Jupiter Lander (Commodore VIC-20)

Jupiter Lander
Also known as: Super Lander Developer: HAL Laboratory Publisher: Commodore Platform: Commodore VIC-20 Released internationally: 1981 This game has unused code. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has regional differences.

Jupiter Lander, also released as Super Lander, is an unabashed clone of Atari's Lunar Lander. Yours sincerely, Lander.

Regional Differences

It's not entirely clear how the various releases of this game are connected, but it seems that Super Lander was for the Japanese market while Jupiter Lander was the western release. Several adjustments were made between versions:

Super Lander	Jupiter Lander
On the title screen, Jupiter Lander removes the title from the screen.
Jupiter Lander changes the planet's surface from red to green.

In addition, Jupiter Lander removes the dev credit (see below), which leaves some code and the text for the dev credit itself unused.

Hidden Developer Credit

Download Jupiter Lander Dev Credit Restoration Patch File: JupiterLander-VIC20-SuzukiFix.zip (197 B) (info)

Both versions of the game include a dev credit for HAL's Hitoshi Suzuki, but it's been dummied out in the Jupiter Lander release. Changing a single instruction easily restores it to this version, however. The credit can be triggered by pressing the Commodore key, LeftShift and RightShift simultaneously, but unlike similar credits in Radar Rat Race and Star Battle, the effect is not instantaneous.

Super Lander	Jupiter Lander
Once the game has started, the Commodore logo is replaced by text crediting "HAL".
After the game ends and returns to the title screen, Hitoshi Suzuki's credit appears on-screen.

(Source: Original TCRF research)