M.U.S.H.A.: Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor

M.U.S.H.A.: Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor
Also known as: Musha Aleste: Fullmetal Fighter Ellinor (JP) Developer: Compile Publishers: Toaplan (JP), Seismic (US) Platform: Genesis Released in JP: December 21, 1990 Released in US: December 20, 1990 Released in EU: July 17, 2009 (Wii Virtual Console) Released in AU: July 17, 2009 (Wii Virtual Console) This game has a hidden developer message. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has cheat codes. This game has a notes page

M.U.S.H.A.: Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor is a vertical-scrolling shooting game where you pilot a mecha in order to destroy your typical evil mechanical enemies... yeah, that's pretty much all there is to it, go shoot stuff!

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Notes

Hidden Text

This message in SHIFT-JIS text is located at 0x1B917 (JP) and 0x1BB19 (US):

special thanx to SEGA R&D #2 and R&D #9 
reference games.....assault suits LA**OS
/IMA*E F*G*T/AI* *US*ER/ZANAC/MAST*R of 
WE*PON/GHOS* BUS*ERS(ｳｿ)/reference books
.....68000 programmer's hand book/GAMEST
/GUN*AM S*NT*NEL/M.S.ERA/MS daizukan #2&
#3/

The source has no line breaks; a terminal width of 40 characters seems to fit reasonably well.

Sega R&D #2 was an internal team at Sega responsible for some of the best-known games on the Genesis and earlier, such as the Alex Kidd series, the Phantasy Star series, and the Shinobi series, among many others. Oddly, Sega R&D #9 is not known to have existed publicly until almost a decade later.

The "reference games" mentioned are:

• Assault Suit Leynos (NCS)
• Image Fight (Irem)
• Air Buster (Kaneko)
• Zanac (Compile)
• Master of Weapon (Taito)
• Ghostbusters (likely the Genesis game, as it was created by the same programmer; (ウソ) means "this is a joke" in this context)

The "reference books" mentioned are (likely):

• 68000 Programmer's Hand Book (68000プログラマーズ・ハンドブック) — Authored by Yukinori Shishikura and published by Gijutsu-Hyohron in 1986. (ISBN 4-87408-838-4)
• GAMEST — A Japanese gaming magazine focusing mostly on arcade games. Published from May 1986 through September 1999.
• Gundam Sentinel — A serial novel based on the Gundam franchise.
• M.S.ERA: 0001-0080 (M.S.ERA ガンダム戦場写真集) — A Gundam artbook presented as a collection of wartime photos. Published in March 1990. (ISBN 4-89189-474-1)
• MS Daizukan Part 2: Gryps War (機動戦士ガンダム MS大図鑑 PART.2 グリプス戦争編) — The second volume in Bandai's "Entertainment Bible" artbook series, focusing on Gundam. Published in March 1989. (ISBN 4-89189-018-5)
• MS Daizukan Part 3: Axis War (機動戦士ガンダム MS大図鑑 PART.3 アクシズ戦争編) — The third volume in the series. Published in June 1989. (ISBN 4-89189-019-3)

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Level Select

When the Sega logo fully appears, reset the game. Repeat this nine more times (for a total of ten resets), then let the game reach the title screen. Hold Down + Left and enter the options menu. The Level Select will replace the Sound Effect Test.

Alternatively, Pro Action Replay (PAR) code FFFE0C:FF can be used to enable the level select without having to perform the aforementioned process.

Cheat Mode

This cheat was more or less forgotten until September 2019, when it was released by the original programmer at a promotional event for the Sega Genesis Mini!

Boot up the game, wait for the Sega logo to appear, then press Reset. Repeat this 99 more times. After the 100th reset, let the game start properly. Once you're in the game, pause and press Up, Down, Left, Right, B, B, C, Up, Down, Left, Right, C, C, B, A, Start.

Now, using Controller 2 you can change your weapon level by pressing Up or Down, scroll through the weapon choices with B and C, and become invulnerable by mashing C.

(Source: Famitsu, GSK)

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Japan	International

The title screen was somewhat modified, of course.

Staff

Japan	International

Toshiaki Sakoda's pseudonym changed from "MR.SAKODA" to "WASHIJA".

Japan	International

The last tester's name is represented with a single kanji, "平", which can be read as "Taira". This is the only Japanese character in this particular font, suggesting it was added specially for this person. For the US version, the symbol was deleted to make room for some new punctuation marks, causing the name to be displayed as... a single apostrophe. Whoops.