The Lion King (Game Gear)

The Lion King
Developer: Syrox Developments Publishers: Sega (JP/US), Virgin Interactive (EU), Tec Toy (BR) Platform: Game Gear Released in JP: January 13, 1995 Released in US: November 1994 Released in EU: 1994 Released in BR: 1995 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has a prototype article

Yet another version of the game based on the hit movie. Like many Game Gear games, this is a port of the Master System version.

Stage Select

When the Sega logo appears, hold Up. When the screen turns black, release Up, then press Down, Left, Right, Up, Down. You'll hear a sound if the code was entered correctly. The level select screen will appear when you begin a new game. A build date will also be displayed.

(Source: SMS Power)

Flying Mode

A leftover from a prototype version of the game can be found in the final game's data. If the value at RAM address C634 is changed to 01 it will be enabled.

In this mode, Simba is completely invincible, even to off-screen falls. Simba will also walk straight through enemies or harmful objects, and cannot interact with them. Due to this, any levels featuring a Boss at the end cannot be completed unless Fly Mode is deactivated by changing the value back to 00.

Holding 2 will freeze Simba's sprite, and enable free movement using the D-Pad. This exists in both the Game Gear and the Master System versions of the game.

Remains of Pride Rock

On the final level, Return to Pride Rock, the camera is fixed so that it only moves a certain amount left and right with Simba, and only the very top of the platform is shown. If the camera is hacked, the rest of the platform can be seen, as well as a few extra pixels of sky to the left and a large amount of empty space to the left and below Pride Rock. This particular structure is not seen anywhere else in the game.

Unused Gem

An unused gem found just above the user health icons.

Dev Notes

These two pieces of text can be found amongst the sprites for the Vultures, in between certain frames. Apparently, getting the right frame order for these sprites was difficult.

Unused Text

Some text that was used (and some not used) in the prototype goes completely unused in the final at 0x6EEC:

licensed  by  sega enterprises  ltd
not installed
level alpha