HyperZone

Version Differences
In the Japanese version, the Old Capital is Area 1 and the Material Factory is Area 3. In the American and PAL versions, the Material Factory is Area 1 and the Old Capital is Area 3. Some of the stage enemies got moved around as a result of this change, but not the bosses.

3D Effect
bH4ht5dz5rQ Once the title screen is finished loading (the Start Normal text is displayed), enter the following:

Select, Select, A, B, Select, Select, X, Y, Select, Select, L, R, up

It sets in, and turns the title screen red.

During gameplay, pressing Select toggles in. It adds/removes a blur type effect to the background.

It's very likely that Hal Laboratory intended the game to be used with 3D glasses, a la Rad Racer, but the effect was never fully implemented (the red/blue colors had not been applied) and the idea was abandoned.

Sound Test
Hold L and R and press Start on the title screen to bring up a Sound Test. You can test any of the game's 13 songs and 21 sound effects.

Lolo
A single sprite for Lolo from The Adventures of Lolo game series can be found hidden amongst the ship upgrade graphics.

Halken Logo
Part of the Halken logo can be found in with the ending demo graphics. It was used in the opening and ending sequence of the Japanese and European versions of the game, but HAL America replaced it with their own logo for the American version.

The new HAI logo overwrote part of the old Halken logo, so only half of it remains in the American ROM.

Bio Plant Background Tiles
A strange organic mass and a similar-looking tile with a grate covering it. Judging from its name and these tiles, the Bio Plant was probably supposed to have a more "organic" theme, but was changed in favor of the flashing lights.

There is also a darkened-out tile of just the mid-section of the bio mass. This probably indicates that it was meant to light up, just like the flashing lights that actually were used for this stage.

Weird Font & Dummied Option Menu
Hidden in the background tiles for the microchip background seen in the ending sequence are tiles for the game's title in an unused font, the Japanese copyright information, and what appears to be text for an Option menu that seems to have been removed from the game. It is unknown exactly what "SAR" and "ECD" stood for. It is possible that "SAR" may have been "START" with the "T" being reused from "OPTION", and "ECD" may have been "ENTER CODE", also by reusing letters.

Although the font is unused in the English versions of the game, it was used for the Japanese version's title screen.

Unused Music
The song that plays during the opening demo that shows the Hal (or Halken) company logo is actually a bit longer than what gets played for the few seconds the logo is displayed. The entire song can be heard in the Sound Test.

Unused Text
The following text is located at offset in the Japanese ROM:

It appears to be referring to a development tool. A similar message can also be found in various other SNES games, such as Super Mario All-Stars.

Area Clear Extra Life


After defeating a boss, you are given a few seconds before the stage ends. If you use this time to modify your ship's speed, and the value is exactly 333 when the Area Clear message appears, you will be rewarded with an extra life.