Magic Knight Rayearth (Sega Saturn)

Magic Knight Rayearth
Developer: Sega Publishers: Sega (JP), Working Designs (US) Platform: Sega Saturn Released in JP: August 25, 1995 Released in US: November 30, 1998 This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has hidden bonus content. This game has a prototype article

One of a surprisingly large number of video game adaptations of Tokyo Movie Shinsha's take on CLAMP's successful effort to combine the magical girl and giant robot genres, the Saturn Magic Knight Rayearth is an action RPG that's unusually high budget and solidly produced for a licensed title. Join everyone's favorite Magic Knights on their quest to inspect every kitchen in Cefiro!

The English version, which came over three years after the Japanese version's release, was the last Saturn game to be released in North America which also marked the first time anything related to the anime came there, a year before Media Blasters released the show on video.

Sub-Page

Prototype Info

Debug Leftovers

To do: Check for code referencing these.

ROUND
CINEPACK
SOUND AREA
SOUND BANK
SOUND SONG
0123456789ABCDEF
EVENT CHK
VOICE
CDAD
SOUND STOP
nakamura
* INITMENU

These strings for what seems to be a debug menu appear around 0xA56E8 (US version) in 0, the main code/data file.

Regional Differences

Forgive us, we tried.

(Source: "Magic Knight Rayearth" US manual, Page 18)

Short version: Working Designs.

Long version: Working Designs rather infamously took two-and-a-half years to actually produce the US version of the game after licensing it, due at least in part to Sega losing some of the source code in a hard drive crash. Never fear, though - nothing could stop Working Designs from cranking up a game's difficulty!

General

• As with all Working Designs releases, the script was rewritten. This game is noticeably more restrained with its changes than some, with relatively few injected "jokes", but there are still many, many cases of dialogue being arbitrarily altered or added. For example, an instance of Umi simply exclaiming "Alcione!" in the Japanese version was turned into "This evil suits you well! I'm not surprised you would use children to further your agenda!" in the US version.
• In the Japanese version, almost all dialogue by characters that have a portrait is voiced. The US version cuts out all of it except for the intro, FMVs, and a handful of lines from the villains. The manual attempts to spin this as a feature ("It slowed down the flow of the game").
• Supposedly as a replacement for the missing voice acting, the US version adds optional voice-overs for the game's diary entries. While the manual claims this was done using disc space "reclaimed" from the dialogue voice-overs, all the Japanese lines that weren't dubbed are still present on the US disc unaltered.
• A few portraits have extra animation that was removed in the US version, probably due to a combination of difficulty generating lip flaps and the fact that these animations are very rarely used (e.g. Hikaru has an arm-raising animation that's used exactly once, during the intro sequence).
• There are a handful of instances where one character's portrait was swapped for another for no apparent reason, such as in the dialogue shown the first time the "island" in Lekuido is moved (where Hikaru's "shocked" portrait is switched with Umi's).
• FMVs are unskippable in the Japanese version, but can be skipped with Start in the US version.
• The US version increases the number of save slots from three to six and adds the ability to save using the Back-Up RAM Cartridge.
• What the manual describes as "sprite consolidation and reduction" was performed in the US version to reduce lag. The exact changes made aren't clear.
• An option to listen to voice acting outtakes was added as an additional reward for collecting all the Rainbow Amulets.
• Working Designs wasn't willing to shell out the bucks to license the Japanese opening theme, "Yuzurenai Negai", so it was replaced with an original composition.
• An alternate version of the new opening theme was added and made unlockable via a button code. From the Saturn bootup menu accessed by turning on the console and holding A, select "Start Application", press Start, then hold X + B + Z + L + R until the intro begins.

(Source: GameFAQs)

• For some reason, the ending cutscene was re-encoded (or perhaps re-sourced from VHS?) in the US release - the video quality is significantly degraded from the Japanese version. The visual content doesn't seem to have changed, so it's not clear why this was done.

Enemies

Apparently, the two-and-a-half years Working Designs spent putting together the US version weren't for nothing, as this game contains some of the company's most elaborate and involved difficulty changes. Not only do nearly all the enemies do more damage, they've actually been sped up, making them extremely fast and aggressive. The above comparison video demonstrates selected changes - since nearly every enemy in the game was altered in this way, a comprehensive video would be far longer.

(One can't help but wonder how much sooner the game might have been ready without these changes, especially if they had to be hacked into the game using 1996 technology.)

The following sections list the exact changes made.

Stats

First, these changes stem from alterations to constants embedded directly in code stored in various OLXX.BIN files. The "Attack" value is simply the amount of damage the attack does per hit. Offsets are for the US version.

Offset	Name	Attack		Offset	Name	Attack		Offset	Name	Attack
OL05.BIN 0x2572	Caldina Fight 1 Projectile 1	1 -> 3 (+2)		OL05.BIN 0x2A8E	Caldina Fight 1 Projectile 2	1 -> 2 (+1)		OL09.BIN 0x1C0E	Caldina Fight 3 Fan	1 -> 2 (+1)
OL14.BIN 0x884	Rafargar Body	1 -> 2 (+1)		OL14.BIN 0x5de	Rafargar Standing Swing	3 -> 4 (+1)		OL14.BIN 0x190E	Rafargar Sliding Swing (1)	3 -> 4 (+1)
OL14.BIN 0x19BA	Rafargar Sliding Swing (2)	3 -> 4 (+1)		OL14.BIN 0x1090	Rafargar Projectiles	3 -> 4 (+1)		OL13.BIN 0xB4F6	Zagat Electric Balls	3 -> 6 (+3)
OL13.BIN 0xBDDE	Zagat Fireballs	5 -> 10 (+5)		OL13.BIN 0x2C16	Zagat Machine Body	1 -> 2 (+1)		OL13.BIN 0x3316	Zagat Machine Sword	4 -> 8 (+1)
OL13.BIN 0x4B1A	Zagat Machine Minions	2 -> 4 (+2)		OL13.BIN 0x586E	Final Boss Left Horn	3 -> 12 (+9)		OL13.BIN 0x5926	Final Boss Right Horn	3 -> 12 (+9)
OL13.BIN 0x5a06	Final Boss Head	3 -> 12 (+9)		OL13.BIN 0x5fa2	Final Boss Laser	3 -> 12 (+9)		OL13.BIN 0x622E	Final Boss Star 1	2 -> 8 (+6)
OL13.BIN 0x629A	Final Boss Star 2	2 -> 8 (+6)		OL13.BIN 0x7278	Final Boss Electric Beams	2 -> 8 (+6)		OL13.BIN 0x7D00	Final Boss Spread Attack	3 -> 12 (+9)
OL13.BIN 0x60e4	Final Boss Orb 1	3 -> 12 (+9)		OL13.BIN 0x6142	Final Boss Orb 2	3 -> 12 (+9)		OL13.BIN 0x7972	Final Boss Small Projectiles	1 -> 4 (+3)

The remainder of these entries are stored in a table at the specified offsets in 0, the game's main code/data file.

In addition to Attack, there is a second statistic associated with each object that was occasionally changed. Its effect isn't currently known, but it's listed here for completeness.

To do: Enemy names.

Offsets	Attack	?		Offsets	Attack	?		Offsets	Attack	?		Offsets	Attack	?
JP: 0x67888 US: 0x68A04	1 -> 2 (+1)	1		JP: 0x67C90 US: 0x68E0C	1 -> 3 (+2)	6		JP: 0x67D08 US: 0x68E84	1 -> 5 (+4)	8		JP: 0x67E10 US: 0x68F8C	1 -> 3 (+2)	1
JP: 0x683F8 US: 0x69574	1 -> 4 (+3)	100		JP: 0x68440 US: 0x695BC	1 -> 3 (+2)	3		JP: 0x693B8 US: 0x6A534	3 -> 4 (+1)	20 -> 15 (-5)		JP: 0x693D0 US: 0x6A54C	1 -> 4 (+3)	9 -> 10 (+1)
JP: 0x693E8 US: 0x6A564	1 -> 3 (+2)	6		JP: 0x69400 US: 0x6A57C	1 -> 3 (+2)	1		JP: 0x69418 US: 0x6A594	1 -> 3 (+2)	1		JP: 0x69430 US: 0x6A5AC	1 -> 3 (+2)	1
JP: 0x69448 US: 0x6A5C4	3 -> 4 (+1)	30 -> 23 (-7)		JP: 0x69478 US: 0x6A5F4	1 -> 3 (+2)	2		JP: 0x69508 US: 0x6A684	2 -> 4 (+2)	10 -> 12 (+2)		JP: 0x695E0 US: 0x6A75C	1 -> 2 (+1)	60 -> 45 (-15)
JP: 0x695F8 US: 0x6A774	1 -> 5 (+4)	79 -> 60 (-19)		JP: 0x69610 US: 0x6A78C	1 -> 8 (+7)	44 -> 22 (-22)		JP: 0x69628 US: 0x6A7A4	1 -> 5 (+4)	32 -> 11 (-21)		JP: 0x69640 US: 0x6A7BC	2 -> 10 (+8)	103 -> 78 (-25)
JP: 0x69658 US: 0x6A7D4	1 -> 2 (+1)	0		JP: 0x69670 US: 0x6A7EC	1 -> 2 (+1)	0		JP: 0x696A0 US: 0x6A81C	2 -> 3 (+1)	123 -> 93 (-30)		JP: 0x696B8 US: 0x6A834	1 -> 12 (+11)	100 -> 79 (-21)
JP: 0x696E8 US: 0x6A864	1 -> 8 (+7)	55 -> 30 (-25)		JP: 0x69700 US: 0x6A87C	1 -> 3 (+2)	120 -> 96 (-24)		JP: 0x69718 US: 0x6A894	1 -> 2 (+1)	20 -> 15 (-5)		JP: 0x69730 US: 0x6A8AC	1 -> 5 (+4)	57 -> 34 (-23)
JP: 0x69778 US: 0x6A8F4	1 -> 9 (+8)	10 -> 18 (+8)		JP: 0x698F8 US: 0x6AA74	2 -> 5 (+3)	7		JP: 0x69910 US: 0x6AA8C	1 -> 3 (+2)	1 -> 3 (+2)		JP: 0x69BE0 US: 0x6AD5C	2 -> 4 (+2)	12
JP: 0x6BB48 US: 0x6CCC4	2 -> 3 (+1)	255 -> 191 (-64)		JP: 0x6BB60 US: 0x6CCDC	2 -> 5 (+3)	40 -> 31 (-9)		JP: 0x6BB90 US: 0x6CD0C	4 -> 8 (+4)	4 -> 8 (+4)		JP: 0x6BBA8 US: 0x6CD24	2 -> 6 (+4)	127 -> 95 (-32)
JP: 0x6BC68 US: 0x6CDE4	1 -> 3 (+2)	127 -> 95 (-32)		JP: 0x6BC80 US: 0x6CDFC	1 -> 3 (+2)	127 -> 95 (-32)		JP: 0x6BC98 US: 0x6CE14	1 -> 4 (+3)	127 -> 95 (-32)		JP: 0x6BCB0 US: 0x6CE2C	1 -> 4 (+3)	127 -> 95 (-32)
JP: 0x6BCC8 US: 0x6CE44	1 -> 4 (+3)	127 -> 95 (-32)

Additionally, one object had a number of other unknown parameters changed:

Offsets	Attack	?	?	?	?	?	?
JP: 0x69778 US: 0x6A8F4	1 -> 9 (+8)	10 -> 18 (+8)	1 -> 3 (+2)	1 -> 2 (+1)	1 -> 0 (-1)	1 -> 2 (+1)	17 -> 16 (-1)

Speed

The values given here are approximated from the game's native representation of speed (fixed-point pixel/subpixel, with 16 bits of precision for each). An offset of N/A for the Japanese version indicates a new constant was introduced in the US version (due to the quirky nature of constants in the SH-2 CPU architecture).

Note that apart from the changes listed, the fireballs in Bewildering Cave had their speed doubled (by multiplying it in code, hence their exclusion from the tables below).

0

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x3AC00 US: 0x3EF4C	0.50 -> 1.05 +0.55, ×2.10		JP: 0x3AE0C US: 0x3F158	0.50 -> 1.05 +0.55, ×2.10		JP: 0x3B268 US: 0x3F5B4	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3B5A4 US: 0x3F8F0	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3B8E8 US: 0x3FC34	0.80 -> 1.20 +0.40, ×1.50
JP: 0x3B8F0 US: 0x3FC3C	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3BA40 US: 0x3FD8C	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3BC3C US: 0x3FF88	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3BD44 US: 0x40090	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3BE70 US: 0x401BC	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50
JP: 0x3C02C US: 0x40378	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x3C3F8 US: 0x40744	1.60 -> 4.80 +3.20, ×3.00		JP: 0x3C7E8 US: 0x40B34	0.80 -> 2.40 +1.60, ×3.00		JP: 0x3C7F4 US: 0x40B40	1.60 -> 4.80 +3.20, ×3.00		JP: 0x3D054 US: 0x413A0	2.00 -> 6.00 +4.00, ×3.00
JP: 0x40698 US: 0x449EC	1.00 -> 1.12 +0.12, ×1.12		JP: 0x407B8 US: 0x44B0C	1.00 -> 1.12 +0.12, ×1.12		JP: 0x41558 US: 0x458AC	1.00 -> 2.25 +1.25, ×2.25		JP: 0x420C0 US: 0x46414	1.50 -> 2.25 +0.75, ×1.50		JP: 0x422D8 US: 0x4662C	1.50 -> 2.25 +0.75, ×1.50
JP: 0x4293C US: 0x46C90	0.50 -> 0.75 +0.25, ×1.50		JP: 0x42AF4 US: 0x46E48	0.50 -> 0.75 +0.25, ×1.50		JP: 0x42F20 US: 0x47278	0.50 -> 0.75 +0.25, ×1.50		JP: 0x431C0 US: 0x47518	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x43648 US: 0x479A0	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50
JP: 0x43650 US: 0x479A8	2.50 -> 3.75 +1.25, ×1.50		JP: 0x43658 US: 0x479B0	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x43DE0 US: 0x48138	1.50 -> 2.25 +0.75, ×1.50		JP: 0x46488 US: 0x4A7E0	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x46690 US: 0x4A9E8	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50
JP: 0x467D4 US: 0x4AB2C	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x46B90 US: 0x4AEE8	1.00 -> 3.00 +2.00, ×3.00		JP: 0x46CBC US: 0x4B014	1.00 -> 3.00 +2.00, ×3.00		JP: 0x46E80 US: 0x4B1D8	0.50 -> 1.12 +0.62, ×2.25		JP: 0x47314 US: 0x4B66C	1.00 -> 3.00 +2.00, ×3.00
JP: 0x473EC US: 0x4B744	1.00 -> 3.00 +2.00, ×3.00		JP: 0x47510 US: 0x4B868	1.00 -> 3.00 +2.00, ×3.00		JP: 0x47628 US: 0x4B980	4.00 -> 6.00 +2.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x47CBC US: 0x4C014	1.60 -> 2.40 +0.80, ×1.50		JP: 0x47CC4 US: 0x4C01C	0.80 -> 1.20 +0.40, ×1.50
JP: 0x48154 US: 0x4C4AC	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x48248 US: 0x4C5A0	1.00 -> 1.50 +0.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x48EB0 US: 0x4D208	0.60 -> 0.90 +0.30, ×1.50		JP: 0x4A370 US: 0x4E6F4	0.80 -> 1.60 +0.80, ×2.00		JP: N/A US: 0x4E6EC	1.00 -> 2.00 +1.00, ×2.00
JP: 0x48DFC US: 0x4D154	0.30 -> 0.45 +0.15, ×1.50		JP: 0x3E00C US: 0x4235C	0.01 -> 0.02 +0.01, ×2.00		JP: 0x3E13A US: 0x4248E	0.02 -> 0.03 +0.02, ×2.00

OL05.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x688 US: 0x688	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0xB24 US: 0xB24	1.80 -> 2.70 +0.90, ×1.50		JP: 0xB2C US: 0xB2C	1.00 -> 1.50 +0.50, ×1.50		JP: 0xC24 US: 0xC24	1.80 -> 2.70 +0.90, ×1.50		JP: 0xC30 US: 0xC30	1.00 -> 1.50 +0.50, ×1.50
JP: 0xC34 US: 0xC34	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x3A44 US: 0x3A4C	1.00 -> 1.50 +0.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x3A48 US: 0x3A50	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x4064 US: 0x406C	1.00 -> 1.50 +0.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x4068 US: 0x4070	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50
JP: 0x6A4 US: 0x6A4	-1.00 -> -2.50 -1.50, ×2.50		JP: 0x405C US: 0x4064	-2.00 -> -3.00 -1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x4060 US: 0x4068	-3.00 -> -5.50 -2.50, ×1.83

OL07.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x40C US: 0x40C	1.00 -> 2.25 +1.25, ×2.25		JP: 0xCC0 US: 0xCC0	4.00 -> 9.00 +5.00, ×2.25		JP: 0x1044 US: 0x1044	1.00 -> 2.25 +1.25, ×2.25		JP: 0x166C US: 0x166C	4.00 -> 9.00 +5.00, ×2.25		JP: 0x1A3C US: 0x1A3C	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50
JP: 0x1B9C US: 0x1B9C	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x1BA4 US: 0x1BA4	4.00 -> 6.00 +2.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x1CEC US: 0x1CEC	4.00 -> 6.00 +2.00, ×1.50

OL08.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x814 US: 0x814	1.60 -> 2.50 +0.90, ×1.56		JP: 0x1D78 US: 0x1D6C	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x1F7C US: 0x1F68	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x2990 US: 0x29A4	2.50 -> 4.50 +2.00, ×1.80		JP: 0x2C3C US: 0x2C50	2.50 -> 4.50 +2.00, ×1.80
JP: 0x2D88 US: 0x2D9C	2.50 -> 4.50 +2.00, ×1.80		JP: 0x1E90 US: 0x1E7C	-2.00 -> -3.00 -1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x1F90 US: 0x1F7C	-2.00 -> -3.00 -1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x1C80 US: 0x1C7C	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x1D64 US: 0x1D58	-2.00 -> -3.00 -1.00, ×1.50

OL09.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x8E0 US: 0x8DC	1.50 -> 2.25 +0.75, ×1.50		JP: 0x179C US: 0x1774	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: N/A US: 0x1E58	1.00 -> 1.50 +0.50, ×1.50

OL12.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x7AC US: 0x7AC	2.00 -> 3.00 +1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x9A4 US: 0x9A8	4.00 -> 6.00 +2.00, ×1.50		JP: 0xD30 US: 0xD34	1.20 -> 1.80 +0.60, ×1.50		JP: 0xE9C US: 0xEA0	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x2EBC US: 0x2EC0	4.00 -> 6.00 +2.00, ×1.50
JP: 0x3978 US: 0x397C	3.00 -> 4.50 +1.50, ×1.50		JP: 0x44A0 US: 0x44A4	4.00 -> 6.00 +2.00, ×1.50		JP: 0x86C US: 0x870	-2.00 -> -3.00 -1.00, ×1.50		JP: 0xEA4 US: 0xEA8	-3.00 -> -5.50 -2.50, ×1.83		JP: 0x2184 US: 0x2188	-3.00 -> -5.50 -2.50, ×1.83

OL13.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x791C US: 0x7928	2.00 -> 4.00 +2.00, ×2.00		JP: 0x7A80 US: 0x7A88	3.00 -> 6.00 +3.00, ×2.00		JP: 0x7BC4 US: 0x7BC8	1.00 -> 2.00 +1.00, ×2.00		JP: 0x7DBC US: 0x7DC4	2.00 -> 4.00 +2.00, ×2.00		JP: 0x790C US: 0x791C	-2.00 -> -4.00 -2.00, ×2.00

OL14.BIN

Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed		Offsets	Speed
JP: 0x534 US: 0x534	1.00 -> 4.00 +3.00, ×4.00		JP: 0x1850 US: 0x1858	5.00 -> 20.00 +15.00, ×4.00		JP: 0x184C US: 0x1854	-5.00 -> -20.00 -15.00, ×4.00

CD Warning (Japan)

...But what does it mean? This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation!

If you put the Japanese version of the game on a CD player, other than a Sega Saturn, a warning featuring the voices of Mokona and Hikaru Shidou will play. The US version instead has the same CD warning used in all Sega Saturn games released by Working Designs.