Bomberman Quest

Proof of concept that Bomberman and RPG elements can be combined into one explosive concoction.

TEST MENU


Game Genie code (US),  (EU), or  (JP) will start the game in a debug menu. The level select is absent, only appearing in text form in the ROM. The debug menu is even capable of detecting the Game Boy Pocket (MGB) and Game Boy Light (MGL) handhelds. Bomberman Quest is the only game that performs this detection.

Press Start to go to the title screen, Select to go the sound test, Down to go to the ending sequence, B to go to the CHR viewer, and Up to go to the "COLOR TEST" screen (which only works properly when accessed using a Game Boy Color).

COLOR TEST


All other Game Boy consoles will display a white level palette preview.

PCG MAP


Picture Color Graphic Map?

Unused Debug Text
Located at is additional debug text which hints that a stage select and enemy viewer may have once existed. STAGE=...ENEMY=...A    (BG_PCG)...B     (SPR_CHR)

Other Devtext
Located at. DMG SAVE DATA

Super Game Boy
There is a test border, a battle border and associated battle palettes that can only be seen when played using a Super Game Boy 2. Also OBJ_TRN is used when transitioning to the outdoors from a shop, however it does not load any actual data to the SNES's VRAM because the game for some reason loads the jmp found at the very beginning of the ROM. This command will also load when there is an error forming the picture data for the battle border and character transfers for the normal border. Game Genie code (US) will cause character data to transfer incorrectly, loading the OBJ_TRN error handler instead.

A small unusual listing exists that was likely used by the developers during testing to decide which enhancements they were going to add.

Super Game Boy 2 Battle Mode


The battle mode which can only be accessed when played using a Super Game Boy 2 as a link cable is required and two SNES consoles, two Super Game Boy 2 units and two copies of Bomberman Quest to play, and since the Super Game Boy 2 was only released in Japan, the border is completely unused in the US and European versions of the game. Game Genie code will allow you to access the hidden border via Game Boy Game Genie code (US)  (EU)  (JP) when inserted into a Super Game Boy 1 or 2 unit.

Unused Palette


The palette setting for the battle mode menu is also completely unused in European and US releases. Game Genie code will allow you to enter battle mode following a transmission error message showing the unused palette. The unused palette is located at.

Test Border 1


When PCT_TRN is not loaded, the game will map the entire border to little grey boxes with forward slashes inside. This border was used to notify the developers that something went wrong with transferring picture data from the PCT_TRN command. This border will not display if an error is tripped when using a real Super Game Boy 1 or 2. However, the border can be displayed by using the Game Genie code and the emulator BGB.

Test Border 2


The hidden battle border also has a test border and can be displayed via Game Genie codes +  (US)  (EU)  (JP) and the emulator BGB.

Test Functions
As mentioned earlier, there were a few additional Super Game Boy functions that went through testing phases and were ultimately cut before release.

SOUND
There is a single unused SOUND. Game Genie codes will play this unused sound at startup.

SOU_TRN
Game Genie codes will load this unused sound transfer function at startup. Loading this function will hang the BIOS indefinitely since music score and APU mapping information was not setup to send to the SNES's APU.

ATRC_EN
Used to disable screensavers universally for supporting borders. There are two listings; settings will enable and disable screensaver abilities. Game Genie code will load the command to enable screensavers. Game Genie code will disable screensavers.

ICON_EN
Palette settings were once enabled, or the game went through a lot of testing. Game Genie code will load the unused palette enable command.

DATA_SND
A single Dummy command for DATA_SND exists. For unknown reasons, all of the data send bank destination bits were set to. This will not write anything in the SNES's WRAM since bank destinations are not set, nor is there any data. Game Genie code will load this unused function at startup. 79000000000000000000000000000000

DATA_TRN
Used to transfer data into the SNES WRAM to be executed. There is a bank-sequential listing that may have been used for testing any number of things. Game Genie code will load this unused function at startup. 8100807E0B0102030405060708090A0B

JUMP
Used to execute data loaded in the SNES's WRAM. Bank and NMI addresses were set to for unknown reasons. Game Genie code will load this unused function at startup. 91000000000000000000000000000000

PAL_PRI
Palettes were once docked to the software priority. Game Genie codes will load the palette priority setting with bit. Game Genie code will set the bit to.

Regional Differences


The European offers a language select screen not available in all other regional releases.

The Japanese version has plain text rather than menu icons and has general font changes.