Lambda

Great info!! Thank you! And you are 100% correct about the designer, as it would appear. I went back to the box this morning and noticed (for the first time), the website you mentioned labeled on the side of the box. I visited the website, but it won’t seem to load properly on mobile. I’ll have to give it a shot on PC when I get a chance.

@ninjistar yessir, this is definitely the same game. I’ve never really played past gen1/2, which is why I think this game appealed to me. (After gen 3, I started to get lost, and the process seemed to lose a lot of appeal). Those were my favorites, and I have a CIB red that I received as a birthday gift many moons ago... I thought this would make a cool addition to that set. I think the simplicity (but ingenuity) of gen 1 was perfect, for me personally.

@Mugi I would definitely agree with you on the fact that profiteering on this title is taking place (and I didn’t know that the hackers specifically requested against that). This is partly why I never shelled out the cash for a CIB copy from what I had seen on eBay. But I can also say that for the price I paid, the money seems to have simply gone towards cost of materials and time spent assembling... and quite literally nothing more. I got it for a steal. I’d have to liken this scenario I entered to possibly paying a friend to assemble it all, and simply compensating him for time and materials, bar the IP. With that, I can put my head on the pillow comfortably thanks so much for the info, again, and if you dig up that differences list, I’d be grateful to read through!

@Mugi great! Thank you! I’ll have to do some searching on romhacking site to see what else I can uncover. I had no idea this game was mentioned over there. I only know that the people who seek out this game (physically for CIB) are usually big rom hackers and are passionate about it. Some items of gameplay are definitely altered (NPCs dialogue is cut shorter, and there is a multitude of items/tiles that could be interacted with in the original that are not possible to interact with in this version... but that being said, this game is VERY well crafted from my first hour of playthrough. I also noticed early on that items like TMs, Rare Candies, etc can be dropped by wild Pokémon after defeating them (at least in the wild grasses you encounter close to Indogo Plateau). The game also seems to stick to the Manga storyline much like Yellow tried to. excited to keep playing this one, and any other info (on the programmer/hacker team, or gameplay/production in general), would be graciously appreciated! ** I included a few extra pics here for anyone who’s never seen this game before in CIB form. The production value is stellar... the manual is 50 pages!

Hey All, I picked this up recently for a killer price (saw copies on eBay selling for well over 100$, without the manual). I put my daughter to bed and decided to fire it up. I know this isn’t an official game for NES, by any means, but the hack seems VERY well done. Do any collectors out there know anything about this copy? I know this version is highly sought after by hack collectors, I just happened to get my hands on a CIB. It says in manual that this is a reconstruct of Yellow, but pikachu doesn’t seem to follow you around, the dialogues are extremely short (while delivering the same necessary info to advance from the original), and map layout (by town at least) seems wildly different. Moreover, it says 159 mons exist in the title, while only 151 existed in the original gen1. I’m just starting out, but: can anyone shed any light on this version at all? can anyone give further details about what might to be expected? (Is the Missingno. overflow glitch still prevalent in the code? )? so many questions...

Definitely more blockbuster-esque I think I actually have an old Toe-Jam and Earl for Genesis in the original blockbuster rental case somewhere now that I think about it has... I must’ve accidentally never returned it as a kid. One thing to note about the Bit-Box is the bottom seal on the case that keeps the cover art insert from falling through the bottom. On the other hand, I have several Universal Game Cases and have never had a problem with inserts falling through.

Bit Box is another option. https://stoneagegamer.com/bitbox-snes-sfc-game-case.html great quality cases, and the store has them for a variety of consoles. Best of luck

Another Bug found that hasn’t been reported as far as I’m aware of. System: Atari 2600 Game: Halo 2600 Bug Description: If you walk into the top two pixels of the white and black Covenant Alien’s head in the Blue Background screens, you can no longer walk away, he cannot kill you, and the Purple/Yellow Covenant Alien’s shots go right through the player. This bug essentially creates a soft lock in the game. See attached image and video Tested On: Stella (no true hardware testing has been done as of now) This one was interesting to me when I found it because it produced a soft lock (game-breaking bug). This is a big deal in my opinion... especially considering that the game was de-made by the creator of Halo series himself, Ed Fries, under permission of Microsoft. You’d think something like this may have been found in beta IMG_4016.MOV You

@G-type (You’re in second place behind me, and not by much at all!)(and I programmed the game ) I’ve updated the Fastest Runner Board: The board consists of the Top 5 fastest runs of this game based on submissions: 1)- Score: 23,300 - Lambda (Programmer) 2)- Score: 23,100 - G-Type 3)- Score: 22,500 - Rich H. 4)- Score: 20,400 - Justin Z. 5)- Score: 19,900 - Samiam The fastest I’ve seen level 3 attained was with a score of 43,600. From there it becomes tricky. Movements and calculation are key. (considering adding the Speed Run Scoreboard as a file to the official Github). *I’ll request all future submissions to require an image of the Win screen with score. Even on a emulator/keyboard, I’ve found beating this relatively difficult to surpass the 23k score mark!

Out of curiosity, what was it that turned you off regarding the gameplay? Totally a subjective question, but it might help out others though if they’re looking to get their hands on a copy, since the gameplay can’t even really be fully experienced without owning a cart (no ROM), and the price is high! To each, their own. Right?

Thought I’d toss an Atari into the mix. Atari 2600 became one of my favorite systems the more I learned about programming, due to the limitations of the system. The programmers really knew how to get creative to make a polished game. (It was also the first system I ever played). Skiing was a great game, and I loved the windows 95 game packed in with the OS as a kid. I have a loose cart for playing, too... (Makes me wonder how many people buy a “loosie” of their sealed games so that they can play them on hardware... vs just playing on emulator). The Activison artwork was really cool to me as a kid. (Still is)

Okay guys, I have something else to report: maximum number of lives that can be attained is 99. (See picture below). I used the spawn bug/spawn glitch to gain the lives. I attempted to go to 101. There’s a reason for this: If the lives kept continuing, and surpassed 101, and continued on infinitely then it would beg a question: is there a signed byte overflow problem within the code relating to the life counter? (this bug exists in Super Mario Bros). Bytes in memory contain 256 unique numbers. There’s two ways to accomplish this: 0-255 or -128 to 127 representing a signed byte. This give us our 256 combinations within the byte for memory, just as 0-255 does. Here’s the problem!: if you surpass 127 lives, and the memory location is utilizing a signed byte, the 128th life may be read as a negative number!... (computer begins counting from the lowest value again which is -128) which means if you die with 128-255 attained lives, the continue menu, (No matter how far you’ve progressed in the game), might send you back to the beginning of the game! This is not possible since the programmer has obviously put a limiting routine in place to handle that potential bug, limiting us to 99 lives total. ...clever girl... (Jurassic park voice) this guy is obviously experienced and knows what he’s doing. im going to include these details in my second write up of the bug/spawn glitch, over in the star keeper general discussions forum in coming days. (I’ve found a more efficient way to execute the glitch). Stay tuned. @ecmyers I think if we keep putting our heads together, we will definitely figure out how to enter the hidden code and gain lives without needing the spawn bug. But for now, the bug seems to be the best way to farm lives.

@Nes Freak awesome! Thank you for the advice!

@Nes Freak thanks man!! Appreciate that! As far as I know, elmers glue sticks are not acid based?? ... are there any that work better than others?

@Plasma Man appreciate that input! Some will use my bug to advance past certain levels that they could beat prior (this is obviously NOT you, as you’ve beaten the game in a Single day with flying colors ) and I very much appreciate your work/contributions. You’re definitely someone that knows how to beat a “NES hard” game without much help. @TDIRunner i think I’d agree with you, on that if you have a game with patches that makes the game more playable/reduces bugs, then why not. Box art is AWESOME, and manuals are too for that matter. But, for the games of old, (because there really was no such thing as patched besides those released by manufacturers) I definitely enjoy seeing a game that was beta tested to the point of polish.....Although I can’t argue with the other side of myself that absolutely loves finding those bugs and reporting them when found @RH the point you bring up is VERY important in my opinion. If a day 1 patch is needed, then the physical format copy sold 20 yrs later may never have a server to update from.... this is a problem for the release of games being produced TODAY. I reckon it’ll be up to guys like us that support communities like this to host those patches and distribute them to those that need them as time goes on. It’s a shame though, that this fact hasn’t been thought about by many distributors (all the way back to the Wii shovelware days), and probably won’t be thought of as much since deadlines now seem to be more important. no matter the circumstances though... there will always be a piece of me that loves finding and reporting bugs ... it’s a sense of satisfaction in identifying code routines from “the outside” maybe? Not sure exactly what it is that drives me, but I enjoy hunting bugs down to an extent. (Game breaking bugs sometimes are just upsetting...)

A question for all regarding this same topic: what do you all think would be the best glue to use to stick a label back down? (I’m asking because I have stuck homemade Repro labels before, with good success using Avery print labels, but I’m curious to know if a label ever starts lifting).

@Plasma Man these photos are FAR from litter! They are MASSIVELY appreciated, since most of this game is largely undocumented, and the artistic factor is strong. I, for one, greatly appreciate your effort and hope you’ll keep contributing to all of the knowledge here. My hat goes off to you, sir! so I’ve picked up on another few tidbits while running tests on this game: for those unaware: the Speed power up will actually DECREASE the Y axis range of projectiles from the high powered water gun by what appears to be roughly 30%!!! if you start a level on a fresh life and gain a high powered water gun, note the range that each shot makes. The spread is massive!! If you collect an “S” or Speed power up, the range of spread on this gun is decreased wildly! Interesting to note! ive also uncovered new details about the bug/glitch on Level 2, Wave 1 that I will be posting soon. It requires a bit of a write up.

Awesome work!!! Definitely have earned some well deserved relaxation this game would definitely fall under the category “NES Hard”, in my opinion!

@Plasma Man Great info. quick question for you. Do you enter the Boss battle against Blue Moon directly after stage 8, wave 2? Or is that battle considered separate with a following stage that you can continue from? also, any info on the boss himself? Hit count, weakness/vulnerability, etc.? Any info would be appreciated! Great work!

So here’s a question for any collectors out there... (Forgive me if you disagree with the ethics of this, but I cannot help but asking the question... the programmer in me is going crazy to know...) Has anyone opened the cart to view the physical PCB?! *** Please note: the developer (I believe) has stated that he does not wish the game to ever be in ROM format, and I in no way want to disrespect that wish. I would never reverse engineer or dump the ROM. As a community member/fellow dev I would never disrespect anyone’s wishes regarding their own IP.. BUT... that doesn’t stop my curiosity in wanting to desperately see that PCB! it’s truly a work of art in my opinion.. (get it? 87Arts).. Ive tried to open the cart (both of mine), and the same situation occurs with both... the 4 screws come out with ease. The fifth center screw will not budge. It’s odd that this occurred with both of my carts... it’s almost like the screw are loctite’d in ... If that’s the case and he really did want to keep all of us out of the shell... then I’ll go no further and request everyone else follow suit and leave well enough alone. but again... I can’t help asking the question...

@Plasma Man Thank you!! The level shots are awesome to have!! Gives players who haven’t seen that type of progress a good chance to appreciate what’s ahead. @acromite53 You both should check out the glitch and use it for free lives if you’re having trouble advancing. I’ve been grinding and am up to nearly 50 lives now. The picture attached shows 42 but I’ve gotten another 7 since I took it

@Plasma Man Great info! Thanks for sharing, it’s good to see people have gotten through the entire game and beat it. I assumed there to be about 5-6 worlds as well based on what I’ve seen so far. As @Scrobins stated, the mystery surrounding this developer definitely adds to the intrigue of the game. If you wind up making another play through, and you need some free lives to get through it, feel free to check out the bug I documented on Level 2, Wave 1. (See my first post in this thread and follow the link). You can essentially kill tons of enemies without needing to take any risks at all, and rack up a few lives before advancing to make things easier on yourself. Im still attempting to uncover how to apply the cheat code in the manual. The code seems to be there, but I haven’t run into anyone who’s implemented it yet.

Haha this made me laugh. Funny thing though is that apparently that does happen! I have a buddy who works in a repair shop, and he’s encountered everything from spiders to roaches building entire homes in consoles. He said the heat from the machine is what attracts the bugs. He also said he had one computer that was so infested, the roaches got out and made their way into the store when he took the unit apart. He said he learned his lesson and doesn’t take these infestation cases anymore lol. This is a good point... I’m not sure people pay much mind to the fact that greatest hits versions are usually patched up a bit before being shipped out. (I remember reading about a rare-ish Toy Story game for PS1 that had a character that was deemed racist after the games release. All subsequent copies and greatest hits copies were patched with a benign character after the point was brought up to the studio. (I believe that’s how it went lol) This is also a good point. I feel that even as far back as when the Wii began to ship all of the shovelware games, that marked a beginning of decline for QC in a lot of studios, and “getting the product out” became more important than finish and polish.

@arnpoly haha it’s very possible I could’ve been one of the guys who messaged you! I went by the same name under the NA forums a couple of years ago which is when I acquired my copies... but I messaged quite a few people that I knew had copies and made a slew of offers before someone finally bit I like having this one in my collection for the fact that there’s no way to play besides loading the physical cart. I’ve even taken the game down to the local retro shop and popped it in the toaster so that some of the guys there would be able to give it a shot. Definitely a fun game in my opinion.

To reiterate @Gloves and @TylerBarnes:Lenovo. Specifically a T-440 i7 or better. Don’t be scared off by refurbs either... they go through more QC testing than original hardware does. I always go refurb when possible. *Also, if you’re going to learn python, take the leap and install a Linux Flavor: if you’re new to Linux go with Mint (if you’re coming from Windows) or Ubuntu. Dual boot to Windows if you must. You’ll learn far more than just python and you’ll become a bit more savvy than the average bear. credentials: IT director, Webmaster, Programmer, Whitehat, been tinkering for over 18 yrs. I have a few workhorse computers and they’re all Lenovo.