Powerball

Powerball is a hybrid sports game combining American football and rest-of-the-world football, set in the distant year of 2010.

Built-In Passwords#

The passwords are identical for both regions. Passwords only take effect under specific teams.

Password	Powerball team	Wrestleball team	Effect
MWAKI	Any of the 8 regular teams		Gives you 995 bonus points.
SAITA	Japan	Namco	Writes random garbage to the VDP for some time, then resets; press Start to immediately reset. Is this a VDP test like in arcade games? Or is it a test of the random number generator? It's not the game crashing — in Powerball the code for this starts at $41A4.
KWGEN	China	Karate	Sound test.
NMURA	USSR	Wrestle	"WINDOW VISUALS" screen — you can watch several flipbook animations. A moves forward one frame; B goes back one frame.

These passwords are based on the four staff members who worked on the game, as seen below.

Unlockable Teams#

Do the button codes on the team select screen.

	Button Code	Unlocked Teams
Powerball	B B C B B C	Mexico, Germany, Canada, France
Wrestleball	hold Down+B	Kung Fu, Muaythay, Sumo, Martial

Hidden Text#

The following text is found near the beginning of the ROM, right after the ROM header:

[ 1991 NAMCO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
STAFF:MORIWAKI  
      NAKAMURA  
      KAWAMOTO  
      SAITA

The staff list is found only in Powerball; Wrestleball only contains the copyright string.

Regional Differences#

Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.
Specifically: Document these better. Is there a difference in the way bonus points work? There seems to be one but I don't know

The main menus are arranged differently. In Wrestleball, you are always asked for a password; in Powerball, you must select LEAGUE CONT. from the main menu to enter a password.

Apart from the display order, team icons, and display names, the region releases have one team difference: while Wrestleball has a Namco team, Powerball has a UK team.

The first animation in the Window Visuals shows a different person in Powerball.