Puzz Loop (Arcade)

Puzz Loop
Developer: Mitchell Publisher: Mitchell Platform: Arcade (Kaneko Super Nova System) Released internationally: 1998 This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences.

Remember Puzz Loop? PopCap sure does!

Unused Text

Located among the text for the service menus and credits is one unused string:

LICENSED TO CAPCOM,U.S.A.

This suggests that the game may have planned to be distributed in the US by Capcom, though this ultimately didn't happen. Capcom would later publish the PlayStation and Game Boy ports, but only in Japan.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

To do: Record the Japanese and international intros.

The Japanese version of the game features a different intro sequence than other versions, starring a cast of characters who are featured in Stage Mode exclusively in this version. The title screen also features a different logo design.

Japan	International

The main menu has a different design in the Japanese version, which rotates to bring the currently selected mode front and center. The menu in this version also defaults to Stage Mode instead of Panic Mode.

Japan	International

Stage Mode in the Japanese version features the aforementioned characters from the intro, who react to gameplay with different animations. In the international versions, they were replaced with... empty space.

Japan	International

Debug Menu

While the service menu normally has five items, there is an invisible sixth item that leads to another menu with some additional debugging features.

To access it, open the service menu, then use MAME's debugger to write the value 05 to the byte at the appropriate RAM address:

US / Europe (v0.94) / Korea	060C3D8F
Japan	060C4937
Asia	060C3C6F
Europe (v0.93)	060BF28B

After that, press A to select the (invisible) menu item.

The items available on the debug menu actually vary slightly by version:

Japan	Europe (v0.93)	Other versions

A summary of the available options:

• TIME TEST: Shows the current date and time.
• BACKUP DISPLAY: Shows various usage/play time statistics.
• OBJ MOVE TEST: A sprite viewer.
• BG CHR TEST: A viewer for background tile sets.
• BG MAP TEST: A viewer for actual complete backgrounds.
• SOUND TEST: Guess what?
• TILTE (sic) DISP: Displays the title screen, then fades to black. Afterwards, press B to exit, but the screen will still be completely black. Select "JPN OPENING TEST" to restore the brightness.
• JPN OPENING TEST: Shows the opening/intro. Only available in the Japanese version, as the name suggests.
• PADDLE IN TEST: Doesn't do anything. Presumably would have been used for testing the knob/paddle controller at some point.
• FIREWORK TEST: Probably refers to the fireworks that appear after clearing a stage, but selecting this option now just clears the screen and enters an infinite loop without doing anything else.
• JPN PRINT TEST: Tests displaying Japanese text as it appears in the Japanese version's tutorial. Only available in non-Japanese versions, for some reason.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Backup Display

This screen shows various bookkeeping info for both players.

Most arcade games that feature screens like this make it part of the normal service menu, rather than hiding it among debug features. In this instance, it may have just been used for location testing.

OBJ Move Test

A sprite/animation viewer.

Use "MOVE NO" to select a sprite number, then press A to display it. Hold B to move it around the screen, or select "ERASE" to make the sprite disappear.

"PAL NO", "TOUMEI", and "ZOOM" control the current sprite's palette, opacity, and zoom level, respectively.

BG CHR Test

This screen is for testing background tile graphics.

Controls:

• Left/Right to select a palette, A to apply it.
• Up/Down to scroll the currently selected background layer.
• B to select which of the two background layers to manipulate.
• Start to exit.

BG Map Test

This screen is similar to the previous one, but is used for viewing actual full background images.

The menu text on this screen will continuously blink on and off, or you can hold B to keep the text temporarily turned off to get a better look at the backgrounds.

Available options:

• BG2 DISP: Unknown.
• BG NO: Select a background image to display on the currently selected plane (press A to activate).
• PAL NO: Select a palette to use for the current background (press A to activate).
• PLANE: Select whether to modify background layer A or B.
• CLEAR: Disable both backgrounds.
• EFFECT: Change the horizontal and vertical scroll position of the current background layer.
• PRIORITY: Toggle whether background layer A appears in front of layer B, or vice versa.
• TURN: Cause background layer A to begin rotating.

Any backgrounds you select here will remain visible after exiting this screen.

Sound Test

It's... a sound test! Exciting.

As usual, press A on either "BGM NO" or "SE NO" to play the current selection. Pressing B will stop both music and sound effects at the same time, or you can stop only one or the other using the appropriate menu items.

As with the BG map test screen, any music you play on this screen will continue playing after you exit.

JPN Print Test

This screen displays a few different Japanese text strings similar to what you see in the Japanese version's tutorial. For whatever reason, this screen is available in most international versions of the game, but not the actual Japanese version.

Press Start to exit this screen.