Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures

Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures
Also known as: TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventure (JP) Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Platform: SNES Released in JP: January 7, 1994 Released in EU: 1994 This game has hidden developer credits. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

Rainbow Bell Adventures is the first game in the TwinBee series to be a side-scrolling platform game, unlike the rest of the mostly vertically scrolling shooter games in the series.

Unused Text

Located at SNES address $81C977-81C98E (PAL English version) is the unused string STAGE SELECT. The pointer $BC61 doesn't exist, which is required to load it. Although the same text appears in the Battle Mode setup, its string is stored elsewhere in a compressed tilemap.

Developer Credit

At 0x1849C in the Japanese ROM is the text:

1993 (C) KONAMI  Scroll Program  Y.Shibata  

In the European version the date is updated but the credit for "scroll program" is removed:

1994 (C) KONAMI

Strangely, these dates are reversed on the respective versions' title screens - the European version reads "©1993" while the Japanese is "©1994".

Free Movement Mode

Pause during gameplay and press Ax5, Bx5, Xx5, Yx5, Lx5, and Rx5. A sound effect will confirm correct entry. Unpause the game, then press and hold Start, again pausing the game in the process. Now the character currently in use can be moved around using the D-Pad.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Japan	Europe

Map Screen

The level order in the Japanese version is a set of levels arranged in a quadrilateral form with an interconnection between different stages. Some stages have alternate exits (similar to Super Mario World). In the European version, the order is strictly linear and a specific level can't be accessed if the previous ones aren't cleared.

Japan	Europe

Miscellaneous

Many things were cut when the game got released in Europe:

• The bits of dialogue between Dr. Cinnamon and the heroes at the level select screen were deleted in the European version.
• The European version exclusively uses passwords for back-up, the Japanese one uses primarily a battery back-up, but the passwords are also an option.
• The Japanese version contains multiple endings depending on how many stages you actually cleared before taking on the final boss. The European version only retains one.