The Chessmaster (Game Boy)

The Chessmaster
Also known as: Chessmaster (GBC) Developers: Park Place Productions (Original), Mage Tower Studios (GBC) Publishers: Hi-Tech Expressions (US; Original), Nintendo (EU; Original), Altron (JP; Original), Mindscape (GBC) Platforms: Game Boy, Game Boy Color Released in JP: 1994 Released in US: January 1991 (Original), November 15, 1999 (GBC) Released in EU: 1992 (Original), 1999 (GBC) This game has hidden developer credits. This game has regional differences.

"Welcome to (The) Chessmaster." Yes, this game has speech samples. Not bad for a chess game that just manages to fit into 64 KB.

Developer Credits

In all versions of the game, this can be seen in the ROM at 0x8000:

(c)1985Kittinger

(Source: Cah4e3)

Present only in the initial US versions, however, is a programmer credit and build date at 0xFD40.

Version	Credit
Original	PROGRAMMED BY CRAIG B. SEASTROM LAST MOD. 10/11/90
Revision A	PROGRAMMED BY CRAIG B. SEASTROM LAST MOD. 07/24/91

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

• The Japanese and European versions have fading in and out between screens. The publisher logo also scrolls up rather than just suddenly appearing on the screen.
• The US version doesn't start the game until the player presses Start. In the Japanese and European versions, the game automatically fades to the playfield.

Revision Differences

When the game was re-released by Mindscape in 1999, they added support for the GBC with some new art and linking between Game Boys is now an option. Fading is also faster than the original Japanese or European versions.

Original	GBC Rerelease

For the Game Boy title screen, an additional logo is added to the left. The trademark also became registered.