DinoCity

DinoCity
Also known as: Dinowars: Kyouryuu Oukoku e no Daibouken (JP) Developer: Irem Publisher: Irem Platform: SNES Released in JP: July 7, 1992 Released in US: September 1992 Released in EU: 1992 This game has unused graphics. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences.

DinoCity is a decent platformer that is loosely based on a mediocre made-for-TV movie. After "touching their dad's science device," two siblings are sucked into a giant TV and find themselves trapped inside their favorite show. To return home, they must retrieve a stolen fuse from a gang of tiny cavemen, with the help of two sharply-dressed dinosaur pals.

Button Codes

To do: Figure out exactly what most of these do. Each one sets various flags in RAM address $7E1F80.

The game contains a number of button codes that can be entered at the title screen. For each button combination (ex. X + UP), while holding the first button, press the second button, then release both. A chime will indicate correct code entry.

Code	Effects
Left, R + Right, A + Right, Y + Left, Select + Down
X + Up, Left, A + Left, R + Right, Y + Left, Y + Right, Select + Down
B + Right, R + Right, B + Up, X + Up, R + Right, B + Up, X + Left, Select + Down
Y + Up, R + Right, Y + Left, R + Right, Up, Select + Left, B + Up, Y + Up, Select + Down
R + Left, A + Left, L + Left, Y + Right, X + Up, Up, R + Right, Y + Left, Y + Left, Select + Down
R + Down, Up, R + Right, B + Up, L + Right, A + Right, X + Right, Y + Up, A + Left, Select + Left, L + Left, Select + Down	Starts you with 32,767 HP, activates level select (see below).

Level Select

Enter the last button code shown above. At any time during the game, press Start to pause, then press R + A + Select. The Select Window will appear, which allows you to choose your player team, and warp to any area in the game.

• PLAYER TEAM: Choose your favorite anachronism.
• STAGE: Choose 1-6. A stage is a collection of areas punctuated by a boss battle.
• AREA: Choose 0-19. Each stage has 20 possible areas (though most are duplicates of each other); the ones you visit during normal gameplay are determined by which doors you enter. Note that you cannot warp directly to boss arenas from this menu!
• POINT: Choose 0 or 1. 0 puts you at the beginning of the chosen area, while 1 puts you at the midway checkpoint.

When finished, press Start again to warp to the selected stage/area, with your selected player team.

Unused Text

STAGE SELECT
STAGE
AREA
CHECK
TEAM
RECKS
TOPPS

Leftover text from an old version of the level select, starting at ROM address 0x1B7A1. Note the early misspelled names for Rex and Tops.

Unused Font

This very plain ASCII font is copied to VRAM at reset, but quickly overwritten with the Irem logo graphics. It is stored in 1bpp format in the ROM.

It also has an associated palette, consisting of some very basic colors.

This font was likely used for debugging at some point, but there doesn't seem to be any code left that would utilize it.

Regional Differences

To do: Get some screenshots/sprite rips.

The Japanese release included a difficulty select between Normal and Hard. Hard is the standard difficulty, while Normal contains two extra hit points and unlimited continues. There are also some sprite differences between releases.

Japan	US

Cindy, the cavewoman, has more revealing clothing, a fuller build, and a more sinister expression in the Japanese version.

(Source: EvilBabes Wiki)