Under the Microscope

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!

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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?

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My perception in the 90s was that the Sega Genesis was supposed to be your older brother’s console. It didn’t matter whether you had an older brother, or were an older brother; Sega’s marketing always implied that Genesis was just slightly cooler than you were.

Sega did try to appeal to younger siblings, however. The company’s Sega Club imprint published several titles for little kids, some of which purported to be at least slightly educational.

Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus: Space Exploration Game was one of these Sega Club games. It’s a collection of mini-games focused on space, and is inspired by the 1990 book The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System.

Why examine a 30 year old edutainment game? It caught my eye because (a) I had the original The Magic School Bus space book when I was a kid, and my parents would never read it to me because it was too long; and (b) it was developed by Novotrade, and I’ve found interesting things in a few Novotrade games in recent years.

Below are details on how this game’s password system works, and notes on how to use a previously-unpublished cheat code to bypass it altogether.

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