The hottest Console hardware Substack posts right now

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Extending the demo: Motor Toon Grand Prix 2 (PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 43 implied HN points • 20 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. The DemoDemo disc contains a pre-final Motor Toon Grand Prix 2 build that hides most content behind menu and timer limits, but the game data for all characters, most modes, and an extra course is actually present.
  2. A small patch flips menu status bytes and removes the five‑minute demo timer, unlocking Single Race, Time Attack, Two‑Player Battle, seven extra characters, and the extra Toon Island II course so you can explore the prototype.
  3. The prototype differs from the final release in visible ways — different title screen, HUD layout, character names, lighting, handling, zoom levels, and messages — and it’s notable because one of the team members later went on to create Gran Turismo.

Under the microscope: Thunder Force V (Saturn, PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 87 implied HN points • 16 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. Both the Saturn and PlayStation releases have a title-screen cheat code that unlocks a Course Select so you can start from later stages; the Saturn sequence requires very fast input (15-frame timeout).
  2. On the Course Select screen, holding specific button combinations with Start selects stages 4–7 and gives weapons appropriate to the chosen course (different hold combos are used on Saturn vs. PlayStation).
  3. The codes were found by tracing the game's input handling in memory with tools like Cheat Engine and the Mednafen debugger; the game matches a timed button sequence to set a cheat flag and then reads held-button flags to alter the starting course, and the logic is the same on both versions.

Under the microscope: Croc & Croc 2 (PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 43 implied HN points • 09 Mar 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. Croc: Legend of the Gobbos hides two PlayStation button cheats: Triangle+Select on the main menu swaps "Enter Password" for "Credits", and holding Square then pressing Circle with Credits highlighted turns on an in-game coordinate display.
  2. Croc 2 on PlayStation also has previously undocumented title‑screen codes: one (held R1 + sequence) unlocks a music test in Sound Options, and another (held L1 + sequence) enables the staff credits.
  3. Reverse engineering shows the games detect these cheats by checking controller bitmasks and input sequences to set flag bits, and the feature set differs by platform (the Saturn build lacks the Croc 1 button cheats and the PC build lacks the coordinates HUD).

Under the microscope: Championship Motocross & Championship Motocross 2001 (PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 58 implied HN points • 25 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. Cheat-code websites often get listings wrong or mix up codes between game versions, so their guides aren’t always reliable.
  2. You can reliably discover hidden cheats by entering a unique name, scanning memory for that string, and tracing the game code that checks it to see what unlocks it triggers.
  3. The two Motocross games handle cheats differently: the original uses inverted strings (for example, SMASHER unlocks everything) while the 2001 sequel checks plain text names like DIRTTRAK and ALLEVENT to open tracks and classes.

Under the microscope: Roadsters (Dreamcast, PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 87 implied HN points • 28 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. The same game uses completely different cheat systems on each platform, so the N64, Dreamcast, and PlayStation versions each have unique ways to unlock hidden features and content.
  2. On Dreamcast, pressing face buttons on the title screen fills a buffer and matching specific eight-button sequences triggers secrets; these unlock a Pong mini-game, extra goofy cars, a free-flight camera, five turbo boosts, the staff roll, and one sequence that appears to do nothing.
  3. On PlayStation, two distinct eight-button title-screen sequences give big rewards: one sets your Roadster Trophy cash to ten million and the other unlocks Category A/B cars, and entering both also marks several championship trophies as completed.
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Under the microscope: Hyper Duel & Blast Wind (Saturn)

Rings of Saturn • 72 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. Both Saturn shooters, Hyper Duel and Blast Wind, hide a Freeplay mode that you can unlock from the Options/DIP Switch screen by entering a special button sequence. Hyper Duel: hold L+R and press Up, Right, Down, Left, A, Y, C, Start; Blast Wind: hold L+R+A+C+Y and press Up, Left, Down, Right, X, B, Z, Start.
  2. Flipping DIP switch number 5 turns on Freeplay in both games, giving unlimited credits or continues once the cheat sequence is accepted.
  3. Reverse-engineering with the Mednafen debugger and Ghidra shows the games check held-button bits (L+R and extra buttons) and increment a counter for the sequence; when the counter reaches the expected value the code enables the Freeplay option.

Under the microscope: Lode Runner: The Legend Returns & Lode Runner Extra (Saturn)

Rings of Saturn • 43 implied HN points • 19 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. Both Saturn Lode Runner games hide easy-to-use name-entry cheats: entering SPECIAL! (or SPECIAL?) and holding L at start opens a bonus stage, and entering a name as " PATRA" then pausing and inputting Up, Up, Down, Down, Right, Left, Right, Left, Y, X, Y, X jumps you to the ending and staff roll.
  2. Lode Runner Extra has extra unique codes too — entering SATURNSUPER then holding R at start loads a different bonus level (the Saturn Super demo disc stage) — and a GODAI@TECHARTS string is present in the code but only partially implemented in The Legend Returns.
  3. The cheats are implemented as ASCII name checks, which made them straightforward to find by reverse engineering, and the NTSC-U PlayStation release includes the SPECIAL! code but not the same credits-skip button sequence.

Under the microscope: Steam-Heart's (Saturn)

Rings of Saturn • 72 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. The Saturn port includes NSFW interstage scenes that are less explicit than the PC-98 original but can still be disturbing or offensive.
  2. Multiple undocumented cheats work from the title screen by holding button combos and pressing Start — e.g., A+B unlocks all stages and extras, X+Y+Z disables enemies, L+R shows hit boxes, A+C upgrades weapons — and an old invincibility code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A) is also known.
  3. Reverse engineering with Ghidra shows the game checks controller bitmasks to set bits in a cheat_flags variable and a stages_available value at specific memory addresses, and there’s an A+X code path that sets a flag which appears unused.

Under the microscope: Ultraman: Legendary Giant of Light (Saturn)

Rings of Saturn • 29 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. The game hides a title‑screen cheat sequence that unlocks effects like wireframe rendering, turning off the HUD, and random stage selection by holding certain buttons in VS mode.
  2. Additional codes add a Stage Select screen and a third sequence that lets the CPU control player one and enables a finicky free‑camera you can tweak during gameplay.
  3. Under the hood, three similar input routines watch for those button sequences and set memory flags and counters, and an Action Replay code can unlock the Movie Room by flipping the progress flags.

Under the microscope: Urban Chaos (Dreamcast)

Rings of Saturn • 58 implied HN points • 29 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. The Dreamcast build has hidden "fast cheats" you unlock by holding L+R and entering a specific button sequence (stored backwards as "Y R R A B Y R R A B"). Once enabled, hold L+R+Start and press Up/Down/Left/Right to restore health, spawn guns, spawn ammo, or show the character's position.
  2. There are several other in-game codes: one (A,B,X,Y) shows a silly message, another completes the current stage, and another toggles draw distance which you adjust with the analog stick. A few strings referenced in the source (like LARALARA and BLADDUR) are present in code but don’t work in the final release.
  3. Access to the game's source code (and simple reverse-engineering) is what revealed these cheats and how they operate. The PlayStation version doesn’t appear to include the same in-game cheats, though it does have a separate "all levels" cheat available from the menu and shown in source snapshots.

Under the microscope: Chaos Control (Saturn, PlayStation)

Rings of Saturn • 29 implied HN points • 25 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Console hardware
  1. The Saturn "Remix" (PAL and NTSC‑J reissue) has a mode‑select controller code that unlocks mirrored versions of the stages, which you then enable from Options → Level.
  2. The original Saturn release includes an invincibility code (A, C, X, Z, B, Y, R, L entered on the title screen) that prevents damage and can be toggled on/off by holding B, and
  3. The PlayStation release also has an invincibility code (L1+R1, L2+R2, L1, R1, L2, R2 on the title screen) that makes you invulnerable but cannot be toggled off.