Unveiling the Enigma: Navigating the Labyrinth of Cheat Codes in Master System Games

Intro

The Master System, with its array of games and intricate gameplay, offers a compelling promise of codes that can grant players invincibility, unlock hidden levels, or bestow an arsenal of power-ups. The allure of these codes is undeniable, at least for me, yet the path to discovering them is shrouded in mystery and challenge. The sheer magnitude of possible combinations is staggering, showcasing game developers' ingenuity and gaming mechanics' complexity.

By talking to one of the most notorious gamer developers from SEGA (Mr. Ryuichi Nishizawa) in Master System Golden Age, it became clear that the codes were not intended to cheat the game but actually were for testing and debugging. However, these codes were never removed before the game's release.

Consider this: even the seemingly most uncomplicated cheat codes require an exact sequence of button inputs. The most modest codes found in public corners of the internet might demand as few as five commands. Let's crunch the numbers: with at least seven options for each input (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, B1, B2, PAUSE), the number of potential combinations explodes exponentially. A quick calculation reveals that five raised to the power of seven (5^7) translates to 78.125 possibilities. Also, I'm not counting the possibility of each cheat code being triggered in a specific pixel coordinate, which can be up to 256x224(PAL). According to Google, it tends to infinity if we consider the pixel location: 57.344^78.125.

Another point is that I'm not counting on the possibility of diagonals. On October 5, I found that Kenseiden uses the up-left diagonal to enable the level selection. Considering it, the number of inputs increases from seven to eleven. Thinking about the smaller cheat code, the math would be 5^11. It's 48.828.125 possibilities, not counting pixel locations.

Last but not least, remember that there is a second joystick. ??

Backing to the numbers, Sega ended the Master System production in 1989 and released about 500 games. However, about 190 (actually 189) do not have cheat codes, or they still need to be discovered.

Methodology

Based on the possibilities, this is the methodology I used during the research:

• Seven inputs: UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, PAUSE, B1, B2
• Minimum of 4 inputs
• Maximum 25 inputs
• The candidate codes were tested on the following: Presentation screen - Joystick 1 and 2Start screen - Joystick 1 and 2Menus and all their options - Joystick 1 and 2, Pause (if applicable)Paused game - Joystick 1 and 2
• In some cases, reverse engineering.
• Memory increasing monitoring
• Memory decreasing monitoring

Memory diff monitoring generates too many false positives, which I excluded from the tests.

*This research is unrelated to the game's direct memory manipulation, also known as Action Replay Codes.

Resources (Software and hardware)

• Mult platform emulators: Bizwalk, Emulucious
• Lua script for brute-forcing candidate codes from Bernado Rodrigues modified to fit Master System purposes?
• Auxiliary Lua script for candidate validation.
• Auxiliary Lua script to perform automated actions.
• Joystick Nacon.

Finally, something nice!

Having extracted the list from https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/sms/category/999-all, I created a table and sorted it to isolate the games devoid of public cheat codes. I thoroughly examined every game featured on the list and employed the described approach through each title. This process was long, tiring, and frustrating until I loaded the James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing game after weeks of research.

Executing the Lua brute forcer on the fight speed menu yielded the long-awaited breakthrough: A potential cheat code candidate! Leveraging the support of the auxiliary Lua script, I replicated and validated this discovery. My first step after hitting the code involved digging into the internet to confirm the originality of my findings. While existing cheat codes did indeed exist for this game, it became evident that they were tailored for a different platform, distinct from the Master System, and characterized by an entirely disparate input sequence.

Now, I present my discovery:

Upon reaching the fight speed selection screen, execute this sequence on joystick 2:?

?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??

An uppercase T will pop up in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Following are the cheat codes publically available from the sources: https://www.smspower.org/Cheats/HeavyweightChamp-SMS and https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/sms/570243-james-buster-douglas-knockout-boxing/cheats

At the Speed Select screen, hold down button 2 and press it ?? ????.

Observe how even the screen differs from that of the Master System game.

33 years after

In short, released in 1990, this game's cheat code remained concealed until its revelation in 2023, covering this secret for 33 years.

WonderBoy III aka Turma da M?nica em: O Resgate

Upon executing the Lua script more detailed than the methodology scope, I recalled the game's password feature. This realization prompted me to do a small reverse engineering. During this exploration, I encountered several passwords, yet regrettably, they were all in the public domain until now. Yet, after several hours of digging into hex codes and the Bizhawk debugger, my efforts were a little bit fruitful. I got the password: NU45 230 1234 7TN. However, unfortunately, this password is not interesting, as it just freezes the game. Also, there are more with the same behavior. Another intriguing fact is that even this particular password cannot be readily discovered through Google searches.?

However, it is feasible to generate this password utilizing the following website: https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Cheats/WonderBoyIII-SMS-passwords.html.

Someone has launched a nice reverse engineering effort to disclose the logic under the hood for the password generation process.

The Game Is Not Over!

Stay tuned, as I'm currently working on the second phase of this research, where I'll unlock even more gaming mysteries and share this newfound knowledge with all fellow enthusiasts. Thank you for being a part of this exciting quest, and feel free to send me any ideas! ???