In this edition I’m examining Strikers 1945 (Saturn and PlayStation) and Sengoku Blade (Saturn), which are both shooting games from Psikyo.
In wrote previously about patches for the Saturn versions of these games that give access to a special “Test mode” menu. But some more reverse engineering has revealed that this menu can be accessed without hacking — both games have previously unreported cheat codes.
Details are below…
Strikers 1945
Like Gunbird, another Psikyo shooter, this game records whether you’re holding Start at bootup. If you are, it allows you to enter cheat codes on the Atlus and Psikyo screens.
After doing that, enter this sequence:
C (x6), B (x1), C (x8), B (x1), C (x1), B (x3), C (x8), B (x1)
The Test Mode screen will pop right up:
There’s a second cheat code that can be entered on the Atlus screen (after having held Start at boot time):
C (x1), B (x1), C (x9), B (x1), C (x4), B (x1), C (x5), B (x1)
This enables Skip mode. Hold L+R during gameplay to immediately complete the current stage. You can sail straight through to the end by continually skipping:
The Skip cheat also allows you to activate NoDeath mode. When choosing a plane, hold L+Start to make yourself invincible:
Sengoku Blade
The test menu code from Strikers 1945 works on this game, too. Hold Start while the game boots up. Let go of it when the Atlus screen appears. Then enter this sequence:
C (x6), B (x1), C (x8), B (x1), C (x1), B (x3), C (x8), B (x1)
You’ll be taken to the Test Mode screen:
You can also enter this code at the Atlus logo screen (after having held Start) to enable Skip mode:
C (x1), B (x1), C (x9), B (x1), C (x9), B (x1), C (x6), B (x1)
During gameplay, press L+R+Start to complete the current stage. You can skip all the way through to the ending sequences:
You can also enable NoDeath mode after entering the code above. On the game start screen, press L+Start to bring up the Quick Select sub-screen. Then hold L+R+Start when choosing you character:
Technical details
Like Gunbird, Strikers 1945 and Sengoku Blade check to see whether you’re holding the Start button before the Atlus logo video starts to play. This is recorded in a 2 byte flag field.
While logo videos are playing, the game checks to see whether the “held start” flag is set. If it is, it keeps track of how many times the C (or Circle) button has been pressed. This count is checked against a list of cheat code sequences when the B (or X) button is pressed. Here’s one of the lists for Strikers 1945:
0604be78 0006 # Press C 6 times, then B
0604be7a 0008 # Press C 8 times, then B
0604be7c 0001 # Press C 1 times, then B
0604be7e 0000 # Press C 0 times, then B
0604be80 0000 # Press C 0 times, then B
0604be82 0008 # Press C 8 times, then B
The games actually assign several cheat sequences to the “launch test menu” effect; this is just one of them.
Outro
For more on Psikyo shooters, see my earlier article on Gunbird. And for many more articles about Saturn game hacking, see my archive here at SHIRO!. If that’s not enough, my Rings of Saturn blog has additional retro game reverse engineering articles every week.
Which games should I be looking at for hidden secrets? Give me your suggestions!
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