Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
Also known as: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (JP) Developer: Gazelle Publisher: Banpresto Platform: Arcade (Cave 68000) Released internationally: March 1995 This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences.

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.

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon is an alright but rushed beat em up released well after fighting games had stolen the genre's thunder, developed by a company that was circling the drain when it was being made and was on its last legs by the time they released it.

Needless to say, the game's a gold mine of unused stuff.

To do: This game has a mind shattering amount of unused content that needs to be documented, including but not limited to: * 115 (!!!) unused dialogue portraits that imply that the game was going to have an actual plot. * unused overlay sprites for Sailor Venus that would turn her into Sailor V. * the game's ending. * unused text. * and much, much more.

Debug Menu

With any version of the game, enter the following cheat code in sailormnu.xml, sailormnj.xml, sailormno.xml, or any xml file matching up with the ROM's name inside the cheats folder.

<cheat desc="Display Hidden Debug BPSM Test Mode Menu">
    <comment>
        For best clarity, use on the Game Settings menu (F2).
    </comment>
    <script state="on">
        <action>maincpu.pd@10819A=00010001</action>
        <action>maincpu.pb@10A489=00</action>
    </script>
</cheat>

The cheat works best when enabled on either service mode or the ROM check screen upon start-up. Note that after enabling the code, the address automatically changes upon entering any of the submenus below. After leaving the submenus, the game will place the player back to the service mode screen and they have to re-enable the cheat.

The player can enter the submenus by pressing Player 1's Button 1.

BG0, BG1, and BG2 Character Tests

These allow the player to see the individual tiles that make up the backgrounds. Pressing Left and Right changes the palette, while Up and Down change the offset the player is looking at by 0x80.

Object Test

This allows the player to look at all of the sprites. Player 1 changes the sprite on the left, while Player 2 changes the sprite on the right. Up and Down change the sprite the player is looking by 0x10, while Left and Right change it by 0x1.

Map Area Test

The player can look at the various background layers and can combine multiple layers. Player 1 controls the BG0 layer, while Player 2 controls the BG1 layer.

World Map Test

See the assembled maps. Player 1 controls which screen to see, while Player 2 controls where the screen is positioned with the joystick.

Animation Frame Test

See the animation frames that make up the animations seen below.

Animation Test

Play the animations as they would in game with Button 1. It only seems to work up to 30 though.

Windows Test

See the game's portraits and dialogue boxes. Interestingly, out of the 116 viewable portraits, only one is actually used in the game itself (and only in the Japanese version).

Sound Test

To the left of the screens are volume bars representing the individual sound channels.

Exit to Game Mode

As the name implies, the player goes back to the regular game.

(Source: Abystus)

Unused Graphics

To do: This section is WIP; there is A LOT more than just these animations.

Magic Attacks

Originally, the Sailor Guardians were supposed to perform their magic attacks with their in-game sprites. The final game instead uses cels from the 90s anime.

(Source: The Spriters Resource)

Regional Differences

Round 3 Intro

Between Rounds 2 and 3 is an unskippable cutscene of Queen Beryl watching your Sailor through a crystal ball with Jadeite in the background. The Japanese version notably features the only two lines of dialogue used in the game, specifically between Beryl and Jadeite, including a dialogue portrait for the latter. These are not used in any other version of the game.

Transcript	Translation
セーラー戦士だと・・・ 　　　・・・何者だ？	Who are the Sailor Soldiers?
その者たちの始末、この ジェダイトめにお任せを	Leave this one for Jadeite to settle them.

(Source: Gaming Hell)