Bonanza Bros. (Genesis)

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Bonanza Bros. is a game where two brothers rob a bunch of houses work as testers for a security system by going into a bunch of houses. It's actually very enjoyable.

Level Select#

Game Genie code AY8A-AAE2 AY8A-AADL will add a level select to the bottom of the options menu by highlighting Exit and pressing Down.

Regional Differences#

The game received two different revisions with slightly different storylines.

Revision A was a multi-language version that was released in Japan, but also had a limited European release. This revision is very similar to the Arcade version on the Sega System 24, in that it shows a short scene where the Bros pass by a brick wall with the sign "Wanted Dead or Alive: Bonanza Bros" establishing them as famous thieves. It shares the same original plot where their talents are enlisted by a shadowy figure to infiltrate Bad Town, a hive of scum and villainy, to break into corrupt banks, shady casinos, and counterfeit money mills to seize evidence and protect the greater good of the citizens. When played on non-Japanese consoles, this sequence plays uncut with a mostly accurate English translation, aside from the omission of "thieving bankers" from the English text reused from the Arcade version, although this might be because of screen limitations. Some in game text such as level names will also change depending on the language.

Revision B was made specifically for the US market, but was also distributed in other territories. This version will play in English no matter the console region, although the unused assets for the Japanese version are still in the ROM. The scene with the wanted poster is skipped, and the storyline was slightly altered to give the game a new less morally grey context that American capitalists are much more comfortable with. There's no grand subversive upheaval of society; the millionaires consent to the robbery, which is now a coordinated test of the building's security system, still at the expense of the guards and dogs beaten up by the Brothers, and at the expense of the Brothers sent to jail if they get a game over just like in the original.

Revision B adds a "TM" symbol to the Sega logo under the title screen logo, unlike in Revision A although the Sega logo is still off-center in that revision. This is unaffected by the language or console region. This logo is not to be confused with another Sega logo that appears in the startup sequence before the title screen. This logo changes slightly to include a "TM" symbol if the console region is US/Europe, and omit it if the console region is Japan, no matter the game revision.

The original Rev A storyline was used in the other Japanese ports (PC Engine CD, Sharp X68000) and the European Master System version (which also omitted the bankers mention). More recent appearances of the Brothers, like their profile in all versions of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, use the original backstory.

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References#