Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

Lufia II is actually a prequel to the first game. It's most famous for its puzzle-filled dungeons, as well as having a whole mess of bugs. And Lufia isn't in the game, either. Go figure.

Debug Menu




Introduction
Lufia II contains a debug system with a ton of features. To activate it, use Game Genie code or Pro Action Replay code.

While in an area, hold Select on Controller 2 and press X on Controller 1 to enable debugging (only needs to be done once). This sets memory address to. The same button combo can be used again to turn it off, if necessary.

On Controller 1, hold Start and press X to enter the first debug screen, EV FLAGS.
 * Use A or B to toggle flags, and to increase/decrease registers. L and R change the page.

From there you can jump to more menus:
 * Press X to switch to TP FLAGS. The same controls as EV FLAGS apply.
 * Press Select for a menu to Load or Save your game progress.
 * Press Y for the main debug screen.

Menu Options

 * GO TO WMAP - Instantly teleports you to the world map.
 * MASK OFF - Removes the masking effect in interior areas, allowing you to see the entire map, including what's "behind the black".
 * SET MASK - Re-enables the masking effect.
 * TRANS SC - (Unknown)
 * SPR OFF - Removes all sprites from the screen; leave the screen to make them reappear. Also note that this only removes the graphic, not the coding, so it's possible to run into invisible enemies if this is used inside a dungeon.

Location Controls

 * Controller 1:
 * Hold B while moving to dash combined with walk through walls.
 * Press Select to enter a battle. Normally, this will call up a battle from whatever region you're currently in, but attempting to use it in an area where you can't normally fight, such as a town or small shrine, will either reset the game to the title screen, or call up a random enemy (usually one of the Sinistrals). This effect does not function underwater, aboard the airship, on the Gruberik Island on the overworld, or anywhere the tool ring can be called up.


 * Controller 2:
 * Hold Start to freeze action.
 * Press L and R to cycle through sprites.

Battle Controls

 * Press X to exit battle.
 * Hold Select and press R to enter Debug Battle mode (a sound effect confirms success).
 * Press Start to freeze action.

Debug Battle Controls

 * Press A or B to cycle through backgrounds.
 * Press X or Y to cycle through monsters.
 * Hold Up and press R to exit.

Menu Controls
You will need to turn off the Game Genie/PAR code to enter the menu. The debug features will still remain enabled as they read from the address.

Move the cursor over ITEM, SPELL, CAPSULE, EQUIP, or STATUS. Hold L and press X for various bonuses:
 * ITEM - Adds one of every tool to the inventory. Repeated usage simply adds one more of each tool.
 * SPELL - Gives every character who can use magic all the spells they're normally capable of learning.
 * CAPSULE - Toggles whether or not the option can be selected.
 * EQUIP - Adds fifteen of every single item in the game, including key items and dummied items, to the shop in Forfeit Island that sells everything you've ever sold/discarded. Sets all bits through.
 * STATUS - Gives you 10,000 gold.

Capsule Menu Controls

 * Press L or R to decrease/increase level.
 * In the FEED screen, move the cursor from the item list to the SELECT/SORT area, and press X to raise the GROW meter.

World Map (WMAP) Controls

 * Hold B while moving to dash combined with walk through walls.
 * Press A + B to board airship.
 * Press Select to enter a battle.

Unused Items
There are a few unused items in the game, though most have no description and serve no purpose whatsoever.


 * Power jelly - As you find the Iris treasures from the Ancient Cave, they can be displayed in a room in Forfeit Island. If you defeat the boss of the Ancient Cave, a gigantic jelly creature, you "receive" the monster, which can then be displayed with the Iris treasures. The "Power jelly" is that particular monster. It's not strictly unused, but for whatever reason, the item itself is not added to the inventory.


 * Key26, Key27, Key28, Key29, Key30 - These are likely nothing more than leftover placeholders for any additional keys they may have needed.
 * PURIFIA - Another dummied key item with no effect. This is probably an Engrished attempt at "Pulifia" ("Priphea" in English versions), a type of flower mentioned often within the series.
 * Tag ring - There are two of these, one that's evidently cursed and a variation that's had the curse removed. Both of them are valid ring-type accessories and can be equipped, but give no stat boosts at all and have no IP effect.


 * RAN-RAN step - Unlike the other unused items, this one actually has a description: "Reduces your weight." It's unclear what purpose that would have served, however. Strangely, this is a sword and can be equipped as one, but like the Tag Ring it gives no stat boosts (not even attack power) and has no IP effect. When used in battle, it plays every battle animation in the game one after the other, including spells, but does no actual damage to enemies. Obviously a debug item used to test battle effects.


 * Tag candy - Some sort of consumable item. It can be used in battle on an ally, but always misses, so what effect it has, if any, is unknown.
 * Last - Another strange "sword" with no stat boosts or IP effect. The "EQUIP" menu debug cheat above does not add this to the Forfeit Island pawn shop, oddly enough.

Unused Battle Background


Via the debug mode or a cheat code, it's possible to fight on a battlefield that isn't used anywhere in the game. It appears to be either a mossy cave, or could have been intended for the exteriors of mountain areas, where no battles ever occur.

Tanbel Southeast Tower 3F Treasure Room/Hall


On the third floor of Tanbel Southeast Tower is a pair of unused rooms located just above the music notes puzzle room that were left over from a prototype build. Access them by walking through walls (either using the debug mode or Game Genie codes ) on the north wall of the music notes puzzle room, a few tiles below where the exits of the unused rooms are.

The smaller middle room is absolutely loaded with a whopping 21 chests, none of which work. Not a single one of them. You can even walk over them as though they weren't there.

In the larger upper hallway, the switch doesn't work, though its purpose was presumably to open the door below. The pillar in this same room is also just a graphic, and is immobile. It seems likely you were supposed to push that pillar over onto the switch, except that particular switch is of the type that doesn't require you to weigh it down with another object. This probably would have been corrected had these rooms been used.

The last oddity is that if you exit from the upper room, a doorway appears in the wall of the music notes puzzle room. It isn't functional, but you can still use the walk-through-walls code to return to the unused room from it.

Gratze Castle


Normally, Gratze Castle can't be properly explored; you're thrown in the dungeon as soon as you arrive, and as soon as you escape a chain of cutscenes begins automatically, which results in the destruction of the entire castle. However, there's actually a bit more to the area than can be seen normally, and can be viewed with the debug menu.

The center door doesn't open, and there are no further maps for the interior. The door frames in the upper-left corner are simply there for use in the cutscene when the large doors open. There are exit events in place at the drawbridge, but attempting to exit the castle merely puts you at the entrance to the underwater cave you'd normally use to reach Gratze.

Allies


Carrying, pushing, and jumping/falling sprites for Selan, Guy, Dekar, and Tia. Since Maxim is the only one who can ever lead the team in dungeons, where these particular sprites would be used, very few, if any, of these such sprites for his allies actually appear in the game. Note that only a single left-facing "push" animation exists for Artea, and Lexis does not have any of these sprites at all. Since these two characters join much later in the game, there may have been early plans to allow the player to change the leader in dungeons, but was scrapped before Artea and Lexis were added.

Larger Erim


In the same place as the other Sinistral sprites exists this larger version of Erim. It seems she was originally intended to tower over your characters, as her fellow Sinistrals Gades, Amon, and Daos do, but at some point she was reduced to the more human size seen in-game.

Unknown Item Icon


This teapot-like item was found among the item graphics, but doesn't appear to be used. A larger and more elaborate teapot graphic is used in-game, however, for antidotes and other status-curing potions, so this may just be an earlier version of it, left in for whatever reason.

Hidden Coin Graphic


While this graphic isn't actually unused, it only appears in one spot and is quickly obscured, meaning most players will never see it. After defeating the Egg Dragon, Maxim will hold up this pile of coins over his head when you receive the Egg Sword and Egg Ring, but it's immediately covered up by the dialogue box. This graphic isn't used anywhere else in the game; presumably, it was intended to be displayed when money was obtained, but no chests actually contain money. There is one point in the game where you're given a monetary reward, but this graphic is not used when it's obtained, even though it logically should be.

This is the first sprite listed in the item graphic data, suggesting it was not only added very early in development, long before it was decided not to include money in chests, but that it also serves as "default" item sprite data, which is presumably why it appears here.

Alternate Pillars


Alternate movable pillar designs with red and blue jeweled tops. These are part of the shrine tileset, but are never used. It's possible they were intended as counterparts to the the red/yellow/blue movable jewel blocks in the dungeon tileset.

Alternate Blue Chest


The treasure chests in the Sealed Towers sport a unique look, not seen anywhere else in the game. Matching blue chests are present in the tileset, but as none of these towers have any *need* for blue chests, they ultimately go unused.

Sealed Tower Spikes


Floor spikes, also present in the Sealed Tower tileset. Unsurprisingly, none of the three sealed towers feature spikes, or any puzzles whatsoever they'd even be used for.

Arek's Castle


The top half of the tiles atop the structure behind Arek the Absolute in the intro sequence are cut off by the black "frame" around the screen. As this area is never visited properly, and only shown in this short sequence, these tiles are never fully seen.

Internal SPC Track Names
The decompressed SPCs contain a 16 byte header which includes a short song title/description. The header layout:


 * 0x00 "S2" (a 2 byte marker the game uses to identify various data sets)
 * 0x02 always ASCII "C"
 * 0x03 (unknown byte)
 * 0x04 SPC name, up to 12 bytes and any unused space at the end is padded with the space character

Songs, , , are unused silent placeholders with the name DAMY (dummy). For reference, you can use Pro Action Replay code (JP version) or  (NA version) to change the song that plays on the load screen.

Save Management Menu


At bootup, hold Select + Start and keep the buttons held to load this screen allowing you to erase your save data (a confirmation box is given if you choose Yes)

Regional Differences
Many things changed between the Japanese, North American, and European releases, including a swath of the usual Taito-quarity tlansration fun, and a whole lot of failing to crushing out the bugs.

Debug Menu
The debug menu in the Japanese version lists the PPU1 and PPU2 versions of the Super Famicom/SNES console. This isn't displayed in the American version, although the programming that checks the registers still exists.

Treasure Sword Shrine Puzzles
The first of three major changes is the final puzzle in the Treasure Sword Shrine. In the Japanese version, it consists of a simple hallway with a few pillars, which leads to a wide-opened room with numerous branching paths. To open the door, you have to walk a correct path around the room. The teleporters all lead back to the arrow panels directly below them at the entrance to the room.

The American and European versions are significantly different here, however: rather than teleporters and pathways, there are three progressively more difficult puzzles based on Othello. You have a limited number of chances to move the blocks (which can be picked up) in such a way that they turn all the blocks yellow.

Gordovan Tower Puzzles
The puzzle to destroy the immortal zombie just before finding the key in Gordovan Tower was also significantly different in the Japanese version. There are six movable blocks, and a cross-shaped dark patch on the floor; the object is to move the blocks into position so they form a cross over the dark patch.

This was changed in subsequent releases to a simple puzzle where you simply hit the orbs with your sword in the correct order.

Ancient Tower Puzzle
Not far into the Ancient Tower in the Japanese version exists a little puzzle to open the door: stepping on the tiles causes them to change appearance from blank to having a little symbol on them, and vice versa. All you need to do here is walk across the tiles so that the symbol tiles forming an "X" are forming an "O" instead.

Very simple, straightforward, and ultimately rather pointless, which is probably why it was removed entirely in western releases, leaving behind only an empty room with a single monster in it.

Shrine Palettes
The Japanese version used the standard blue palette for the rugs, regeneration points, and special chests in the Treasure Sword Shrine, rather than the unusual green palette present in the American release. Similar palette changes can be seen in the colored switches in later shrines. It's unknown why this simple change was made.

Churches
As said earlier, Nintendo had a very strict policy about religious symbolism being displayed. Because of this, the crosses inside the churches throughout the world were replaced with obelisks, while the ones outside the churches were removed entirely. Oddly enough, the crosses are still present in the ruined town tileset.

Sprite Differences
The women in the bar and casino at Forfeit Island were originally bunny girls. Apparently, Nintendo deemed this "improper" or something, and made them all put some more clothes on.

This change makes less sense, though. In the Japanese version, sailors had blue hair and white outfits. In the American version, they have red hair and blue outfits. It's just a simple palette shift, but seriously, why did they change this?

Untranslated Text
In a few places throughout the game, some of the text was inadvertently left untranslated. With the Japanese font removed from the game entirely, the result is complete gibberish.

The most well-known instance of this are the U e MoV T Caves, a series of undersea caves in the northeast part of the world, which contain a few chests and one of the capsule monsters. In the Japanese version, these were known as カプセルモンスターの洞窟 (kapuserumonstaa no doukutsu) which translates to, unsurprisingly, "Cave of Capsule Monsters".

Another instance of this happens in Gratze Kingdom. Or '3y Kingdom, as the game likes to call it.

Doom Castle Exit
Once you're inside Doom Castle at the very end of the game, there's no turning back; attempting to do so will have Maxim comment that they "can't run away now", and will refuse to leave. Be that as it may, there's an actual exit on the tile just behind it, which can be reached with a walk-through-walls code or the debug mode above. It actually leads outside, to the Doom Island map.

There's no collision/boundaries, so you can walk over the entire screen, and while the large teleporter shrine from the first Lufia is present on the map, it's only a decoration and cannot be entered. It is possible to re-enter Doom Castle from the map, however.