This article has a talk page!Equinox is, as its Japanese name makes clear, the sequel to Solstice. The isometric gameplay is similar to its predecessor, but this time there are more settings, weapons, and bosses.
One of the earliest Western (British)-developed titles announced for the Super Nintendo, Equinox was initially slated for a early/mid-1992 release. However, its development faced significant delays, with the game ultimately launching in 1993/94.
Unused Text#
Final Iteration (Early 1993)#
GLENDAAL
グレンダール
The protagonist's name. Never used normally, as the final story is very minimal and strings that refer to Glendaal always use normal literal text rather than variables. Probably a remnant from when there used to be a feature to rename the protagonist.
TEST
Found among the location names before Galadonia, spelled in English for both English and Japanese. There's a later text block with location names that has a blank kingdom name that's never used just before Galadonia.
NOBODY
NO BODY
Found among boss names. Japanese string is blank.
SONIA
ソニア
WITCH QUEEN SONIA
Found among boss names. Final boss name. Never actually used: There's no bridge blockade scene involving Sonia, the post-boss message doesn't appear after the final boss, and the Japanese version's summoning message which is slightly different and mentions the name of the boss being summoned has a different message for Sonia that doesn't use this variable.
Early Version (Mid-1992)#
This content matches with coverage of the game from 1992 issues of Nintendo Power, back when the game had a different looking protagonist, called SHAPIRO in early screens, and a very different user interface. The March 1993 prototype changed most of these aspects.
This content is stored in a massive separate message block starting from 0x514C5.
Menus#
ROOM:@@-@@ SIZE:@@H BYTES
A duplicate of a used string that seems to include additional information about the room's data size, probably for debugging purposes. This HUD can be restored in the final version, but the data size for most rooms seems to be fixed at 1C for some reason, whether it is that the code for this display was stubbed, or the rooms optimized to use the same size.
MIGHT:
MAGIC:
Seen in early promotional coverage. Perhaps too on-the-nose for Sony's legal department tastes, this was replaced with different dedicated graphics spelling LIFE and MAGIC in the final version.
SOME STUFF HERE
SOME STUFF HERE
Placeholder menu text.
English |
Japanese |
Comments |
|---|---|---|
|
|
The final game's options menu only have options for save file management. There's no sound test in the final version either. |
|
|
An option that would have modified text speed. In the final game, it's automatically set to different values for the intro story (medium), the ending (slow), and the in-game messages (instant), with no way for the player to control that setting. |
|
|
All regions of the game include the text data for both languages for most of the game's content, except for the intro and ending which were relatively late additions and stored elsewhere in the ROM. It seems the option to change the language was meant to be available for the player. |
|
|
Probably meant for a button remapping feature. Doesn't cover the overworld actions. |
|
|
A menu that would allow the player to rename the protagonist. This feature is still unfinished. There's data for a letter layout in the naming screen but it's missing some Japanese characters in its Japanese layout, and the English layout is blank with no way to select English glyphs. The English menu text still references hiragana and katakana. |
|
|
What would be the default name for the protagonist. The Japanese text is still unchanged from SHAPIRO, which was seen in English letters in Japanese in-game messages on top of the screen in prototype screenshots from the game's 1992 coverage. Furthermore, the early text block uses the control code 0xEF0080 as a placeholder for the player's name in story text in English, but very inconsistently applies that in the Japanese text, which still writes the protagonist name (again, "シャピロ" for SHAPIRO with a color effect) as a literal string regardless of player choice. |
|
|
Different save message than the one used in the final version. |
|
|
A very weird inclusion, considering Nintendo's guidelines at the time. Hell is mentioned in two different unused messages that seem to have been meant for a bad ending. |
Early Items#
English |
Japanese |
Comments |
|---|---|---|
|
|
The Japanese text uses English letters for key names in the final, and katakana of the English names in the early text. |
|
|
Referred to as Life and Magic in the final. Item refills for those are immediately consumed in the final game. |
|
|
Probably replaced with SCORE in the final game. The early story text has text for shopkeepers and items that aren't given out by NPCs, and the final game's SCORE value doesn't seem to matter much when you clear the game which makes it more likely it was renamed after the massive game reworking away from a role-playing game since you have nowhere to actually spend that money. |
|
|
"Letter" in Japanese. The early story messages has two different quests for helping out NPCs with exchanging letters across continents. |
|
|
The prototype version would have allowed access to the Afralona continent (W6) with a different method involving reuniting a mother serpent with her four kids. She would then offer to help you move back and forth between both continents. The final version instead has you collecting 5 strings for your harp to unlock fast travel portals, and this particular sequence is notorious for a game-breaking bug that would wrong-warp you out-of-bounds. |
|
|
Mentioned among items from Altena (W4) and Quagmire (W5). It seems it would have played a different role in the prototype version, where you would play it on altars and hear something "heavenly". The words "heaven" and "hell" are mentioned elsewhere, and a bad ending has the Ghost Ship sending the player to hell instead of the final island, so it might have been one of the prerequisites for a good ending. |
|
|
Names for different magical equipment. You only get physical attack equipment in the final game. Fireball, Stun and Lightning might have been early versions of the spells for Damage, Freeze and Zap in the final. It's unknown what Myriad Staff would have been. |
|
|
Rather generic names for the early physical attack equipment. The final game doesn't have a Short Sword or a Giant Sword, but different weapons (Shuriken) or variants (Twin Knife, Twin Sword). |
|
|
Different spell names from the final version. Life became Heal. Invisible was cut. Quick became Slow, which slows down enemies. Freeze is in the final, but the distinction from the prototype Stun Staff is unclear. Levitate was cut, but the levitation behavior can be seen in the final with some enemies with cheat codes. Visible became Reveal, and judging from the prototype story text mentioning a hidden room in the Ghost Ship and some prototype ROMs released from 1993 including much more invisible doors, it could have played a bigger role. Key became Unlock, and was meant to be offered to the player much earlier in the final island in exchange for half of his life energy, as opposed to an inconsequential very late final dungeon pickup that's equivalent to skipping two white keys. |
|
|
Cut quest items from Galadonia (W1). Many of these quests would reward the player with Life and Magic upgrades, and it seems some of the maps, lines and coding for that was repurposed for the overworld monster encounters. |
|
|
Seems to be the ability to jump in the overworld. The prototype implies that an NPC from Tori (W2) would give it as a quest reward. In the final version, this ability is available by default alongside the harp, and is required to reach a teleporter in Galadonia (W1) and navigate the terrain in Atlena (W4) and Quagmire (W5), but until then the game's overworld is very playable without that jumping ability. |
|
|
Cut quest item for Tori (W2). The player would have needed to distribute the seeds across Tori to then be rewarded with the Spring. |
|
|
Mentioned among the Deeso (W3) items. An NPC from Deeso implies it would be needed to smash obstacles. An Axe item exists in the final game, but it's a physical attack weapon. |
|
|
Cut quest items for Deeso (W3). An NPC rewards you for walking around the desert with the Statue's legs. After collecting the rest of the statue via unknown methods (either the shop or picking up the item somehow) the NPC would reward the player with a Magic upgrade. The divining rod seems like it would be used in the Deeso desert (W3) to find water, at the recommendation of an NPC from Altena (W4). What that would cause is anyone's guess. |
|
|
Cut quest items for Altena (W4). |
|
|
Cut quest items for Quagmire (W5). |
|
|
Seen in the final game in a non-interactive Mode-7 sequence in the ending where Shadax flies with Glendaal above the map for the first five continents. The final game otherwise has a lot of points of no return. The prototype NPCs mention the flying carpet could be used to fly anywhere, and that there's a passage in the clouds, so it could have played a much bigger role in the game than what it ended up as. |
|
|
Cut quest items for Afralona (W6), the last continent in the final game before the point of no return. Would be collected to make a medicine for the king, probably from the dungeon. |
|
|
Cut item required for accessing the Ghost Ship, the first point of no return in the game. In the final game you just stumble there with no warning. |
|
|
Cut quest items collected on the Ghost Ship for an NPC, who then rewards you with the Icepick. This NPC also alludes to hidden rooms in the ship, and a line for the ship being doomed which might tie with the bad ending. The final dungeon is set in an icy island that's mostly deserted, but the prototype includes some lines for an NPC there offering the Key Spell (Unlock Spell) as an optional content, and another NPC asking to be freed who would tell you that Shaddax is trapped in a silver ball, so this quest might be to access either the good ending or that optional spell or that NPC rescue. |
Cut Storyline#
English |
Japanese |
|---|---|
|
|
A different expository story for the introduction. Interestingly, the final Japanese intro scrolling text includes details only mentioned in the prototype English text.
English |
Japanese |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Story text that would have appeared after clearing Galadonia (W1), and before Afralona (W6), respectively. A common criticism of the released game is the complete lack of story or general direction, so these would have been definitively welcomed.
English |
Japanese |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Story text that would have appeared after the Ghost Ship. Nintendo of America censorship guidelines for religious topics non-withstanding, the names for the Ghost Ship (Ghost Ship Lucifer) and the final island with the Ice Palace (Glacialice) are different between the early and final text, and identical to their Japanese counterparts for each text block.
More interestingly, it has text for an alternate early bad ending that would occur after the Ghost Ship, if the player ignored the sidequests and failed to clear some prerequisites. These are anyone's guess. In this bad ending, the Styx-themed Ghost Ship would send the protagonist to Hell.
English |
Japanese |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Story text that would appear in the ending. Much shorter and way better than the mind-numbing ending scroll that was in the final that was so long and so slow that the music ended halfway through.
There's also a bad ending where the final boss makes sure the protagonist hitches the ride to Hell he missed from the previous bad ending. It's apparently caused by facing Sonia and failing, although other factors might be possibly at play since there's lines for optionally meeting Shaddax in the final dungeon before the final battle.
Cut Villages#
A particularly counter-intuitive game design choice this game was infamous for is how its overworld map was presented. There are graphics for human villages with huts, smoke and signs of life. There's even unused graphics for tower shaped structures that wouldn't have been out of place for castles. Aside from that, there's various wells and holes scattered around. Monsters occasionally pop out of these holes. All of the game's dungeons are also meant to take place in underground mazes.
The final game makes the wells non-interactive, and the human villages dungeon entrances. However, it does seem from the early text that the developers considered at one point the more reasonable option of including actual villages. The number of the village icons matches with the number of village names, with only Quagmire having one "village" too many, but it was the map for the Serpent meant to transport the player between continents.
Japanese translations add "Village" to village names (including Serpent and Farewell, which might have been a mistake) and "Forest/Desert/Water/Wetlands/Jungle/Ice Kingdom" before the kingdom's name (except for Galadonia and the Ghost Ship).
English |
Japanese |
|---|---|
GALADONIA |
ガラドニア |
GROUCH |
グローチむら |
GALAD |
ガラドむら |
GRUMBLE |
グランブルむら |
TORI |
もりのおうこく トーリ |
HERBAGE |
ハーベイジむら |
LUMBER |
ランバーむら |
BOSK |
ボスクむら |
BROOKBANK |
ブルックバンクむら |
DEESO |
さばくのおうこく ディーソ |
SANDY |
サンディむら |
DUNES |
デューンむら |
OASIS |
オアシスむら |
EGG ROCK |
エッグロックむら |
ATLENA |
みずのおうこく アトレナ |
SLAT |
スラットむら |
PONTOON |
ポントーンむら |
WOODWHARF |
ウッドワーフむら |
WATERLOG |
ウォーターロッグむら |
QUAGMIRE |
しつげんのおうこく クァグマイア |
MORASSY |
モラシーむら |
FENLAND |
フィンランドむら |
SOGGY BOGGIT |
ソギーボギットむら |
SMEGGY |
スメギーむら |
STENCH |
ステンチむら |
SERPENT |
サーペントむら |
AFRALONA |
ジャングルのおうこく アフラローナ |
AFRAFA |
アフラファむら |
VINELAND |
バインランドむら |
BEECHBAY |
ビーチベイむら |
DESOLATION |
デソレイションむら |
FAREWELL |
フィアウィルむら |
LUCIFER |
ゆうれいせん ルシファーごう |
GLACIALICE |
こおりのおうこく グレイシャルアイス |
Cut Shopkeepers#
GALADONIA
WELCOME [name], DO YOU WANT TO BUY ANYTHING?
TORI
GREETINGS STRANGER. THIS IS THE BEST SHOP IN THE VILLAGE...
DEESO
HELLO. I'M SURE I HAVE SOMETHING THAT YOU WANT TO BUY.
ATLENA
GREETINGS YOUNG SIR. THIS SHOP SELLS ONLY THE FINEST QUALITY GOODS.
QUAGMIRE
WELCOME YOUNG WARRIOR. WHAT DO YOU WANT?
AFRALONA
WELCOME WARRIOR. I AM HONOURED THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO BUY FROM MY HUMBLE SHOP.
GLACIALICE
HELLO, I HOPE I HAVE WHAT YOU NEED.
Every world except for the Ghost Ship has lines meant for a shopkeeper, that would go with the cut items and money mechanic. Interestingly, this includes the island where the final dungeon takes place.
Cut NPC Messages#
There's a TON of conversations with NPCs, some of which hint at quests needed to further the game progression or find the good ending, some are optional fetch quests that usually reward the same Life/Magic upgrades as the monster encounters in the final game, some are gameplay hints, and some are story related such as optionally encountering the protagonist's father Shaddax ahead of the final battle in the final dungeon.
This story content more or less matches up with the progression of the final game and would have given much needed context and life to the desolate game world.
All of these messages has a Japanese equivalent, but it does seem the English text was written first considering some of the glaring translation mistakes, such as the Japanese translator adapting the word "right" in "Match the right key to the right door" using "right" as the opposite of "left" instead of "right" as the synonym of "correct". The Japanese equivalents wrote the protagonist's name (Shapiro) in katakana in the text instead of using the variable,
GROUCH
HELLO [name]. HAVE YOU SEEN MY CANDLESTICK ANYWHERE?
AH... YOU HAVE FOUND MY CANDLESTICK. IN RETURN I SHALL INCREASE YOUR VITALITY.
I CAN HELP YOU NO MORE.
EVIL CREATURES ARE WANDERING THE LAND, BE CAREFUL OR THEY WILL TAKE YOUR LIFE...
GALAD
HALT... THE KING ONLY WISHES TO SPEAK TO THE PERSON WHO CAN SAVE THE KINGDOM.
THE KINGDOM IS IN A TERRIBLE STATE [name], WE ARE ALL RELYING ON YOU. YOU MUST SAVE US BY DESTROYING THE EVIL SONIA AND RESCUING YOUR FATHER SHADAX. OH, AND DO BE CAREFUL ON THOSE BRIDGES, YOU WILL NEED SOMETHING TO HIT THOSE TROLLS WITH...
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? SAVE THE KINGDOM...
GRUMBLE
HELLO [name]. I SEEM TO HAVE MISPLACED MY TEAPOT.
AH... MY TEAPOT, YOU HAVE FOUND IT... IN RETURN I SHALL INCREASE YOUR MAGIC POWER.
HURRY [name] HURRY!
HEY SONNY, HAVE YOU BEEN DOWN IN THE DUNGEON YET? YOU MIGHT FIND A WEAPON DOWN THERE, BUT BE CAREFUL...
Lines meant for Village NPCs in Galadonia (W1).
HERBAGE
GREETINGS STRANGER. NO NEW TREES HAVE GROWN HERE RECENTLY, CAN YOU HELP?
YOU HAVE BROUGHT SOME SEEDS FOR ME... IN RETURN I SHALL INCREASE YOUR MAGIC POWER.
TUM TE TUM... THIS IS LIKE WATCHING GRASS GROW.
IF YOU GO TO THE DUNGEON, TRY PUSHING THINGS...
LUMBER
WELCOME TO THE FOREST KINGDOM OF TORI. TAKE THESE SEEDS AND SPREAD THEM THROUGHOUT THE LAND.
I SEE YOU HAVE USED THE SEEDS ALREADY. TAKE SOME MORE FRIEND.
THANK YOU FOR DISTRIBUTING MY SEEDS.
YOU MIGHT GET AROUND BETTER WITH A 'SPRINGY' JUMP.
BOSK
HELLO THERE YOUNG MAN. I WANT YOU TO DO ME A FAVOUR. TAKE THIS NOTE AND GIVE IT TO THE OLD MAN FOR ME, BUT YOU MUST NOT TELL A SOUL...
HMMPH... GO AWAY...
YOU HAVE BROUGHT A REPLY? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HERE, TAKE THIS SMALL FEE FOR YOUR TROUBLE. REMEMBER THOUGH, DO NOT TELL A SOUL...
THE SERPENT QUEEN HAS LOST HER FOUR BABIES, SHE IS VERY ANGRY...
BROOKBANK
GREETINGS YOUNG MAN. NO NEW TREES HAVE GROWN AROUND OUR VILLAGE FOR SUCH A LONG TIME, WHAT CAN WE DO?
SEEDS... THESE ARE THE ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEMS... THANK YOU YOUNG MAN, IN RETURN I SHALL INCREASE YOUR VITALITY.
THE SEEDS ARE GROWING NICELY THANK YOU.
THE PURPLE STONES HAVE BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS, THEY ARE SACRED.
Lines meant for Village NPCs in Tori (W2). It refers to the Tokens from the final game as Purple Stones.
SANDY
HELLO THERE. DO YOU LIKE OUR DESERT ISLAND? IF YOU CAN WALK ALL THE WAY ROUND IT, COME BACK AND SEE ME.
YOU HAVE WALKED ALL THE WAY ROUND DEESO. I SHALL GIVE YOU THE STATUE'S LEGS AS A REWARD.
HOW ARE YOUR LEGS?
BE CAREFUL IN THE DUNGEON, SOME BRICKS ARE LOOSE...
DUNES
YOU LOOK LIKE A STRONG YOUNG MAN, COULD YOU MOVE MY BUST BACK INTO THE CORNER OF THE ROOM?
YOU HAVE PROVED YOUR STRENGTH TO ME, I WILL REWARD YOU WITH MAGIC POWER.
MY ROOM LOOKS NICE, DON'T YOU THINK?...
IF SOMETHING IS IN YOUR WAY, YOU COULD SMASH IT WITH THE AXE.
OASIS
HELLO THERE YOUNG MAN. COULD YOU TO DO ME A FAVOUR? TAKE THIS NOTE AND GIVE IT TO THE OLD LADY FOR ME, BUT DO NOT TELL ANYBODY...
TUT... GOODBYE...
AT LAST, A REPLY... THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HERE, TAKE THIS BIT OF MONEY FOR YOUR TROUBLE. REMEMBER THOUGH, DO NOT TELL ANYBODY...
YOU WILL HAVE TO TRAVEL OVER WATER TO COMPLETE YOUR QUEST.
EGG ROCK
WELCOME TO THE DESERT KINGDOM FRIEND. IF YOU CAN RECOVER MY LOST STATUE, I WILL REWARD YOU WELL.
YOU HAVE RECOVERED THE LOST STATUE, I AM MOST GRATEFUL. I SHALL INCREASE YOU VITALITY AS A REWARD.
DO NOT COME BACK HERE, YOU STILL HAVE MUCH TO DO.
SOME DUNGEONS MAY HAVE INVISIBLE BRICKS...
Lines meant for Village NPCs in Deeso (W3).
SLAT
GREETINGS YOUNG SIR. IF YOU CAN BRING ME A WHITE PEARL, I MIGHT BE ABLE YOU HELP YOU...
A WHITE PEARL... JUST WHAT I NEED. I SHALL INCREASE YOUR MAGIC POWER NOW YOUNG SIR.
DO YOU LIKE MY LOVELY WHITE PEARL?
MATCH THE RIGHT KEY TO THE RIGHT DOOR.
PONTOON
WELCOME TO ATLENA YOUNG SIR. DO YOU HAVE ANY JEWELS TO SHOW ME? I DO LOVE TO LOOK AT PRECIOUS STONES...
AN OYSTER... AN OYSTER... LET ME OPEN IT...... LOOK, IT'S A BEAUTIFUL PEARL. OH... YOU LUCKY MAN...
YOU HAVE NOTHING FOR ME TO SEE?
WITH A DIVINING ROD YOU COULD FIND HIDDEN WATER...
WOODWHARF
GREETINGS YOUNG SIR. I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU IF YOU CAN BRING ME A BLACK PEARL...
A BLACK PEARL... JUST WHAT I NEED. I SHALL INCREASE YOUR VITALITY NOW YOUNG SIR.
DO YOU LIKE MY LOVELY BLACK PEARL?
DON'T STAND STILL IN THE DUNGEON, YOU MAY LOSE YOUR FOOTING.
WATERLOG
GREETINGS YOUNG SIR. WILL YOU DO ME A FAVOUR? TAKE THIS NOTE AND GIVE IT TO THE OLD MAN FOR ME, BUT DO NOT TELL A SOUL...
HUH... GO AWAY..
HAVE YOU BROUGHT A REPLY? THANK YOU YOUNG SIR.TAKE THESE FEW COINS FOR YOUR TROUBLE. REMEMBER THOUGH, DO NOT TELL A SOUL...
SOME MAGICAL PLACES CONTAIN SECRET FOUNTAINS.
Lines meant for Village NPCs in Atlena (W4).
MORASSY
WELCOME TO MY POOR KINGDOM YOUNG WARRIOR. I AM A KING WITHOUT A CROWN, IT WAS DROPPED IN THE SWAMP. CAN YOU HELP?
THE LOST CROWN IS RETURNED... I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL YOUNG WARRIOR. TAKE THIS HAT, I WILL NOT NEED IT ANY LONGER.
YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE FRIEND.
WATCH YOUR HEAD IN THE DUNGEON...
FENLAND
WELCOME YOUNG WARRIOR. HOW IS IT OUTSIDE? I CANNOT LEAVE MY ROOM BECAUSE I HAVE NO HAT TO WEAR.
YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME A HAT... AT LAST I CAN GO OUT. I SHALL REWARD YOU BY INCREASING YOUR MAGIC POWER.
.....
THE SERPENT QUEEN REALLY WANTS HER BABIES.
SOGGY BOGGIT
HELLO THERE YOUNG WARRIOR. I AM BORED. I WANT SOMETHING TO CHEW ON...
AH A ROOT... THAT'S JUST WHAT I NEED. I WILL SWAP IT FOR THIS HERRING.
CHOMP, CHOMP...
IF YOU PLAY THE HARP ON THE ALTAR, THE SOUND WILL BE HEAVENLY...
SMEGGY
GREETINGS YOUNG WARRIOR. WOULD YOU TAKE THIS NOTE AND GIVE IT TO THE OLD WOMAN FOR ME, BUT DO NOT TELL ANYBODY ABOUT IT...
NOTHING? HUH...
OH A REPLY, WHAT A SURPRISE... THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HERE, TAKE THIS MODEST SUM FOR YOUR TROUBLE. REMEMBER THOUGH, DO NOT TELL ANYBODY...
YOU MUST TRAVEL THROUGH THE JUNGLE TO COMPLETE YOUR QUEST.
STENCH
GREETINGS YOUNG WARRIOR. YOUR BELLY LOOKS FULL. I HAVE NOT EATEN ALL DAY...
HERRING, MY FAVOURITE FISH. IN RETURN FOR THIS YOUNG WARRIOR, I SHALL INCREASE YOUR VITALITY.
PHEW, I AM FULL UP...
YOU WILL FIND A SHORTCUT IN THE CLOUDS.
SERPENT
MY BABIES... MY BABIES... WHERE ARE MY POOR BABIES?(SOB...)
AH MY BABY, YOU ARE SAFE... THANK YOU.
YOU HAVE RESCUED MY FOUR BABIES, I MUST DO SOMETHING FOR YOU IN RETURN. JUMP ON MY BACK AND I SHALL CARRY YOU TO AFRALONA WHERE YOU CAN CONTINUE YOUR QUEST.
Lines meant for Village NPCs in Quagmire (W5). The line "......" was "......がいしゅつちゅう" in the Japanese text.
AFRAFA
THE KING IS VERY ILL. NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO SEE HIM UNTIL HE IS BETTER.
WHAT IS THIS? MEDICINE? THIS COULD BE JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED...
YOU HAVE SAVED MY LIFE YOUNG MAN, I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. AS A SMALL REWARD PLEASE TAKE THIS STUFFED TIGER'S HEAD.
THE MEDICINE IS MADE FROM 'TAIL OF BEAST','PUFF OF CLOUD' AND 'GLANDOFMONKEY'.
VINELAND
WELCOME WARRIOR, YOU MAY BE OF SERVICE TO ME. BRING ME A DOLL WITH FOUR PINS AND I SHALL REWARD YOU WELL.
THIS IS WHAT I NEED, I CAN COMPLETE MY WORK NOW. BUT FIRST, I SHALL INCREASE YOUR VITALITY.
HE... HE... HE... HE...
IF YOU HAD A FLYING CARPET, YOU COULD GO PRACTICALLY ANYWHERE...
BEECHBAY
WELCOME WARRIOR. I AM MAKING MEDICINE. IF YOU WISH TO HELP THEN FETCH ME THREE INGREDIENTS. HURRY.
THAT IS JUST WHAT I NEED - BUT I STILL DON'T HAVE ALL THE INGREDIENTS
NOW I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED. ..... JUST A MINUTE YOUNG MAN ..... HERE, TAKE THIS MEDICINE
GO AND BOIL YOUR HEAD...
THE SHIP LUCIFER IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS. WHERE IS IT GOING?
DESOLATION
WELCOME WARRIOR. BEWARE, THIS ISLAND IS HAUNTED. I AM CONSTANTLY PLAGUED BY EVIL SPIRITS. I NEED SOMETHING TO SCARE THEM AWAY...
A TIGER'S HEAD... THIS WILL PROTECT ME FROM EVIL SPIRITS. IN RETURN FOR THIS I SHALL INCREASE YOUR MAGIC POWER.
OOH...... SORRY, YOU FRIGHTENED ME.
THERE IS A HIDDEN ROOM ON THE SHIP...
FAREWELL
BUY THE COIN SIR?
Lines meant for Village NPCs in Afralona (W6). The Farewell "village" is probably where you would board the Ghost Ship.
HOW DO? WHAT CAN I DO YOU FOR?
BRING ME A PIPE...
YOUR FATHER IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK, YOUNGSTER.
BRING ME AN EYEPATCH...
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT THE ICEPICK.
BRING ME A HOOK...
THIS SHIP IS DOOMED I TELL YOU, DOOMED...
Lines meant for an NPC on the Ghost Ship. Two of the lines seem to hint at whether the player is on track for the good ending or the bad ending.
YOU MUST FIND THE KEY SPELL TO FREE YOUR FATHER...
[name] IS IT? WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOU. LOOKING FOR THE KEY SPELL ARE YOU? I HAVE IT. IT CAN BE YOURS IN RETURN FOR HALF YOUR LIFE...
YOU REFUSE? YOU WILL BE BACK. HA... HA...
HA... HA... HAVE THE SPELL, IT IS OF NO USE TO ME, BUT YOUR LIFE IS...
FREE ME AND I WILL TELL YOU A SECRET
THANK YOU SIR. I HAVE HEARD THAT THE GREAT WIZARD SHADAX IS TRAPPED INSIDE A SILVER BALL, WHATEVER THAT MEANS.
Lines meant for NPCs on the last island.
AT LAST I AM FREE... THANK YOU SON, YOU HAVE DONE WELL. I AM PROUD OF YOU. IN A MOMENT OF WEAKNESS I WAS OVERPOWERED BY SONIA. SHE IMPRISONED ME IN THIS MAGICAL BALL AND SAPPED MY POWER, USING IT FOR EVIL. SHE MUST BE STOPPED. I WILL TRANSFER MY REMAINING POWER TO YOU, THEN YOU MUST FIND SONIA AND DESTROY HER... I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN SOON, GOOD LUCK SON...
Lines meant for an optional encounter with the protagonist's father before the final boss, if the player fulfilled some conditions.
Unused Graphics#
An unused tower-like structure found with the overworld graphics.
This Troll sprite was undoubtedly supposed to have been used for when he falls from the cloud to the ground. However, when he appears from the cloud in-game, he is already in his walking animation loop, and this frame is never seen.
A Ghost Ship porthole in which you can see another room on the other side of the glass. It's obvious that this was supposed to have been used on walls that have adjacent rooms, which would have made more sense, but the porthole that shows water on the outside was used in every instance instead.
A lantern that was intended to adorn the doorways in the Ghost Ship, but...
|
In-Game |
Fixed |
|---|---|
|
|
...It goes unused due to a programming error, with the doorways' top frames instead having a jagged-looking mismatch. The image on the right shows what the frame looks like with the correct lantern tile placed above it.
This strange little unused star and a part to make an identical larger star are present among the dungeon item graphics. This was probably intended for some kind of visual effect, possibly when spellcasting.
It may have looked something like this when animated, but it looks unfinished and was left out.
Unused Room#
Room 07-02 of the Ghost Ship is empty and has no entrances or exits, leaving it completely inaccessible during normal gameplay. While its intended purpose is unknown, there is a large empty space in the Ghost Ship map where it could have fit.
While it has the ocean background of an upper deck room, the jagged walls indicate it was meant to be a lower deck room.
(Source: FlyingOmelette)
Regional Differences#
In Japan, the game was released under the title Solstice II. Prototype ROMs unearthed in 2016 indicate that this name was also intended globally. However, during the game’s two-year delay, this plan was abandoned.
As the original Solstice had not been as successful in the West as it was in Japan, Sony opted to distance the follow-up slightly from its predecessor by introducing the new "Equinox" suffix, though the name Solstice II still appears on the intro screen.
The "Licensed by Nintendo" sub text was also removed in the Japanese version, and also uses a slightly thinner font without drop shadows for most of the game except for the credits roll. Some of the in-game message boxes had their transparency and colors modified to improve their readability with the new font.
|
Japan |
International |
|---|---|
|
|
The Western versions have three attract mode introductions that have a very basic story outline, and a list of technical features. The Japanese version blanks out that text and keeps the attract mode otherwise, but also adds a separate intro text in Japanese that's far better written. The Japanese storyline details seems to be inspired from the prototype English storyline, and takes the opportunity to correct a naming inconsistency between Solstice and Equinox. The villain from the last game is correctly called Morbius rather than Melkior.
Some of the enemies were replaced with easier variants in the Japanese version.
Oddities#
Audio Error#
The BGM for Sonia's Fortress is incorrectly programmed. When the song loops back to the beginning, one channel has a portamento effect that is never cancelled, resulting in samples getting slurred when changing notes. As this occurs on a channel primarily used to echo a louder channel, this is usually not that noticeable; however, listening closely, it is quite easy to hear the difference when compared to the first loop of the song.
Out of Bounds Handler#
If the player jumps too high or outside of the room's boundaries, the game automatically respawns the character in the last safe position within the room's walls at ground level with no health loss. This may spawn the character inside an object, but collision is disabled from the inside and the player can usually safely get out. This isn't seen in normal gameplay however due to the level design.
Variable Handler#
The game has some messages for collecting tokens that use numeric variables spelled in letters, from one to twelve, meant to be used in the sentence "You now have [var] of the twelve tokens." that would appear when collecting a new token. Since there's twelve tokens per level, the game will show "ALL" for the value 12, the last possible value in normal gameplay.
The game has unused text for zero tokens, as "NO", which is impossible to see in normal gameplay. Moreover, there's a clumsy attempt at an error handler that prints "TOO MANY" for 13 tokens, "ERROR" for 14 tokens, "*OVERFLOW*" for 15 tokens, empty text for 16 tokens, "-0" for 17 tokens, "18" for 18 tokens, which can all be seen in-game with RAM manipulation. There's also literal strings for "17" and "19" in the ROM, although they never show up. This "error" handler" will crash the game very spectacularly when attempting to display the message for values of 19 tokens and above.
This "fix" doesn't have Japanese string equivalents, except for the string for zero tokens which shows as "0こ", using a different character for the counter than the used strings which instead use "１コ", "２コ", etc. It's possible that this particular string was never play tested and the inconsistency was thus never caught.
There's a similar issue with the message for collecting keys, but due to some differences in how message data is laid out in the ROM, it pulls random strings from the game's text instead.
Japanese Font Oddities#
According to Ste Pickford, who worked at Software Creations at the time of Equinox's development, the game was developed concurrently with the Japanese version, so its technical needs were accounted for during development rather than kept as an afterthought.
The game has copies of most of the messages in both Japanese and English, with some strings for a planned feature to switch languages. The game's font even reserves tiles for Japanese characters needed for the Japanese text. That being said, the implementation was far from perfect and the dual language feature was dropped.
The message "Ste & John were ere ok" can be found scrawled out among the game's background tiles where the Japanese characters would go. "Ste" and "John" refer to Ste Pickford and John Pickford, who worked at Software Creations. This message is not present in the Japanese version, which instead fills this space with the symbols for the Japanese dialogue. Ste has provided a little elaboration on its likely origins, as well as the original art files used for the fonts.
There were some conflicting character mappings as well. Some characters needed by the prototype English text, such as the apostrophe and interrogation mark, were overwritten by Japanese characters. In the final game, the used English text went out of its way to avoid using those characters.
The developers didn't manage to include all of the dakuten variants of the Japanese hiragana/katakana font set as well. There's scrapped data for a naming screen in Japanese for the prototype version of the game where the intention was to allow the player to rename the protagonist, with a feature to swap between hiragana and katakana. The font doesn't the characters ヅぃぅぉ. As a result, that naming screen had some noticeable gaps and feels unpolished, which might have played a part in scrapping that feature and changing the font used in the Japanese version's introduction.
The ordering of the Japanese characters isn't very efficient. A full set of basic hiragana and katakana characters were first added, then after that some punctuation, then only some of the dakuten characters were added selectively for both sets, then some punctuation, then some more dakuten characters. This suggests that a massive message rewrite happened that required these additions, and that the developers kept some of the older text and data around.
|
The Solstice series | |
|---|---|
|
NES |
|
|
SNES |
|