Run Saber

Run Saber
Developer: Hori Publisher: Atlus Platform: SNES Released in US: June 8, 1993 Released in EU: 1993 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has a hidden level select.

A sort of Strider knock-off meets Contra 3 that was never released in Japan for unknown reasons.

Hidden Text

Two build dates are stored at 0x7FA0. The dates are the same in both the US and European versions.

KAW = 92/12/22 
RCR = 93/01/19 

The initials are likely for programmers Ryuichi Kawa and Richard Rogers.

Secret Menu

Hold B + Y + Right + Select at the Atlus logo screen (or use the Game Genie code DF3A-6454 / Pro Action Replay (PAR) code 0CEAC901) to enable a secret menu, accessible from the main menu, that contains a level select and a sound test. To go to the selected level, return to the main menu and select either one or two players.

Oddities

You can change the protagonists' palettes between eight presets by pausing the game and pressing the Select button. This in itself is a pretty strange feature, but it gets stranger. Although the male protagonist, Allen, begins the game in the palette he appears in on the title screen, the female protagonist, Sheena, begins with a green and teal palette - you must change palettes three times from this default in order to get to her "canon" title screen palette. This is because Sheena's palette index in RAM (7E0128xx) erroneously begins at A0 in a new game instead of 00, which is what Allen's is set as. It seems as if Atlus might have tried to give Sheena less "girly" colors, but forgot about the title screen graphics.