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Kero Blaster/Unused Graphics
This is a sub-page of Kero Blaster.
 | This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes. |
Contents
- 1 Unused Sprites
- 1.1 fu00.png
- 1.2 fu02boss.png
- 1.3 fu06.png
- 1.4 fuPudding.png
- 1.5 fuTrain.png
- 1.6 mpt06train.png
- 1.7 fu06boss2.png
- 1.8 fu07shachoB.png
- 1.9 fu07plate.png
- 1.10 fu10kako.png
- 1.11 fuZangyou.png
- 1.12 fu14boss1.png
- 1.13 fu14boss2.png
- 1.14 fu09machine.png
- 1.15 fuAchievements.png
- 1.16 fuChapter.png
- 1.17 fuFixChar.png
- 1.18 fuFixNPC.png
- 1.19 fuFixPtcle.png
- 1.20 item.png
- 1.21 font.png / kerofont.png
- 1.22 localize.png
- 1.23 fuOption.png & option.png
- 2 Unused Tiles
- 3 Alternate Enemy Sprites
- 4 Unseen Graphic Details
Unused Sprites
fu00.png
This little guy from multiple pre-release material still has graphics in the final game despite not being used anywhere. He even seems to have been touched up at some point, as the right image has slightly different teeth.
fu02boss.png
Graphics for a brown fly enemy. Given that it uses the same color as the boss, and is located at a different spot on the spritesheet than the used fly enemy, this might have been a scrapped enemy for the boss fight.
fu06.png
Found in version 1.0.6.3 is this simple fish enemy, scrapped with only these graphics remaining. However, its design wasn't completely put to waste:
It was used as the basis for the fish skeletons that the Anenomes spit out! Note the top fin and tail shapes.
Exclusive to 1.0.6.3 are these sprites for a pink variant of the "Metalbushi" enemy, labelled "Tokobushi", that still exists in the game's code unused. This version is able to take damage and even die, in stark contrast to the Metalbushi being invincible to all damage.
fuPudding.png
| Bacteria (Unused) | Dark Ameba (Used) |
|---|---|
  |
  |
In version 1.0.6.3, there's graphics for a scrapped enemy, "Bacteria", which still exists, functional in the game but unused. This enemy's behavior was later reused for the enemy labelled as "Dark Ameba".
A gate with an early version of the Stage 6 midboss's likeness on it, also found in 1.0.6.3. Similar gates depicting other bosses can be found in prerelease screenshots. It probably would have been destroyed after beating the boss.
The version of the boss depicted on the gate lacks the armor that it normally wears in-game, which causes it to more closely resemble the original concept art.
fuTrain.png
These graphics appear slightly below the used ones and are scribbled out. They appear to use slightly different gun colors.
mpt06train.png
Zangyou recolors of the tiny birds summoned by Clock Man, as well as an incomplete sketch of a bigger bird, both remnants of when Clock Man's Zangyou fight was more like its predecessor.
fu06boss2.png
| fu06boss2.png (Unused) | fu16boss2.png (Used) |
|---|---|
  |
  |
An unused fleshy variation of Clock Man. Although an unused early Zangyou fight still exists, it does not use these graphics.
fu07shachoB.png
Found in the equivalent location to the graphic of the first phase of Nanao's fight transitioning into the second phase is this graphic of Nanao seemingly twirling her hair while smirking.
fu07plate.png
Modified sprites of Nanao, Comomo, and Sasuke. These were likely used to visualize the palette the characters would use while trapped inside of the boss.
fu10kako.png
A series of expressive, yet unused sprites for Nanao's past self. They show her being shocked, looking behind her, and sitting at chair facing away from the camera. The workers at OXOX Commerce use the computer facing towards the camera in the final game, but it's unknown why the rest aren't used.
Sprites showing Ooshima looking intrigued while on the phone and satisfied, which could have easily fit into the cutscenes used in the final game. The Ooshima NPC even has animation states 2 and 3 specifically for displaying these sprites in-game! In the final game, he remains stoic no matter the situation.
fuZangyou.png
Sprites for Nanao talking while in the hot spring. Because the scene in question is incredibly brief, Nanao doesn't even get a chance to speak.
Unused sprites for a PC console, as well as a chair facing away from the camera. Given Nanao's facing-away sprite seen above, these may have been used by the OXOX Commerce workers, before being dropped in favor of laptops.
Interestingly, there are two conspicuously unused monitors in the OXOX Commerce office, where these sprites could've fit.
fu14boss1.png
An odd graphic of the main character standing on top of the bank vault miniboss, with cursors layered over it.
Rockets. Possibly a scrapped attack for the boss.
fu14boss2.png
Sprites for a blue-eyed Kuroino jumping or walking. It seems that the pilot of the truck boss in Zangyou mode was going to bail after the boss was defeated, whereas in the final game it simply explodes, just like the Normal mode's Negativus Legatia driver.
fu09machine.png
Seems to be a work-in-progress sprite of the wall-climbing box enemy.
fuAchievements.png
A graphic for an unknown or locked achievement. The final game uses silhouettes instead of question marks.
fuChapter.png
A sprite of the hatching chick used on the "Is this your first time playing?" screen, only now it's fully hatched.
fuFixChar.png
Graphics for the unused ComboCue NPC.
Sprites used when "show info" is toggled in the debug menu. The green arrows are used for warps to a different point in the level, and the pink arrows warp you to the next or previous level. The green dot is used to mark certain events, and the light-green and dark-green tabs with "D" on them are used by the episode test in Normal and Zangyou mode respectively. The various tiny letters and checkerboard are used to mark certain invisible objects, though it's not certain which ones are used or unused. The rest just seems to be filler.
When setting the alternate direction flag for a gravity block, these sprites are used. As you would expect from their appearance, these blocks are immune to the player's shots.
Located alongside the graphics for coins after the Zangyou update is this green diamond. This may have been another tier for the collectible money, with the highest worth in the final game belonging to the money bag with 50 coins.
| Kero Blaster | Pink Heaven |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Sprites for the Umbrella being held by the player, leftover from Pink Heaven. Oddly, the hand color is black instead of pink.
fuFixNPC.png
Leftovers from Pink Hour. As Comomo never uses the teleporter in this game, these graphics go unused.
A color-reversed version of the hanger with a jacket. Although the blue hanger can be seen in the Stage 6 shop, jackets do not appear in Stage 6, leaving this sprite unused. Setting user flag 25 in the debug menu while in Stage 6 will generate a jacket in the shop, which displays this sprite in-game.
Sprites for the invisible Timer Kun objects that only appear when "show info" is toggled in debug mode.
Among Sasuke's sprites is this one of him with his mouth open, and smiling no less, neither of which he commonly did in the Ame the Cat web manga. It's unknown what this could've been used for.
Graphics for the easier variation of the Walking Black enemy, leftover from Pink Hour.
Angry sprites for the Hopper enemy. Notably, Clock Man's Zangyou redesign, which appears to be based off of this enemy, also has its face turn red when at half health.
Found alongside the door sprites is this sprite of Nanao's past self peeking through a door, similarly to how Mizutani does in Omake mode.
fuFixPtcle.png
A purple, slightly thinner Pea Shooter bullet that has a color reminiscent of the Death Beam and Kamui. It might have been used for a debug weapon earlier in development.
| Possible Original Color Mockup |
Final |
|---|---|
 |
 |
The three-pixel thick design of the bullets was probably changed because it didn't fit evenly over Kaeru's gun's two-pixel muzzle.
A variation of the sweat particle used by the enemy in the chest in Greenery Zone. It is the original graphic but resized, a common trend of the bosses early in development, before the development direction changed. It can be seen in this pre-release screenshot.
| Early | Final |
|---|---|
  |
  |
Early sprites for the Kuro Blaster's bullets, which were apparently smaller and based off of the Pea Shooter's bullets. The early variation has different sprites for facing left and right, whereas the final bullet's simpler design allows it to simply reverse the animation.
| Early | Final |
|---|---|
 |
 |
An unused bullet hit effect. Given its blue coloration, it might be an early Kuro Blaster hit effect.
}A rectangle made of... light?
}Hearts with a fancy pulsing effect. The former was used in early pre-release builds of the game, when the player earned health by rescuing cats, as seen in the Gero Blaster trailer. Judging by the appearance of the other heart, it probably would've been used if the player's max health increased, but not their current health.
These arrows are used to mark screen transitions when the "show info" debug function is toggled. It's possible that the boxes were used for some debug functionality at some point as well.
A red poof particle used by enemies when they got hit earlier in development that can be seen in multiple early screenshots. The final game replaced this effect with more cartoony explosions corresponding to each of the weapons.
| Early | Final |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Found at multiple locations is this early sprite for the Level 2 Fan, or Wide. It's a little thinner compared final version's graphic, and it lacks the trail present in the final bullets. It did still find its way onto a weapon in the final game, though: the unused Death Beam fires out a light-purple variation of this bullet.
| Early | Final |
|---|---|
  |
 |
These graphics are a leftover from an early design for the Level 3 Fan, or Quad, that can be seen in pre-release screenshots. These sprites are simple circles, whereas the final version uses unique sprites depending on the direction they are fired, for each of the four shots, almost quintupling the amount of sprites used.
Sprites of a Kuroino with purple(!) eyes falling down. These sprites are not present in Pink Heaven, suggesting that they are a last-minute addition.
item.png
Placeholder icons for unavailable, non-functional upgrades to weapons. The 4th variation icon for Bubble actually appears very briefly in the trailer for Kero Blaster (47 seconds in).
Unused item graphics for a dot, an umbrella, an early jetpack, and a key.
Graphics for a weapon pickup that gives you the Pea Shooter, which is the starting weapon and thus not obtained as an item. This can be seen in-game by setting a PopItem script NPC's Param2 to 0.
An empty Life Jar. The item simply disappears upon being used, so it is never seen as empty.
Found next to the damaged Jacket graphics in early versions are these items in bubbles. Given their location, these probably would've been used when the corresponding item activated. Notably, one of the bubbles depicts a fairy that can be seen in a pre-release screenshot.
Next to the icons for inventory items on the save file screen is this dark bubble, presumably for the Kuro Blaster. Since the Kuro Blaster does not appear on the user's save file, this is unused.
font.png / kerofont.png
A few purple Japanese characters. Probably placeholders.
There are a ton of Shift JIS symbols that were drawn, but left unused. The only ones confirmed to be used in the game are the general-use punctuation signs, ellipses, and the "O" and "X". It can be argued that these symbols were included just in case, but it would be hard to justify a situation where the "greater than or equal to" sign or therefore sign are used in any game. There is also an incomplete row of letters at the bottom.
In the coin UI font, there is a percentage sign, the only remnant of the scrapped "overheating" mechanic from pre-release screenshots.
| Unused | Final |
|---|---|
 |
|
An early damage font. Compared to the final version, it only comes in one size, and is a lot cleaner compared to the final version's more blocky numbers.
Located alongside the coin and damage fonts is an unused orange font. It is slightly more pixelated than even the fonts used in the final game. Notably, the largest damage font uses the same design as this font.
Graphics for a scrapped map screen, leftover from Rockfish. The map screen can still be found inaccessible in the debug menu in version 1.0.6.3.
When the game attempts to print a character that doesn't exist on the font, this graphic is printed instead. In earlier versions, it was red, as seen on the left, but later versions changed it to orange, like on the right.
Two faces of varying levels of anguish. Your guess for where these went is as good as mine.
Located near the used PlayStation button graphics are these crossed-out button graphics.
localize.png
An unused graphic meant for the new arms screen when the player obtains the Pea Shooter. This, as established earlier, is an impossible situation in the final game.
Found in later versions, it is text reading "ERR" and "OK". Might have been used for debugging functionality at one point.
A large banner advertising the game's release date. It was used in the trailer, but for obvious reasons does not appear in the final game.
fuOption.png & option.png
 | To do: Elaborate on the contents of the spritesheets? |
This spritesheet is used in the debug menu's stage select, a.k.a. Island, a.k.a. world map, otherwise unseen during normal gameplay. The original image was 256 pixels square, but interestingly over a third of it is empty space, implying that some sprites were removed from the sheet...
option.png
...and indeed, that was the case! Here, not only are more sprites from the world map shown, there are sprites meant to be used in the UI, as seen in pre-release screenshots.
Unused Tiles
mpt01.png
Tiles depicting water and lava, the latter of which cannot be found anywhere in the final game. A one block-high spring would eventually be added in the Zangyou mode variation of Hinterland Fort, but in return it added more unused tiles of underwater slopes.
A block of soil, as seen in prerelease screenshots.
mpt02.png
An assortment of non-solid large and small pipes. The exposed large pipe tiles are used in a glitch room found in Omake Mode, but the rest are totally unused.
Palette swaps of tiles found in Hinterland Fort. Some of the tiles are used, but not all of them.
mpt13back1.png
A red variation of the green semi-solid platform used mainly in the OXOX Hotel boss room. Interestingly, it is a background object, whereas the green platform is a foreground object. Found in version 1.0.6.3.
mpt08.png
An entirely unused tileset, bearing a striking resemblance to the tiles of Trayne Station. According to the filename, this was meant to be used in Stage 8, which was scrapped after the game's development direction changed. This level may actually have been the inspiration for the final game's Stage 6, sharing both similar graphics, a train motif, and even Pudding, the mini-boss, was planned to appear in Stage 8 according to a pre-release game progression chart.
mp08back.png
The corresponding background tiles. The only tiles that are used are the cheese-like background, which was recolored and used in multiple stages in the final game. The other tiles were clearly intended to be used for a train interior, including pipes, couches, windows, and tables for two.
mpt09.png
| Before 1.5 | After 1.5 |
|---|---|
 |
|
Before Destination was added in 1.4, mpt09.png featured an almost completely different tileset, showing iron spikes, pipes, rocky terrain, lava(!), and a few other blocks. While the tileset was almost completely replaced, there is still a remnant in the final version: the rocks are little more than a recolor from the early tileset.
mptArea.png
The tileset used to visualize the unused map screen maps in level editors.
mptHome.png
Found in 1.0.6.3, an unused tleset containing tiles for Ame the Cat's house, as seen in the early trailer and pre-release screenshots.
mptIron.png
Almost half of the tiles in this tileset are unused. These include:
- A partially deleted blue variation of the goal area tiles.
- A full set of dark-grey goal area tiles.
- Extra tiles for the purple goal area tiles, including stairs.
- An unused filling tile located alongside the standard goal area tiles.
- A ladder.
- Grass located above and under water, as well as other water tiles.
- A row of purple, isometric blocks that have a number of dots on them, in ascending order from zero to six dots.
mptShop0.png
Stairs for the shop, which is single-floor in the final version. The brown stairs can be seen in a few pre-release screenshots.
mptTitle.png
Found just above the used tiles is an entire set of tiles for a different design for the title screen, which was used as late as the official trailer. It looks a lot gloomier with these tiles, so it makes sense why they were replaced. However, this tileset was still used in the Debug Room in the release version 1.0.6.3 of the final game.
Alternate Enemy Sprites
Some spritesheets have sprites for enemies that differ from the ones used in-game.
| fu09machine.png (Unused) | fu09marine.png (Used) |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Slightly differently-colored sprites for the eyeball mech enemy in Destination can be found in fu09machine.png. The alternate sprites better match the color palette of the other enemies on the spritesheet, like the cardboard box enemies.
| fuPudding.png (Unused) | fuAnnin.png (Used) |
|---|---|
 |
 |
After the Zangyou mode update was released, a satellite dish can be found in fuPudding.png that presumably would have gone on top of its head. It appears to be an early design for the land-based Zangyou version's third weak point, evidenced by the fact that it has flashing sprites for taking damage. In the final version, the boss has a mini-me of itself attached to its head that fires lightning bolts.
Interestingly, the final design uses duplicate frames in its animation, suggesting that this change was made late enough in development that the developers didn't have time to change the animation code, so its sprites were duplicated as a quick fix.
| fuTrain.png (Unused) | Used |
|---|---|
 |
 |
The hazy worm enemy introduced in Zangyou Mode has unused graphics for a Normal Mode variant with a red eye.
Unseen Graphic Details
Some graphics are used in-game, but have features that the player cannot normally see.
bosses.png
By obtaining all eight achievements, the player is able to view a bonus image. To prevent players from viewing it in the files, it was scrambled beforehand, then when viewing it in-game it unscrambles.
Game Over Bench Hole
The bench used when getting a Game Over in Back to the Office has a Kaeru-shaped hole, as can be seen in gameover.png. This was done to avoid priority issues with the player's sprite and the bench.
Nanao's Full Body
Nanao's sprites for sitting at her desk fully feature her body. However, only part of it can be seen in-game, leading to details such as her legs being crossed or her first transformation slouching going unseen. The odd one out is her second transformation, which has a desk-shaped cutout in its sprites.
Ooshima's Phone
Ooshima's sprites have a teal phone that cannot be seen in-game. The phone used in the final game is a separate NPC, so this was likely used to help design Ooshima's poses around the phone's position.
Submerged Muddle
The sprite used by the Muddle for when it is peeking out from the mud is not really seen beyond its eyeball. Looking at its raw graphics reveals that it is more blob-like in appearance, lacking defined limbs (well, as defined as cute stubby limbs can be, anyway).
Orange Bird
In the background of some glitch areas, truncated sprites for an orange variation of the swooping bird enemy can be found. These are graphics for an unused NPC, which appears in multiple tilesets alongside the used purple variation.
Cabinet Enemy's Legs
The cabinet enemy found in Zangyou mode has a death animation for its usually hidden legs. Although this graphic can be seen barely poking out from the enemy, its full unobscured appearance can only be seen by defeating the enemy from underneath while it is turning around.
Kurono's Yellow Eye
| fu09boss5.png | In-Game |
|---|---|
 |
|
Kurono-san's last form has a yellow eye on his left-facing sprite only, à la Ballos from Cave Story. However, this is never seen because the 8x8 square covering used for the intro where he opens his eyes never actually disappears, giving the illusion that his sprite always has a red eye.
