Columns III: Revenge of Columns

Columns III takes the usual Columns gameplay and mixes it up a bit, exchanging the single-player, single-playfield mode for a series of battles against some rather goofy CPU opponents.

Unused Graphics#

Tiles for an unused copyright message. They are loaded after the title screen fades out on all versions of the game.

Regional Differences#

Title Screen#

Japan	US

The "Press Start Button" message is different in the Japanese version. Not only does it have a circle before and after the text, but it also uses the same font as the original Columns. The US version uses a different font. The original Japanese font is still in the game, albeit unused.

Removed 2 vs. 2 Mode#

Watch on YouTube

A 2 vs. 2 mode that was present in the Japanese version was removed from the US release. In this mode, players 1 and 2 have normal playfields, while players 3 and 4 play a game of janken (rock-paper-scissors) to win a "prize" which affects one of the other two players. If player 3 wins, the effect goes to player 1 and if player 4 wins, the effect goes to player 2.

The prize is displayed in the middle of the screen (see below for the list of prizes) with the text "次の賞品" (meaning "Next Prize") flashing on top of it. Both players 3 and 4 need to press Start in order to start a round of janken, then they can press A for rock, B for scissors or C for paper. If a player wins, both players can choose to either attack or defend. Player 3 attacks by pressing Right and defends by pressing Left while for Player 4 the reverse applies. If the player that won the janken game attacks and the other does not defend, they'll win the prize. If the player defends, does nothing or if the other players defends the attack, no one will receive the prize (the other player can't "steal" the prize). Players can keep changing between attacking or defending until three seconds have gone by, at which point no one gets the prize.

The music for this mode is not used anywhere else in the game, though it is still present in the Sound Test as tracks 12 and 1A.

The prizes are as follows:

Japan	US

Although the option to access this mode was removed from the US version's menu, it is still accessible by using the Pro Action Replay code FF0501:06. This code should be immediately disabled afterwards since it causes issues with other menus.

Options Menu#

Japan	US

The Japanese version displays proper names for every song in the sound test along with instructions in how to use it. These features were removed from the US version.

Japan	US

The formatting of the text here got changed from being justified to being centered, probably to match the other options.

Configuration Screen#

Japan	US

The title of the multiplayer settings menu was changed between versions.

Credits Sequence#

Some Engrish in the credits was cleaned up for the US release.

Text Message Sound#

In the Japanese version, enemy dialogue in 1-player mode is printed out letter-by-letter, with an accompanying sound effect. The sound and animation were both removed from the US version, although the sound effect remains in the Sound Test as SE NO. 11.