Got my DK2 kit today! It "fixes" the Ladder Cheat?!

mhanlen1

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Got my DK2 kit today! It "fixes" the Ladder Cheat?!

So yeah I'm giddy like a school girl, when I finally got my DK2 kit today. I have a cocktail that I had to modify and add a socketed Z80- which I did about 8 months ago in preparation for this day. When I got it, I had it installed 15 minutes after I opened the box.

Now my 4 board set is the original ROM set that allows the ladder cheat. It says "1981 Nintendo" on the title screen. Now after I install the kit, it now says "1981 Nintendo of America" on the screen, and doesn't allow the ladder trick. It's probably a good thing though because I used the cheat as a crutch anyway, and without it I should get better. I had never realized that it "fixed" this, so just thought I'd share it. I did a little google searching and couldn't find any info about this, but I'm sure it's somewhere on the net already. If you already knew this, then well, good for you.

Anyway here's the kit!


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So who else loves their DK2/High Score kit? I still have yet to play DKII, as I've been busy filling Donkey Kong with High Scores.
 
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It doesn't exactly fix it, it replaces whatever ROM data for DK that is on the board with its own ROM data for DK. So, your old code is still there, just not being accessed. Which, really, could be a bad thing. What if you wanted the old ROM data?
 
I love my D2K Kit. Although, you could just not use the ladder trick (cheat) and just play the game as it was meant to be played.

It's like guys who say they don't like a game because they can continue however many times they want. Well, couldn't you just not continue and start over or give yourself a continue limit? Or guys who say a game is boring, but they use cheat codes that take away from the challenge of the game. The decision is really in the gamer's hands.
 
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I love my D2K Kit. Although, you could just not use the ladder trick and just play the game as it was meant to be played. It's more of a modification more than a "fix."

It's like guys who say they don't like a game because they can continue however many times they want. Well, couldn't you just not continue and start over or give yourself a continue limit? The decision is really in the gamer's hands.

No, I'm ok with it. But meant? The Japanese version and the original ROM allowed the trick. I read a memo on the net, that someone scanned, that told operators to replace the ROMs because it allowed some players to play too long on a credit. It seems like it was more a financial decision by NOA than anything.
 
That's cool you have an original Japanese boardset though. I would love to keep it that way. The levels go in a different order too right?
 
I meant to say... that the Japanese and the American version (before the ROM was updated) both allow the ladder cheat. I have the American version, but it originally had the ladder cheat. Let me see if I can find that Memo.

Oh and yes, in the Japanese version, the levels are in order. If you can find a copy of Donkey Kong 64 on the N64 you can unlock the Japanese version that has the levels in their original order. Just FYI.
 
I meant to say... that the Japanese and the American version (before the ROM was updated) both allow the ladder cheat. I have the American version, but it originally had the ladder cheat. Let me see if I can find that Memo.

Oh and yes, in the Japanese version, the levels are in order. If you can find a copy of Donkey Kong 64 on the N64 you can unlock the Japanese version that has the levels in their original order. Just FYI.

Man, thanks for clarifying. It's been a long work week. I'm just not computing well today. Thanks for sharing. The D2K kit is definitely a must have for DK lovers. D2K is ridiculously hard though.
 
I bought mine from a guy who was selling off most of his stuff. I got it cheap!!! I just finally installed it last weekend. I like the high save feature for both games, but man d2k is a pain in the arse to play but fun nonetheless. - Barry
 
Man, thanks for clarifying. It's been a long work week. I'm just not computing well today. Thanks for sharing. The D2K kit is definitely a must have for DK lovers. D2K is ridiculously hard though.

No worries, I completely understand. I was unable to locate that document again. It was a technical bulletin, and it was a one page document. It may have been on arcadedocs.com which is currently down.

Wow

I bought the DKII but I am yet to install it, as the DK Board is not currently working

But Thanks for sharing this info

:)

No problem. It probably doesn't affect 99% of people, who've bought it, but I thought it was interesting enough to share, since I haven't seen it discussed before.

I bought mine from a guy who was selling off most of his stuff. I got it cheap!!! I just finally installed it last weekend. I like the high save feature for both games, but man d2k is a pain in the arse to play but fun nonetheless. - Barry

I just got done playing my first game on it and was able to only rack up a score of 10500. It's definitely designed for more advanced DK players.
 
I remember when I started playing donkey kong when it first came out, and the DK machine I played on was an original cab and it had the ladder "cheat" for sure. Later on, they fixed it and I remember having to completely change my style of play because of it.. after all, it was not really a "cheat", it was how the game originally played.

I can't remember another arcade game in the early 80's that had such a specific part of the original gameplay modified like that.. And as a kid I just remember thinking "wtf?" when they changed it!! :)
 
Well I have Donkey Kong on my multi and a dedicated, and it did take a while getting used to the multi, because it uses the updated ROMs too. So now I have to stick it out and play without it.
 
I remember when I got D2K. It was just mind numbingly difficult and irritated the crap out of me. After spending about 3 hours with it I realized just how easy it is. I'm not one of those guys that sticks their chests out but honestly that game is super easy until you get several repeated levels in. I've run through all the levels 3.5 times on one game. Amazingly enough the only level that smokes me every time is the stupid girder level - I dont want to ruin it for anyone that hasn't advanced that far but lets say it's a real genuine white knuckler.
 
Don't worry mhanlen, the D2K kit won't modify your original ROM's...it'd take a UV eraser and ROM burner to do that :D I imagine he has the whole DK code on his D2K kit, since he did make some modifications to it (freeplay, and allowing the dips to be set via bootup menu). On the positive side, I bet you could use a DK board with bad or missing ROM's (note: I haven't tested this, so I don't know if it'd work or not). As far as using the ladder cheat, I'd say just get used to playing without it :) Wouldn't surprise me if 95% or more of the machines out there didn't have it (I can only remember playing 1 BITD, in a red cab). Did you have to move the audio board on yours? I have a cocktail too, and the audio board was covering the Z80 slot (mine had a socket though) and isn't an early run, so it had the "Nintendo of America" one without the ladder cheat. Have you thought about getting the D2K artwork? I've been thinking about it, but haven't decided yet. I don't want to do anything to my cab that's permanent.
 
I bought my DK to be able to play D2K so that should tell you something...

I like it a lot, when I finally got past the first level I about had a breakdown..lol..I like that it's harder than DK, keeps me coming back for more :)
 
Don't worry mhanlen, the D2K kit won't modify your original ROM's...it'd take a UV eraser and ROM burner to do that :D I imagine he has the whole DK code on his D2K kit, since he did make some modifications to it (freeplay, and allowing the dips to be set via bootup menu). On the positive side, I bet you could use a DK board with bad or missing ROM's (note: I haven't tested this, so I don't know if it'd work or not). As far as using the ladder cheat, I'd say just get used to playing without it :) Wouldn't surprise me if 95% or more of the machines out there didn't have it (I can only remember playing 1 BITD, in a red cab). Did you have to move the audio board on yours? I have a cocktail too, and the audio board was covering the Z80 slot (mine had a socket though) and isn't an early run, so it had the "Nintendo of America" one without the ladder cheat. Have you thought about getting the D2K artwork? I've been thinking about it, but haven't decided yet. I don't want to do anything to my cab that's permanent.

-yeah thinking about it, it didn't make sense that it would change anything. It isn't like a modern computer where you can just update the firmware.

-Yeah the Audio board was on the bottom, so I moved it several months ago, just getting ready for it. I thought about getting just the high score kit, and buying the update later, but with shipping the the price structure it would have been another $20. Since I got Asteroids I needed HS kit too, so I decided to bite the bullet and stick it all on a credit card.

- I haven't looked at the artwork yet. I don't want to change anything around really, but if they made a spare instruction card to fill that empty space on the right I may consider it down the road.

Here is the memo that Nintendo sent out.

Thanks. I'm going to save that now, because I don't want to go looking for it again. Last night just wasn't my night for Googling.
 
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