In the game's opening cutscene after Dr. Yoshiyama digitizes himself, several blocks of what seems to be gibberish appear on-screen before the computer corrupts. This gibberish is actually a secret message written in Japanese romaji and then coded through a cipher where all vowels are omitted from the text, except for when a word starts with a vowel. Decoding the message reveals what seems to be the last conversation Yoshiyama had with the C-Life woman featured in the cutscene, the mother of Pulseman, suggesting that he gave up his human life ("Do you realize what you've done? You'll never be human again now.") out of love for his creation and resulting in the conception of Pulseman. A cosmetic detail hinting at the nature of the undeciphered message being a conversation are differences in the speed at which each text box appears typed out on-screen (i.e. a slight slowdown during "I'm just a heartless program"). However, not only does this affair reveal the origin of the game's hero, it also has implications about the origin of the game's villain.
Dr. Yoshiyama's whereabouts during the events of Pulseman are never stated, but through information provided in the game's manual, it is suggested that he was corrupted during his time in cyberspace and transformed into the game's antagonist Dr. Waruyama. This theory is supported by the manual listing Yoshiyama's entry into cyberspace during the cutscene and Waruyama's birthdate, December 31, 1999, as occurring in the same year. However, Waruyama appears to be a full-grown adult by 2015 when the main events of the game take place despite technically being 16 years old and less than two years older than Pulseman.
This age discrepancy suggests that Waruyama would have to be at least a half C-Life or full C-Life himself in order for him to originally have been "born" as an adult (given that C-Lifes are computer-generated life-forms), and in this case, for him to originally have been the adult Yoshiyama. Since Yoshiyama was implied to have transformed into at least a half C-Life following the deciphered conversation, this suggests that Waruyama's "birthdate" actually refers to the exact date when Yoshiyama was transformed into Waruyama in the first place.
Additionally, there are similarities between the two names, with "Waruyama" being similar to "Bad mountain" ("悪い山" or "Warui yama"), and "Yoshiyama" appearing similar to "Pleasant mountain" ("楽しい山" or "Tanoshī yama").
The English description for the game's 2009 re-release on the Wii Virtual Console states outright that Yoshiyama did transform into Waruyama, although there are no known Japanese sources that also confirm this.
In the Rank 3 fight with Sonic Juice, the RPG Travis talks about hating is most likely Final Fantasy VII.
•The song before the fight is very similar Final Fantasy's "Prologue" theme, while the battle music seems to be a parody of Final Fantasy's battle music. •The game is mentioned as being beloved by "everyone and their mom." •Travis mentions he wouldn't play it even if they remade it. •The style and layouts the menus match Final Fantasy. •Ifrit, Bahamut, and Knights of the Round are all referenced in the Summons.
Chin's character is heavily inspired by Yuen Siu-tien's portrayal of the Qing Dynasty drunken boxer Beggar So (Sam Seed) from the Drunken Master film series.
There are many similarities between Psycho Soldier Team's design and characters from the Drunken Master film series. Kensou's character is possibly influenced by Jackie Chan's portrayal of Wong Fei-hung from the first Drunken Master film. Kensou's love of Steamed Buns is may also be a reference to a scene from the film where Chan's character attempts to steal food from a restaurant. Likewise, Athena's final design in the game is likely inspired by the lead female character from Story of the Drunken Master. Both characters were students of the Begger So in the films.
In a prototype version of the game, the Underground theme was originally meant to be an updated version of the Underground theme from Super Mario Bros. with added kick percussion, but this was scrapped in the final release. A similar-sounding Underground theme to that of Super Mario Bros. 2's prototype would end up being used in Super Mario Bros. 3.
Cammy's character, fighting style, and animations are believed by some fans to be heavily inspired by Gally, the protagonist of the 1990 manga Battle Angel Alita.
In Chapter 2, during the cutscene just before Kumatora joins the party as a permanent member, she fires PK Freeze α at Duster and Wess when they walk into the stairwell she was in, not immediately recognizing who they were. PK Freeze α costs 5 PP to use. After the cutscene ends, if you check Kumatora's status, she will have 68 PP out of 73 PP remaining.
This detail could imply one of two things: •She had her Magic Pendant equipped increasing her Maximum PP by 5 but not increasing the Total PP she already had and that the cutscene's use of PK Freeze α did nothing. OR •She did start with 73 PP without the Magic Pendant being equipped and her use of PK Freeze α during the cutscene actually did drain her Total PP by 5.
Regardless of which option was intended, both still imply that for whatever reason, the developers had the foresight to have Kumatora join the party without having a full PP meter.
In the only instance of a character having a move exclusive to VS Mode, when Yoshi is wearing Wario's Cap, he can perform an additional move called the "Swing and Fling" by picking up a stunned Yoshi, spinning around in a circle and throwing him. This move is only mentioned in the game's manual. Wario's animations when using this move share similarities to the "Wild Swing-Ding" move featured in Wario World, although the Swing and Fling does not take over spinning automatically.
After defeating the final boss Zeon, when Mitula disappears with the jewels of Light & Evil, her theme song "Water Goddess Mitula" fades out, then plays "Panic" when the Ancient Tower is being sealed in the International release of the game. But in the Japanese version, the "Water Goddess Mitula" theme plays out until Bowie and the others escape the Ancient Tower. The International version likely adjusted the timing of those songs to fit the situation of the cutscene.
In a 1995 interview with the game's director Yasumi Matsuno, found within the Dengeki SFC magazine, he clarified that the game was a part of the Ogre Battle series, but it was not a direct sequel to Ogre Battle: The March of The Black Queen. The games' world and environments are shared, but the gameplay systems are completely dissimilar. When asked why the gameplay system was changed, he responded:
"First off, after we finished the Ogre Battle development, we determined that doing another 3D real-time simulation game for the Super Famicom was going to be difficult. There is a special chip now for the SFC that offers more possibilities, but it’s also very expensive to use [this could be referring to the Super FX chip]. Therefore, we abandoned the idea of doing another, powered-up version of Ogre Battle, and instead decided to develop a brand new system."
"Another reason was that we actually started the planning for Tactics Ogre three months before the release of Ogre Battle. To decide on a direct sequel then would have been pointless if Ogre Battle didn’t sell well, and we didn’t have any confidence that it would. Ultimately it was very popular, so we carried over just the world and setting."
"Also, in Ogre Battle the units moved in real-time, which meant you couldn’t take your time and plan out a strategy. For us, this was a big point we wanted to improve on. From the beginning of the Tactics Ogre development, therefore, we never saw real-time as an option."
Bass and Tina's father-daughter relationship shares similarities to that of the one between former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and his daughter Brooke Hogan. Hulk Hogan was known to be very protective of his daughter in spite of her efforts to be more independent, which is often portrayed in their stage personas and public appearances. Also like Tina, Brooke has pursued careers outside of pro-wrestling; including modeling, acting, and music.
The in-game description for the Ability "Levitate" used since Generation IV states that it makes the Pokemon that knows it completely immune to all Ground-type attacks. However, this is false, because in all games since the Ability's introduction in Generation III, a Pokemon that has Levitate can still get hit and affected by non-damaging Ground-type attacks, such as Sand Attack. This means that the Ability only makes its Pokemon immune to damaging Ground-type attacks, such as Earthquake and Earth Power among others, and not ones that do not affect the Pokemon's HP.
Most likely because this game was released as a launch title for the Xbox, it was released in an incomplete state in the North American market in November 2001. As such, the European and Japanese versions of the game, which released a few months later, feature a new opening cutscene as well as extra content and gameplay updates such as new costumes and attacks for certain characters. Between June and September 2002, the Official Xbox Magazine distributed a "Booster Disk" for Dead or Alive 3, which included the new opening cutscene and all of the extra costumes released in the European and Japanese versions of the game. It did not, however, contain the new attacks or gameplay balancing that the other versions brought. This update would later be released as unlockable sync-able content under the name "DOA3 Booster Disc" in Dead or Alive Ultimate upon unlocking every costume in the game.
The code of an early version of Dead or Alive 2 lists Genra and Raidou as being part of the roster, suggesting that they were going to be in the game early on in its development.
A game tentatively titled "Bomberman" was originally planned for release on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. From what little footage and screenshots exist of the game, it appeared to have similar gameplay to Bomberman 64, while also being one of the only games in the series to have Bomberman use a health bar instead of health stock. The game would have centered around Bomberman as he tries to save Central City from a robotics corporation, while possibly getting turned into a robot himself as implied by the game's tentative box art. It would have also had a Battle Mode similar to previous entries in the series that was rumored to be compatible with future Bomberman games for the 3DS should those have been made.
The game was announced in an overview trailer released in February of 2011 showcasing games for the 3DS that would release later that year, but was cancelled the following month due to the closure and acquisition of Hudson Soft by Konami.
One of the two villains in World of Light, Galeem, may be based on the Seraphim, one of the rank angels in Judeo-Christian religions. Both Galeem and Seraphim have four pairs of wings and a halo, and both devour darkness with light, turning everyone (excluding the game's fighters) into spirits.
During the scene where Ethan sees Spoiler:Eveline from Resident Evil VII: Biohazard in a desolate, snowy part of the village there is a partially modelled version of the interior of Ethan's house far below the geometry of the area, suggesting that it was originally going to be part of the scene, but ended up being used differently in the final game.
The model for Epona can be found outside the boundary for an arena in Faron Woods Spoiler:that gets extremely infected by Twilight later on, suggesting that the developers were thinking of allowing the player to call and use her in that area before dropping the idea.
The name "The Staff of Dreams" may be a play on the idiom "the stuff of dreams," which refers to someone experiencing a moment in life that one can only aspire happening.
Shortly after the game's release, players discovered a glitch where when a tall hockey player comes into contact with a shorter one, the shorter one will be sent flying into the stadium. Dubbed the "Hercules Check" by fans, EA later replicated it in real life with a YouTube video shortly after it was discovered.
An EA representative explained in the video that the game, as well as the "glitch" itself, was made to bring "authenticity" and "real-time physics" to the game, suggesting that the "glitch" may have been intentional.
In the game's opening cutscene after Dr. Yoshiyama digitizes himself, several blocks of what seems to be gibberish appear on-screen before the computer corrupts. This gibberish is actually a secret message written in Japanese romaji and then coded through a cipher where all vowels are omitted from the text, except for when a word starts with a vowel. Decoding the message reveals what seems to be the last conversation Yoshiyama had with the C-Life woman featured in the cutscene, the mother of Pulseman, suggesting that he gave up his human life ("Do you realize what you've done? You'll never be human again now.") out of love for his creation and resulting in the conception of Pulseman. A cosmetic detail hinting at the nature of the undeciphered message being a conversation are differences in the speed at which each text box appears typed out on-screen (i.e. a slight slowdown during "I'm just a heartless program"). However, not only does this affair reveal the origin of the game's hero, it also has implications about the origin of the game's villain.
In the Rank 3 fight with Sonic Juice, the RPG Travis talks about hating is most likely Final Fantasy VII.
In the only instance of a character having a move exclusive to VS Mode, when Yoshi is wearing Wario's Cap, he can perform an additional move called the "Swing and Fling" by picking up a stunned Yoshi, spinning around in a circle and throwing him. This move is only mentioned in the game's manual. Wario's animations when using this move share similarities to the "Wild Swing-Ding" move featured in Wario World, although the Swing and Fling does not take over spinning automatically.
Bass and Tina's father-daughter relationship shares similarities to that of the one between former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and his daughter Brooke Hogan. Hulk Hogan was known to be very protective of his daughter in spite of her efforts to be more independent, which is often portrayed in their stage personas and public appearances. Also like Tina, Brooke has pursued careers outside of pro-wrestling; including modeling, acting, and music.
The code of an early version of Dead or Alive 2 lists Genra and Raidou as being part of the roster, suggesting that they were going to be in the game early on in its development.
A game tentatively titled "Bomberman" was originally planned for release on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. From what little footage and screenshots exist of the game, it appeared to have similar gameplay to Bomberman 64, while also being one of the only games in the series to have Bomberman use a health bar instead of health stock. The game would have centered around Bomberman as he tries to save Central City from a robotics corporation, while possibly getting turned into a robot himself as implied by the game's tentative box art. It would have also had a Battle Mode similar to previous entries in the series that was rumored to be compatible with future Bomberman games for the 3DS should those have been made.
One of the two villains in World of Light, Galeem, may be based on the Seraphim, one of the rank angels in Judeo-Christian religions. Both Galeem and Seraphim have four pairs of wings and a halo, and both devour darkness with light, turning everyone (excluding the game's fighters) into spirits.
Rachel from Ninja Gaiden makes a cameo appearance in Christie's ending.
