Higemaru Makaijima: Nanatsu no Shima Daibouken (NES)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Higemaru Makaijima: Nanatsu no Shima Daibouken (NES).

Makai Island was the planned American version of Higemaru Makaijima.

Graphical Differences#

Title Screen#

Japan	US Proto

Very much overhauled, including the copyright info and font colors. Since the title screen color palette is shared with various screens throughout the game, such as the password and inventory screens, these end up being palette swapped as well.

The small animations were also edited:

In Higemaru Makaijima, Momotaro walks onscreen with a boulder, tosses it at the wooden board containing the game's title, then walks offscreen. As the board is hit, a small anchor also used as the menu cursor falls onto the title.
In Makai Island, Momotaro instead flings the boulder at two unsuspecting Higemaru pirates, killing them both, before walking offscreen.

Interestingly, the MSX2 version of Higemaru Makaijima uses the latter animation for its title screen.

Enemies#

Japan	US Proto

Bush and Bongo, two enemies on Cuck Island(ǃ) who were originally depicted as blackface stereotypes, were redesigned for Makai Island, though it's rather dubious as to how much of an improvement Bongo's redesign is. The two other Cuck Island enemies, Yhary and Moribito, were left intact.

Strangely, Bongo's new design is actually more accurate to their appearance on the game's Japanese box art.

Dialogue Presentation#

Japan	US Proto

Higemaru Makaijima displays NPC dialogue in a vertically oriented textbox, something rather uncommon in Japanese language video games, on the left side of the screen. In order to accommodate a horizontal latin script, Makai Island instead opts to write its NPC dialogue on a separate black screen, similar to the dialogue seen when obtaining a key and entering an island.

"Tu te to na ni" is obviously some sort of complex secret code.

Speaking of dialogue, while Makai Island erased most of the original Japanese font, some hiragana was left intact, though now obviously unused.

Text Differences#

Hidden Messages#

The short message at the end of the ROM is still present here, though the date has been altered:

Japan	US Proto
`BY MASAMITSU.KOBAYASI 87/3/2`	`BY MASAMITSU.KOBAYASI 87/3/17`

There is also a more detailed copyright message at the end of the next-to-last bank:

MSX ....... 1985 , FC COMMANDO 1986FC MAKAI ISLAND 1987 M.KOBAYASI S.40.3.24 BORN,THANK YOU !! NEXT GAME IS   SIDE ARMS !!

The MSX game mentioned is Mr. Do's Wild Ride, which also has a short copyright string. More messages from this programmer are present in Commando.

Another message is present among the game's dialogue, and can be seen below.

Dialogue#

While all the Japanese text was translated to English, the Engrish text already present in Higemaru Makaijima seems to have been left untouched. This leads to some inconsistencies with the in-game dialogue, which translates some of the romanized Japanese island names (such as Hebi Island being referred to as "Snake Island" by an NPC) and uses different romanizations (such as "Bousu" and "Bous").

To do:

Dump JP version dialogues.
Are the linebreaks accurate?

Japan	Translated	US Proto
Example	Example	YOU SHOULD OPEN THE "EYE" TO GET BIADO'S TREASURE.
Example	Example	I'VE HEARD THERE IS AN OLD BOOK ON DEATH ISLAND.
Example	Example	GO AHEAD. GO TO DEATH ISLAND.
Example	Example	IT'S A FAKE. THE REAL THING IS ON SNAKE ISLAND.
Example	Example	LOOK FOR CAPTAIN BIADO'S GRAVE.
Example	Example	WATCH YOUR STEP! THERE'S A LAKE.
Example	Example	THAT IS AN ISLAND OF DEATH. YOU WON'T COME BACK ALIVE.
Example	Example	THE LORD BOUS HAS BIADO'S TEARS.
Example	Example	YOU WILL FIND A CLUE TO BIADO'S GRAVE ON KNIFE ISLAND
Example	Example	LOOK TO THE MAP WHEN THE GROUND SHAKES.
Example	Example	MARU IS A SHIP. ARE YOU GOING TO FIGHT WITH THE DEVIL? HOW HORRIBLE?
Example	Example	DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GRAVE? ASK MONOLIS.
Example	Example	COLLECT THREE STONE PLATES TO FIND BIADO'S TREASURE.
Example	Example	WHEN THE CANDLES ARE LIT, THE SEAL WILL BE BROKEN.
Example	Example	THE GOLDEN LAMP LIGHTS THE CANDLES.
Example	Example	SORRY, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING.
Example	Example	GOBLINS THAT ESCAPED FROM "GHOSTS'N GOBLINS" ARE SEALED HERE. STAY AWAY FROM IT!
Example	Example	DO YOU HAVE ALL THREE STONE PLATES?
Example	Example	YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, COURAGEOUS YOUNG MAN! BUT THE DOOR IS NOT YET OPEN. YOU NEED MY TEARS TO OPEN IT.
Example	Example	WELL DONE! YOU'VE FINALLY GOT THE CRYSTAL. THIS BELONGED TO LORD BOUS, OUR DESCENDANT, WHO WAS POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL. COME INSIDE! THE TREASURE IS YOURS!
Example	Example	IT'S TOO SOON TO RELAX,KID. YOU'RE GOING TO SEE HELL NOW. OUR BOSS IS WAITING FOR YOU.
Example	Example	WHAT DAY IS IT MAR.24TH? IT'S THIS GAME PROGRAMERS BIRTHDAY♥️
Example	Example	CONGRATULATIONS,YOUNG MAN! THANKS TO YOU, PEOPLE WILL LIVE IN PEACE. A LEGEND IS BORN.
Example	Example	IF YOU STILL HAVE THE COURAGE, I WANT YOU TO FIND THE REST OF GEMS.

It's not known whether the third-to-last message can be seen in-game or not. A similar message can be found in the US version of Commando.

Misc.#

Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.

Most of the code for the debug leftovers is still present, but it can't be accessed via a button code.

v · t · e The Higemaru series
Arcade	Pirate Ship Higemaru
NES	Higemaru Makaijima: Nanatsu no Shima Daibouken (US Prototype)