PuLiRuLa (Arcade)

PuLiRuLa is a beat-'em-up that starts out innocently enough before drop-kicking the player into a pit of madness.

Debug Functions#

Stage Select#

After booting the game, hold the service switch and reset the game. Afterward, a service SW error screen should appear. Immediately release those buttons, very quickly press Start (×3), Service, Start, and the game should show the above round select. The game will then proceed as normal, though don't select "No Use".

Due to the insanely tight timing required, savestates for both versions to allow instant access to the round select are provided below:

Download PuLiRuLa Round Select Savestates File: Pulirula-RS-State1.rar (info)

Exception Handler#

This game has a basic exception handler that displays the exception name and the values of the program counter and data/address registers at the time of the crash.

Debug Menu Routines#

The game originally had a test menu with six different debug functions, but most of the code to set up the menu was gutted before release.

All that's left of the menu is a table of subroutine addresses at 0x57EE0, a set of input checks at 0x57EF8, and the following text at 0x57FA6 ("Lyric" is an early game title):

LYRIC TEST MODE
HARDWARE
OBJECT
SCREEN
MASK
COLOR
PIVOT

Note that "HARDWARE" is the game's standard test mode (color bars + input test, dip switch display, and sound test). Put the following code in pulirula.xml to change the hardware test to one of the unused tests:

  <cheat desc="Change Test Mode Function">
    <parameter>
      <item value="0x000097D0">Object Viewer</item>
      <item value="0x000588BC">Screen Test</item>
      <item value="0x0005887E">Mask Test</item>
      <item value="0x00041DEA">Pivot Test</item>
    </parameter>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@57EDC=4EF9</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@57EDE=param</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@57EDC=4EFA</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@57EDE=010E0005</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Object#

A simple object (frame) viewer with a few quirks:

• The digits for Color, H Size, and V Size data are incorrectly flipped horizontally and vertically.
• H Size and V Size data are always listed as C0 and 00 respectively.
• For some reason, this object viewer can only load palettes 00-25 and 80-BF, even though palettes 26-3F and C0-FF are also reserved for sprites.

Controls

• 1P Left / Right: Changes the current graphic (once per 10 frames).
• 1P Up / Down: Rapidly changes the current graphic (once per frame).
• 1P Button 1 / Button 2: Changes the current palette.

Screen#

Tests how the game displays background graphics. There are no controls on this screen.

Mask#

Displays the contents of the "Mask" graphics bank. This doesn't have controls either.

Color#

No longer exists in the ROM. Presumably worked like the Color Test Modes in fellow Taito F2 games Final Blow and Megablast.

Pivot#

Should be used to test the game's zooming and rotating capabilities, but the game doesn't load anything to zoom or rotate here.

Controls

• 1P Up / Down: Moves cursor.
• 2P Left / Right: Adjusts the current variable by 0001.
• 2P Up / Down: Adjusts the current variable by 0100.
• 2P Button 1: Inverts the current variable.
• 2P Button 3: Clears the current variable.

Edit Mode / Object Test#

A tool that allows the user to spawn in a number of different objects, including powerups, magic, enemies, and projectiles...using a puppy as a cursor.

Put the following code in pulirula.xml and enable it to replace the player's magic summons with the debug puppy:

  <cheat desc="Debug Summon">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.md@0EEFC=428041F9</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@0EF00=00071FE2</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.md@0EEFC=41FA0240</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@0EF00=20700000</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Controls

• 1P/2P Joystick: Moves the puppy.
• 1P/2P Button 1: Spawns object at the puppy's position.
• 1P/2P Button 2: Increases Z position of the puppy.
• 1P/2P Button 3 + Left / Right: Switches between objects.
• 1P/2P Button 3 + Up / Down: Changes the text under the object name. This doesn't seem to have any effect on the player or the objects spawned.

If an "OBJ TEST" is spawned in, the game switches to an object test mode that's similar in function to the aforementioned object viewer. The difference here is that digits are displayed correctly and that the H Size and V Size stats actually update properly.

Controls

• 1P/2P Button 3: Exits the menu.

The other controls are identical to the object viewer menu.

Running Debug Tools#

Put this code in pulirula.xml to enable one of two running debug functions:

  <cheat desc="Running Debug Tools">
    <parameter>
      <item value="0x000021B6">Palette Editor</item>
      <item value="0x0003C328">Unknown Tool</item>
    </parameter>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@010C4=4EB9</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@010C6=param</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@010CA=6010</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.md@010C4=082D0002</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@010C8=AC146710</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Palette Debugger#

Allows the user to view and edit palettes on the fly. Put the following code in the XML and enable it to access the editor:

Controls

• 1P Left / Right: Moves the cursor.
• 1P Up / Down: Adjusts the selected RGB value.
• 1P Button 1 / Button 2: Switches between palettes.

Unknown Tool#

The three strings should say "Pattern No.", "Reverse", and "Silk Hat", but since this game doesn't have a lowercase font it mostly displays garbage text instead. "Reverse" is set to 01 after defeating a boss, but the other two parameters never change.

In all likelihood, this is a leftover tool from another game, but at this time it's not clear which game that would be.

Leftover Debug Text#

• Text for a possible map viewer starts at 0x0A06C. All four strings are referenced in a table at 0x0A05C, but the table itself is orphaned data.

SCROLL STOP  
SCROLL START 
 ROUND  CLR  
WANDER ENEMY1

• The following text starts at 0x1331E and all strings are referenced in a table at 0x132FA:

KABE 1       
KABE 2       
HITO 1       
HITO 2       
HITO 3       
HITO 4       
KUSARI       
HAGURUMA     
KABOCHA      

WALL 1       
WALL 2       
PERSON 1     
PERSON 2     
PERSON 3     
PERSON 4     
CHAIN        
GEAR         
PUMPKIN      

These are objects labels for Round 1: The two "wall" objects are mask sprites for the two doors, "person" would be the NPCs, "chain" and "gear" are both sprites used in the underground section, and "pumpkin" is what the power-up fairies are stored in.

Easter Eggs#

Title Screen Codes#

Wait for the title screen to stop animating, then enter one of the following codes using 1P's buttons:

(A is Attack, J is Jump, and S is Start.)

These codes and their associated messages are identical to two of the cheats in Bubble Bobble, but they don't actually do anything in this game.

High Score Names#

Like most Taito games, if the player tries to put the name SEX in the high score table, it will be overwritten by a different name. In this game, the game cycles between the replacement names SNO, YAS, YOS, and NIN.

Strangely, the game also filters the name MTJ, replacing it with --- if entered. "MTJ" would be Fukio Mitsuji, best known for designing Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands - and by this point had left Taito to do freelance work for other companies.

Lyrics#

After beating the game, during the last bits of dialogue before the credits, press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Right using 1P's joystick to display a set of lyrics on the bottom of the screen.

There's a hidden credit for these lyrics at 0x407D0:

 IT IS LOVE LYRIC 
  by TEDDY KOIKE 

Takahiko "Teddy" Koike was a programmer at Taito who also worked on Cameltry and Dynamite League.

Unused Round#

Put this code in pulirula.xml and enable it to replace Round 6 with an unused round layout:

  <cheat desc="Unused Round">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.md@0507C=000C0004</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@2758C=75C2</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@3802C=81B8</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.md@0507C=000BA284</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@2758C=8F7E</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@3802C=814C</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

(Disclaimer: The layout is the only thing left in the ROM. Object data, collision data, and camera data are all missing. The MAME cheat above changes the object and collision pointers to null data to make the round, such as it is, easier to traverse.)

This round is a glacial area with giant snowflakes on the ground and massive ice spires in the back. The OST has a BGM for a "snowfield" stage as Round 8 - which fits the theme of this unused area - though that track's placement in the actual game comes directly after Round 6.

Three of the 128×128 chunks here use incorrect palette assignments, and one of the chunks near the end was repurposed for Round 6. Blocks with the kanji 謎, or "mystery", mark where unfinished scenery-based chunks would go.

Unused Objects#

Alternate Puppeteer Fight#

Put the following code in MAME's pulirula.xml cheat file and enable it to swap the boss fight at the end of Round 1 with an earlier version:

  <cheat desc="Alt Puppeteer Fight">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.md@27866=000D000F</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.md@27866=0013000A</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

• The hitbox for the early puppeteer is broken; its horizontal position is correct, but its Y position is always at the bottom of the screen. To be able to hit it at all, the player needs to scroll the screen up all the way before the fight begins.
• The early puppeteer is able to jump in place, while in the final game he's always moving back and forth.
• The early puppeteer can only move in the four cardinal directions, but in the final fight he's able to move diagonally.
• The puppeteer always spins three times, while in the final game he spins one to two times.
• Each spin lasts 22 frames in the earlier fight and 16 frames in the final fight.
• The puppeteer doesn't have the jumping and spinning attack that he has in the final fight.
• The puppeteer gets stunned every time he's hit in the earlier fight.
• The puppeteer needs at least 15 HP for his palette to display properly. The final puppeteer only has 10 HP.

• The biggest difference: At the end of the fight, the puppeteer is transformed into a random animal...then the puppet boss fight from Round 6 starts! In this version of the boss fight, the puppet only has 5 HP. Otherwise, this is identical to the puppet boss fight from Round 6, including the puppet dropping the time key and two pumpkins after it's defeated.

Crystal Animals#

Put the following code in pulirula.xml and enable it to spawn a set of crystallized animals at the start of Round 2:

  <cheat desc="Crystal Animals">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@2796C=00D0</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27970=0050</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27972=0002001C</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@2797E=0110</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27982=0040</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27984=0002001D</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27990=0130</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27994=0050</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27996=0002001E</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@279A2=0160</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@279A6=0050</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@279A8=0002001F</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@2796C=01D0</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27970=0020</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27972=00010000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@2797E=01D0</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27982=0030</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27972=00010000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27990=0070</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@27994=0020</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27972=00010000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@279A2=0070</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@279A6=0030</action>
      <action>maincpu.md@27972=00010000</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

There's a squirrel, a monkey, a deer, and a tiger. They were meant to be placed in a cut area of Round 2 - see the unused text section for details. They're just decorative objects and as such have no hitboxes.

Fountain#

Place the following code in the XML and enable it to spawn a large fountain at the start of Round 5:

  <cheat desc="Round 5 Fountain">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.md@28986=01C0FFE0</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@2898E=0020</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.md@28986=00100000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@2898E=0013</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

This dried-up fountain would reinforce the parched nature of the frozen town. Like the crystallized animals, it has no hitbox, which means that the player can just phase right through it.

Unused Graphics#

Frame Names: BL_P1M01, BL_P2M01.

Petrified versions of Zac and Mel. There aren't any enemies in the game that can freeze players like this. Perhaps these forms were intended to be triggered by the cut "crystal medusa" enemy?

Frame Names: BL_GGA2, BL_GGA3, BL_GGB1.

The old man has unused animations for handing something over (meant for the story sequence in attract mode) and for turning around (meant for the opening of Round 1 as Zac and Mel exit his house).

Frame Names: BL_MDK1 to BL_MDK11.

A skull-shaped smoke cloud that would bite down on the player. There's no palette that fits this in the ROM, so this is just a mockup.

Frame Names: BL_SHOCKF1, BL_SHOCKF2.

A standard exclamation graphic. Plenty of opportunities to use it in this game, but surprisingly(!), it never shows up.

Frame Names: BL_TYPSTAT, BL_TYPCONT, BL_TYPOVER, BL_TYPBOSC

Multiple graphics using the same font as the one seen in the bonus stage of Round 5. The game uses the standard font for the continue and game over screens, and doesn't display any text for starting or clearing rounds.

Frame Names: BL_E01WDB1 to BL_E01WDB6, BL_E01WUB1 to BL_E01WUB6.

An alternate, more menacing design for the mechanical soldiers seen throughout the game. Features a pointier, executioner-style hood and sunken eyes.

Frame Names: BL_UNAT1 to BL_UNAT4.

The jellyfish don't have any attacks in-game, opting to just float into the player instead, but it does have an animation for some kind of lashing or latching attack.

Frame Name: N/A

Background patch sprites that match the style of Round 6.

In-Game	Intended

These are supposed to be used at the very start of the stage, and there's clearly space made for these sprites in the background itself, but the game just leaves that space blank instead.

In-Game	Full	Original

Frame Name: N/A

There's a strange, garishly-colored image that appears just above the drop to the boss arena in Round 6. While normally covered up by a foreground layer, there's a full 320×256 image underneath that layer. Some details that are normally covered up are all of the trees and most of the landscape on the left, most of the lion's lower body, and some of the clouds and sky in the upper-left. The bottom 32 pixels worth of content is just a reflection of the top image.

This is directly based off of a woodcut from the Philosophia reformata, itself based on Illustration 18 of the Rosary of the Philosophers. For some reason, the version used in PuLiRuLa gives the lion a unicorn horn.

Unused Audio#

Music#

Sound Effects#

These sound effects are unused. Don't that beat all?

Unused Text#

'...But does it make sense?' The translations on this page need to be proofread. If you are fluent enough in this language, please make any corrections necessary!

To see all of this text in-game requires a fair bit of setup. First, put the following code in pulirula.xml to switch between English (World) and Japanese text:

  <cheat desc="Region Switch">
    <parameter>
      <item value="0x0003">World</item>
      <item value="0x0001">Japan</item>
    </parameter>
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0 =maincpu.mw@7FFFE</action>
    </script>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@7FFFE=param</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
     <action>maincpu.mw@7FFFE=temp0</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Some lines of text are referenced in unused dialogue boxes. Put the following code in the XML file and enable it to replace the dialogue at the start of Round 4 with unused dialogue:

  <cheat desc="Unused Dialogue">
    <parameter>
      <item value="0x0001">Dialogue 01</item>
      <item value="0x0002">Dialogue 02</item>
      <item value="0x0003">Dialogue 03</item>
      <item value="0x000F">Dialogue 0F</item>
      <item value="0x0010">Dialogue 10</item>
      <item value="0x0011">Dialogue 11</item>
    </parameter>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@282BE=param</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
     <action>maincpu.mw@282BE=0x0005</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

However, the majority of unused text is unreferenced. Place and enable this code in the XML to replace the old man's first line in Round 1 with an unused line:

  <cheat desc="Text Replacement - JP">
    <script state="run">
     <action>maincpu.md@0CDD6=0x0002E0FA</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
     <action>maincpu.md@0CDD6=0x0002DC5A</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

  <cheat desc="Text Replacement - EN">
    <script state="run">
     <action>maincpu.md@0CDE6=0x00031F76</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
     <action>maincpu.md@0CDE6=0x000315C4</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Including pointers for all unused lines would make these codes far too unwieldy; to see more, replace either "2E0FA" (JP) or "31F76" (EN) with the appropriate Japanese or English text offset.

A few notes:

• The dialogue box code defines the color of the message window on a line-by-line basis. This means that unreferenced lines have no color data.
• In the Japanese script, there are certain lines that change depending on who's currently in the game. The first line is used for Zac and co-op games, while the second line is only used in a solo Mel game.

In the final game, this feature is only used twice: Once at the end of Round 1, and again at the end of Round 2. The English script doesn't use this feature at all.

• Some lines from the final script have been included here for context.

Traveler#

This traveler character only appears at the start of Round 1 and has a single line of dialogue. However, unused text hints that he would have shown up in Rounds 2, 3, and 4:

There are no lines for Round 5 (time is frozen there, so it wouldn't make sense for him to be walking around) or Round 6 (the final round, so he wouldn't have anything to say).

Round 1#

All NPCs at the start of Round 1 have extra dialogue. This is an extra line for the mother...

...and one for her daughter. Both of these lines would have been used after the puppeteer invaded, meaning that the NPCs either weren't planned to run away at the start, or they'd be encountered again later in the round.

The grandmother and her grandchild are the only NPCs in Round 1 that can't be interacted with, even though they have lines in the script.

Dialogue for a seemingly removed NPC.

Either there was supposed to be a shop system in this game (Highly unlikely, since there's no currency or items in this game, and there aren't any messages for purchasing an item) or this would have been used after the puppeteer enters that building in the middle of Round 1.

A cut conversation between the puppeteer and the player(s) that would have played out at some point before entering the underground area. The first English line is referenced in dialogue 11, but the Japanese line is not.

Some extra lines from the players before the first boss fight. Not that important, so they were a good choice to cut.

A longer conversation that would play out after beating the puppeteer. Pretty much unnecessary, since all of the information presented here would be restated once the players go back above ground.

Round 2#

Just the player characters pontificating at the start of the stage.

Text from a cut area, the same one in which the unused crystal animals would appear. The window color is used by talking animals, so this would have appeared after beating a group of enemies.

While "Crystal Medusa" was cut from the final game, she does appear on the cover of the game's OST! She was replaced by a balding hydrocephalic smoocher in red boots that shoots eye lasers.

A conversation between Crystal Medusa and the player(s). In the final game, the Round 2 boss is the only one without pre-fight dialogue.

While Crystal Medusa would have been a transformed animal, the final big-headed boss is a transformed fur trapper.

Round 3#

An appropriate reaction to the start of Round 3, but it's not really necessary.

An unused line that only appears in the English script. In the final game, both the Japanese and English scripts recycle a line from the game's intro: "Leave me to do it."

Without the player's line setting him up, the boss's dialogue makes a little less sense.

The final two extraneous lines of the end-of-round dialogue were cut to trim some of the fat from the game.

Round 4#

Dialogues 07 and 08 are null in both the English and Japanese scripts; the IDs are between the Round 4 intro text and the Round 4 ending text. While there's no text in this range in the Japanese script, the English script does have a few extra lines.

The first line would presumably have been used for some kind of oasis in the desert.

What should be dialogue 08 is this pre-fight conversation between Yuuyuu the snail and the player characters.

Round 5#

Cut dialogue referencing one of the cut traveler lines. The ground's still dried up and cracked, but it's not commented upon.

A simple line, and appropriate for this round, but it's not clear who would say it or where it would be said. The window color is used by human NPCs, but there are no NPCs in this round.

The pre-boss fight conversation was trimmed down to the point of being incomprehensible; only the first and last lines were kept in the final game.

Would have been said by Zac and/or Mel before the water starts flowing again. The villagers' and keeper's shocked expressions are sufficient enough to convey how weird this is, so the lines were cut.

Miscellaneous#

At 0x0B03A is the following placeholder attract mode text with another instance of the early game title, "Lyric":

LYRIC
INSERT
COIN
BEST 5

There's a temp ending message at 0x0ECD4:

ENDING MESSAGE

Regional Differences#

Japan	World

In the Japanese version, there is a pair of legs in Round 3 with a door in the middle. The door can be opened by the player to reveal outer space, with a pink elephant shooting out of the door, and the player gets 1,000 points.

All of this was removed from the World version... which turned out to be quite a pointless change, as they still show up in the game’s ending.

References#