Powerball

Powerball
Also known as: Wrestleball (JP) Developer: Namco Publisher: Namco Platform: Genesis Released in JP: February 8, 1991 Released in US: 1991 This game has hidden developer credits. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences.

Powerball is a hybrid sports game combining American football and rest-of-the-world football, set in the distant year of 2010.

Built-In Passwords

The passwords are identical for both regions. Passwords only take effect under specific teams.

Password	Powerball team	Wrestleball team	Effect
MWAKI	Any of the 8 regular teams		Gives you 995 bonus points.
SAITA	Japan	Namco	Writes random garbage to the VDP for some time, then resets; press Start to immediately reset. Is this a VDP test like in arcade games? Or is it a test of the random number generator? It's not the game crashing — in Powerball the code for this starts at $41A4.
KWGEN	China	Karate	Sound test.
NMURA	USSR	Wrestle	"WINDOW VISUALS" screen — you can watch several flipbook animations. A moves forward one frame; B goes back one frame.

These passwords are based on the four staff members who worked on the game, as seen below.

Unlockable Teams

Do the button codes on the team select screen.

	Button Code	Unlocked Teams
Powerball	B B C B B C	Mexico, Germany, Canada, France
Wrestleball	hold Down+B	Kung Fu, Muaythay, Sumo, Martial

Hidden Text

The following text is found near the beginning of the ROM, right after the ROM header:

[ 1991 NAMCO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
STAFF:MORIWAKI  
      NAKAMURA  
      KAWAMOTO  
      SAITA    

The staff list is found only in Powerball; Wrestleball only contains the copyright string.

Region Differences

To do: Document these better. Is there a difference in the way bonus points work? There seems to be one but I don't know

• The main menus are arranged differently. In Wrestleball, you are always asked for a password; in Powerball, you must select LEAGUE CONT. from the main menu to enter a password.

• Apart from the display order, team icons, and display names, the region releases have one team difference: while Wrestleball has a Namco team, Powerball has a UK team.

• The first animation in the Window Visuals shows a different person in Powerball.