Gley Lancer

Gley Lancer
Developer: NCS Publishers: Masaya (JP), Samsung (KR) Platform: Genesis Released in JP: July 17, 1992 Released in US: July 21, 2008 (Wii Virtual Console) Released in EU: May 16, 2008 (Wii Virtual Console) Released in AU: May 16, 2008 (Wii Virtual Console) Released in KR: 1992 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select.

Gley Lancer is considered one of the best shoot-em-up games on the Sega Genesis, which unfortunately remained a Japanese exclusive until it got a worldwide release on the Wii Virtual Console.

To do: Compare the retro-bit version.

Mania Difficulty

On the title screen, press Up, Down, Left, Right, B, A. The title graphic changes color as seen in the screenshot. This code, provided when the game is finished on Hard difficulty, unlocks Mania difficulty by setting #$03 in memory address $FFFE04.

Stage Select

When "STAGE 1 START" appears, press B, B, C, A, Up, Down. The screen now functions as a stage select. This changes the value in memory address $FFBE98.

Add Life

While the game is paused, press Up, Down, A, B, C, Left, Right, C, B, A to add one life. This code can be entered more than once for more lives.

Cheat/Debug Menu

While the game is paused, press B, A, C, A, Down, A, C, A, Right, A, B, Up, Right, Up, B, Up, Right, Up, Down, A. This opens a menu with lots of options, including MUTEKI (invincibility).

(Source: JLukas, Denis)

If the cheat code text is taken letter by letter (B A C A D A C A R A B U R U B U R U D A), it appears to form a sentence in Japanese, "馬鹿だからブルブルだ" (baka da kara buruburu da), which roughly translates to "I'm an idiot so I'm trembling [in fear]."

(Source: Sik)

Unused Text

Copyright Text

This message is found near the top of the ROM at 200:

This softwear was producted by  Nippon Computer Systems Corporation in 1992.    Copyright (c) 1992 NCS/MASAYA   

Debug Text

To do: verify and document these

There are unused strings located among the cheat/debug menu text block.

These likely refer to specific options in the menu:

• keyhis.dat
• DEBUG
• KEY REC

This likely refers to the "gunner" option:

• THUNDER

These likely refer to the "mover" option:

• 3WAY
• UP DOWN
• DIR8
• GRADIUS

There also appears to be some text allowing you to turn the debug mode on and off.