The Adventures of Bayou Billy

Also known as Mad City in Japan, The Adventures of Bayou Billy is a cross-style game with shoot-em-up and beat-em-up elements, and was one of the few select titles to use the NES Zapper. Watch the crocs!

Ending Song in Sound Test


By use of the Game Genie code you can select the Ending song in the Sound Test.

Build Dates
At the location of the PRG ROM is an ID with a date that version of the game was compiled: SAMP881226FOR-KONAMI.INC A similar ID is found in many other Konami games.

Regional Differences
Mad City had a number of things that, for whatever reason, were removed from Bayou Billy.

Swamp
The tileset for the swamp had some changes that simplified the background.
 * The ground was made less detailed in Bayou Billy, creating a more noticeable transition between grass and sand.
 * The trees lost some of their moss and were given lighter shading, and a few were extended or shortened.
 * Rocky walls were added, removing some of the background vines.

Stage 1 had several changes concerning its lakes and the area surrounding them.
 * The small pieces of land in the first and last lakes are replaced with wooden walkways.
 * The sandy area between the first two lakes was shortened down and got rid of its rocks.
 * A walkway was added to the second lake.
 * The last lake was shortened down.

Stage 3 was extended, adding a lake and some extra ground before the second boss.

Driving
The two driving stages had massive changes in Bayou Billy, making them harder.
 * Billy's buggy was given different sprites, as well as a screeching noise when it revs up and turns. It also takes a single hit to destroy, when it had a health bar in Mad City.
 * The top speed the car can go is 180 MPH, as opposed to 250 KPH in Mad City.
 * The driving stages were given a much faster pace.
 * The explosives that can be thrown were changed from dynamite sticks to grenades.
 * A new HUD was given to the levels, which shows the distance to the goal, the player's lives, the speed the player is going, and the amount of fuel the car has. This required the camera to be shifted down.
 * Gas cans were removed, which either gave the player more time to complete the level or fully restored the car's health.
 * An after-level bonus was added.

The first stage had quite a few changes.
 * The trees on the side of the road were replaced with wooden posts.
 * More clouds were added to the sky.
 * The light aircraft which drop bombs on Billy had their palette changed from green to orange.
 * In Mad City, there were loads of water puddles which slowed the buggy down when ran over. They were all removed in Bayou Billy except for one at the end of the stage.

The second stage's changes are more noticable, though.
 * The road was made thinner, and the lampposts were replaced with red striped poles.
 * A good chunk of the stage was changed to a lot of sharp corners.
 * The helicopters had their palette changed from grey to cyan.

Graphical Changes
The international title screen has a wavy rippling effect, whereas the Japanese version has a different logo animation.

Billy's portrait in the intro was given a major facelift for the international versions, and the hyphen that was (mistakenly?) hidden behind the "H" was moved to its intended spot, though they probably should have just removed it altogether.

The notice for the player to use the standard controller or switch to the NES Zapper peripheral equivalent does not exist in the Japanese version.

The Game Over screen of Bayou Billy adds another screen with the option to continue and the player's score, as well as a picture of a fallen, struggling Billy if the player decides to not continue.

The close-up of Billy being overwhelmed by gunfire when he loses at a gun stage was given a darker palette in the international versions, revealing some previously hidden details.

Annabelle is just wearing a simple V-neck dress instead of Daisy Dukes and high heels in cutscenes and her NPC sprite in the Japanese version. She also has a different hair style.


 * Some color palettes were slightly adjusted.
 * Some enemies have different sprites.

Audio Differences
A couple of DPCM voice samples were added to Bayou Billy. They are;
 * A man restating the title of the game, as well as saying "Bye" at the end of the credits.
 * Godfather Gordon laughing at the end of every after-stage cutscene.

Difficulty
The Adventures of Bayou Billy is much harder than Mad City, greatly contributing to its notoriety.
 * Enemies in the beat-em-up stages move faster, deal twice as much damage, and take twice as many hits to kill.
 * The alligators in the first few levels of the game have to be fought in Bayou Billy (they were optional in Mad City).
 * The amount of bullets started with in the shooting stages, normally 150 in Mad City, has been cut down to 50.
 * There is less fuel for the car in the driving stages.

Quiz Mode
In the Japanese version, you could access Quiz Mode by either beating the game four times in a row or losing all of your lives and opting not to continue on any stage but the first. By disabling the menu selection routine with the Game Genie Code, you can select the quiz option in the US and PAL versions, although it is no longer functional.





Alternate Endings
There are four endings in the Japanese version!

Normal Ending
This is the same as the one in Bayou Billy.

Easy Mode Ending
Complete the game with a powerup from Training, and the game will just refuse to show you the ending, instead telling you to complete the game normally.

Jerkass Ending
After beating the last boss, Annabelle comes out of a door and walks over to you. In Mad City, you can move around during this. If you stay away from her long enough, you'll get an alternate ending where Annabelle decides that Billy no longer wants her. What the hell, Konami?

Kansai-Ban Ending
This is the same as the normal ending, but with silly dialogue. As Billy and Annabelle hug, press and hold Up & Select to trigger this ending.