Breath of Fire II

Breath of Fire II is the second game in the Breath of Fire series, as the name suggests. Features an excellent plot for its day, and also a translation legendary for its sheer awfulness. And hilarity.

Debug Functions
Two very full-featured debug modes exist! One is a menu and the other is activated in-game.

Debug Menu


Use the Game Genie code to enable the debug menu. To access it, just reset the game. Up and Down selects an option, and A chooses it. Despite what it says, though, pressing Start + Select will not reset the game.

In all menus, Pressing L + R will bring you back to the main menu.

OBJ TEST - You can view every sprite in the game with this, even more than one at the same time. Nice!


 * Selectable Options
 * ID NO: Selects a character or enemy sprite.
 * SEQ NO: Selects a particular action frame.
 * PAT NO: Selects a frame of animation from the SEQ NO option.
 * COUNTER: Something involving the animation I haven't quite figured out yet.
 * BG NO: Select a map to use as a background. Default is a black screen.
 * MOVE: Automatically animates the shown sprite. Toggle on/off.


 * Unselectable Options
 * POS X: The X position of the sprite on screen.
 * POS Y: The Y position of the sprite on screen.
 * SEQ ADD: Address where the frame of animation is stored.
 * PAT ADD: Similar to above.

Controls:
 * Up/Down: Selects an option.
 * Left/Right: Increases/Decreases numbers.
 * Y/B/X/A - Calls up a particular sprite. You can have up to 4! Select each sprite with the corresponding button to edit it. The first sprite that shows up is highlighted with the A button.
 * L - Hold and use the D-Pad to move around the selected map.
 * R - Hold and use the D-Pad to move the selected sprite.
 * Select - Flips the sprite horizontally.

SCR TEST - A map test! You can move around any map in the game. There is also debug information in the form of a map ID and X/Y coordinates.

Controls:
 * D-Pad: Moves the cursor around the map.
 * Y: Collision Test(?), shows where your character can or cannot walk in the form of various numbers. A lack of numbers means you can move there in-game.
 * X: Removes the cursor, debug information, and some floors. Cannot be brought back without switching maps.
 * A: Switches map. ID Number increases by one.
 * B: Switches map. ID Number decreases by one
 * R: Hold to move around the map faster.

KAIWA TEST - A dialogue box test! You can view every bit of dialogue in the game, obviously.

Controls:
 * Left/Right: Increase/Decrease ID number's ones digit.
 * Up/Down: Increase/Decrease ID number's tens digit.
 * L/R: Increase/Decrease ID number's hundreds digit.
 * A: Activate text box.

SOUND TEST - Just what it says. Tests the music and sound effects in the game.
 * BGM: Music player. Digits are from 11-5F, however, anything above 42 will freeze the game.
 * S.E.: Sound Effects player. Digits are from 01 - 60.
 * STEREO/MONAURAL: Switch between Stereo and Mono sound.

Controls:
 * Up/Down: Select option.
 * Left/Right: Increase/Decrease ID number by one.
 * A: Play music or sound effect.
 * B: Stop music or sound effect.

I/O TEST - Controller test! Press a button and it will show up as "ON" if it is pressed (or working).

COLOR TEST - Shows the color bar palette. The only thing you can do here is press L+R to exit. However, it's useful for adjusting your screen's colors.

In-Game Debug Mode
Game Genie codes activates the in-game debugging features. During the game, the second controller can be used to access various debugging functions and interact with their corresponding menus. Player 1's controls will work as normal unless a menu appears, in which case Controller 1 will not work. Pressing Start will exit you out of a menu in every instance. Once you leave a menu, you can't access any of the menus again until you leave the current room. Press a button to activate the following:



A: CHR Viewer. There are three different ones to choose from, which comes up in a menu:
 * OBJ Test: Shows graphics related to sprites. However, the graphics block is off toward the left, making viewing some of these graphics impossible. It also scrambles the background graphics. If you enter another room with this still on, it -will- scramble the graphics until you reset the game.
 * SCR12 Test: Shows the graphics of the background and map pieces. Like the sprite viewer, this is also off to the left.
 * SCR3 Test: Show graphics related to text. This viewer -is- in the right spot.

Controls:
 * Up/Down: Scrolls the graphics up and down.
 * Left/Right: Toggles palettes.
 * Y: Flip sprite tiles horizontally
 * X: Flip sprite tiles vertically



B: Memory viewer AND editor! Wowza! Be careful, as you can easily freeze the game or worse if you don't know what you're doing.


 * RAM 7E 7F - Can view and modify anything from 7E0000 to 7FFFFF. Unlike the other options, this has a sub-menu that will automatically take you to different addresses;
 * PASS: Starts at 7E0000
 * PL1-W: Starts at 7E1000
 * EF-W: Starts at 7E18E0
 * HITO-W: Starts at 7E1400
 * XW-WO: Starts at 7E0E70
 * COLOR-W: Starts at 7E1D00
 * GAME-W: Starts at 7E0C80
 * SYSTEM-W: Starts at 7E0090
 * TCBOO: Starts at 7E0040
 * TASK-STACKO: Starts at 7E1E80
 * KAIWA-W: Starts at 7E1C80
 * BK-W: Starts at 7E5000
 * SRAM 30 - Can view and modify anything from 306000 to 307FFF.
 * ROM CO-DF - Can view addresses from C00000 to DFFFFF.

Memory Viewer Controls:


 * SCROLL MODE:
 * Up/Down: Move up and down the memory viewer line by line. Note that this goes in reverse, so pressing Up will take you down to the next set, and vice versa.
 * A: Hold and press Up or Down to quickly scroll line by line.
 * B: Hold and press Up or Down to scroll by the hundreds digit (i.e. 7E0000 to 7E0100).
 * Y: Hold and press Up or Down to scroll by the thousands digit (i.e. 7E0000 to 7E1000).
 * L/R: Modifies the first two digits of the address, if possible, up or down one digit, respectively (i.e. C0 to C1)
 * Select: Switches to "Modify" mode. Does not work with the third option.


 * MODIFY MODE:
 * D-Pad: Choose a set of digits to modify.
 * A/B: Increase/Decrease the ones digit of the set up or down, respectively.
 * X/Y: Increase/Decrease the tens digit of the set up or down, respectively.
 * Select: Turns it back to Scroll Mode.



Y: Enables a method of toggling graphic layers and viewing the collision detection. However, when you move around, the numbers will follow you, rendering it useless unless you stand in one spot. Press different buttons to play with the following:
 * Y: Toggles showing the collision of the area.
 * B: Shows sprite layer only.
 * A: Removes Graphics Layer #1
 * X: Removes Graphics Layer #2



X: Color Mode. This allows for the color editing of many things on the screen. Any changes you make will be reset once you switch rooms.
 * KAGENZAN: Controls the color overlay on screen. Works together with the option below. Can be turned ON and OFF.
 * BIT: Chooses various layers and things on the screen to be tweaked with color on the screen. Press Left or Right to change a bit, and the A button to activate it.
 * +: Combined with the previous two options, this adjusts the RGB color of the screen. The first adjusts red, the second green, and the third blue. Can be adjusted from 00 to 1F.
 * -: This does not seem to work.
 * RGB: Alters the individual palettes of any object or sprite. Must press Select in order to access.

Controls
 * D-Pad: Move around to select an option.
 * Y: Scoots the menu to the other side of the screen for better viewing of things on the right.
 * X: Hides the menu from view so long as the button is held.
 * A: Selects an option. Also increases the digit of a variable option by 1.
 * L: Changes from editing the scenery colors to editing the sprite colors.
 * R: Switches
 * Select: Switch between screen coloring and palette editing.



L: "Dokodemo Warp"! It's like the Dr.Warp item in Breath of Fire except in a convenient menu form.
 * Left/Right: Increase/Decrease the ones digit by 1
 * Up/Down: Increase/Decrease the tens digit by 1
 * L/R: Increase/Decrease the hundreds digit by 1
 * A: Warp to selected map.



R: Debug Mode Option Menu!
 * SCR NO HIT: Walk through walls
 * TURBO SPEED: Go faster!
 * NO ENCOUNT: No random battles.
 * POSITION DISP: Can be turned on, but doesn't appear to work.
 * AREA NO.DISP: Same as above.
 * KAIWA NO.DISP: When you talk to someone, a display with the ID number of the text box will be displayed.
 * KAIWA SPEEDUP: Speeds through the dialogue in a text box quickly, including skipping to the next piece of text as necessary. Decisions can still be freely made though.
 * FUKA: Appears to be a CPU usage meter, displayed in the upper-right with some glitched graphics.

Select: Activates the unused Dragon Warrior test jingle! Aside from that, it does nothing else.

Start: Does nothing, but nullifies your ability to call upon a menu until the next screen switch.

Unused Graphics
The Manillo shopkeepers were apparently intended to use the same little "blowing you a kiss" animation as in the first game, but it was left out for whatever reason.



A large pot that never actually appears in the game. Unlike similar graphics, this is stored as a sprite, not a background tile.



It's... a barrel. There were places this could have been used. It just never actually was.



This fist graphic isn't actually unused, but its palette is. At the very beginning of the game, answer 'No' to Father Ganer's request, and he'll hit you with it. However, as the intro is in monochrome, and this graphic never appears anywhere else in the game, its actual colors are never seen.

Baskets of fruit can be found as decorative tiles here and there in houses around the game world, but sprites of just the fruit can also be found in the ROM, with slight differences in appearance and palette. In Breath of Fire, it was possible to eat baskets of fruit for small HP restoration, and it seems the same was planned for the sequel, but dropped for whatever reason.

Unused Skills
There are a few skills hidden away in the game's code, with varying levels of effectiveness. All of the unused skills cost 0 AP, and have the generic description "Use this during the fight."


 * ShortAP: Probably not intended as an actual skill, but rather the effect of being too low on AP to use one, as it always displays the standard "TooWeak" message when used.
 * Katomana: Appears to be unfinished. Selecting it lets you choose a single ally, then proceeds to do 0 damage. Its name is the same as the Japanese name for the "Wall" spell in the first game.
 * GrndBeef: Similar to Chopchop and Dice in that it deals unblockable physical damage, except this one is full-strength and hits all enemies. It works perfectly if hacked into a character's skill list, despite the fact that the animation is aimed at your party. It's listed with WildCat's other attacks, so it was likely intended to be used by him.

Unused Skill Names
These skills differ from the ones above in that they are used, but their names are not. Instead of the name being displayed, usually a line of dialogue by the user is shown.


 * Woodstep - The "Tree Attack" effect that happens sometimes if you use Spar's "Ntre" command in a forest.
 * Flrmagic - The "Flower Blooming" effect that happens sometimes if you use Spar's "Ntre" command in a field.
 * Ctcsbomb - The "Exploding Cactus" effect that happens sometimes if you use Spar's "Ntre" command in a desert.
 * Whodini - The "Green Energy" effect that happens sometimes if you use Spar's "Ntre" command in a field or other area.
 * IdiotLzr - The skill used by Aruhamel to seal your spells. "There, forget your magic!"
 * Dispell - The buff-dispelling effect used by Deathevn when he screams "Disappear!"
 * Absorb - The HP-draining attack used by Deathevn when he shouts "Be God's Power!"

Unused Monsters
There are four unused monsters hidden in the game's code: C.Kameo, Headhutr, KARI, and Chairman. So far, all that's known about them are their names and stats.

Unused Music


An unused variation of the iconic Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest inn jingle can be found mixed in with the sound effects. Particularly odd, as neither Enix nor Dragon series composer Koichi Sugiyama had any known involvement in the production of Breath of Fire II. Possibly used to test the sound engine.

Hidden Message


A strange message can be seen if you return to TownShip and speak with Bow after attempting to have Ryu fuse with Sana, but before you talk to the person in Capitan who would send you back there automatically:

October 10th, 5:00 o'clock version!

It's normally impossible to see this bit of text(due to the fact that you cannot pass Windia without Sten or Jean and your respawn point gets forced to Capitan), but it can be done via hacking. It appears to be default text data of sorts, pulled because the game wasn't specifically told what to display here. Presumably, this refers to the game's current build status, albeit mangled, like most of the rest of this game's text.

Windia Bridge


Just east of the mountain Windia Castle sits on is a small, unfinished bridge, which can't normally be seen. A similar bridge was, however, used in Winlan on the original game (it's the same town; the name was merely translated differently), where it's accessible normally and leads to the lands east of the town. It seems there were plans to re-use this concept, but the means of entering Windia was changed to a series of catacombs.

Bio Screens
In the Japanese version, there are character bios after each character's introductory scene and before their battle demo. These were removed in the English version for whatever reason.

Title Screen
The English version removes the copyright info on the title screen because it includes it on a separate screen shown on boot.