Chameleon Twist

Chameleon Twist
Developer: Japan System Supply Publishers: Sunsoft (US/EU), Japan System Supply (JP) Platform: Nintendo 64 Released in JP: December 12, 1997 Released in US: November 30, 1997 Released in EU: December 6, 1997 This game has unused areas. This game has unused code. This game has uncompiled source code. This game has unused enemies. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article This game has a Data Crystal page

Chameleon Twist is a short game starring four alleged-chameleons that followed a White Rabbit to a strange world. Then they just start beating up everything in sight...

To do: Hidden Palace released a late prototype of Wipeout 64 that contains an overdump of a Chameleon Twist prototype near the end. Find a way to look through the remnants for anything.

Sub-Page

Prerelease Info

Debugging Features / Unused Code

To do: There is still more debug coding left in the game still that needs to be documented.

Stage Check Mode

This debug feature can allow the player to check various information about the stage, move the chameleon's position, operate the camera, etc.

• L — Displays the information about each stage.
• L + Any Direction — Moves the player's X and Z cordinates by 100 points.
• L + C Stick Up / Down — Moves the player's Y cordinates by 100 points.
• L + C Stick Left / Right — Moves the scene.
• L + Start — Switches the camera mode (Normal View, Top View, Side View, and Front View).
• L + Z — Adjusting the camera distance (Only in Top View, Side View and Front View).
• L + A / B — Rotates the camera.

This feature can also be enabled by using the following code:

Version	Gameshark code
Japan	810F06B0 0000 810F06B2 0001

Test View Mode

To do: Figure out what this mode does. What is the point of it?

Pressing the L + R buttons will allow the camera to switch into Test View mode. No clue what it does though...

This feature can also be enabled by using the following code:

Version	Gameshark code
Japan	8102CA68 0C01 8102CA6A 3FFF

Text Color Check Mode

As the name applies, this can change the color of the numbers that are being shown on screen.

• L + R — Switches between the vertices to set the color (Top Left, Bottom Left, Top Right, and Bottom Right).
• L + B — Increment of the red value.
• L + A — Decrement of the red value.
• L + C Stick Left — Increment of the green value.
• L + C Stick Down — Decrement of the green value.
• L + C Stick Up — Increment of the blue value.
• L + C Stick Right — Decrement of the blue value.

This feature can also be enabled by using the following code:

Version	Gameshark code
Japan	8102CA68 0C01 8102CA6A 3BD7

Afforestation Mode

Judging by the name, this allows you to place trees all around in Jungle Land. Trying to do the same controls on other stages won't do anything.

• L + R — Switches the tree texture placement on or off.
• L + B — Places a tree texture on ground at the player's position.
• L + A — Places a tree texture at the player's position (Can be places in the air).
• L + Z — Clears the placed textures.

This feature can also be enabled by using the following code:

Version	Gameshark code
Japan	8102CA68 0C01 8102CA6A 3D87

Character Placement Mode

It's the exact same as the last one, but instead places text instead of trees.

• L + R — Switches the tree texture placement on or off.
• L + B — Places a "one" texture on ground at the player's position.
• L + A — Places a "one" texture at the player's position (Can be places in the air).
• L + Z — Clears the placed textures.

This feature can also be enabled by using the following code:

Version	Gameshark code
Japan	8102CA68 0C01 8102CA6A 3E97

Playable Ending Stage

To do: The code given here is extremely long, find a code that is shorter than this one that will lead to the exact same thing.

The ending credits level can be now playable once selecting Stage 7. Loading this code on any other stages may cause some issues in the game. Once the player is at the end of the level, the player will meet the rabbit. Talking to him shows a Japanese message, translated says "The End". The player will be thrown back to the stage select screen after the message fades away.

This feature can also be enabled by using the following code:

Version

Gameshark code

Japan

810C16B8 0000 810C16BA 0000 810C16C4 0000 810C16C6 0000 810C16CC 0000 810C16CE 0000 500012D8 0000 81240D94 0000 500004D8 0000 8124260C 0000 50000BD8 0000 81240D96 0000 500012D8 0000 8124188E 0000 500007D8 0000 81241CC8 0000 81240D98 0300 81240E70 FB00 81240F48 F280 81241608 0280 812416DE 0400 812416E0 FB00 812417B6 0800 812417B8 F300 81241A40 0300 81241B18 FB00 81241BF0 F300 81241E74 0B00 812420FC 0700 81242384 0B00 81242610 0B00 81242898 0B00 810F0FE4 A4AA 810F0FE6 A4B7 810F0FE8 A4DE 810F0FEA A4A4 810F0FEC A1A3 810F0FEE 0000 810F1020 0000 81104020 4280 81104028 C460 8110402C 4380 81104034 C410 8010403B 0000 81104040 4000 81104048 C599 8110404C 4340 81104054 C58D 8010405B 0001 81104060 C390 81104064 4548 81104068 C59C 8110406C C200 81104070 4548 81104074 C58A 8010407B 000A 81104080 C370 81104088 C5CE 8110408C 4370 81104094 C5C8 8010409B 000F 811040A0 C53B 811040A8 C3D0 811040AC C534 811040B4 43D0 801040BB 0014 811040C0 C4F8 811040C4 4503 811040C8 C32A 811040CC C4E8 811040D0 4504 811040D4 4340 801040DB 0017 811040E0 C503 811040E4 442F 811040E8 C32A 811040EC C4F4 811040F0 442F 811040F4 4340 801040FB 001A 81104100 C3E0 81104108 C53B 8110410C 43E0 81104114 C533 8010411B 001D 8010413B 0020 D00FFEB7 0001 80104003 0000 D00FFEB7 0001 810F06F0 FFFF D00FFEB7 0001 810F06F2 FFFF 81090744 0C04 81090746 1050 81104140 27BD 81104142 FFF0 81104144 AFBF 81104146 000C 81104148 3C0A 8110414A 8010 8110414C 254A 8110414E 4000 81104150 3C0B 81104152 8017 81104154 3C0C 81104156 800F 81104158 358C 8110415A 8000 8110415C 8D48 8110415E 0000 81104160 0008 81104162 4940 81104164 1D00 81104166 0007 81104168 0149 8110416A 3821 8110416C 8D41 8110416E C114 81104170 2402 81104172 000F 81104174 1022 81104176 001B 8110417C 0804 8110417E 1080 81104184 8D64 81104186 8DAC 81104188 8D65 8110418A 8DB0 8110418C 0C02 8110418E BA78 81104190 8D66 81104192 8DB4 81104194 1440 81104196 0013 8110419C 8D81 8110419E 6BAC 811041A0 1C20 811041A2 000C 811041A8 8D41 811041AA 0004 811041AC 1020 811041AE 0014 811041B4 AD81 811041B6 7EB4 811041B8 AD40 811041BA 0000 811041BC AD40 811041BE 0004 811041C0 2401 811041C2 FFFF 811041C4 AD81 811041C6 86F0 811041C8 AD80 811041CA 7EB8 811041CC 0804 811041CE 1082 811041D4 2401 811041D6 0001 811041D8 AD41 811041DA 0004 811041DC 0804 811041DE 1080 811041E4 2508 811041E6 0001 811041E8 AD48 811041EA 0000 811041EC 2401 811041EE 0005 811041F0 AD61 811041F2 4878 811041F4 8CE1 811041F6 0038 811041F8 AD81 811041FA 86F0 811041FC AD80 811041FE 7EB8 81104200 0C02 81104202 3FE1 81104208 8FBF 8110420A 000C 8110420C 27BD 8110420E 0010 81104210 03E0 81104212 0008

Unused Shoe Monster

This odd shoe monster has a full set of animations for each angle, like the rest of the enemies in the game.

(Source: The Spriters Resource)

Uncompiled Source Code

At 0xF4B6C in the US ROM, the following code fragment for the credits can be seen. Note that this uses EUC-JP encoding.

(Source: Shygoo)

#include<ultra64.h>
#include"SUGI/demodata.h"

    DEMO_KEY DemoData%s[] = {

    };

    #if fgDEMO == 1 
    static int SIview_data = 0;
    static int SIroll_data = 0;
    static int SIeffe_data = 0;
    VIEW_DATA	view_data[mxVIEWCAT];
    ROLL_DATA	roll_data[mxROLLCAT]={
            {0,0 ,0,0,"ＥＸＥＣＵＴＩＶＥ　ＰＲＯＤＵＣＥＲ","ＫＡＴＳＵＭＩ","ＫＡＷＡＭＵＲＡ","","","",""},
            {0,1 ,0,0,"　　　　ＰＲＯＤＵＣＥＲ","ＴＡＥＫＯ","ＮＡＧＡＴＡ","","","",""},
            {0,2 ,0,0,"ＧＡＭＥ　ＤＥＳＩＧＮ","ＨＩＤＥＹＵＫＩ","ＮＡＫＡＮＩＳＨＩ","","","",""},
            {0,3 ,0,0,"　　　　ＤＩＲＥＣＴＯＲ","ＭＡＳＡＫＩ","ＫＩＭＵＲＡ","","","",""},
            {0,4 ,0,0,"ＣＯＭＰＵＴＥＲ　ＡＲＴＳ","ＴＡＫＡＳＨＩ","ＭＡＫＩＮＯ","ＹＵＫＩ","ＴＡＭＵＲＡ","ＨＩＲＯＹＵＫＩ","ＭＯＲＩＯＫＡ"},
            {0,5 ,0,0,"　　　　ＰＲＯＧＲＡＭ","ＨＩＤＥＹＵＫＩ","ＮＡＫＡＮＩＳＨＩ","ＭＡＳＡＴＡＫＡ","ＩＭＵＲＡ","ＴＡＫＡＳＨＩ","ＳＵＧＩＯＫＡ"},
            {0,6 ,0,0,"　　　　ＰＲＯＧＲＡＭ","ＭＡＳＡＫＩ","ＫＩＭＵＲＡ","ＭＡＳＡＯＭＩ","ＩＳＨＩＭＯＴＯ","",""},
            {0,7 ,0,0,"ＧＲＡＰＨＩＣ　ＡＲＴＳ","ＭＩＴＳＵＹＡＳＵ","ＮＯＭＯＴＯ","ＨＩＤＥＫＩ","ＳＨＩＢＡＧＡＫＩ",
			"",""},
            {0,8 ,0,0,"ＭＵＳＩＣ　＆　ＳＯＵＮＤ","ＴＡＫＡＳＨＩ","ＳＵＧＩＯＫＡ","ＴＡＫＡＳＨＩ","ＭＡＫＩＮＯ","ＹＵＵＪＩ","ＮＡＫＡＯ"},
            {0,9 ,0,0,"ＭＵＳＩＣ　＆　ＳＯＵＮＤ","ＮＯＢＵＴＯＳＨＩ","ＩＣＨＩＭＩＹＡ","ＫＯＫＩ","ＴＯＣＨＩＯ","ＴＳＵＴＯＭＵ","ＷＡＳＨＩＪＩＭＡ"},
            {0,10,0,0,"ＭＵＳＩＣ　＆　ＳＯＵＮＤ","ＨＩＲＯＳＨＩ","ＴＡＫＡＭＩ","ＦＵＭＩＨＩＫＯ","ＹＡＭＡＤＡ","",""},
            {0,11,0,0,"ＤＥＢＵＧＧＩＮＧ　ＴＥＡＭ","ＹＵＵＳＵＫＥ","ＴＡＢＡＴＡ","ＳＨＩＮＧＯ","ＭＡＴＳＵＭＵＲＡ","ＭＡＫＯＴＯ","ＭＡＥＨＩＲＡ"},
            {0,12,0,0,"ＯＲＩＧＩＮＡＬ　ＣＨＡＭＥＬＥＯＮ　ＤＥＳＩＧＮ","ＴＡＤＡＳＨＩ","ＯＨＹＡ","","","",""},
            {0,13,0,0,"　　ＧＡＭＥ　ＤＥＳＩＧＮ","ＨＩＤＥＹＵＫＩ","ＮＡＫＡＮＩＳＨＩ","ＴＡＫＡＳＨＩ","ＭＡＫＩＮＯ","ＹＵＫＩ","ＴＡＭＵＲＡ"},
            {0,14,0,0,"　　ＧＡＭＥ　ＤＥＳＩＧＮ","ＨＩＲＯＹＵＫＩ","ＭＯＲＩＯＫＡ","ＭＡＫＯＴＯ","ＴＡＮＡＫＡ","",""},
            {0,15,0,0,"　　ＧＡＭＥ　ＤＥＳＩＧＮ","ＡＩ","ＮＡＤＡＴＡＮＩ","ＡＫＩＲＯＴ","","",""},
            {0,16,0,0,"ＡＳＳＩＳＴＡＮＴ　ＰＲＯＤＵＣＥＲ","ＳＨＹＯＪＩ","ＯＧＡＷＡ","","","",""},
            {0,17,0,0,"ＰＵＢＬＩＣ　ＩＮＦＯＲＭＡＴＩＯＮ","ＹＵＫＡＫＯ","ＯＫＡＤＡ","ＳＡＣＨＩＹＯ","ＮＯＧＡＭＩ",
			"",""},
            {0,18,0,0,"ＳＰＥＣＩＡＬ　ＴＨＡＮＫＳ　ＴＯ","ＳＵＰＥＲ　ＭＡＲＩＯ　ＣＬＵＢ","","ＦＡＭＩＭＡＧＡ６４","","",""},
            {0,19,0,0,"ＰＲＥＳＥＮＴＥＤ　ＢＹ　Ｃ１９９６","ＪＡＰＡＮ　ＳＹＳＴＥＭ　ＳＵＰＰＬＹ","","","","",""},
        };
        EFFE_DATA	effe_data[mxEFFECAT];
        #else
         /*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/  
        /*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/           
        /*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
        
        static int SIview_data = %d;
        static int SIroll_data = %d;
        static int SIeffe_data = %d;
        static VIEW_DATA view_data[mxVIEWCAT] = {
            {
                %d,
                %d,
                %d,
                {
           %d, }, {
           %d, }, {
           %d, },
                %d,
                }
           };

        static ROLL_DATA roll_data[mxROLLCAT]={
            {
                %d,
                %d,
                %d,
                %d,
                "%s",
                "%s",
                "%s",
                "%s",
                "%s",
                "%s",
                "%s",
           },
       };
       static EFFE_DATA	effe_data[mxEFFECAT] = { 
        };
       #endif
       ＯＮ    ＳＴＯＰ     バッファがない
       データ読み込み失敗
       
       ＯＮ    ＳＴＯＰ     ＰＡＵＳＥ

#include<ultra64.h>
#include"SUGI/demodata.h"
DEMO_KEY endingData[] = {

};

バッファがない
データ読み込み失敗

 #include<ultra64.h>
#include"SUGI/demodata.h"

The Japanese text present in this code translates to:

Japanese	Translation
ＯＮ ＳＴＯＰ バッファがない	ON STOP No buffer present.
バッファがない データ読み込み失敗	No buffer present. Data load failed.

Regional Differences

Apparently, Japan kept all the good stuff for themselves. The international releases seem positively unfinished in comparison!

General Differences

• In the international releases, the Sunsoft logo appears before the Japan System Supply Logo. It's absent in the Japanese release.
• Battle Mode cannot be entered with one player in the international releases. In Japan, however, one player can enter to play against CPU players.
  • Despite this, the "COM PLAYER NUM" option from the JP version is still present in Rev A, or US version 1.1. By pressing Left or Right while hovering over the "EXIT" button in battle mode's options, extra CPUs can be added.
• Throughout the levels, powerups are placed in areas where they may be useful. In the international releases, these powerups are only present in Battle Mode. The powerups are:
  • A black, pentagonal shape that causes the chameleons' heads to grow, enlarging the enemies they spit out as ammo.
  • A red ball surrounded by three triangular shapes. This makes the chameleons shrink down. This is mainly used to get into small spaces.
  • A stopwatch, similar to the one the White Rabbit uses. This freezes all enemies in the room for a small amount of time. This powerup is nowhere in the international releases.
• The White Rabbit greets the player before meeting every boss and gives them small hints on how to defeat them. This was brought back in Chameleon Twist 2.

• There are now five Carrots to collect. These will allow the chameleons into mini-games and secret areas. This feature was also brought back for the sequel.
• The boss of Bomb Land drops bombs much faster.

Memory Pak Warning

In the non-Japanese versions, if you start the game with a Memory Pak inserted, you'll receive a warning message. This message does not appear in the Japanese version.

Level Layout

Some levels have had drastic modifications to their layout.

Ant Land

International	Japan

In the fourth room you can go into, there is a ring of crowns surrounding a single orange Heart in the international releases. This was replaced with an area full of rising platforms, wooden poles, and marching Ants in the Japanese release.

International	Japan

In the large room filled with worms, the international releases got... a large room filled with worms. Meanwhile, Japan got two seesaw-like platforms and two crowns. It also has a slightly different floor texture. The worms' mud mounds that signal where they will pop up were also removed in Japan.

International	Japan

The fight against the Ant Queen now features a health display. Also, the Japanese release moved the ceiling higher up, for whatever reason.

Desert Castle

International	Japan

The first spike platforms the player encounters are made up of two straight platforms in the international releases. Japan made a decidedly less straight path for their spikes.

Like the Ant Land boss, the Desert Castle boss has also been given a health display.

Kids Land

International	Japan

In the fourth room, there are three platforms and a crown in the international releases. In Japan, there is a swarm of ice cream sandwiches, a glass box with a crown in it, and five platforms. After all of the ice cream sandwiches are destroyed, a shrinking powerup appears on the fifth platform. The player can now go into the box to get the crown. If the player is still in the box when the powerup wears off, the box shatters.

International	Japan

The fifth room has also been modified: In the international releases, there is a large stack of crackers leading up to a tall wall with a wafer creature waiting to be hit. In Japan, the wall is much shorter and the crackers have been replaced with a pit. In the third room with wafer monsters, the exact same modifications have been made.

The most significant difference, however, is the addition of a bowling minigame. In the area with three platforms encircling a wooden pole, the White Rabbit is standing by a door. If you have a certain number of carrots, he will let you pass through to play the game. This area is like the bowling game in Chameleon Twist 2, but you can't position the ball, making it significantly harder. If you get enough points, a crown will appear in the room. The pins will also take on the appearance of the player's chameleon, just as it does in Chameleon Twist 2.

Ghost Castle

International	Japan

The entrance to the Pool mini-game has been moved. In the international releases, it was set right near the level's entrance. In Japan, it was set in one of the early rooms, with the White Rabbit standing right outside.

....? (Boss Rush Stage)

In the international releases, there is no difference between the bosses' fights in their stages and in this stage. However, Japan made the Boss Rush battles much more challenging than in their stages. All of the bosses have been made faster, stronger, and mind-bendingly harder to beat.

White and Black

After beating the game once, a white chameleon is unlocked. This chameleon is aptly named White. White has no abilities or quirks that set him apart from the other chameleons. He's just... white.

There is also a black chameleon to unlock. This chameleon is named, of course, Black. Unlocking him is not as easily done as White.

In Bomb Land, there is a barred doorway, guarded by the White Rabbit. To get past the bars, the player must collect all five carrots from the game. Through the door is a small arena, with Black standing in the middle. The player must defeat Black to get a crown. After his defeat, he is unlocked for Battle Mode, but not Story Mode. Black cannot be unlocked as playable for Story Mode, perhaps to keep from having Black face off against himself, though he can easily be hacked into Story Mode.

Ending

In the Japanese version, when the last boss dies the player's chameleon escapes through a narrow hallway before showing the credits. In the international versions, the screen fades out to the credits directly.

Perfect Code

To do: Find out what this code does.

After beating the game once, a new challenge appears: After starting a new game with White, a star is put in the corner of the screen. If the player gets hurt even once during the course of the entire game, the star goes away. However, if the player is not hurt once throughout the entire game, the game will show a special "Perfect Code" after the credits roll and on the title screen.

At this time, it is unknown what the code does, if anything.