Author Topic: Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.  (Read 4251 times)

NewRisingSun

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« on: February 25, 2018, 07:01:29 PM »
So there are five versions of this "wonderful" game:
  • Gardman: Four levels, with cutscenes in-between.
  • Wonder Rabbit: Only levels 1 and 2. dreamGEAR's version further hacked to replace SELECT with A+B.
  • Monster Brother: Levels 2, 3 and 4. Original version on 120-in-1 multicart. Further hacked version in WXN pack, replacing the "Monster" script (except for a tiny blue patch in the top right corner) with a serial number, so that version's title screen just displays "Brother".
  • Five Kids: Only levels 3 and 4
  • Diveman: Only levels 3 and 4, different palette. Corrupt title screen.
The wiki and forum posts name Wonder Rabbit as the original version. I would rather say that Gardman is the original version --- it has all levels, cutscenes that actually fit what you're doing, and Diveman in particular has remnants of the original title screen. While Gardman could be a later version that combined Wonder Rabbit's and Five Kids' levels and added cutscenes, the pattern seen with F-22 (cutscenes and levels) and Super Contra 7 (levels) seems to be rather that the full game comes first. Also, Gardman seems to be the only one released on an actual (Nanjing) cartridge.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2018, 07:03:41 PM by NewRisingSun2 »

ProBoTector23

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2018, 05:33:24 AM »
In this I was also thinking, that Gardman is the original in this game, but this is not certain, because it is probably just made for Nanjing.

There is the Tom & Jerry 3 and Felix the Cat, which also have other versions (The Hacker, Primitive, Primitive II) that include scene and these are also made for Nanjing, but these not the original ones. I think that is the case with also the Gardman.

Btw, there is also a Wonder Rabbit hack, which is the Super Mario Wonderful World. This is probably just a homemade hack, which I've been looking for for a long time, but can not be downloaded from anywhere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1icj2ZnAIA

forgotusername

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2018, 04:30:49 PM »
The original version of Wonder Rabbit is actually a Pokemon game. I have no idea what it's called, nor have I ever seen it, but if you look in the graphics of every WR variation you can find this:
https://ibb.co/cQwuvx
A Pikachu, four seemingly generic monster characters, and two climbing graphics (unused as only the green rabbit can climb normally). I think "Monster Brother" is effectively the Pokemon version sans Pokemon, as the four generic monsters appear in that game. Also, do you have a ROM image for Gardman? Never heard of that one before.

NewRisingSun

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2018, 11:10:54 PM »
The Pikachu portrait is only in Wonder Rabbit, Five Kids and Monster Brother's CHR data. It's not there in Gardman and Diveman. More precisely, Wonder Rabbit, Five kids and Monster Brother retain the portraits in their CHR data but do not display them by not putting the tile numbers into the status bar's tilemap, while Gardman and Diveman retain the tile numbers in the tilemap but clear out the CHR data instead. This suggests that Gardman and Diveman are separate branches of hacks.

Attached all versions I have, sans the A+B version of Wonder Rabbit, which I did not consider worth keeping. I have also included a hack that I just made where I copied the portrait tile data into the cleared-out CHR bank of Gardman. It would have been better to restore the tile data in Monster Brother, but that one seems to have the entire portrait code itself removed.

Gee, now I really want that unknown Pokemon game...

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« Last Edit: February 26, 2018, 11:31:43 PM by NewRisingSun2 »

wanren

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2018, 08:16:30 AM »
http://kamming.blog.163.com/blog/static/19517725020083219390504/
I think say that Gardman is the original version.
Because It have box and cartridge.

forgotusername

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2018, 10:03:01 PM »
Is there verification that Nice Code/Power Joy/whoever you want to call them made Wonder Rabbit originally? Is it possible the Pikachu version was a Dragon Co game? It doesn't really match their game designing style that closely, much more in line with Dragon's...

NewRisingSun

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Original version of Wonder Rabbit et al.
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2018, 10:48:55 PM »
Actualy, I have always thought it was a Dragon Co. game, mostly because of the characteristically ugly screen split at the top of the status bar.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2018, 10:49:09 PM by NewRisingSun2 »