Ultimate Stuntman

Bugs

Unused Jingle#

A jingle not used anywhere in the game. Game Genie code TEUUVIIA will play this track on the continue screen.

Unused Font#

This font is loaded into the PPU during the boss intro screen, but the text there is displayed using different, much larger characters.

Version Differences#

European Version#

Although the original US release already detects whether it's running on a PAL system and applies timing corrections accordingly, the game was revised for its release in Europe. Like other Codemasters NES game revisions of the time, most instances of the unsafe color value $0D for black were replaced with $0E, yet $0D still appears all over the title screens.

"Pegasus Golden Five" / Asian Version#

This game was also available on the "Pegasus Golden Five" famiclone multicart (also known as "Złota Piątka" and "Pegasus 5 in 1"), which was sold primarily in Poland. It was released in 1994, and it included five Codemasters games:

• Big Nose Freaks Out
• Micro Machines (first release)
• The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy (Blue version)
• Ultimate Stuntman
• Big Nose the Caveman

Although this version could be purchased in stores (in a Genesis-styled box with a manual), it's currently unclear whether it was actually licensed. According to the Oliver Twins, a similar famiclone release of the Quattro Arcade (also known as "Złota Czwórka" or "Pegasus 4 in 1", with a different menu system and selection of games compared to the official NES version) couldn't have been licensed straight from Codemasters.¹ However, the Polish importer (BobMark International, sellers of the Pegasus line of famiclones; the company later renamed to AGES s.c.) could have obtained the rights either from Camerica, or from Realtec/BIC, who produced some - if not all - of the Codemasters cartridges.² It might have been a similar story with the "Golden Five" multicart, but this can't be easily confirmed.

Of all of the games included on the "Pegasus Golden Five" multicart, only Ultimate Stuntman seems to be notably different. These changes make the game considerably more difficult.

• This multicart release omits the "Codemasters: Absolutely Brilliant!" intro screen. All other Codemasters and Camerica logos and copyright info remain intact. (other games on this compilation show this intro screen).
• The NES version fails to boot on famiclone (Dendy-like) consoles, hanging on a grey screen, apparently due to a bug in the video system detection routine.³ It works properly in the Golden Five version.
• Music tempo is not adjusted when run on a 50 Hz console.
• Many background scrolling effects are broken when this version is played on a standard PAL NES, flickering to black or incorrect graphics in cutscenes and stage introductions, while also suffering from an extreme slowdown. These portions of the game will appear correctly on both standard NTSC consoles and Dendy-style famiclones.
• The original release has unlimited continues, while this one has no continues at all.
• The high score is not shown on the continue / game over screen. The "Continue" and "Quit" options are missing completely. The score display is positioned higher to better fit the vacant space. This screen doesn't timeout, unlike the NES version which returns to the title screen after some time of user inactivity.

Original	Golden Five / Asia

• When waiting on the title screen, the NES versions will periodically switch to attract mode showing gameplay from various stages from the game. The Pegasus/Asia versions only do that once the title theme music finishes playing, and the only stage they show is 3-2. This stage is also shown in the NES version, but the gameplay input is different.
• The boss intro screen (displayed at the start of each world) shows some garbage graphics in the top row.

Original	Golden Five / Asia

• The original has 8 worlds, while this one has 9. The extra world has new level layouts, but no new graphics. The NES release's World 8 has been moved to World 9, with the "new" world taking its place.
  • Stage 8-1: Microlight Pursuit
  • Stage 8-2: Microlight Combat
  • Stage 8-3: The Human Fly (climbing a tree)
  • Main boss: Sand Yeti Mk3 (green palette)
• In the original release, your health is refilled between stages (except the main boss fights). In the "Golden Five" version, your health is only refilled at the start of each world.
• Some of the enemies have more hit points. It's especially evident in stage 1-2, where in the original version every enemy had one hit point - for example, in this release the blue robots take five hits to defeat.
• Dying on a main boss sends you back to the previous stage, instead of just restarting the boss fight.
• Surprisingly, some of the glitches don't seem to be present - either they were fixed for this release, or somehow introduced in the NES version. See the Bugs page for details.

Both versions show 1990 as the copyright date in-game, but the Codemasters intro screen (present only in the original) shows 1991 instead. It might be interesting to note that the 1990 date makes it (possibly) the earliest Codemasters NES game.

This version of the game was also present on at least some of the Asian market releases⁴, and this might be where it originates from.

References#