Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest (Nintendo 64)

Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest
Also known as: Doubutsu Bancho Developer: Saru Brunei Platform: Nintendo 64 This game has unused areas. This game has unused modes / minigames. This game has unused graphics.

This game was never completed and/or given a public release. As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.

Doubutsu Bancho is a game where cute box-shaped animals brutally devour each other and mate. Originally targeting the 64DD, a cartridge prototype was shown at Space World 2000 with a scheduled release in February 2001. Ultimately, it was reworked somewhat and pushed to a GameCube release in 2002.

A seemingly near-final build of the N64 version was acquired by NES World and publicly released in May 2021 after repairing the board.

(Source: NES World)

Unused Graphics

A stylized Saru Brunei logo can be found at 65D000. The game is notably missing any legal screens, including the (usually) mandatory Nintendo 64 logo.

The tileset at 67E3B2 is assets for a nonexistent stage select menu. Unlike the final GameCube game, the N64 prototype has no map select or way to jump between maps, even after completing the first lap through the game. There is no known code attached to this menu or text labels beyond what is seen here.

Although the stages are not named, A through L correspond with the 12 normal gameplay stages. There is a separate, semi-functional stage select for bonus stages. It can be assumed this would work in an identical manner. Stages would be replaced with the "?" icon until unlocked, and completing stages unlocked more levels.

66C228 & 690B4C	660586	664464

There are four different tilesets for a details page that would follow the saved data page, like in the GameCube release. No known code is attached to them, so it's difficult to know for certain if there was only one of these menus or two; code in this title is usually duplicated in blocks that need it instead of shared, a testament to its original development as a 64DD disk.

The images for 66C228 and 690B4C are identical. The snout of the Raw-Shnoz is filled in, it has icons for the six raw meat, and a display for wounds. There are normal and depressed versions of each button. Note the four pieces of Raw-Claw instead of Raw-Shnoz.

660586 and 664464 display a wider range of data. Raw-Eye is gone, and icons were added for stats like stomach. 664464 is the only one in the set that includes a textured backdrop for these windows.

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  Sticker 1 (65EA64)

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  Sticker 2 (65F00A)

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  Sticker 3 (65F538)

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  Sticker 4 (65FA42)

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  Sticker 5 (65FED0)

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  Sticker 6 (660114)

Several 66×62 logo stickers go unused in this prototype. Unlike the others, sticker 1 (65EA64 has a palette. Of the six, sticker 4 (65FA42) and its mask, sticker 6 (660114) are the only images that are used. They are loaded during the attract sequence's demos, a logo that could be placed anywhere on the screen, moved, and made to fade in or out.In this prototype, it is never drawn.

Map Select

A semi-functional map select featuring a subset of bonus stages can be activated from the main menu with an unlisted third option. This selects one of the six bonus stages...including Zoo, normally inaccessible. ...except that the stages loaded are not what is shown. They unlock based on a counter, not bitflags, so it's safe to say you would get more stages as you play the game, not as you uncover the bonus stages. The only other code or image blocks assigned to this menu display a grade A through F and an animation "rolling up" to it.

The labels on this menu do not work correctly. Each stage has two strings assigned: a name and a description. Both strings are loaded into the same buffer before being printed, so if a description is assigned the stage name will be erased. The names and descriptions don't follow the correct order, match the stages shown, or even coincide with how many strings are in the script.

Stage names are expected to start at ID 393. This section has the correct number of strings, albeit in odd order. Three more stage names follow these entries: Rainbow Heaven, Smorgasbord Clearing, and Cat Trails. Shown are the original Japanese followed by the official GameCube English translation.

ID 393	ニクロコジ
	Meatmaze
ID 394	ブードゥーカン
	Budokan
ID 395	ヌリバシ
	Colorful Crossings
ID 396	ヤブヘビー
	Snake in the Grasslands
ID 397	サファリ
	Wildlife Safari
ID 398	ズー
	Zoo

Descriptions start at ID 548. Only four stage descriptions are provided. Shown are the original Japanese followed by the official GameCube English translation.

ID 548	まよう。まよう。まようぞめいろっ！＠自然はこんなものまで生み出した！
	I’m lost! Lost! Lost in a maze!＠To think that Nature could be so cruel!
ID 549	ねんがんの巣を持った？！エスキモー風。＠でもまわりにライバルたちが…喰っとけ！
	Where’s my Dream−Catcher? Eskimo−style.＠But enemies all around... time to EAT!
ID 550	でっかい山。でも、なーんかへんだなぁ？＠いーじゃん、とにかくのぼってみよう！
	Huge hill. There’s something odd about it...＠Aw well, climb on up and find out!
ID 551	さいきょーのキメラをあつめたどうぶつえん。＠なんのために？それはオレが喰うためだ！
	This zoo has the strongest Chimera.＠Why? To satisfy my hunger!
ID 552	スロット玉
	Slot Token
ID 553	いかくの種
	Seed of Fright

Unused Map

This page or section needs more videos. There's a whole lotta words or pictures here, but not enough videos. Please fix this. Specifically: Get a video of this map.

Unlike in the final GameCube release, Zoo is an unused bonus stage map. It's registered as stage 18, map 0x43. It's designed as a symmetrical hedge maze with fenced-in areas (somewhat) containing incredibly deadly animals. Outside of those are animals you can actually eat.

If forcibly loaded, you'll start that game and you'll be born as a 1-limb Pig near one of the two entrances. There are Scentys about with raw-meats, but you can only hold one at a time. The stage automatically ends after 10 minutes or so. The exits exist, but are recessed and intentionally inaccessible. When the stage ends, you'll "return" to stage 0, which is just a checkered test field that catches invalid stage numbers.

Retail Differences

General

Text Revisions Once a dark glimpse into the future?

There are a number of gameplay differences you should be aware of.

1. Clash does not exist in this prototype! Instead, it uses DarkRage, a combination of similar color dark and rage meat. Like a normal color palette, pale + dark + rage evens out to dark.
2. As soon as you get your 100th mutation you are transported to the Sacred Cubivore Clearing to battle King Cubivore and the four Divabeasts. You visit Venery Beach if you lose against King Cubivore and select "continue". This is good, because that map is bugged as all heck. If you win, the game restarts from level 1, certain bonus stages are unlocked, and you can try to complete your not-Pokédex.
3. You only get a bonus EZ-Mutate at your 50th mutation. At 150, all mutations become EZ-Mutate.
4. No bugs are colored red but they can certainly bite.
5. Mating is always 100% successful.
6. Almost no bonus stages are accessible in the first lap. Rainbow Heaven is now a bonus stage and also an exception to this rule.
7. When replaying (NewGame+) you do not have the option of leaving a stage at any time from the start menu.
8. Biting at a cubivore does not necessarily iterate through each of its limbs. Leaping consistently nets the same combinations.
9. There is a memory limitation on the number of cubivores that will appear at any given time, so occasionally one will only appear after others are eaten. Remaining ones appear when the stage is refreshed. This happens automatically when you sleep, when you move between areas, when the dead are finally garbage-collected, and when you open the Start menu.

Stage organization is a bit different in the prototype. Rainbow Heaven and Venery Beach are both special stages, not in the usual cycle. The stage list is as follows:

0x1	stage 2	Lap 1.2 Bleach White Highlands (???)
0x9	stage13	Venery Beach (Area 1)
0xA	stage 6	Lap 2.2 Whitestill Highlands (???)
0xB	stage 6	Lap 2.2 Whitestill Highlands (???)
0xC	stage 6	Lap 2.2 Whitestill Highlands (???)
0xD	stage 4	Lap 1.4 Mupopo Desert
0xE	stage 5	Lap 2.1 Paw Rainforest
0x10	stage 3	Lap 1.3 Frog Bog
0x11	stage14	Sacred Cubivore Clearing
0x12	stage 1	Lap 1.1 Paw Dunes
0x14	stage 2	Lap 1.2 Bleach White Highlands (???)
0x15	stage 2	Lap 1.2 Bleach White Highlands (???)
0x16	stage 7	Lap 2.3 Lake Getum (Main Area)
0x17	stage 7	Lap 2.3 Lake Getum (Boss Area)
0x1A	stage11	Lap 3.3 Killing Plains (NE Training Grounds - Wooden Horse)
0x1B	stage11	Lap 3.3 Killing Plains (NW Training Grounds - Bullfrogstool)
0x1C	stage11	Lap 3.3 Killing Plains (Main Area)
0x1D	stage11	Lap 3.3 Killing Plains (W Training Grounds - Wooden Horse)
0x1E		
0x1F	stage 7	Lap 2.3 Lake Getum (???)
0x20	stage 8	Lap 2.4 Ultimarsh
0x21	stage13	??? (unfinished, numerically Venery Beach)
0x22	stage13	??? (unfinished, numerically Venery Beach)
0x29	stage 9	Lap 3.1 Paw Pasture (Main Area)
0x2A	stage 9	Lap 3.1 Paw Pasture (Training Grounds - Treadmill)
0x2B	stage10	Lap 3.2 Verdigrass Highlands (Area 1)
0x2C	stage10	Lap 3.2 Verdigrass Highlands (Area 2)
0x2D	stage10	Lap 3.2 Verdigrass Highlands (Area 3)
0x2E		Intro 2
0x2F		Intro 5
0x30		Intro 3
0x31		Intro 4
0x32		Intro 1
0x33		Credits (0: Victory Dance *Best Ending)
0x34		Credits (1: Music)
0x35		Credits (2: Programming *Best Ending)
0x36		Credits (3: Graphics *Best Ending)
0x37		Credits (4: Shadow)
0x38		Credits (3: Graphics)
0x39		
0x3A		
0x3B		Game Start / Options Menu
0x3C		Title
0x3D	stage12	Lap 3.3 Wildlife Safari
0x3E	stage 2	Lap 1.1 Paw Dunes Bonus Stage: Meatmaze
0x3F	stage 6	Lap 2.2 Whitestill Highlands Bonus Stage: Rainbow Heaven
0x40	stage12	Lap 3.3 Wildlife Safari Bonus Stage: Smorgasbord Clearing
0x43	stage18	(Post-Game) Zoo
0x44	stage 7	Lap 2.3 Lake Getum: Snake in the Grassland
0x45	stage 8	Lap 2.4 Ultimarsh Bonus Stage: Colorful Crossings
0x46	stage 3	Lap 1.3 Frog Bog Bonus Stage: Budokan
0x47	stage10	Lap 3.2 Verdigrass Highlands Bonus Stage: Cat Trails
0x48		Attract 1
0x49		Attract 2
0x4A		Attract Alt 1	(mutation chains, but background has a clearly defined stage and backdrop)
0x4B		Attract 3	(4 Pale Yellows pose, 4 Dark Greys chase them off; not sure if in rotation)
0x4C		Ending (100 mutations, victory)
0x4D		Ending (150 mutations)
0x4E		Credits (2: Programming)
0x50		??? (Ulti-mate placeholder?)

Whitestill Highlands

Rainbow Heaven doesn't exist as a standalone stage in the prototype. Instead, it's accessible from a warp point in this stage.

Lake Getum

There are four pieces of Raw-Claw instead of Raw-Shnoz, and this stage does not contain an active portal to Snake in the Grassland in the first lap.

Ultimarsh

The prototype has a Rampage Bowl instead of a Wooden Horse. The bonus stage is not Smorgasbord Clearing, it's Colorful Crossings! It's only available after the first lap.

When the stage ends you'll move on to Paw Pasture Rainbow Heaven is not a normal stage in this version.

Colorful Crossings

Because this stage occurs at a different point in the stage progression, the cubivores here have a different number of limbs than the final game.

Paw Pasture

There are some minor layout differences here. The Wooden Horse is in the east, not in the cave to the west. That's now a Treadmill. The Rage Yellow Closeknees doesn't seem to exist in this version. The secret passage only contains two bits.

Verdigrass Highlands

Stage 10 appears unfinished in the prototype. No Rage types are present in later loops, only Pale, PaleDark, and Dark. There are no changes on replay. The full list is as follows:

Area 1:	GameCube
1-Limb Pale Purple Eject
1-Limb Pale Grey Buzzcut	1-Limb Clash Grey Freeloader
1-Limb Pale Grey Buzzcut
1-Limb Pale Yellow Tirejack
2-Limb Pale Blue Maraca	1-Limb Clash Blue Prospector
2-Limb Pale Grey Mullet
2-Limb Pale Purple Play	1-Limb Clash Purple Piccolo
1-Limb Pale Blue Guitar
1-Limb Pale Red Hanky	1-Limb Clash Red Howdy
Area 2:	GameCube
1-Limb PaleDark Yellow Scarf
2-Limb PaleDark Yellow Bandanna
1-Limb PaleDark Red Squirtgun	2-Limb Clash Red Spurs
2-Limb PaleDark Red Beebee
1-Limb PaleDark Blue Pillowless	1-Limb Clash Blue Prospector
2-Limb PaleDark Blue Armrest
1-Limb PaleDark Purple Stocking
2-Limb PaleDark Purple Pants
1-Limb PaleDark Grey Stickypad
2-Limb PaleDark Grey Stapler
2 Beastructions
Area 3:	GameCube
1-Limb Dark Yellow Diskbrake
2-Limb Dark Yellow Caliper	2-Limb Clash Yellow Shotput
x2 1-Limb Dark Red Jigbit	1-Limb Clash Red Howdy
1-Limb Dark Purple Puberty	on replay: 2-Limb Rage Purple Slouch
2-Limb Dark Purple Adolescence
moving into north nook spawns Beastructions
1-Limb Dark Blue Hyphen
2-Limb Dark Blue Bracket	2-Limb Clash Blue Backpacker

The teleporter, once you drive back the wilderness, is always open and goes to Cat Trails. This might not have been intended either, considering in final the stage is reserved for NewGame+.

Unlike final there isn't a Howdy inside a crate, only a rejuvenator and a lot of pesky bugs.

Killing Plains

This stage contains 3 raw meat, not 2. Once again, the drops are a bit different.

The Pursesnatcher (first boss) drops the Raw-Shnoz and the Conman (second boss) has the Raw-Claw. Unlike in the final game, you'll also face the Muscleman after mating a second time. The Raw-Peeper opens the door to the next stage.

Unlike in the final game, this stage is followed by Wildlife Safari. Venery Beach is not a normal stage.

Wildlife Safari

The bonus stage here is not Colorful Crossing, but Smorgasbord Clearing!

The Hitman doesn't spawn until after you mate. Stealing the Raw-Life from it will end the stage. You'll see the "incomplete" ending and restart in Paw Dunes. Bosses Galore does not exist!

Smorgasbord Clearing

Because this stage occurs at a different point in the stage progression, the cubivores here have more limbs than in the final game.

Sacred Cubivore Clearing

The King Cubivore fight automatically starts at the 100th mutation. Unlike the GameCube release, you will find a number of rejuvenators and some snackgrass around. The snackgrass might regenerate under certain conditions?

Defeat the bosses and the ending will play before returning you to Paw Dunes. If you lose and select "continue" though you'll appear at Venery Beach.

Venery Beach

When you start, you're startled and surrounded by 1-limb beasts who eventually run away. You'll be continually ambushed by swarms of 1- and 2-limb beasts until you hit the door. There's a fair number of rejuvenators here for your rematch. The exit leads to Sacred Cubivore Clearing for a rematch. These two areas repeat until you defeat the King Cubivore.

This area is incomplete and collisions don't necessarily coincide with the displayed geometry. Expect to be pounced through walls. Two other areas are assigned, but unfinished. There's no end poem, only placeholder ACKs.