Wrath of the Black Manta

Cutscenes
The story and artwork in the intro, dialogue screens, level cutscenes, and ending are very different.

Boot Screen
In the Japanese version, the hero drops in before the title screen appears. In the international versions, the title screen appears right away.



Introduction (abridged)
In the Japanese version, the intro plays by waiting at the title screen. In the international versions, the intro only appears after starting the game (otherwise, you'll see the Level 2 demo).

Stage Intro
In the Japanese version, the hero drops in, the word "Round" appears, then someone shoots an arrow with a note. The international versions just show the number and name of the stage.

Levels
Most levels are completely different and played in a different order.

Music
The music is in a different order in the Japanese version.

Bosses
Some bosses have been redrawn and others were completely changed. Such as the last boss, who is an Alien in the Japanese version instead of a mobster with the kidnapped kid.

Cheats
The Japanese version has three working cheats.
 * Invincibility: Press B, B, Select, A, Up, Select, Right, Start before the title screen appears. If done correctly, the word MUTEKI will appear.
 * Stage Select: Enter any of the below at the title screen.
 * Stage 2: A, B, A, A, A, Up, Down, B, Start.
 * Stage 3: Select, A, B, B, A, Select, Down, Up, Start.
 * Stage 4: Right, Right, Down, Down, Up, Up, B, Select, Select, Start.
 * Stage 5: Down, Right, Left, B, A, B, Select, Select, Start.
 * Stage 6: Up, Left, Left, Right, B, Select, A, Select, Start.
 * Boss Rush: Press A, B, A, Select, Select, Select, Right, Up, Start at the title screen.

The US versions still have the stage/boss rush select cheats sitting in the ROMs, but disabled, so they can't be re-enabled in easy way. In European version this cheats was finally removed. The "MUTEKI" cheat was totally removed from all western versions due to lack of the intro at all.

But, using the Game Genie code (for the US PRG1 revision) or  (for the US PRG0 revision) or  (for the European version), you can re-enable the debug stage/boss select mode, written especially for the western versions. Just press Start at the title screen. Press A / B to select the level number. A numbers from 1 to 6 represents the regular levels, numbers from 81 to 86 - the boss levels. Press Select to enable invincibility. Press Start to start from the selected level.

Europe
The European version has a different copyright screen.

Revisional Differences
The US got a v1.1 release which changed, among other things, a few spelling mistakes.