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Bonze Adventure

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Title Screen

Bonze Adventure

Also known as: Jigoku Meguri (JP)
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
Platform: Arcade (Taito Bonze Adventure hardware)
Released internationally: June 1988[1]


DevMessageIcon.png This game has a hidden developer message.
DevTextIcon.png This game has hidden development-related text.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
DebugIcon.png This game has debugging material.
LevelSelectIcon.png This game has a hidden level select.
Carts.png This game has revisional differences.


Bonze: An antiquated English name for a Buddhist monk, now commonly referred to as a bhikku.
Adventure: Adventure.

Debug Functions

Round Select

Am I supposed to select a round or a scene? Make up your mind, Taito
To activate a round select feature, hold the Service Coin button until a "SERVICE SW FAILED" message pops up on the screen. Then, press 1P Start (x3), Service Coin, 1P Start. Start a new game and the round select menu should pop up.

This method is identical to the one used on games that run on Taito's The NewZealand Story hardware and Cadash.

Screen Editor

"Editer" seems to be a common mistake. Stupid complicated language
At one point, flipping Dip Switch B8 gave access to a screen editor after starting a new game. This has been disabled in the code by just skipping that check entirely, but putting the following code in MAME's bonzeadv.xml (or any of the derived sets') cheat file and enabling it will fix that.

  <cheat desc="Fix Debug Switch">
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@007572=6034</action>
    </script>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@007572=4E71</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>
(Source: stephh (MAME Asuka & Asuka hardware))

Unfortunately, even after fixing that check, it's more of a screen viewer than an editor. The "Select Code" variable, which would be used to set block properties (Solid, lava, ice, etc.) is broken, and can no longer be controlled by the player. Plus, at this point, it's no longer possible to actually edit anything. Still, it's something, right?

There's additional text for the screen editor at 0x11A55 that's no longer referenced anywhere in the code:

SELECT EDIT MODE   
SCREEN  :   OBJ   

Title Screen Placeholder

BonzeAdventureArcTempTitle.png
Placeholder title text with the game's Japanese name (and a last modified date) can be activated through the following bonzeadv.xml cheat code:

  <cheat desc="Draw Temporary Title">
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@008814=00D8</action>
    </script>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@008814=DC14</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>
(Source: Original TCRF research)

Hidden Developer Text

Bonzzz
There's a hidden hiragana message to the right of the ending screen message. This is outside of the game's viewing area, and can only be seen in MAME's tilemap viewer.

ねむい translates to "I'm sleepy."

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Revision Differences

In the old version of Bonze's Adventure (bonzeadvo in MAME), the game doesn't always properly reset the bit that tracks when the player is crouching. Since crouching and pressing Button 1 uses the player's magic, this is a bit of a problem.

This was fixed in later versions by resetting that bit every frame.

(Source: stephh)