Terra Force

Terra Force
Developer: Nichibutsu Publisher: Nichibutsu Platform: Arcade (Nichibutsu Legion hardware) Released internationally: December 1987 This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

Terra Force is the fourth game in the Moon Cresta series. The game's gimmick: It switches between being a top-down shooter in the outside sections, and a side-scrolling shooter in the underground sections.

Debug Menus

A hidden debug menu can be accessed in this game through the following method:

1. Hold 2P Up + Button 1 + Button 2.
2. Keep those buttons held and turn Service Mode on.

Pressing 2P Button 1 exits the test in the US and Japan sets. Due to changes in the game's code in the World ROM set, pressing 2P Button 1 crashes the game.

This is a simple test of the character graphics ROM.

• 1P Start: Go to next test.
• 1P Left/Right: Change palette number.
• 1P Up/Down: Change graphics ROM offset.

This is a slightly more complicated test of the object graphics ROM.

• 1P Start: Go to next test.
• 1P Left/Right: Toggles horizontal / vertical tile flipping.
• 1P Up/Down: Change graphics ROM offset.
• 2P Left/Right: Alters the "XCG" value used for palette cycling effects.
• 2P Up/Down: Change palette number.

A test of every sidescrolling and top-down area in the game.

• 1P Start: Go back to character graphics ROM test.
• 2P Start: Switch between sidescrolling and top-down modes.
• 1P Up: Toggles foreground layer.
• 1P Down: Toggles background layer.
• 1P Button 1: Move forward 80 pixels.
• 1P Button 2: Move backward 80 pixels.

(Terra Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Graphics

The Nichibutsu owl is in the object graphics ROM, just there, being an owl.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

US/JP	World

While the US and JP versions start the game aboveground, the World board set starts the game underground. The ship that drops the player off had to be redrawn as well.