The hidden “heart” stage in Arkanoid

HFK

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I have played through Arkanoid many times but it turns out there is actually another stage not seen before. Found this posted over on AtariAge and found it really interesting.

http://willnicholes.com/arkanoid.htm

I don't know if this is common knowledge and I somehow missed it but the way it was found is pretty cool.
 
I've never heard of this before... pretty interesting stuff. That heart level looks like it was intended to be a regular screen.

Kyle :cool:
 
Damn. I mean, I know you can continue and warp in Arkanoid, but that is a tough game. I can't even fathom round 161.
 
Damn. I mean, I know you can continue and warp in Arkanoid, but that is a tough game. I can't even fathom round 161.

Yes, it is. I haven't played mine in a long time. It's stored in the garage with the rest of them while I finish building the gameroom. IIRC, you can't continue when you get to DOH, so if you don't get him on the first shot, that's the end of the game. Kind of sucks because it can take a good while to get there.
 
Yep, there are no continues when you get to DOH, one shot deal.

This is obviously a fully programmed level for the game, wonder why it got hidden. Also wonder why it took this many years to find. I still think somebody should look at making a free-play rom for this game, while they are at it, maybe add the extra stage too. :)

I really would love to know the story on this, why was it there, why wasn't it there?
 
Dammit, saw the grasshopper bit, went "hey wait what? Let's see if that shows up on the multipede...hrm, nope, maybe i should take another shot at getting on the milli table" and it's an hour later. Neat piece about the Arkanow hidden level, weird that it's been this long and it's only just being found.
 
If you use MAME, at least older versions, if you hit F4, you can see the character map. The grasshopper is in there in Centipede. Another one with stuff not used is Jr Pac-Man. There's a skateboard, baby rattle (or maybe it's a lollipop), baby bottle, pacifier, pogo stick, hat, and a different drum than what's used in the game, and also a different cat than what's used in the game. Also a small graphic that says "blank". I can't think of where it's used, but Super Pac-Man has a small graphic of the 6 star space stations used on Bosconian. Another one is DK. There's a graphic that looks like the pie's from the conveyor belt spilling. Jeff K. used that graphic when he did D2K, as well as an <ITC> graphic that I have no idea what would be for, on the menu selection screen. DK JR also has this <ITC> graphic, as well as an oil tank and a pie. I can't recall either of those being used.
 
The ITC logo is also in Congo Bongo and Zaxxon. It stands for Ikegami Tsushinki Co. and they did development for DK, Congo Bongo, Zaxxon, Radar Scope, Space Fever and other games.

Supposedly Congo Bongo and Nintendo's choice to have DK reverse engineered to make DK Jr. came about due to a dispute over unpaid royalties for ITC's work on DK.

I recall opening the Japanese DK ROMs years ago and there was a blurb in them from Ikegami saying that "IF YOU ANALYZE DIFFICULT THIS PROGRAM" that they'd teach you, and included a phone number. Maybe it was a trap ;)
 
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I wonder if ITC had anything to do with Crazy Kong. The code is so similar, it's like beta DK code. I see part of the ITC logo in the CK graphic set, but only the left half (I and part of a T) I always figured it was leaked code that wasn't finished yet, hence the use of Crazy Climber sound hardware, and all the bugs in the game (some of which appear on the early Japanese DK set in MAME)
 
Cool hidden level though after failing DOH after 3 tries I sold my dedicated arkanoid and never looked back. used to love that game till then. lol
 
How about the naked chicks in SARGE? I saw those in MAME but I don't think they were ever put in the game.

According to Brian Colin it was going to be an option enabled via Dip Switch but they "chickened out" when it was time to release the game.

His personal SARGE machine at home still has this enabled.
 
I still think somebody should look at making a free-play rom for this game, while they are at it, maybe add the extra stage too. :)

Matt Osborn did the freeplay for Revenge of Doh and was considering doing an enhancement kit for Arkanoid with the following features:

* score save
* level select
* cocktail mode
* freeplay
* a new set of levels (with the ability to inject your own designs, if you have an EPROM burner)
* possibly a pause feature....

I think he started work on it a few years ago but I'm not sure if he is planning on finishing it or not.
 
Very interesting. But that is a lot of dedication to keep going for 161 rounds...


;
 
Enabling the cheat to pass each level, doing 161 wouldn't take much time...just have to wait for the intro music on each level, then shoot right out the side as soon as the level starts. It's not like you can get there on a regular machine.
 
Matt Osborn did the freeplay for Revenge of Doh and was considering doing an enhancement kit for Arkanoid with the following features:

* score save
* level select
* cocktail mode
* freeplay
* a new set of levels (with the ability to inject your own designs, if you have an EPROM burner)
* possibly a pause feature....

I think he started work on it a few years ago but I'm not sure if he is planning on finishing it or not.

I made him boards to do the MCU elimination... haven't talked to him about it in a long time though.
 
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