Super Spike V'Ball

Super Spike V'Ball
Also known as: U.S. Championship V'Ball (JP) Developer: Technos Japan Publishers: Technos Japan (JP), Nintendo (US/EU) Platform: NES Released in JP: November 10, 1989 Released in US: February 1990 Released in EU: January 23, 1992 This game has unused playable characters. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has regional differences.

Super Spike V'Ball teaches us that title letters are a precious, precious resource and should be conserved whenever possible.

Female Teams

To do: Find equivalent codes for the Japanese version.

There is a complete set of unused graphics for 4 female teams in the game. With a Game Genie code it is possible to unlock them. These codes only work on the characters for the left side of the court.

Version	Tournament Mode	Versus Mode
"Super Spike V'Ball"	AEXGXYGE	AEUSLAGE
"Super Spike V'Ball / Nintendo World Cup"	AAKGNTGE	AAVGEYGE

(Source: Richard Hoelscher)

Build Date

Present only in the Japanese version at 0x1FF90 is this small string:

V'BALL VERSION0890515TECHNOSJAPAN

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Japan	International

The game was originally titled U.S. Championship V'Ball on the Famicom and was loosely based on a prior Technos arcade game. When the game was localized for the NES, the title was changed to the less U.S.-centric Super Spike V'Ball. Perhaps Nintendo (who published the NES version) didn't want other countries to feel left out. Thus, the stars and stripes on the "V" were removed and the entire V'Ball logo is now drawn with purple fonts.

Game Modes

Japanese	International

On the main menu screen, "single" was pluralized to "singles". The "O" font used throughout the game was also redesigned, likely to make it look less like a zero.

The NES version splits the content of Tournament mode into three different courses, each set to its own difficult level.

Japanese	International

As a result, the "rank" option on the configuration screen (which sets the Tournament's difficulty to one of three settings: Easy, Normal and Hard) was removed, replaced with the option to turn off the music. Moreover, "point" and "set" were properly pluralized, "auto toss" became "auto set" and "Los Angels" on the stage selection setting was corrected to "Los Angeles".

The option for track ball controls seems to be absent in the NES version at first, but it was actually hidden away with a cheat code. To access it, enter the configuration screen and move the cursor to the "Music" option. Afterward, hold A + B on Controller 2, and then press Select or Down on Controller 1. This option was originally for the Hori Track Ball controller, a Famicom peripheral that was released only in Japan, but it seems it was kept just in case an NES equivalent was produced.

Tournament

The Tournament mode in the Famicom version consists of 10 matches. It starts with the American Circuit with five matches, each set on a different court in the U.S. mainland. It then moves on to the World Cup in Hawaii for three additional matches against teams with randomly-assigned nationalities out of five possible countries (the teams themselves are always the same though). The Tournament then ends with two special matches against the U.S. Navy and the U.S.S.R., both set in unique home courts.

The NES version splits the American Circuit and World Cup into different courses. The American Circuit consists of the first five matches from the Famicom version's Tournament mode set on the normal difficulty, ending with the L.A. match. The World Cup course consists of all the teams fought in the latter half of the Famicom version's Tournament mode (including the special Navy and Soviet matches at the end), plus two new teams for the third and fifth matches (who are reuses of other teams). Unlike the Famicom version, the World Cup teams in the NES version are given fixed nationalities, since it makes use of all five of them.

The NES version also adds an additional Exercise course, which is just a single match against the Daytona team in an exclusive court set on the game's lowest difficulty level. The background music used for this court is completely new as well and unlike the other courts, the tension theme isn't played when a team is about to win. After completing this match, the game goes back to the main menu.

Match No.	U.S. Championship V'Ball	Super Spike V'Ball
	Tournament	American Circuit	World Cup
1st	Daytona		Japan
2nd	New York		Italy
3rd	Chicago		Australia
4th	Las Vegas		Mexico
5th	Los Angeles		Brazil
6th	Random		U.S. Navy
7th	Random		U.S.S.R.
8th	Random
9th	U.S. Navy
10th	U.S.S.R.

Character Select

Japanese	International

The character descriptions, which were already written in pretty comprehensible English for the Famicom version, were further cleaned up for the NES localization, with all the characters (not just the Lee brothers) now describing themselves with plural pronouns in order to emphasize the team aspect of the game. Unfortunately, they left out an "OF" on George's self-description, while the "YOU" on Al's self-description somehow ended up with a miscolored "U".

Note that George and Ed traded partners during localization, eliminating two rather subtle celebrity shout-outs from the game.

Multiplayer

Japanese	International

On the player vs. player mode, convenient arrows and numbers were added above each character's head on the team selection screen, indicating which character is controlled by which controller.

Japanese	International

These arrows are also used during gameplay in place of the original 1P-4P markers used by the Famicom version.

Courts

All the courts in the game were changed in some form or another.

Exercise

Japan	International
N/A

This practice court is exclusive to the international release.

Daytona

Japan	International

The clouds were redrawn, the mascot character on the scoreboard was altered, and the "LlouorA" (?) logos were changed to say "V'Ball".

New York

Japan	International

The sign in the top-right corner was slightly altered to say "CHERRY" instead of "SAKURA".

Chicago

Japan	International

The text on the scoreboard was changed from "Mori SOBA" to "PIZZA".

Las Vegas

Japan	International

The color cycling was changed. The Japanese version goes pink→purple→dark red→dark blue, while the international version goes red→dark red→purple→light blue.

Los Angeles

Japan	International

The tiny "USC" logo on the scoreboard was changed to "USA". That's it.

Hawaii

Japan	International

The crowd's faces were slightly modified, and the text on the sign in the top-right corner was changed from "Hagodda" to "ICE CREAM".

U.S. Navy

Japan	International

The crowd's faces were slightly edited.

U.S.S.R.

Japan	International

The backdrop was completely redesigned from an imposing row of tanks to the Kremlin.

Music

The Hawaii court originally had its own theme music in the Famicom version, since it's only used for three matches during the latter half of the Tournament mode. But since the court is used for five straight matches in the NES version for the World Cup course, the music changes for each match (reusing themes from other courts) in order to keep the soundtrack from being repetitive. As a result, its originally intended theme music is only played on the 5th match against Brazil. It's not even used on the Player vs. Player mode!

Opponent	Theme Music
Japan	Daytona
Italy	Las Vegas
Australia	Chicago
Mexico	Los Angeles
Brazil	Hawaii
Vs. Player	Daytona

Ending

U.S. Championship V'Ball	Super Spike V'Ball
Tournament	American Circuit	World Cup

The Famicom version only has one ending, while the NES version has two. The ending for the American Circuit is just a touched-up version of the single ending image used for the Famicom version, while the ending for the World Cup features a completely new image showing two characters resembling George and Al holding a trophy.

Other Changes

• Like on the configuration screen, "Los Angels" was corrected to "Los Angeles" on the stage introduction screen prior to the fifth match of the American Circuit.
• The "PUBLICER DESIGN" byline during the staff roll was corrected to "PUBLISHER DESIGN".