DreamParaPara

DreamParaPara is an unlicensed Dreamcast game (and one of very few contemporary examples of such outside North America and Europe) which is a clone of Konami's ParaParaParadise. It even came with a dedicated controller, which is required to make the game boot.

Unused Graphics#

Many PVR images in the game's data are never called by the program files, 1ST_READ.BIN and NOOK.BIN.

Early Graphics#

A good portion of these uncalled images are earlier, or simply unused variations of called graphics.

Warning Screen#

WARN.PVR and WARNING2.PVR are unused variations of WARNING1.PVR, which is one of the images displayed before the title screen to ensure the dedicated controller is connected. WARN.PVR lacks a more detailed background and has larger text, while WARNING2.PVR lacks the distorted grid the used image has.

Title Screen#

PARAPARA2.PVR and PARAPARA_CHAO.PVR are earlier variations of PARAPARA.PVR, which is the title screen background. It seems the game was, at one point, going to use the "ParaParaParadise" name; these early textures are image captures of the title screen of the PlayStation 2 game.

Main Menu#

B_CIRCEL_B_OLD.PVR, B_CIRCEL_R.PVR, and B_CIRCEL_B.PVR are early variations of B_CIRCEL.PVR, which is seen in the main menu. There's also a B_CIRCEL_R_OLD.PVR, but it is identical to B_CIRCEL_B.PVR. The images with the label _B show a blue coloration which is not seen in the used graphic.

Likewise, S_CIRCEL_R_OLD.PVR, S_CIRCEL_B_OLD.PVR, S_CIRCEL_R.PVR and S_CIRCEL_B.PVR are early variations of S_CIRCEL.PVR, another ring graphic seen in the main menu.

OPTION_WORD2.PVR and OPTION4DISK.PVR are the graphics for the disc options in the main menu, but numerous other early variants exist with slightly different text placements and even different colors.

Song Selection Screen#

SELECT_SONG000.PVR, SELECT_SONG.PVR and SELECT_SONG2.PVR are unused variations of SELECT_SONG001.PVR, the background of the song selection screen. Many of these lack background elements (such as curved lines in the background), but SELECT_SONG000.PVR also has thicker glow in the text, lacks a gradient below the song information section, and has an additional a line which would separate the songs' title and artist names. There is also a "CURRENT DISC" ring which was made into a separate sprite.

SONGCHIP_OLD.PVR is an early version of SONGCHIP.PVR, in which the "CURRENT DISC" ring does not have proper transparency, and the start button prompts and score grades are missing.

SONGDISK2_OLD.PVR is an early version of SONGDISK2.PVR, which contains a few CD and song title graphics, though the only difference is that the title graphics for the songs Start and Velfarre 2000 have different colors.

Gameplay#

NUMBER_OLD.PVR, NUMBER2.PVR, NUMBER1.PVR and NUMBER_NEW.PVR are all early versions of NUMBER.PVR, which contain gameplay sprites, including the "READY" seen before a song starts, numbers for score/gauge counters, and song titles displayed at the top right of the screen.

• NUMBER_OLD.PVR only contains numbers, and uses a brighter glow color for the score counters.
• NUMBER2.PVR changes the color of the gauge counter text to white, removes the glow of the other counters, adds a black star graphic of unknown usage, and a "READY" graphic in a slightly rounded font.
• NUMBER1.PVR reverts the color of the gauge counter text to black, readds the glow to the other counters, though in a more vibrant color, and removes the black star.
• NUMBER_NEW.PVR is already very similar to the used graphic, though the "READY" text is in a sans-serif font, and the gauge percentage is not a separate graphic.

SCORE_BOARD21_1555.PVR, SCORE_BOARD21_4444.PVR, and SCOREBOARD_OLD.PVR are all early versions of the gameplay HUD. The former two are basically the same, lacking assets for the single player modes and using a cybernetic font for the "VS" label, but have different color depth configurations. The latter graphic also has larger text for the upper half of the screen.

ARROW.PVR is an early version of BOOM_ARROW.PVR, which contains the gameplay notes, judgments, and hit effects. Notably, hold notes lacked a light in the middle, and the beams which denoted their length are stored there rather than in a different graphic. The explosion effects are also not present in the early graphic.

Results#

TOTAL_SCORE.PVR and TOTAL_SCORE21.PVR are early versions of TOTAL_SCORE1.PVR and TOTAL_SCORE2.PVR, which are used in the song result screens when playing with one and two players, respectively. These older graphics have different glow and no proper backgrounds.

Company Logo#

LOGO.PVR is the logo of SRC / Xing Hong Electronic, the game's developer.

Unused Music#

While the game uses Track 1 for the menu music, it's cut off about 19 seconds in. It consists of the song Ike Ike by Tri Star, but the beginning is not slightly cut off like the gameplay audio is.

Unused Sounds#

While NOOK.BIN calls two audio containers (PGA3.ACX and NAS3.ACX), many of the sounds in them have equivalent, but unused .ADX files.

There are also a couple .ADX files that don't have an equivalent in those containers.

FAIL7.ADX
A bouncy spring. Given the name, it was likely meant to be used in a fail state.

GOVER2.ADX
A different take of the used "Game Over" sample.

GOVER3.ADX
Another different take of the used "Game Over" sample.

Furthermore, there are two unused containers, GNS.ACX and WAPG.ACX. Many of the sounds in them have equivalents in other files, used or unused, save for one.

Hidden Credit#

At 0xB6C8 of 1ST_READ.BIN is another credit to SRC / Xing Hong Electronic.

MPEG1 SRC. 01/08/2001
(C) 2001, SRC FS. by M.S.L

References#