Bust-A-Move (SNES)

Bust-A-Move
Also known as: Puzzle Bobble (JP, EU) Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Platform: SNES Released in JP: January 13, 1995 Released in US: March 1995 Released in EU: June 29, 1995 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences. This game has anti-piracy features.

A Bubble Bobble-themed puzzle game revolving around matching and popping colored bubbles. It's been ported to more consoles than you've... had... it's on a lot of platforms, let's leave it at that.

Sound Test

The Pro Action Replay (PAR) codes 8081BC7F + 8081BD82 + 8081BE8B (US version) will cause this sound test to replace the main menu.

Sound test Ver.
0.30.1994/09/16

It features a date and version number which does not differ between versions of the game.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Hidden Message

This message appears at 7F510 in the US ROM (European version: 7F53E, Japanese version: 7F460), right after the "regional lockout" anti-piracy error message.

Original
Nee Chotto, doushite kopii nanka suruno? ROM ni kawatte oshioki yo!! Kono bunshow wo yomu towa, onushimo nakanaka waru yo noo. E? Kopii surunja nakattanda. Korya mata shitsurei shimashita. Yoikono minna, geemuno kopii nante yatcha damedayo! Geemuno kopii nante, waruiojisanno surukoto dakarane. Sorekara, kono geemuwo kattekudasatta kata, arigato gozaimasu. Korekaramo yoroshiku!
Japanese	English Translation
ねえちょっと、どうしてコピーなんかするの？ ROMにかわっておしおきよ！！ このぶんしょうをよむとは、おぬしなかなかわるよのー。 え？ コピーするんじゃなかったんだ。 こりゃまたしつれいしました。 よいこのみんな、ゲームのコピーなんだてやっちゃダメだよ！ ゲームのコピーなんで、わるいおじさんのすることだからね。 それから、このゲームをかってくださったかた、ありがとうございます。 これからもヨロシク！	Hey, wait a second; why would you copy this? In the name of the ROM, I will punish you!! If you're reading this, you're pretty bad aren't ya. Oh? You weren't trying to copy it, you say. Well, I'm sorry then. Alright kids, you can't go around copying games! Copying games is just for bad old men. So, anyway, thanks to those who bought this game. Best regards!

The line "ROM ni kawatte oshioki yo!!" is a play on Sailor Moon's famous catchphrase, "Tsuki ni kawatte oshioki yo!" (In the name of the moon, I will punish you!) It might be possible that this message was to be shown in the anti-piracy method described below, but the incorrect message was shown instead.

Other Messages

This line appears at offset 28000 and is used to detect when the game has been reset:

program: KS&ST

This one appears at offset 2B77E:

PROGRAM Ver001
Tana-B & Magical SUGI chan
Aug.9,1994 TAITO CORPORATION

"KS&ST" likely refers to programmer Kazuhiko Sugiyama and director Shoji Takahashi, while "Tana-B & Magical SUGI chan" likely refers to programmers Satoru Tanabe and Kazuhiko Sugiyama. The version number and date do not differ between versions of the game.

Anti-Piracy

At bootup, the game will attempt to write to SRAM and if the write is successful, the game will display the above message. An official cartridge contains no SRAM, so this write will do nothing but cartridge copiers always have SRAM present. Oddly, the message used is usually used in SNES games as a region lockout rather than an anti piracy message, and ironically enough, the game itself does not have region lockout.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

Japan	USA	Europe

The title screen was redesigned for each region. The Japanese version is known as Puzzle Bobble. This name was kept for the European version which adds the subtitle Bust-A-Move. In the US, the game was renamed to just Bust-A-Move and the logo was completely redesigned. The background was also changed to a dark blue, making it more closely resemble the arcade game's title screen.