Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye (SNES)

Old world tile-matching Shanghai.

Unused Song#

An unused song was likely intended for an additional in-game BGM. It is unknown why the song was cut. ROM address 00C15D05 will replace the title screen music.

Regional Differences#

Intro#

JP '92	US+EU+JP '94

The company logos are updated as necessary across releases. The Japanese versions also have low rumbling & thunderclap sound effects as the dragon flies through the clouds. The sound effects are ommited in the Western versions, with only music playing.

Title Screen#

JP '92	US+EU	JP '94

The game is entitled Shanghai II in Western releases & Super Shanghai in Japanese ones. Publisher Hot-B eventually went bankrupt in 1993, prompting Activision to publish a minor revision of the game themselves in Japan. Copyright & licensing information is updated accordingly across releases.

Dragon's Eye Quickstart#

In Super Shanghai, if the L or R button is held before pressing Start at the title screen, the player can immediately start a game of Dragon's Eye instead of the usual Shanghai.

In-Game Menu#

Super Shanghai (JP)	Shanghai II (US, EU)

The Western versions use black & white menu theme with blue & yellow text, while the Japanese versions use purple & green with white text. The Help menu tab is also simply known as Shanghai (上海) in the Japanese versions. Western versions place the Wild Tile option under the Help menu & the Replay option under Games, whereas these options are elsewhere in the Japanese versions (Replay under Shanghai, Wild Tile under Options). In the Japanese versions, Wild Tile (万能牌) is a toggle that doesn't take effect until the next game is started and can be switched off beforehand should the player have second thoughts. In the Western versions, selecting Wild Tile immediately starts a new game.

Peek Mode#

Exclusive to Super Shanghai is Peek Mode (ピークモード), which allows the player to select any two unblocked tiles to remove them from the board. It is found under the Options (設定) panel. The cursor turns yellow to denote that the mode is currently on. Once Peek Mode is switched on, it cannot be switched off without starting a new game or remaking the current one. Clearing all tiles this way will not produce a win screen. It cannot be selected in a two-player game or during Tournament mode.

Layout Menu#

JP '92	US+EU	JP '94

Pink text is used for layout names in the Japanese '92 release, only turning yellow for the highlighted selection. All other versions always have the text in yellow instead. The Japanese releases also have a Hot-B tile layout available for play, though the '94 release obscures the Hot-B listing with Shanghai kanji for whatever reason.

Hot-B Tile Layout#

In addition to the other boards, Super Shanghai also has a Hot-B tile layout, exclusive to these versions. Like the Shanghai layout, the Hot-B layout does not appear in Tournament mode.

Corrupted Animation#

To do: Proper graphic rips + explanation of what goes wrong on the programming side.

Shanghai II	Super Shanghai

One of the animations under the Fantasy tileset contains corrupted frames in Western versions; the animation plays properly in Japanese versions.