Adventures of Lolo 3

Adventures of Lolo 3
Also known as: Adventures of Lolo 2 (JP) Developer: HAL Laboratory Publishers: HAL Laboratory (JP/EU), HAL America (US) Platform: NES Released in JP: December 26, 1990 Released in US: September 1991 Released in EU: May 27, 1992 This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences. This game has a Data Crystal page

Adventures of Lolo 3 is a puzzling NES game by HAL Laboratory.

Hidden Passwords

These passwords were found buried in the Lolo 3 ROM. They unlock a few interesting Easter eggs.

NOTE: The vowels in the U.S. version's password screen were replaced with symbols. Use the following key when entering the passwords:

A = E = I = O = U =

The vowels are present in the Japanese version, but you must replace "LOLO3" in the sound tests with "LOLO2," since their series is numbered differently. Also, make sure you select "END" after entering each password.

Character Tests

LOLOLOOKPLEASE LALALOOKPLEASE SNAKEYMONSTER LEAPERMONSTER SKALWGMONSTER ROCKYMONSTER MEDUSAMONSTER GOLGOLMONSTER ALMARKMONSTER CAPOXXMONSTER DONMEDUSAMONSTER

Sound Tests

• Music Test: xx00LOLO3BGMTEST (where xx is a number between 00 and 23)
• Sound Effect Test: xx00LOLO3FGMTEST (where xx is a number between 00 and 48)

Regional Differences

Opening Screens

Japan/Europe	US

The Japanese and European versions share the same plain HAL logo as New Ghostbusters II, while the American version's HAI logo is just like the previous Lolo game's but with a new font and darker background color.

Japan	US	Europe

On the title screen, the European version's copyright uses a different uppercase I than the American version, and the American version uses a different comma from the others. In modifying the Roman numeral, the American version leaves a sliver of its red color between the U and R in front of the sky by mistake. The European version corrects this, but it also removes the shadow "ADVENTURES" casts on the numeral, even as "LOLO" still casts a shadow, and it erases one cloud and moves another, seemingly to avoid crowding some white words. The original cloud arrangement still appears in the cutscene that immediately follows!

Japan	US/Europe

The password screens' graphics were totally redone, adding the word "PASSWORD" and generally resembling the previous game's password screen more, except the background has been simplified to a single repeating tile that doesn't look much like brickwork anymore. The replacement of vowels with new symbols seems unnecessary in this case as the game was already coded to never generate passwords containing vowels, X, 0, or 1.

(Source: kingshriek's password system FAQ)

If the Japanese password font looks familiar, that's because the international versions use an unmodified copy of that graphic bank for dialogue with Grandpa, while the Japanese version uses a differently-altered copy containing its hiragana. It also places the blinking cursor at the ends of text boxes on the right side while the other versions have it centered, likely owing to the Japanese text sometimes needing to print on the very bottom of the word balloon as upper lines are reserved for diacritics.

Levels

While all versions work the same in terms of what levels and bosses must be completed to unlock the next level, the Japanese version contains a completely different set of 100 mandatory puzzle rooms from the other two. Levels 5-2, 14-2, 14-3, 14-4, 14-5, 15-4, 17-2, 17-7, 17-8, and 17-9 of the international versions have been identified as being based on puzzles from the previous Japanese Adventures of Lolo title, modified to varying degrees.

(Source: MSX Eggerland)

Of the 10 tutorial rooms, only 8 are identical across all three versions. The international versions skip the Japanese version's 8th room, presenting its 9th room as their 8th, then use a modified version of its 10th room as their 9th:

Tree 2-5 (Japan)	Tree 2-4 (US/Europe)

Apparently devised as a sort of "final exam" room, the international version's removals mean the player is no longer required to perform a quick turn after daringly pushing an egg into a river across from a Medusa, nor is it necessary to block a pair of side-by-side Medusas with a single obstacle. These were both concepts introduced in the original 8th room. The international tutorial ends with a new puzzle about efficiently fleeing a Skull down a narrow path, which adds a third use of the hammer item to the tutorials when there is now only one hammer used in the entire main game!

The status bar's labels were also changed, abbreviating with all consonants rather than the first three letters, widening the V, rounding off the P and W, and "floors" are now known as "room numbers." Oddly the Japanese version uses a slightly different E in "LEV" for the tutorials than for the rest of the game.

Bosses

All the bosses had their hit points halved for the international versions of Adventures of Lolo III, making them less of an endurance test than in the Japanese Adventures of Lolo II. Inanimate targets take the same number of shots to destroy in all versions. (Giant Gol's flames can only be destroyed with a shot midflight. Once they land, they expire on a timer, uninfluenced by Magic Shots.)

Hit Points

	Japan	US/Europe
Giant Snakey	50	25
Giant Alma	32	16
Giant Rocky	40	20
Giant Leeper	40	20
Giant Skull	40	20
Giant Gol	40	20
Giant Medusa	60	30
Giant Don Medusa	40	20
King Egger 1	Infinite	Infinite
King Egger 2, phase 1	20	10
King Egger 2, stunned	10	10
King Egger 2, phase 2	30	10
Regular boss eggs	5	5
King Egger's egg	10	10
Destructible projectiles	1	1
Final exit	10	10

Of possible interest is that the unwinnable King Egger fight writes an unchanging value of 10 to the usual HP memory location in all versions.

Ending

A side effect of the European version's slight tempo correction for PAL framerate is that the ending scene music finishes well before the sun stops setting. Where the Japanese and North American versions have the music cut out for just the one second it takes Lolo and Lala to scoot together before "THE END" appears, the European version leaves players in silence for nearly fourteen seconds.