Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Chameleon Twist.

To do: There's more level differences in the Japanese version such as the behavior of the waterfall in jungle land and the candle rooms in ghost castle

Apparently, Japan kept all the good stuff for themselves. The international releases seem positively unfinished in comparison!

General Differences#

• In the international releases, the Sunsoft logo appears before the Japan System Supply Logo. It's absent in the Japanese release.
• Battle Mode cannot be entered with one player in the international releases. In Japan, however, one player can enter to play against CPU players.
  • Despite this, the "COM PLAYER NUM" option from the JP version is still present in US version 1.1. By pressing Left or Right while hovering over the "EXIT" button in battle mode's options, extra CPUs can be added.
• Throughout the levels, powerups are placed in areas where they may be useful. In the international releases, these powerups are only present in Battle Mode. The powerups are:
  • A black, pentagonal shape that causes the chameleons' heads to grow, enlarging the enemies they spit out as ammo.
  • A red ball surrounded by three triangular shapes. This makes the chameleons shrink down. This is mainly used to get into small spaces.
  • A stopwatch, similar to the one the White Rabbit uses. This freezes all enemies in the room for a small amount of time. This powerup is nowhere in the international releases.

• There are now five Carrots to collect. These will allow the chameleons into mini-games and secret areas. This feature was also brought back for the sequel.
• The boss of Bomb Land drops bombs much faster.
• The White Rabbit greets the player before meeting every boss and gives them small hints on how to defeat them. This was brought back in Chameleon Twist 2.

Memory Pak Warning#

In the US 1.0 and EU versions, if you start the game with a Memory Pak inserted, you'll receive a warning message. This message does not appear in the Japanese and US 1.1 versions.

Level Layout#

Some levels have had drastic modifications to their layout.

Ant Land#

International	Japan

In the fourth room you can go into, there is a ring of crowns surrounding a single orange Heart in the international releases. This was replaced with an area full of rising platforms, wooden poles, and marching Ants in the Japanese release.

International	Japan

In the large room filled with worms, the international releases got... a large room filled with worms. Meanwhile, Japan got two seesaw-like platforms and two crowns. It also has a slightly different floor texture. The worms' mud mounds that signal where they will pop up were also removed in Japan.

International	Japan

The fight against the Ant Queen now features a health display. Also, the Japanese release moved the ceiling higher up, for whatever reason.

Desert Castle#

International	Japan

The first spike platforms the player encounters are made up of two straight platforms in the international releases. Japan made a decidedly less straight path for their spikes.

Like the Ant Land boss, the Desert Castle boss has also been given a health display.

Kids Land#

International	Japan

In the fourth room, there are three platforms and a crown in the international releases. In Japan, there is a swarm of ice cream sandwiches, a glass box with a crown in it, and five platforms. After all of the ice cream sandwiches are destroyed, a shrinking powerup appears on the fifth platform. The player can now go into the box to get the crown. If the player is still in the box when the powerup wears off, the box shatters.

International	Japan

The fifth room has also been modified: In the international releases, there is a large stack of crackers leading up to a tall wall with a wafer creature waiting to be hit. In Japan, the wall is much shorter and the crackers have been replaced with a pit. In the third room with wafer monsters, the exact same modifications have been made.

The most significant difference, however, is the addition of a bowling minigame. In the area with three platforms encircling a wooden pole, the White Rabbit is standing by a door. If you have a certain number of carrots, he will let you pass through to play the game. This area is like the bowling game in Chameleon Twist 2, but you can't position the ball, making it significantly harder. If you get enough points, a crown will appear in the room. The pins will also take on the appearance of the player's chameleon, just as it does in Chameleon Twist 2.

Ghost Castle#

International	Japan

The entrance to the Pool mini-game has been moved. In the international releases, it was set right near the level's entrance. In Japan, it was set in one of the early rooms, with the White Rabbit standing right outside.

....? (Boss Rush Stage)#

In the international releases, there is no difference between the bosses' fights in their stages and in this stage. However, Japan made the Boss Rush battles much more challenging than in their stages. All of the bosses have been made faster, stronger, and mind-bendingly harder to beat.

White and Black#

After beating the game once, a white chameleon is unlocked. This chameleon is aptly named White. White has no abilities or quirks that set him apart from the other chameleons. He's just... white.

There is also a black chameleon to unlock. This chameleon is named, of course, Black. Unlocking him is not as easily done as White.

In Bomb Land, there is a barred doorway, guarded by the White Rabbit. To get past the bars, the player must collect all five carrots from the game. Through the door is a small arena, with Black standing in the middle. The player must defeat Black to get a crown. After his defeat, he is unlocked for Battle Mode, but not Story Mode. Black cannot be unlocked as playable for Story Mode, perhaps to keep from having Black face off against himself, though he can easily be hacked into Story Mode.

Both White and Black chameleons don't exist in the US 1.0 and EU versions, while White chameleon exists in the US 1.1 version but unused, however it can be enabled by hacking or transferring save file from JP version to US 1.1 due to both versions compatible same save different than US 1.0 / EU one.

Ending#

In the Japanese version, when the last boss dies the player's chameleon escapes through a narrow hallway before showing the credits. In the international versions, the screen fades out to the credits directly.

Watch on YouTube

Perfect Code#

To do: Find out what this code does. Was the Perfect Code removed in US v1.1 release?

After beating the game once, a new challenge appears: After starting a new game with White, a star is put in the corner of the screen. If the player gets hurt even once during the course of the entire game, the star goes away. However, if the player is not hurt once throughout the entire game, the game will show a special "Perfect Code" after the credits roll and on the title screen.

At this time, it is unknown what the code does, if anything.