Light Crusader

The last Genesis game developed by Treasure, Light Crusader is similar to Landstalker. You're David, a knight, and you have 6 dungeon floors to overcome. There are puzzles, combat and healing items. The info on this page pertains to the American (U) version, unless noted otherwise.

Test
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TEST is the first main debugging menu. To activate it, go to the MODE menu, deselect all options, and press Down eight times. A change in music should confirm that the menu is now unlocked. In addition, you also unlock 3 options for the MODE menu.

Sound
&#9664;SOUND&#9654; is a sound test menu. It has three sub-menus, SOUND&#9664;10&middot;2D&#9654; (mostly voice samples), SOUND&#9664;80&middot;9F&#9654; (music) and SOUND&#9664;A0&middot;E7&#9654; (mostly sound effects; it ends at, not ). Press Up and Down or Left and Right to toggle the tracks. Press C to listen and A to stop.

Icon
This shows all icons in the game. This includes items, equipment, and some other graphics.

Face
This displays all the character portraits. The king's uses the Goblin's palette, for some reason.

String
This displays all of the game's strings, for the specified language.

Language
This allows you to change the game's language, this includes Japanese. The European version does have a language option, but there isn't an option for Japanese.

Language is hidden, and is called USENGLISH (US English), but is exactly the same as the version's corresponding English localization. Other options, starting from, can also be chosen, but their strings are mostly garbled text.

In the Japanese version, you can only choose Japanese and English. The other options (all named Deutsch) can be accessed with the same code, but their strings are still garbage.

Test2
The second main debugging menu. To access TEST2, first go to TEST, then press Up, А, Right, А, Left, А, Down, and А. A cow moo should confirm the code.

Item
Lists all items' names, icons and types, as if they were being chosen from the inventory screen. You aren't able to use them, though.

Font
Shows a bunch of tilesets.

Warning
Writes all the possible start-up warnings, like "Developed for use only with NTSC Genesis systems". Half of them just say "??".

Message
Writes the game's dialogs. You can press A to change the language.

Floor
Allows teleportation to a different room. You first choose the floor, and then the room number. There is also an 8th option, with no name, that allows you to choose between 5 extra rooms, mostly used in credits scenes. You don't need an extra code to access this invisible 8th option. There are, though, more hidden options. You can go from the 9th option onward. Any other option after the 8th has 8 rooms, and all of them either reset the console or crash, because the game is reading different data and trying to turn it into a room.

Unfortunately, you always spawn at 0,0, which is too much to the North of the level, making you start out of bounds. You can use the codes, and  to change your X, Y and Z coordinates. Choosing 128 for both X and Y often works well.

You may have to pause/unpause or leave some of the rooms and reenter them, in order for the data to be loaded properly.

About this
Depending on the system you're using, this menu will be named "ABOUT THIS MEGADRIVE" (J), "ABOUT THIS GENESIS" (U) or "ABOUT THIS EURO MD" (E). This menu only has 1 selectable option, that allows you to change the region manually. The menu displays information about the console's soft version, hard version, controller info (6BPAD for 6-button pads, 3BPAD for 3-button and MOUSE for mouse) for each of the 3 players, and info about the battery's status.

Interestingly, if you hold two opposite directions on the D-pad simultaneously for a while, the game will consider the controller disconnected. After a moment, it will recognize the controller, again.

Mode menu options
The MODE options in the pause menu only has 3 visible options, but there are 3 more, hidden: "MODE3", "MODE0" and "MOUSE ENABLE". These are shown when the TEST menu is activated. The effects of these options are unknown.

Other debug menu?
There might be another menu hidden inside the game. There is some text that hints to this.


 * (this one is not the string that appears when a scroll/tablet is highlighted)
 * (this one is not the string that appears when a scroll/tablet is highlighted)

Unused text
Asterisks (*) indicate variable text.

Unused levels
To access these, use the FLOOR debug menu.

City, room 0B
A copy of the 2nd portion of the city. It has no characters, except for the princess, who says nothing when spoken to. There is one exit, that leads to the NW corner of the 1st portion of the city. This "door" can actually be found without cheats, but you can only enter the unused room with the unused and unnamed key.

Floor 1, room 0B
Copy of the room with a floor that's mostly spikes. The spikes and exits don't have data, but there is a way out. It's behind one of the platform's walls near the North of the room. It leads to the "Answer the Riddle!" room a bit to the South of the 1st floor's teleporter room. The entrance to this unused room can also be touched in the normal game, but it can only be entered with the unused key as well.

Floor 6, room 0D
Copy of the room with a woman that says "Are they crazy?" near the center of the map, except it has no music, no woman, and no exit.

"Floor 7", room 02
A copy of the map used in the ending's town scene, but without people.

"Floor 7", room 04
An interesting test room. You're in the castle's throne room, but with only a cow and some stairs. The cow -- get this -- shoots fireballs and other projectiles at you. This is a "Beat Them!" room, and you can even kill the cow. After killing it, it'll be flipped upside-down and release a lot of Fire element pickup, which will lag the game for a while. It explodes when it dies, but the explosions don't end and their graphics are messed up.

A Chinese door can be seen out of bounds to the Southeast, and it opens when the cow is defeated. If you go out of bounds next to where the door is, you'll notice there are walls that enclose a path that actually leads to the door. It's impossible to enter the door, though, and if you do go out of bounds, the game might glitch if you explore too much.

Pausing and unpausing will reset the room, but it will also scramble the graphics. If you go to the stairs, you'll enter room 0B of Floor 1.

Unused items and equipment
To access these items, you can use the code to change the first item in your inventory. The Dillo is an armor, though.

Dillo
An unused piece of chest armor. With the code, you'll have all armors, including the Dillo. It's to the 3rd-to-last armor, so it's fairly useful.

Gem
Its icon looks like, well, a gem. When one tries to use it, the text "That cannot be used." appears. Type: document.

Ring 1 and Ring 2
( and ) Ring 1 has a blue stone, and ring 2 has a red one. When used, the text "That cannot be used" appears. Type: amulet.

Bag
"That cannot be used.". Type: special.

Cube
When used, it'll ask the player if they want to save the game. It can save on any room, and when the player loads the game again, David'll appear on the door that was used to get to the room before saving. It disappears after being used once. Type: special.

Bottle
If you use this when submerged in water, it'll be transformed into a water bottle. Type: drink.

Boots
If you use these, you'll be able to jump higher for 10 seconds. This was likely removed because one could skip parts of puzzles with it. Type: special.

Unnamed key
looks like the gold key, and when used, "That cannot be used" appears, obviously, as it's a key. This key opens the doors that lead to City-0B and Floor 1-0B.

It also opens a path in the graveyard. There is an entrance in the wall on the left-hand corner. Try walking towards it with this key, and a door will open. You can then travel through the waterstream, and when you reach the right side, you'll go to the waterstream part on the farm (you'll be standing on top of it, so you'll have to jump to be submerged again). Continue with the route, and you'll be sent to the painter's house. Type: key.

Other items
(Items, , , , and ) All of these are named "." on the inventory screen.
 * acts and looks like the bag. Type: special.
 * looks like the cube, and when used, "No effect." appears. Type: special.
 * is a money bag, and when used, "That cannot be used." appears. Type: special.
 * 's icon is the same as the YES button that appears on message boxes, highlighted. When used, it behaves as if it were the stone tablet or scroll, but there is no text in it. Type: document.
 * acts and looks like the bag too. Type: special.

Unused icons
These can be found in the Icon menu.

Unused music
There are 2 unused songs, accessible via the Sound debug menu.



This one has the code. It sounds as though it could belong to a floor.



This one has the code. It sounds as though it could belong to rooms with some action going on.

Unused sound effects



 * David saying "Take this!".




 * David saying "Open the door."




 * The necromancer saying "shinde moraimasu" (roughly, "Die for me").




 * Some instrument playing in tremolo, endlessly. to  all do the same, except the pitch is one note higher in each one.




 * A woman laughing. The laughing sounds can be found individually from to.



,, and : Robot sounds.

General regional differences
In the Japanese version, all text is in Japanese, and in the American version, in English. In the European version, the player can switch languages at the main menu or pause menu.

Translated text for other languages is included inside the American release, despite never being used due to its lack of a language menu. The translated texts can be found at, and. The Japanese version has text in English, but not in other languages.

Other info

 * The Japanese version has the "Damage number" mode option enabled by default.

American English vs European English
It looks like the American version updated some parts of the European's script.

Cats and their silly localizations...

The American version removed the mention of battles.

Needless pluralization.

This is the only time this change (did -> 'd) happens.

The European text indicated that all princess should actually do something instead of being kidnapped.

Interestingly, the American version didn't write "neighbor". And the European version indicated that he actually went somewhere on his own.

The name was changed, and the ellipsis were removed... For some reason.

This guy went from having his own back story to being your average boring adult.

A shopkeep says this after he mentions the price.

The European line made little sense, so in the US version, they wrote a small funny line instead.

The artist was too soft-hearted in the European version.

This very skilled pianist says "There!" before starting her beautiful song in the PAL version. It'd look better after the song, but it comes right before. This was probably an oversight on the script that was fixed in the US version.

Shopkeepers say this after you buy something.

American's absence of Added Alliterative Appeal.

If you refuse to sleep in the Tavern/Inn, the owner will either sigh or cry like a baby.

Minor change. This is the only time this word is written with a z in the US version.

In the PAL release, it's seen as a favor.

The king is either selfish or scared. In the PAL version, it seems like nobody else relies on our hero.

Minor change, but it looks like there's a known legend about it in the American version.

There is a chamber in which one needs to line statues in order so that they are aligned like a lunar eclipse. This text is the clue given before that chamber, but it's a bit clearer for the non-astrology-savvy players in the PAL version.

The story really didn't need magic to explain how their chains work.

A bit minor, but the European version gives more emphasis on the fact that that food was for the goblins alone.

I really don't know which line is better, to be honest. Although both have that really misplaced "the" there.

American friends call him Roke.

Quite a big difference here. The first paragraph is a lot more Engrish in the PAL version. The PAL version also mentions several demons, but only one of them being bad, as if that made sense. The sword's creation is only mentioned in the American version. The PAL version mentions that the sword will arise if the spirit awakens.

The guild's shopkeep implies that David is a regular costumer in the PAL version.

After this message, fireballs rain from every corner in the room towards David. A word of advice: standing still in the same place will have you take more damage from the fireballs. What were the PAL localizers thinking in trying to make the player stand still?

The parents return home, only to be reminded that they live in a single-room shack. It was changed to a less-stressful conclusion in the US version.

Huster, the final boss and ultimate evil, was renamed to Ramiah. Every instance of Huster has been replaced with Ramiah in the US version.

Before fighting against Garriott's armor, it says this. In the European release, it says that David is back, despite this obviously being the first time he's entered that boss room. Unless the armor is talking about from when David was last in Green Row...

In the American version, we're led to believe the armor or spiritual entity is talking, whereas the European version indicates that the sword itself is making the speech.

But you must give it back when you're done!

They're not exactly victims... not yet at least.

What? Buried? They're just standing there on his hand!

After Ramiah/Huster is defeated, the Guildmaster... professes his/her love to David/Ramiah/Huster? That's what happens when you try to jam a tiny bit of romance where it doesn't fit. You get weird out-of-place lines. And why exactly is s/he calling David/Ramiah/Huster/himself/herself a loser?