From The Cutting Room Floor

Blaster Master
Also known as: Chou-Wakusei Senki: MetaFight (JP) Developer: Sunsoft Publisher: Sunsoft Platform: NES Released in JP: June 17, 1988 Released in US: November 1988 Released in EU: April 25, 1991 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences.

The story of a young boy chasing his radioactive pet frog into the depths of the earth, where he finds an ancient battle tank.

Contents 1 Stage Select 2 Debug Features 3 Spike 4 Regional Differences 4.1 Intro 4.2 Area 4 4.3 Ending

Stage Select

Game Genie code XTVYGGAV activates a Stage Select. There's two different "sets" of places to go; One that starts you off in a particular world with the tank, and the other starts you off right before the boss.

In the Japanese version (Metafight), the Stage Select itself works fine (but you need the code EKNYUYAA to use it), but in the US version, some things were altered so it turned into more of a demo viewer than anything, unfortunately.

Debug Features

The Game Genie code GAUGIKGK enables a couple of minor debug features:

• Pressing Up on Controller 2 freezes the game on a black screen. Probably linked directly to development tools.
  • In Metafight, using the stage select code EKNYUYAA now allows you to pause and teleport to whereever you wish. Start returns to the game.
• In the Top-Down screen, your gun points will instantly be maxed out.
  • If at any time you run low on Gun Power, pressing B on Controller 2 will refill the Gun Power meter.

Spike

Subscreen and item graphics for an unused Spike item, which was to be acquired in Stage 8. It is guessed that this item would have been dropped by the Plutonium Boss upon defeat, and made the tank immune to spikes (many of which appear there), as such a function had been utilized in a hack of this game.

If this were actually true, then it is also possible that:

• The two bosses of this stage were to be fought in separate areas instead of in succession (which would explain the great difference in their rooms' features).
• The entrance to the Underworld Lord's lair was to be blocked off by a large amount of spikes, thus requiring said item to safely access.

Regional Differences

Intro

Japan	US

The area where the tank speeds off in the introduction to Level 1 is altered to a cave in the American version to fit with the new intro.

Area 4

Japan	US

The top-right section of Area 4 was changed. This is the section that leads to Area 5. To quote an interview with game designer Yoshiaki Iwata:

Also, there was a part of the map in Area 4 where the player was forced to control Jason and make a desperate suicide-leap for a ladder suspended in mid-air. We reluctantly changed that as well following complaints from the U.S. staff.

Ending

The ending also has some changes between versions.

Japan	US

The tower, only shown during the ending, is different between regions.

Japan	US

The frog buddy doesn't exist in the Japanese version, so he was added to the game's ending.

Japan	US

The Japanese version's ending shows chibi-style version of Kane Gardner (who was changed to Jason Frudnick in the US version) and Nora Satellite. Nora only seems to appear in that image.