Side by Side Special

Side by Side Special
Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: November 11, 1997, December 11, 1999 (Special 2000) This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article

Side by Side Special combines all cars and tracks featured in the two Side by Side arcade games, the predecessor to Battle Gear games, into one whole package, with some secret bonuses thrown in. Given the car and color choices of the JDM cars featured in the game, as well as the default high scores in two of the tracks, the game can be said as an unofficial Initial D video game.

Unused Graphics

English course difficulties exist and gets loaded into the VRAM, complete with larger boxes to contain them. It seems that Taito had prepared for an international release for the game, since the arcade games also did; the English versions of Side by Side 2 use Beginner, Expert, Professional, Ace Driver, Special (in that order) as course difficulty labels. Normal might have been used in English version of the first Side by Side game to refer to the Summer course.

Interestingly, the "DEATHMATCH" text, used to refer to time trial races in the English version of Side by Side 2, does not exist at all, for some reason, either as a text or in graphics.

Unused Text

Car Listing

Some unused text strings are loaded into the RAM, all mentioning car names. Some of the cars had different specifications compared to what appears in the game (for example, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV that appears in the game is a GSR trim rather than RS, and the Honda NSX is the regular model instead of the NSX-R version). In both cases, there is also an obviously blatant Initial D reference, since the Fujiwara Tofu is mentioned by name.

In Side by Side Special: (0x59D84)

BNR32 SKYLINE GT-R
BCNR33 SKYLINE GT-R
RX7 FD3S RZ
RX7 FC3S
SILVIA KS
CIVIC SIR
HONDA NSX-R
TOYOTA SUPRA RZ
AE85 LEVIN
AE86 FUJIWARA TOUFU
DELTA HF INTEGRALE EVO
HONDA ODYSSEY
SUBARU LEGACY WAGON GTB
SUBARU IMPREZA WRX-RA STI3
MITSUBISHI LANCER RS EVO4
TOYOTA CELICA GT-FOUR WRC
NISSAN 180SX
NISSAN SILVIA Ks
HONDA ACCORD WAGON SIR
IMPREZA TYPE-RA STI2
LANCER EVO.3
TAITO BAN
TAITO 1BOX
TAITO TRACK

Some of the cars featured in this list, namely the Lancia Delta HF Integrale (the car's chassis number, L31E5, is mentioned in the credits as belonging to planning/direction staff Hiroyuki Sako), Honda Odyssey, Subaru Impreza WRX STI Version II, and Honda Accord Wagon SiR never appeared in any of the Side by Side or Battle Gear (the succeeding series to Side by Side series) games, although the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III does appear in the Battle Gear games.

In Side by Side Special 2000: (0x5CA48)

BNR32 SKYLINE GT-R
BCNR33 SKYLINE GT-R
RX7 FD3S RZ
RX7 FC3S
SILVIA KS
CIVIC SIR
HONDA NSX-R
TOYOTA SUPRA RZ
AE85 LEVIN
AE86 FUJIWARA TOUFU
SUBARU LEGACY WAGON GTB
SUBARU IMPREZA WRX-RA STI3
MITSUBISHI LANCER RS EVO4
TOYOTA CELICA GT-FOUR WRC
TAITO VAN
TAITO 1BOX
TAITO TRUCK

All the no-show cars are trimmed out, and the typo fixes to the Taito-branded secret cars (more on that later) also apply in the unused text.

Versus Mode

Versus mode is mentioned amongst the game mode select text at 0x6D138 (SBSS) and 0x70194 (SBSS2K). The game lacks support for two player racing, either through the second controller port or link cable.

Opening Movie Cutoff

Intro Video	Cut Portion

The last two seconds of the game's opening movie (which is totally not a Ryosuke Takahashi vs Seiji Iwaki race) following the fade to white contains a Taito copyright notice on the lower right, unseen because the game goes to the title screen after the fade to white.

Revisional Differences

Curiously, the files on Side by Side Special are dated October 30, 1997, while the files on Side by Side Special 2000 are dated November 4, 1997 (except for the SLPM file which is dated August 18, 1999), meaning there was only four day gap between the mastering of the original and 2000 version of the game and one week gap between the mastering of 2000 and release of the original.

• Before the Taito logo and the FMV, the original version of the game has the title of the game shown in plain text, which was removed in Special 2000, as it also appears in the opening movie.

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

• The katakana subtitle was changed from red to white, and the "Press START Button" text is no longer completely all-caps. As part of the copyright year update, a comma was added after the first copyright year.

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

• Engrish related to two of three unlockable bonus cars are fixed in Special 2000 version.

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

• Special 2000 adds support for Dual Analog/DualShock controller, although only vibration is supported (can also be toggled in pause menu). The Options menu is also changed to use sentence case instead of all-caps.

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

• The memory card load/save "Memory Card Access" graphic in the original version is replaced with a more verbose, standard memory card access message, complete with warning not to remove the card during the process.

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

• The pause screen is moved up to allow for the updated READY? text, and the option to resume and quit had their text expanded (in addition to the vibration setting mentioned above). Additionally, Restart and Quit Game now gives you a confirmation prompt whether to do so or not.
• A trailer for Densha de GO! is included in the original version under the Information option in the main menu. This was removed in Special 2000.
• Difficulty settings also affects AI difficulty, not only time limits.

(Source: Fatalita)

• The starting time limit for the Special track from the first Side by Side game have been changed: (all times in seconds):

Difficulty	Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000	Difference
Easy	75.0	70.0	-5.00
Medium	70.0	60.0	-10.00
Hard	65.0	50.0	-15.00
Very Hard	60.0	45.0	-15.00

• The default fastest lap times have also been changed to be more harder:

Course	Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000	Difference (seconds)
Spring	0:55.00	0:45.00	-10.00
Summer	1:00.00	0:50.00	-10.00
Autumn	1:10.00	1:01.50	-8.50
Winter	1:10.00	0:59.00	-11.00
Special	1:15.00	1:09.00	-6.00
April	0:35.00	0:30.00	-5.00
March	0:55.00	0:52.00	-3.00
July	1:15.00	1:08.00	-7.00
October	1:40.00	1:34.00	-6.00
22:00	3:10.00	3:05.00	-5.00
June	2:50.00	2:31.00	-19.00
0:00	2:50.00	2:26.00	-24.00
2:00	2:30.00	1:57.00	-33.00

For July and October courses, the track names corresponds what it refers to in Side by Side 2 rather than in Side by Side Special. See Oddities section for details.

• During the ending credits for completing all ten courses from the first and second arcade games, Special 2000 adds an additional credit under "2D 3D Graphic Modelling" (for Special/Special 2000) for Tetsuya Watanabe, with listed car code as NA6, referring to first-generation Mazda Roadster/MX-5 Miata.

Oddities

To do: Do those belong in Bugs section?

Side by Side 2	Side by Side Special

Side by Side 2	Side by Side Special

For some reason, the course months of the July (night) and October (autumn) courses (originating from Side by Side 2) are switched around in Special. This was not fixed in Special 2000.

Side by Side Special	Side by Side Special 2000

In addition, when racing in night tracks, the shading colors of the digital part of the speedometer and gear indicator becomes red in Special 2000. (There is another revisional change here: the "READY" text is rendered using in-game font in Special 2000, instead of an unique graphic)