the Inventory screen...
7. ...and move the cursor to Energy Tank item (far left, 2nd from top) -- but NOT use it yet
8. ...then on controller 2 press and hold Up+Left
9. ...then on controller 1 press A twice (will attempt to use the Energy Tank)
The level select and walk-over-anything tricks are only possible after doing the above. I'll also note that, if my memory serves me right, you don't need an Energy Tank for it to work.
rainwarrior felt that this is most likely a bug that manifests itself in such a way where a leftover debug mode feature is enabled (and I agree that it very much feels like a development/debug mode feature), but that he feels it's certainly possible that someone may have come across this particular trick/bug in the course of gameplay and/or game testing. The Twitter thread (be sure to click on View more replies): https://twitter.com/koitsu2009/status/7 ... 4592673792
That's where I disagree: to me, the odds of someone stumbling upon this specific series of events by happenstance seem astronomical. But even if someone did, they'd still have to work out *exactly* how to reproduce it for a Nintendo Power submission/publication. If someone was to find another way (possibly easier), I'd believe it -- but that isn't what got published. It's just so incredibly specific; the step that gets me the most is that the Lurcher must be killed while facing downwards.
I feel it's more likely that Nintendo either got the trick from Hudson Soft directly, or that it was published in something like Famitsu or some other Famicom enthusiast mag (possibly as a result of the programmer or devteam leaking it?) and essentially the tip/trick got "brought overseas".
While normally I love disassembling and digging into innards of classic games, this is one that seems really convoluted and likely painful given how many different things are involved -- lots to track. RoboWarrior and Bomber King are both 128KByte mapper 2 (UNROM, i.e. PRG-ROM + CHR-RAM).
Thoughts/opinions?
Please note up front this isn't a "debate" thread (i.e. "who is right/wrong, rainwarrior or I?"), but rather just something to pontificate on. Have you see more convoluted codes that involve several aspects of a game (i.e. not just pad/button sequences)? What are your thoughts?