SONIC WEEKLY: Not Whole w/ ALTSYNTH
On the haunted 13th episode of season six, Altsynth returns to offer a unique perspective on the 1993 cartoon “Sonic the Hedgehog” also known as SatAM. Do you like our pun episode title?
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Under the microscope: Ecco Jr.
All of the mainline Ecco the Dolphin games have some sort of debug functionality hidden behind cheat codes. Codes for the Genesis games have been known for decades, and the codes for the PC and Dreamcast games were discovered more recently.
But what about Ecco Jr., the 1995 Genesis game aimed at younger kids that was published under the Sega Club label? Does it have a debug cheat?
Yes – I’ve rescued it from the tides of time. Details on how it works are below!
SEGA Talk #195: Sega Superstars (2004)
Ditch the controller and wave your arms around, because today on SEGA Talk, we’re stepping in front of the camera for Sega Superstars on PS2! From flailing in Sonic to shaking maracas in Samba de Amigo, we’re breaking down how Sonic Team turned Sony’s Eye Toy into arcade magic. Let’s jump right in!
[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]
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SONIC WEEKLY: Get a Load of This! w/ ABBY DENTON
Comedian Abby Denton returns for an episode full of surprises.
Under the microscope: Dynamite Headdy
In this edition:
- Treasure’s founder once recalled putting a “baka” code into McDonald’s Treasureland Adventure (B-A-C-A) out of frustration with McDonald’s.
- But no trace of that code appears in the final game.
- However, I found it in Dynamite Headdy, Treasure’s next Genesis game.
Did Maegawa misremember which game the code was in? Or did Dynamite Headdy inherit the code from an early version of McDonald’s Treasureland Adventure? Read on to find out.
Under the microscope: Stormlord
Stormlord was originally published for the ZX Spectrum and other 8-bit PCs by Hewson Consultants in 1989. A Genesis version, produced by RazorSoft and Punk Development, followed in 1991.
The console version of Stormlord is noticeably different from its PC counterparts in one striking way: there’s no nudity. In the game, you play as the Viking hero StormLord, rescuing fairy princesses from a dastardly antagonist. StormLord doesn’t wear much clothing, but the fairy princesses are entirely naked in the original artwork. In the Genesis edition, they’re covered up (albeit minimally).
In an excellent interview from 2019 in Gaming Alexandria, Genesis version programmer Kevin Seghetti said this about the game:
[We] did put a cheat code system in the game, so that we could release codes after the game came out (a method to keep getting your game mentioned in the magazines of the time). One of the codes removes the clothes from the fairies, revealing the original artwork. Razorsoft specified this as well. I vaguely recall we may have removed that particular cheat code before we shipped.
Did they actually remove this cheat code? No – it remained in the retail cartridge. I found it in the game data, along with another cheat code that managed to stay secret for the last 35 years. Details on these new codes and how they work are below!
SEGA Talk #194: Shinobi Legions (1995)
On this SEGA Talk, we are NEW and in LIVE ACTION with the SEGA Saturn game Shinobi Legions! How does this game connect to the series? Who developed it? And why do the brits say they have the superior version? FIND OUT on SEGA TALK HI-YAH!
[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]
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Under the microscope: Shaq Fu
Shaq Fu, the 1994 Genesis game from Delphine Software, lets players experience the dream of the 1990s: to become basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal as he battles an evil mummy from an alternate dimension.That’s right: Shaq Fu is a 2D fighting game, not a basketball game. I approve – it’s great when pop culture figures star in unexpected genre games. Should the Wu-Tang Clan be in a tournament fighting game? Absolutely. Should Aerosmith be in a light gun game? Definitely. I only regret that there was never a Seinfeld-themed beat-’em-up.
I found a previously-unpublished cheat code for this game. You can use it to speed Shaq’s progress through the Second World and get him back to the First World in time to play in the big charity game. Details are below!
Under the microscope: Instruments of Chaos
What is Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones, a single-player game, doing checking for input from Controller 2? That’s what I wondered when I saw this code, which runs after you make a selection on the map screen…
SEGA Talk #193: Sonic Heroes (2003)
Get ready to dust off your team formations and brace yourself for some seriously slippery physics, because on this episode of SEGA Talk, we are diving headfirst into Sonic Heroes. We are breaking down everything from its chaotic, multi-platform growing pains and that massive ensemble cast to the brutal industry crunch that nearly broke director Takashi Iizuka. Hit that speed dash, grab your rings, and let’s jump right into this episode of SEGA….TALK!
[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!
Under the microscope: FIFA Soccer 96
We talk sometimes about how cheat sites like GameFAQs have quality control issues. Lots of games have bogus codes listed. Some are incorrectly transcribed, some are actually for other games, and some are totally made up.
Some of the codes for the Genesis version of FIFA Soccer 96 are bogus. Neither of these work, for example:
EA Dream Team: Press A(2), B(2), C(2), B, C(2), A(2) at the options screen.
Super Power: Press B, A, B(2), C, B, A, C, B(4) at the options screen.
What species of bogus are they? It turns out they’re incorrectly transcribed. As we’ll see below, they’re close to right – but not quite.
While I was looking into this, I found several other cheat codes for this game that I don’t think have been documented before. Furthermore, I found nearly identical codes for FIFA 97: Gold Edition. Read on for details!
Under the microscope: Shadow of the Beast II
Shadow of the Beast II was published for Amiga in 1990. A Genesis adaptation was released in 1992, and an enhanced Sega CD version appeared in 1994. In this edition, the two Sega ports go under the microscope.
Under the microscope: The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare
In this edition, The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare, the 1992 game from Sculptured Software and Acclaim, goes under the microscope. The cheat sites tend to have a “level select” code listed for this game. Here’s how it’s rendered on GameFAQs, for example:
The code is bogus, however. If you put it in, nothing happens. Let’s correct the record, shall we?
SEGA Talk #192: Super Monkey Ball 2
On this SEGA Talk, we roll back into the world of Super Monkey Ball with a look at the Gamecube exclusive sequel! How did the series expand on the characters and their world? What additions did the development team make to the gameplay? And what role does the game play in undergoing surgery? Sharpen your scalpels and find out on SEGA Talk!
[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!
Under the microscope: Beavis and Butt-head
In this edition, we’re examining Beavis and Butt-head, the 1994 adaptation of the MTV series for Genesis by Radical Entertainment.
Data miners have looked through this game and found various unused elements – text, animations, music. They’ve compared the visuals in prerelease screenshots to the final game. They’ve noted the title’s unusual use of the Genesis sound hardware. But I think they missed something – a hidden cheat code.
Details are below…