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.
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…
Some game cartridges from the 16-bit era shipped with backup chips. These allowed players save their progress. But they were expensive relative to a software-only alternative, session passwords.
In addition to being cheaper, session passwords could be shared. Players eagerly subscribed to game magazines that printed them. And in the 90s, having a notebook full of Sega Genesis codes was a good way to increase your status on the playground.