8 Eyes

8 Eyes
Developer: Thinking Rabbit Publishers: Seta (JP), Taxan (US) Platform: NES Released in JP: September 27, 1988 Released in US: January 1990 This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences.

8 Eye's [sic] is a game that can be best described as "blatant Castlevania ripoff". Put into the role of a brave falconer, you must recover the legendary jewels that are the 8 Eyes from the warring dukes, and restore them to the Altar of Peace. There's also something about nuclear war in there somewhere.

Sound Test

The Japanese version contains a sound test which was removed from the American version. Simply pause the game, and you can use controller 2 to scroll through the tracks with Left / Right and play a track with A. Most interestingly, the reason why we have this sound test available so easily is by an accidental "bug". The internal flag enabling this sound test somehow has the same RAM address as some system variable which is not zero at that particular moment of the pause. The cheat was actually meant to be triggered by pausing the game with the A + B buttons held on both controller 1 and 2.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

JPN	USA

Seta and Thinking Rabbit's logos were removed, along with PUSH START. Taxan's name was added along with some copyright dates, a TM, and "Licensed by Nintendo of America Inc." The topmost part of the E was cut off by the Taxan header.

Startup

JPN	USA

The background was changed from black to teal, and the text is no longer ALL CAPS.

Password

JPN	USA

Same changes as above apply. The JPN version only has the characters A through P, while the USA version has the entire alphabet. This opens up some extra quests as we'll see below.

2nd & 3rd Quests

USA

The USA version has two extra quests. "Special stage" and "Final stage". Special stage is automatically begun upon completion of the main game, and can also be accessed via the password TAXANTAXAN. Final stage is a hidden 3rd quest that begins by hitting Reset after completing the Special stage and viewing the credits, and can also be accessed via the password FINALSTAGE. These are mostly the same as the main game, only enemies now move faster and the clue scrolls are removed (the solution to the jewel puzzle remains unchanged).

Stage Select

JPN	USA

Japanese	Romaji	English
エジプト	ejiputo	Egypt
ドイツ	doitsu	Germany
スペイン	supein	Spain
アフリカ	afurika	Africa
アラビア	arabia	Arabia
イタリア	itaria	Italy
インド	indo	India
ルースやかた	ruusu yakata	Ruth Manor

Stage names were changed to English. Basic stuff.

Stage Order

JPN			USA
Stage	Jewel	Sword	Stage	Jewel	Sword
Spain	Black	Red	Spain	Black	Red
Egypt	Red	White	Egypt	Red	Green
Arabia	White	Green	Italy	Green	Yellow
Italy	Green	Yellow	India	Yellow	Orange
India	Yellow	Orange	Africa	Orange	Purple
Africa	Orange	Purple	Germany	Purple	White
Germany	Purple	Black	Arabia	White	Black

8 Eyes has an unusual system wherein each time you defeat a boss, you receive a new sword that replaces your old one. The new sword isn't necessarily stronger against enemies but deals more damage against the boss who carries the jewel that matches its color. Ergo, collecting the Red Sword deals more damage against the boss that carries the Red Jewel (in this case, Egypt's boss). For some odd reason the order in which you receive the swords was changed, with the White Sword being acquired much later. Also note that the JPN order is the same one in which you re-fight the bosses in the House of Ruth (sans Germany).

Clues & Sword

JPN	USA

The clues were given some extra space to account for the translation. The JPN version has ? for scrolls not yet collected, whereas the USA version is simply left blank.

Japanese	Romaji	English
クロと シロの あいだに、 5っはいる。	kuro to shiro no aida ni, 5tsu wa iru.	Between Black and White, there are 5 eyes.
クロと シロの あいだに、 キはない。	kuro to shiro no aida ni, ki wanai.	Between Black and White, there is no Yellow.
アカの となりに ダイダイはない。ひだり はしは キ。	aka no tonari ni daidai wanai. hidari hashi wa ki.	Red is not next to Orange. Yellow is on the left end.
シロと ダイダイと ムラサキは となりにない。	shiro to daidai to murasaki wa tonari ni nai.	White Orange and Purple are not next to each other.
シロの となりは キ。 クロの となりは アカ。	shiro no tonari wa ki. kuro no tonari wa aka.	White is next to Yellow. Black is next to Red.
ムラサキと ミドリの あいだに、 2っはいる。	murasaki to midori no aida ni, 2tsu wa iru.	Between Purple and Green, there are 2 eyes.
ムラサキの となりには アオ。みぎはしは クロ。	murasaki no tonari ni wa ao. migi hashi wa kuro.	Purple is next to Blue. Black is on the right end.

A few clues were changed between versions, although the solution is the same.

Status Bar

JPN	USA

The hero is named Bond in JPN and Orin in the USA. The health/item extensions are displayed in color where they were simply left blank in JPN, they turn white once the extension is collected. "8 Eye's" was replaced with a scoring system that was not otherwise present. The "oss" in "Boss" was slightly edited and was moved closer to its health bar, and the bar's leftmost unit was redrawn to have an end-cap.

Clue Scrolls

JPN	USA

The JPN version has a nifty graphic for when you collect a scroll. Sadly, this was removed to allow more room for the English text.

New Sword & Password

JPN	USA

PASSWORD and PUSH START are no longer capitalized, along with typical translation.

Japanese	Romaji	English
このつるぎをやろう、 きっとやくにたつぞ。	kono tsuru giwo yarou, kitto yaku ni tatsu zo.	I shall give you this sword, surely it will be useful.

(Translation: Joe)

Game Over

JPN	USA

The JPN Game Over screen is black and the text scrolls upwards from the bottom of the screen. The USA Game Over screen is teal and includes a SCORE and HI-SCORE counter. "Push start key" is no longer ALL CAPS.

Ending

JPN	USA (1st Quest)	USA (2nd Quest)	USA (3rd Quest)
かく　しとびら　の　おくには、　ルースたちが、 あちこちから　うばってきた、ざいほうと　ともに、 にぶい　いろに　ひかる、　ぶきみな　にんぎょが、 かざられていた。ところどころ　に　のこる かがやきで、もとは、きにろだったことがわかる。 いく　ども　かさねられた、ざんぎゃくな　ぎしき　に よって、にんげんの　ちをそそがれ　つづけた　せい で、　あかがね　いろとも、　なまり　いろ　ともつかぬ ぶきみな　いろに　そめあげられたのだ。 この、　きみょうな　にんぎょうこそ、　その　むかし、 テンプルきじたん　に　よって、すうはい　されて いたと　される、　でんせつ　の　バフォメット　ぞう なのである。　イスラムきょう　と　キリストきょうの りょうほうの　やみ　の　せかい　を　つかさどる、 バフォメットーー　このぞう　を　めざめ　させた このは、　せかい　を　しはいできると　いわれている ルースの　どりょくにも　かかわらず、　バフォメット の　まぶた　は　とじたままだ。 そのことを　かくにんした　ボンドは、ぞうを　もち かえるうと、うでをのばした。 そのとき、　バフォメットの　あたまに　きざまれた、 じょうじかの　もようが、　いっしゅん、　かぎじゅうじ に　へんか　したことに、　また、　その　しゅんかん、 とじていた　はずの　まぶたが、　うすく　ひらき、 よこしまな　ひかりを　やどした　ことに　ボンドは まったく、きづかなかったーー	CONGRATULATIONS ORIN!! In fighting your way through the eight Perilous castles, you have proved that your swordsmanship and falconry talents are great. In solving the riddle of the eight jewels, you have proved your skill as a logician. These were great tests of skill, and only the strongest of warriors and the wisest of scholars could have completed this quest. I realize that there is only one thing more gratifying than coming to the end of a great game, that is realizing the challenge has just begun. Go now Orin, another quest awaits. In this second adventure, your skills will be tested as never before. If you are truly skilled, you may be able to finish some of it! GOOD LUCK ! Here is the password to the most challenging adventure of your life ! PASSWORD TAXANTAXAN push start key	Well, well. You managed to beat the second challenge of 8-Eyes. Unbelievable! Your video game talents are among the best the world has to offer. You confronted the challenge I set for you, and triumphed undisputed. You have beaten one of the hardest games you will ever play, or have you??	VERY IMPRESSIVE ! I truly though that no mere motal would ever be reading the statement here, at the end of the third quest of 8-Eyes. you have reached the end of this game. I give my deepest congratulations to one who has beaten one of the most challenging games seen on the home video screen. Thank You, and look for more extremely challenging games from your favorite game masters TAXAN !!!

While the original game has only one ending, the USA version has three! Note that the third ending has a few typos, notably "motal" instead of "mortal" and improper capitalization.

(Japanese transcript: Torchickens)

Credits

JPN	USA

Once again, the black background was changed to teal and the text is no longer ALL CAPS. Hiroto Nakamura's name was corrected.