Gondomania

Gondomania
Also known as: Makyou Senshi Developer: Data East Publisher: Data East Platforms: Arcade (Data East 8-bit hardware) Released internationally: 1987 Released in JP: February 1987 Released in US: July 1987 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has unused graphics. This game has regional differences.

The year was 1987, and flat-bottomed rowing boats were clogging our nation's canals like bacon-smothered, butter-drenched McRibs. Gondomania was upon us.

Developer Credits

At address 0xFDDD in the main CPU is an alternate set of credits and a declaration of love:

programd by T.Kitazawa,T.Nishizawa,S.Tamura
planed by Y.Gondoh(paradox)
supervised by T.Kitazawa
copyright(c)1987 DATA EAST corporation
all rights reserved
I love EMIKO

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Graphics

Here are some unused coin denominations. The currency used in game starts at 5 coins and caps at 30 coins.

And here are some unused item prices. The lowest priced item in the game is 30 coins, and the highest is 500 coins—the 450 coin price tag is simply skipped.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

The international build of the game, Gondomania, seems to be more "complete" than the Japanese build, Makyou Senshi.

General

JP	INT

• The way that credits work is different between versions.

• In Makyou Senshi, both players share a credit count. Pressing 1P Start starts a 1 Player game with 1P only, pressing 2P Start starts a 2 Player game.
• In Gondomania, each player has their own credit count. Pressing 1P Start starts a 1 Player game with 1P only, pressing 2P Start starts a 1 Player game with 2P only.

• This story screen, seen after inserting a coin, is only present in Gondomania.
• The Flame, Grenade, Frag Grenade, and both Axe weapons had their ammo count increased by 10 in Gondomania.
• The player starts with 150 coins in Makyou Senshi. Gondomania is more generous, giving the player 200 coins to spend at the start.

JP	INT

• S. Walton and S. Jarocki, presumably the two people responsible for the bulk of the changes in Gondomania, were added to the Special Thanks section.

Music

JP	INT

The game's main track was rearranged in Gondomania to be more rockin'.

Graphics

JP	INT

Both players have the same ship color in Makyou Senshi, while in Gondomania, Player 1 has a nice blue ship.

JP	INT

The armor breaking and death animations are flashier in Gondomania.

These ship shadows can only be seen in Gondomania. Nice little addition to the game, isn't it?

JP	INT

To make up for Player 1's new color scheme, the ship and jet items changed from blue to yellow.

JP	INT

In Makyou Senshi, the basic enemies throw single bit axes, which are easily confused with the player's own axe weapon. So, in Gondomania, those generic mooks now throw maces.

Stages

JP	INT

An extra ship of soldiers was added to the very start of the game. While this does add a bit of challenge, it's also an extra 120 coins if the player can destroy the ship before it leaves the screen.

JP	INT

Towards the end of Stage 2, the large group of boomerang-throwing barbarians was replaced by a swarm of missile launcher-toting soldiers.

JP	INT

Starting at around Stage 5, the number of enemies in certain screens (too many to list here) was reduced. While this may seem like a difficulty change, and it is, it's worth noting that the large amount of enemies in Makyou Senshi also caused the game to slow down quite a bit, something that's not nearly as much of an issue in Gondomania.

Bosses

The boss of each stage, barring stage 8, differs between versions. Note that the official names of the bosses are currently unknown.

	JP	INT
Stage 1	Dragon	Giant Mech
Stage 2	Giant Bird	Lionman
Stage 3	Giant Mech	Gunship
Stage 4	Laser Ship	Dragon
Stage 5	Dragon 2	Laser Ship
Stage 6	Gunship	Giant Bird
Stage 7	Bomber	Mech Suit 2
Stage 8	Headless Dragon	Headless Dragon
Stage 9	Lionman	Bomber

Note that in both versions there's one boss that's used in two different stages.

JP	INT

The color of the first dragon is yellow in Makyou Senshi and blue in Gondomania. The palette was likely changed to match the blue Headless Dragon found in Stage 8.

The second dragon is not a mere palette swap, as it uses unique graphics and has a new fire-breathing attack.

Giant Mech 1	Giant Mech 2

The second Giant Mech in Gondomania, however, is just a palette swap. The only other difference between the two is that the second mech has more health.

In Gondomania, there are added tips (or not) at the start of each boss fight:

Boss	Message
Giant Mech	SHOOT THE PILOT
Lionman	SHOOT THE FACE
Gunship	SHOOT THE WEAPONS
Dragon	SHOOT DRAGON'S HEAD
Laser Ship	SHOOT BETWEEN CANNONS
Giant Bird	SHOOT IT THE BODY
Headless Dragon	SHOOT SOMETHING
Bomber	YOU DIE

(Source: Original TCRF research)