Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Also known as: Castlevania: Byakuya no Concerto (JP) Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo Publisher: Konami Platform: Game Boy Advance Released in JP: June 6, 2002 Released in US: September 16, 2002 Released in EU: October 11, 2002 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a Data Crystal page

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a game where you play as a Belmont, in the 19th century, on a quest to destroy Dracula again. So pretty much like every other Castlevania game.

Trial Edition

Found in the title tileset. Perhaps it may be part of a older demo version shown at some events.

Unused Text

$2000

There's no money item that's worth $2000 in the game. Aria of Sorrow later reused the entire money item value chunk and uses the $2000 money value for the new shop system's sake.

Text located at address 080D9238.

You can listen to BGM and \n
sound effects.\n

The text located at address 080D9688 serves as a (presumably) music/sound effect test mode, stored near the furniture collection section.

You can listen to the BGM \n
used in the game. \n

A (presumably) music test mode description. Text located at address 080D9AF8.

You can listen to the sound \n
effects used in the game.\n

A (presumably) sound effect mode description. Text located at address 080D9B5C.

Note while the BGM test is intact, the sound effect test is not normally available in-game, which is probably being cut due to ROM memory/logic concern. (Collecting the phonograph to unlock BGM/sound effect test would make sense, but pointless because in the final game's logic, after beating the game in the best ending, you'll unlock the BGM test mode in the main menu anyway).

Debug Menu

You can access the debug menu either by writing 0x200D to ROM address 0x80007A4 or with the following equivalent GameShark code:

A69F532E DBCA6A04
9A86D92A 635F8DBC

Selecting Exit starts the game normally. Selecting STAFF ROLL starts the credits. Selecting SOUND MODE brings up the very nice unlockable sound test menu.

GAME

This menu lets you start the game from any desired area.

• Pressing Select brings up a counter that lets you select a room to spawn in.
• Pressing A makes you spawn in "omote" (Regular Castle/Castle A).
• Pressing B makes you spawn in "ura" (Inner Castle/Castle B).

iriguchi

• • Warp to Castle Entrance area.

rouka

• • Warp to Marble Corridor area.

bochi

• • Warp to Wailing Way area.

shiro(U)

• • Warp to Castle Top Floor area.

skel

• • Warp to Skeleton Cave area.

cave

• • Warp to Luminous Cavern area.

Venice

• • Warp to Aqueduct of Dragons area.

chapel

• • Warp to Sky Walkway/Chapel of Dissonance area.

toKei-tou

• • Warp to Clock Tower area.

shiro(D)

• • Warp to Castle Treasury area.

TEST_VIEW

This menu lets you access graphics testing tools, but they don't function. Selecting SCREEN will lead to the system resetting.

• 

  CHARACTER

• 

  OPD

• 

  HIT EDIT

TAKEDA

This menu lets you pick from a selection of enemies in the game to test.

Then you are spawned in the final room in the game with the enemy. Heading left to the previous room will trap you.

MIURA

This just spawns you in the final room with a single bat.

HIROHARA

This is another enemy test list, that once again spawns you in the final room with the appropriate enemy.

INOUE

A third enemy test list; this one seems to have a lot of bosses.

"Slap"

At the last few spots in this section exists a test object (?) with an internal name of "Slap".

This enemy looks like a regular Slime variant but moves in a ridiculous speed through the air; once it hits the ground, it becomes a human-like walking object. Its hitbox detection is incomplete and may move through the wall and disappear.

Regional Differences

To do: Screenshots coming soon.

Title Screen

Japan	US	Europe

The title screen logo is redesigned for the international releases, features repositioned and resized large "Castlevania" text font, and with brighter layer graphics to make better contrast to the large text. The Trademark is labeled slightly different in the European version, as the "TM" trademark symbol is moved from the "Harmony of Dissonance" text to the "Castlevania" text, and the "®" registered trademark symbol at the right of "Castlevania" text is removed.

Naming

As a norm in Castlevania, the usual differences between the Japanese and US versions all revolve around the changing of certain names.

• Maxim Kischine is known in Japan as Maxim Kishin.

Japanese	English

• Juste's last name is "Belmondo" in the Japanese version and "Belmont" in the English version. While the "Belmondo" spelling has been used in previous games, going as far as back as the ending of the first NES game, it was standardized from this game and onward in Japan.

Japanese	English

• The name of the bullet-tip extension for Juste's whip, which is named "Christopher's Soul", in honor of Christopher Belmont's fireball ability in Castlevania: The Adventure, was changed to "Bullet Tip" in the US release.

Japanese	English

• "Sypha's Crystal", named in honor of Sypha Belnades' lightning magic spell, was mistranslated as "Cipher's Charm".

• There are exactly eleven areas in the Japanese version that feature different names: the Wailing Way is called "The Approach to Deplore," the Castle Top Floor is called "Castle Tower," the Chapel of Dissonance is called "Chapel of a Heretic," the Sky Walkway is called "Corridor in the Air," the Shrine of the Apostates is called "Heretic's Grave," the Luminous Cavern is called "Moss-Grown Cave," and the Aqueduct of Dragons is called "Waterway of Aquatic." The four others are merely reciprocal: the Marble Corridor is "Corridor of Marble," the Castle Treasury is "Castle's Treasury," the Skeleton Cave is "Cave of Skeletons," and the Clock Tower is "Clockwork Tower."
• Skull Knight Lord (スカルトナイトロード) is simply called Skull Knight in the US release.

Revision Differences

Castlevania Double Pack

Castlevania Double Pack's version of Harmony of Dissonance has some strange omissions and changes. None of them were carried to Castlevania Advance Collection since the latter uses the ROM of this game's initial release.

Original	Double Pack

• The Hint card that mentions the Summoning Tome calls the tome the "Black Scroll."

Original	Double Pack

• Rather than dropping the Medusa Pendant, Gold Medusa drops 100 gold.

Original	Double Pack

• The Man Eater no longer drops the Mirror Pendant, it now drops a Turquoise.

Original	Double Pack

• In the standalone version, the Pike Master is known to drop both the Gold Headband and the Floating Boots. In the Double Pack version, the Gold Headband is replaced with 400 gold instead.

Original	Double Pack

• Death's second form is called "Death Lv2" in the Double Pack version.

(Source: http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cv-hod/game-ginfo.htm)

Castlevania Advance Collection

Original	Advance Collection

• The original soft reset function (Press A+B+SELECT+START at the same time) and original key config screen are disabled in favor for the collection's own soft reset/config functions.
• The "Licensed by Nintendo" black-white screen is disabled, but still present in the ROM.