Pooyan (Arcade)

Pooyan
Developer: Konami Publishers: Konami (JP), Stern Electronics (US) Platform: Arcade (custom) Released in JP: October 1982 Released in US: December 1982 This game has unused text. This game has regional differences.

The immortal struggle between pigs and wolves escalates in Pooyan, wherein the wolves take up kidnapping and the pigs take up archery.

Unused Text

These two unused strings explain the escalating difficulty of the game's second phase.

The first string starts at $7D44 in memory:

2ND PHASE GETS
HARDER AS YOU LOSE
MORE PIGS

The second string starts at $7D78:

DIFFICULT
IN THE SECOND PHASE
ABOUT 10 SECONDS

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Konami	Stern

The title font is a tad thicker in Stern's version of the game.

Demo

Konami	Stern

The first game demo was redone for Stern's release to showcase more highly skilled gameplay.

Demo 2

The Konami original has only one gameplay demo, while Stern's version has two alternating demos. In this second demo, the player successfully completes Phase 1, and the mechanics of Phase 2 are shown and explained.

Even though Konami's version features only one demo, the "GIAHT ROCK" string from the second demo appears in that game's ROM. Looks like it was planned from the start!

(Source: Original TCRF research)