Forums

Hi SMS Power!

Analyzing the game's battle code, I stumbled upon four consecutive unused groups of 14 bytes (56 bytes total) at 0x76ab (rev1). The settings of each opponent references one of these groups.

They are made of tile index/flags pairs, and the indexes are all within the text characters range. I remembered that the Japanese release shows the name of the opponent above it during the battles, but the western releases does not:

I took a look on the JP release and turns out that, in fact, this data is used to draw their names. What is interesting though is that the names on the USA ROM are neither the Japanese ones nor their western translations.

Here are the names:
- Janken: Aniout
- Gooseka: Unuua
- Chokkinna: Louina
- Parplin: Annunin

Here USA release modified to draw the opponent name just like the Japan release does:

opponent-name-jp-vs-western.png (3.61 KB)

Opponent name comparison between japan and western releases

opponent-name-usa-patched.png (2.28 KB)

USA ROM patched to draw the opponent names

Really interesting! I didn't know that!

That’s great! Maybe you can also make a version with the US character names?

I hope you were also referring to https://www.smspower.org/Development/AlexKiddInMiracleWorld-SMS - and you are welcome to add to that page.

kusfo wrote

Really interesting! I didn't know that!

They look like romanized japanese words, I wonder what do they mean...

Maxim wrote

That’s great! Maybe you can also make a version with the US character names?

I could definitely try that!

Maxim wrote

I hope you were also referring to www dot smspower dot org/Development/AlexKiddInMiracleWorld-SMS - and you are welcome to add to that page.

I was, a lot! Thanks, I'm looking forward to contribute.

Author	Message
lhs_azevedo Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 8 Location: Rio	Unused opponent names in Alex Kidd in Miracle World Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:37 am Last edited by lhs_azevedo on Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:44 am; edited 4 times in total
lhs_azevedo Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 8 Location: Rio	Hi SMS Power! Analyzing the game's battle code, I stumbled upon four consecutive unused groups of 14 bytes (56 bytes total) at 0x76ab (rev1). The settings of each opponent references one of these groups. They are made of tile index/flags pairs, and the indexes are all within the text characters range. I remembered that the Japanese release shows the name of the opponent above it during the battles, but the western releases does not: I took a look on the JP release and turns out that, in fact, this data is used to draw their names. What is interesting though is that the names on the USA ROM are neither the Japanese ones nor their western translations. Here are the names: - Janken: Aniout - Gooseka: Unuua - Chokkinna: Louina - Parplin: Annunin Here USA release modified to draw the opponent name just like the Japan release does: opponent-name-jp-vs-western.png (3.61 KB) Opponent name comparison between japan and western releases opponent-name-usa-patched.png (2.28 KB) USA ROM patched to draw the opponent names

kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:41 am
kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Really interesting! I didn't know that!

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14738 Location: London	Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:41 am
	That’s great! Maybe you can also make a version with the US character names? I hope you were also referring to https://www.smspower.org/Development/AlexKiddInMiracleWorld-SMS - and you are welcome to add to that page.

lhs_azevedo Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 8 Location: Rio	Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:28 pm
lhs_azevedo Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 8 Location: Rio	kusfo wrote Really interesting! I didn't know that! They look like romanized japanese words, I wonder what do they mean... Maxim wrote That’s great! Maybe you can also make a version with the US character names? I could definitely try that! Maxim wrote I hope you were also referring to www dot smspower dot org/Development/AlexKiddInMiracleWorld-SMS - and you are welcome to add to that page. I was, a lot! Thanks, I'm looking forward to contribute.

Forums

View topic - Unused opponent names in Alex Kidd in Miracle World