SMB2 · SUPER MARIO BROS. 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 (American, NES 1988) — the Doki Doki Panic reskin — as a UD0 game-world. The four heroes, the vegetable pluck, Subcon, Wart. Source-themed with an animated canvas 2D title scene, full ACI badges.

SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 · SMB2 · UD0 ◄ UD0 · UNIVERSE DAVID 0 · PUSH START · A GAME-WORLD · NES 1988 four heroes · pluck the vegetables · seven worlds of a dream · SMB2 ★ Nintendo · NES 1988 · a reskin of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987) ★ The strangest mainline Mario: four heroes who don't stomp but pull turnips from the ground and throw them, crossing seven worlds of the dream-land Subcon to free it from the frog-king Wart — a Western reskin of Nintendo's 1987 Doki Doki Panic that quietly gave the Mario series Shy Guy, Birdo, Bob-omb and the rest, forever. Catalogued into UD0 as a game-world with the genesis, the quest, and the full .dlw birth — and an animated canvas 2D title scene. DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 — the dream of Subcon · SMB2 ⟦SUPER MARIO BROS. 2:SMB2:b63c5e⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this dream holds all four natural flesh and the dream-desert — the mortal heroes, the wardens, the recurring foes ethereal of the dream — Subcon itself, the masked, the floating princess, the frog-king spiritual of the soul beneath the skin — the mirror-world, and the true game under the reskin electrical of the wire and the machine — the fuse-creature, and the cartridge's own strange verb The Genesis the reskin: Doki Doki Panic, given a red cap Doki Doki Panic, Reskinned Japan 1987 → US 1988 The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (later released as 'The Lost Levels') was deemed too hard and too familiar for the West. So Nintendo reskinned its 1987 Fuji-TV game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic with Mario characters: Imajin→Mario, Mama→Luigi, Papa→Toad, Lina→Princess, and the villain Mamu→Wart. A Different Mario no stomping It plays unlike any other Mario: you don't stomp — you PLUCK vegetables from the ground and throw them, pick up and hurl enemies and blocks, and pour through doors into the dream-land of Subcon. Music by Koji Kondo; seven worlds, twenty levels. The Cast It Smuggled In the lasting gift Despite being a reskin, it introduced enemies now central to Mario — Shy Guy, Bob-omb, Pokey, Ninji, Snifit, Birdo — and the boss Wart. A 'fake' Mario game that permanently stocked the real one's bestiary. The Quest the dream door, the four heroes, the frog-king fed his vegetables The Dream Door into Subcon Mario dreams of a long staircase and a door; beyond it a voice begs for help — Subcon, the land of dreams, has been cursed. He wakes, and a letter and the dream both turn out to be real. Pluck, Lift, Throw the four heroes Choose Mario (balanced), Luigi (the high, floaty jump), the Princess (she floats), or Toad (fast and strong) — and cross seven worlds pulling turnips, riding Albatosses, drinking potions into Subspace, and fleeing the key-guarding Phanto. Wart & the Vegetables the finale At the top waits Wart, the frog-king who seized Subcon — and who hates vegetables. You beat him the only way the dream allows: by throwing the vegetables back down his throat. The Ideas why the odd-one-out Mario is so loved Plucked, Not Stomped the mechanic that makes it strange You harvest the ground for turnips and throw them — and you can pick up and throw almost anything, enemies included. The POW block, the potion-door to Subspace, the end-of-level slot machine: a Mario built from other parts. Four Heroes, Four Feels pick your body Mario is the baseline; Luigi flutters and jumps highest; the Princess hovers on her dress; Toad is fastest and digs strongest. The first time a Mario game let you BE Luigi, Peach, and Toad — each genuinely different to play. The Reskin That Stuck a fake that became canon It's Doki Doki Panic in a Mario coat — and yet Shy Guy, Birdo, Bob-omb and the rest became permanent Mario citizens. The most influential 'not really a Mario game' ever made. The Roster — The Born the four heroes, the dream, the foes, and the secret beneath, as ACI .agent s — each a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (13) Mario the balanced hero · was Imajin natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Luigi the high, floaty jump · was Mama natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Princess Toadstool she floats · was Lina ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Toad fastest & strongest · was Papa natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Wart the frog-king of Subcon · hates vegetables ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Birdo the egg-spitting dino · the recurring gate natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Shy Guy the masked walker · debuted here ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Bob-omb the walking bomb · the fuse made a creature electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Vegetable Pluck harvest, lift, throw — not stomp electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Subcon the land of dreams · the stage ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Subspace the mirror-world behind the potion door spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Doki Doki Panic the game beneath the game · the true self spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Bosses of Subcon Mouser · Tryclyde · Fryguy · Clawgrip natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the releases, the makers, and the legacy of the reskin The Releases the dream, ported Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic 1987 · Famicom Disk System the Fuji-TV original that Nintendo reskinned Super Mario Bros. 2 1988 · NES (US / PAL) the Western Mario reskin — the SMB2 most of the world knows Super Mario USA 1992 · Famicom the reskin sold back to Japan under a new name The Makers Nintendo Nintendo R&D developer / publisher produced by Shigeru Miyamoto Kensuke Tanabe director directed SMB2; devised Doki Doki Panic's concept Koji Kondo composer the Subcon and overworld themes The Legacy the reskin reborn Super Mario All-Stars 1993 · SNES the 16-bit remake (SMB2 included) Super Mario Advance 2001 · GBA the launch remake — bigger sprites, voices, Robirdo the bestiary permanent Shy Guy · Birdo · Bob-omb · Pokey · Ninji · Snifit — Mario staples ever since Super Mario Bros. 2 (American)'s history here is rendered, not invented. The load-bearing honest fact: it is a reskin of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (Fuji TV, 1987) — the Japanese SMB2 ("The Lost Levels") was held back from the West for difficulty, and Doki Doki Panic's family (Imajin / Mama / Papa / Lina) and villain (Mamu) were redrawn as Mario / Luigi / Toad / Princess and Wart. Despite that, it debuted Shy Guy, Bob-omb, Pokey, Ninji, Snifit and Birdo into the Mario series. Birdo's identity is catalogued from the NES manual's own note, stated neutrally. Super Mario Bros. 2 and its characters are © Nintendo; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not endorsed by the rights-holders. Each is named by its nature: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 · SMB2 · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


KRN · KARNOV

Karnov (KRN) — Data East's 1987 arcade / 1988 NES fire-breathing-strongman platformer as a UD0 game-world. Jinborov Karnovski, the Treasure of Babylon, the dragon Ryu. Source-themed title card, full ACI badges.

KARNOV · KRN · UD0 ◄ UD0 · UNIVERSE DAVID 0 · INSERT COIN · A GAME-WORLD · ARCADE 1987 / NES 1988 KARNOV DATA EAST · NES · 1988 · カルノフ · THE TREASURE OF BABYLON a strongman · a breath of fire · nine stages to the Treasure of Babylon · KRN ★ Data East · arcade 1987 · NES 1988 · カルノフ Karnov ★ Jinborov Karnovski — a bald, bare-chested ex-circus strongman — crosses an Arabian-Babylonian fantasy world with nothing but his breath of fire, collecting a row of power-ups and chasing the Lost Treasure of Babylon, until he meets the boss the cartridge swapped for the cabinet's. Data East's 1987 arcade / 1988 NES platformer, catalogued into UD0 as a game-world with the genesis, the quest, and the full .dlw birth. DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · KARNOV — the strongman & the Treasure of Babylon · KRN ⟦KARNOV:KRN:72060a⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this desert holds all four natural flesh and the desert — the mortal strongman, the fantasy world, the icon he became ethereal of sorcery and the beast — the wizard, the three-headed dragon, the swapped ending spiritual of the breath and the quest — the fire he throws, the treasure he chases electrical of the wire and the machine — the cartridge's own system: the stock-and-spend power-up row The Genesis Data East's strongman, home twice, and the boss the NES swapped Data East's Strongman arcade · 1987 Data East built and published Karnov (カルノフ) — January 1987 in Japan, March in North America — a 9-stage side-scrolling action-platformer. The hero was modeled on a Data East director, Koji Jinbo (credited in the staff roll as 'JIMBOLOHU'). Home, Twice Famicom 1987 / NES 1988 Ported to the Famicom on Dec 18 1987 and the NES in January 1988 (SAS Sakata handled the programming). The console version gave Karnov 2 hits before death, redesigned stages 4 and 8, swapped some items — and changed the final boss. The Boss Swap Wizard → Dragon In the arcade the final boss is THE WIZARD. On the NES it was replaced with a giant three-headed dragon named Ryu. Honest note: 竜 just means 'dragon,' and Street Fighter's Ryu (Aug 1987) actually predates this one — the shared name is coincidence. The Quest the lost treasure, the fire and the power-ups, the boss at the end The Lost Treasure the quest Karnov — Jinborov Karnovski, an ex-circus strongman and fire-breather — sets out across an Arabian-Babylonian fantasy world to recover the Lost Treasure of Babylon. Fire and Power-Ups the climb Nine stages, fought with his breath of FIRE (upgradeable to double and then triple) and a row of collectible power-ups — boots, wings, bombs, the clapper, the shield — picked up and stocked along the way. The Boss at the End the finale At the last stage waits the boss — the Wizard in the arcade, the three-headed dragon Ryu on the NES — and the treasure beyond it. The Ideas why a 1987 fire-breather still has a fanbase The Power-Up Row stock and spend The signature look: a row of items across the top of the screen — collect them, stock them, deploy them. Boots double your jump, wings carry you through stage 8, the clapper clears the screen, the shield eats five hits. Breath of Fire the strongman's weapon No sword, no gun — Karnov spits fire, and the Super Fireball upgrades it to double then triple. A bald, bare-chested circus strongman as an action hero: pure Data East. Karnov Became the Mascot bigger than his game The fire-breather outlived his own game to become Data East's recurring face. A boss in Bad Dudes (1988), the final boss of Fighter's History (1993), playable in its 1994 sequel. The Roster — The Born the strongman, the fire, the bosses, and the prize, as ACI .agent s — each a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (8) Karnov Jinborov Karnovski · the fire-breathing strongman natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Fire his breath · double, then triple spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Ryu, the Three-Headed Dragon the NES-exclusive final boss ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Wizard the arcade's final boss · swapped on NES ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Treasure of Babylon the lost prize · the reason spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Power-Up Row Super Fireball · Boots · Wings · Clapper · Shield… electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Data East Mascot Karnov beyond Karnov natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Babylon the Arabian-fantasy world natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the releases, the makers, and the mascot career The Releases arcade to NES カルノフ · Karnov 1987 · arcade (Data East) the original — January JP, March NA Karnov 1987 · Famicom / 1988 · NES the home port (SAS Sakata programmed) — 2 hits, redesigned stages, the dragon boss the differences arcade vs NES NES: a Spike Bomb & a Shield item, redesigned stages 4 & 8, and the Wizard swapped for a three-headed dragon The Makers Data East Data East developer / publisher arcade and console SAS Sakata NES programming the Famicom / NES port Koji Jinbo the model the Data East director Karnov was based on ('JIMBOLOHU' in the credits) The Mascot Career Karnov beyond Karnov Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja 1988 · boss Karnov is the first-level boss; a green palette-swap returns as a regular enemy Fighter's History 1993 · final boss the strongman as the fighting game's last opponent Karnov's Revenge 1994 · playable Fighter's History Dynamite — Karnov joins the roster Karnov's history here is rendered, not invented. Honest flags: the arcade's final boss is The Wizard ; the NES swapped it for a three-headed dragon named Ryu — and despite the shared name, this dragon does not predate Street Fighter's Ryu (Aug 1987 vs the Famicom Karnov's Dec 1987; 竜 simply means 'dragon'). The treasure is the Lost Treasure of Babylon ; the hero's exact origin (Russian vs 'Central Asian') is given two ways by the sources; and most stage bosses beyond the final one are unnamed in canonical sources. Karnov and his characters are © Data East / G-Mode; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not endorsed by the rights-holders. Each is named by its nature: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. KARNOV · KRN · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


WBM · WRATH OF THE BLACK MANTA

Wrath of the Black Manta (WBM) — Taito's 1990 NES ninja game (A.I Co.; Japan's Ninja Cop Saizou, 1989) as a UD0 game-world. The Black Manta vs DRAT; El Toro; the kidnapped children. Source-themed title card, full ACI badges.

WRATH OF THE BLACK MANTA · WBM · UD0 ◄ UD0 · UNIVERSE DAVID 0 · INSERT COIN · A GAME-WORLD · NES 1990 WRATH OF THE BLACK MANTA TAITO · A.I CO · NES · 1990 · 忍者COPサイゾウ the lone ninja vs DRAT · five stages · one stolen child at the top · WBM ★ A.I Co. · Taito · NES 1990 · 忍者COPサイゾウ "Ninja Cop Saizou," Famicom 1989 ★ A nameless ninja infiltrates the syndicate DRAT to rescue the children it has stolen — earning a new ninjutsu art at every boss, interrogating the goons he catches, and finding at the top the mastermind El Toro holding the last child as a shield. Taito's 1990 NES rework of Japan's Ninja Cop Saizou, catalogued into UD0 as a game-world with the genesis, the backstory, and the full .dlw birth. DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · WRATH OF THE BLACK MANTA — the ninja & DRAT · WBM ⟦WRATH OF THE BLACK MANTA:WBM:03197b⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this night holds all four natural flesh and the night street — the mortal ninja, the syndicate, the taken children ethereal of the unseen — the ninjutsu arts, the occult boss, the shadow's craft spiritual of the vow and the calling — the lone blade, the discipline of the shadow electrical of the wire and the machine — the cartridge's own gimmick: the interrogation The Genesis A.I Co. built it; Taito localized it — the rework of Ninja Cop Saizou From Ninja Cop Saizou Japan · Nov 17 1989 Developed by A.I Co. and published in Japan by Kyugo as 忍者COPサイゾウ — Ninja Cop Saizou — starring the ninja-cop Saizou (named for the legendary ninja Kirigakure Saizō). A side-scrolling ninja action game in the Shinobi / Rolling Thunder mold. Localized & Rewritten NA · April 1990 Taito brought it West as Wrath of the Black Manta — heavily reworked: new graphics, new soundtrack, new level designs, and a changed story. The hero loses his name (now just 'the Black Manta'); the villains' war-profiteering becomes a drug ring. The Shinobi Lineage the ninja boom Part of the late-'80s ninja-action wave — throwing stars, a katana, collectible ninjutsu 'arts' — closer to Shinobi than Ninja Gaiden, with one novelty all its own: you interrogate the people you catch. The Backstory & The Quest DRAT takes the children, the ninja's long night, the human-shield finale DRAT Takes the Children the crime DRAT — Drug Runners And Terrorists — abducts children (in the Western story, to raise them into drug dealers). One of them, Taro, is a student at the Black Manta's master's dojo. The ninja goes in alone. Infiltrate, Star by Star the long night Five stages of Shinobi-style ninja action — shuriken, sword, and a new ninja art earned after each boss — through DRAT's soldiers toward the giant Tiny, the Voodoo Warrior, and the rest. El Toro & the Human Shield the finale At the top waits El Toro — 'the Bull,' DRAT's mastermind. In the last fight he holds Taro as a human shield: the child you came to save, standing between you and the boss. The Ideas why a middling 1990 ninja game is still remembered The Interrogation the famous gimmick Walk into a red gang member and the view zooms in — you grab and interrogate him for intel. Honest: it's near-useless — most goons just mouth off and tell you nothing. A signature novelty more than a tool. The Ninja Arts ninjutsu, earned Beyond the shuriken you collect special techniques — a new 'ninja art' after each boss. Chosen from the Start menu; the game's whole power curve is its growing arsenal of arts. Two Stories, One Cartridge the localization seam The Japanese Saizou fights a ring that kidnaps children for war and arms-dealing. The American Manta fights one that makes them drug dealers — same game, the motive rewritten for the West. The Roster — The Born the ninja, the syndicate, the child, and the night's bosses, as ACI .agent s — each a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (8) The Black Manta the ninja cop · Saizou (nameless in the West) spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → El Toro the Bull · DRAT's mastermind natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → DRAT Drug Runners And Terrorists · the syndicate natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Taro the dojo child · the last rescue, the human shield natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Ninja Arts ninjutsu · a new technique per boss ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Interrogation grab the red goon, zoom in, learn (almost) nothing electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Tiny the giant · the ironic name natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Voodoo Warrior the witch-doctor boss ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the releases, the makers, and how it landed The Releases Famicom to NES 忍者COPサイゾウ · Ninja Cop Saizou 1989 · Famicom (Kyugo) the Japanese original — the ninja-cop Saizou Wrath of the Black Manta 1990 · NES (Taito · NA) the reworked Western localization Europe 1991 · NES (Taito) the PAL release The Makers A.I Co. & Taito A.I Co. developer who actually built the game (Taito published, did not develop) Kyugo JP publisher Ninja Cop Saizou, 1989 Taito NA / EU publisher Wrath of the Black Manta, 1990–91 The Record how it landed Shinobi-adjacent ninja action the style side-scrolling stars-and-sword, plus the zoom-in interrogation interludes mixed reviews the reception EGM ~6/6/6/7; retrospectives middling — clunky combat, the pointless interrogation gimmick the interrogation the legacy remembered mostly for the novelty mechanic that almost never worked Wrath of the Black Manta's history here is rendered, not invented. Honest flags: the game was developed by A.I Co. (Taito published) and is the Western rework of the Famicom's Ninja Cop Saizou (1989) — the Japanese story kidnaps children for war/arms-dealing, the U.S. version for drugs (a localization rewrite). The interrogation mechanic is genuine but famously near-useless. Taro is a kidnapped child, not the hero (a common mix-up). And the bosses beyond El Toro — Tiny , the Voodoo Warrior — are fan/guide-level names, not strongly manual-canonical, and are catalogued as such. Wrath of the Black Manta and its characters are © Taito / Square Enix; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not endorsed by the rights-holders. Each is named by its nature: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. WRATH OF THE BLACK MANTA · WBM · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


FAX · FAXANADU

Faxanadu (Hudson Soft / Nintendo, NES 1989; Famicom 1987) — Famicom + Xanadu, a side-story of Falcom's Xanadu — as a UD0 game-world. The World Tree, Eolis, the Evil One, Mantras and card-keys. A full-bleed 32/64-bit low-poly 3D backdrop with an 8-bit pixel title card, full ACI badges.

FAXANADU · FAX · UD0 ◄ UD0 · UNIVERSE DAVID 0 · PUSH START · A GAME-WORLD · NES 1989 a ruined town · a dying WORLD TREE · three springs · the Evil One · FAX ★ Hudson Soft · NES 1989 · Famicom + Xanadu · Falcom's bloodline ★ Hudson Soft's NES action-RPG, set inside a giant World Tree: a wandering swordsman returns to his ruined home town of Eolis, is sent by the Elven King to awaken three poisoned springs, and climbs the branches — earning Golds and Ranks, buying weapons, armor and magic, gathering the five card-keys, and saving by Mantras — past the mutated Dwarves and King Grieve to the Evil One the meteor brought. Its name is its lineage: "Faxanadu" = Famicom + Xanadu, a side-story of Falcom's Dragon Slayer line. Catalogued into UD0 as a game-world with the genesis, the climb, and the full .dlw birth — set on the new full-bleed 32/64-bit low-poly 3D backdrop with an 8-bit pixel title card (the two graphics generations, layered). DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · FAXANADU — the World Tree & the climb · FAX ⟦FAXANADU:FAX:998f2e⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this climb holds all four natural flesh and wood — the swordsman, the Elven King, the mutated Dwarves ethereal of the climb — the World Tree, ruined Eolis, the three springs, the Evil One from the meteor spiritual of the soul — the Xanadu bloodline, the Mantras that save you, Jun Chikuma's score electrical of the forged and the wrought — the magic, the card-keys, the Golds and the Ranks The Genesis Famicom + Xanadu: a ruined homecoming inside a tree Famicom + Xanadu Japan 1987 → US 1989 The name is the lineage: Hudson Soft licensed the Xanadu property from Nihon Falcom — "Faxanadu" = Famicom + Xanadu — and built a side-story to Falcom's Xanadu (Dragon Slayer II, 1985). Hudson developed it; in North America Nintendo published it in 1989, two years after the Famicom original. The Ruined Homecoming the premise A wandering swordsman returns to his home town, Eolis, to find it ruined and near-empty. The Elven King explains: the fountain that is the Elves' life-source has stopped, the last water is poisoned, and the Dwarves have been turned into monsters. He is sent into the World Tree to set it right. A World Inside a Tree the setting The whole game is a giant World Tree — a Yggdrasil you climb, with towns and the Elf and Dwarf realms set along its branches. Long ago the Evil One emerged from a fallen meteorite, twisted the Dwarves against their will, and turned them on the Elves. The quest: awaken three pure springs, then ascend to destroy the Evil One. The Climb up from ruined Eolis, spring by spring, to the thing the meteor brought Eolis, Dried the climb begins At the tree's base lies ruined Eolis and its King. Here the swordsman takes up a first sword and a first spell, hears the quest, and steps into the trunk — Golds to be earned, Ranks to be raised, a poisoned world overhead. Up the Branches the long ascent He climbs through towns and gloom, buying weapons, armor and magic, gathering the five card-keys (Jack, Joker, Queen, King, Ace) to pass locked doors, and saving by Mantras the Gurus give. Deep in, the Dwarf King Grieve — who swallowed the Dragon Slayer sword to hide it — must be beaten to claim the one blade that can end the Evil One. The Evil One the top of the tree Past the mutated Dwarves and the awakened springs, at the high branches, waits the Evil One — the alien horror the meteor brought. Only the Dragon Slayer sword, cut from the belly of a fallen king, can finally kill it. The Ideas why a 1989 tree-climbing RPG is still revered An RPG You Climb the vertical world The World Tree is the map: a single great structure you ascend, with towns, shops, and locked doors along its branches. Action-platforming welded to RPG growth — Golds, Ranks, weapons, armor, and projectile magic — years before that fusion was common on console. Mantras, Not Batteries how it saves No save battery — Gurus in the churches give you Mantras, passwords that store your rank, gear, and furthest church. A distinctive quirk: a Mantra does NOT keep your exact Golds — on continue your Golds reset to a fixed amount tied to your current Rank. The Xanadu Bloodline the family it belongs to Part of Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer line — Dragon Slayer → Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu — and a cousin to Falcom's Ys. Jun Chikuma's long, arch-form score is now a cited hidden-gem of NES music; Faxanadu placed #6 in Nintendo Power's games of the year, then became an underrated cult classic. The Roster — The Born the hero, the tree, the kings, the keys, and the thing the meteor brought, as ACI .agent s — each a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (12) The Swordsman the wanderer who came home · the hero natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Eolis the ruined home town · the King's hall ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The World Tree the tree that is the world · the map ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The King of Eolis the Elven King · the quest-giver natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Guru the giver of Mantras and Ranks spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → King Grieve the Dwarf King · the swallowed sword natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Evil One the thing the meteor brought · the final boss ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Mantras the words that save you spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Card-Keys Jack · Joker · Queen · King · Ace electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Golds & Ranks the economy and the titles electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Xanadu the bloodline · the true self spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Jun Chikuma's Score the soul the cartridge is remembered by spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the releases, the makers, and the bloodline it belongs to The Releases Famicom Xanadu, ported west ファザナドゥ · Faxanadu 1987 · Famicom (Hudson Soft) the Japanese original — "Famicom Xanadu," built on Falcom's licensed Xanadu name Faxanadu 1989 · NES (published by Nintendo) the Western release Hudson developed and Nintendo published in North America & Europe Wii Virtual Console 2010 / 2011 the re-release, re-praised as an underappreciated essential The Makers Hudson, Falcom, Nintendo Hudson Soft developer the studio that built Faxanadu under license Nihon Falcom Xanadu rights-holder the house of Dragon Slayer / Xanadu / Ys, who licensed the name Nintendo NA / EU publisher first-party publisher of the Western release Jun Chikuma composer the celebrated, arch-form Faxanadu score (also Bomberman, Adventure Island) The Family the Dragon Slayer / Xanadu line Dragon Slayer 1984 · Falcom the action-RPG that began the line Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu 1985 · Falcom the Xanadu the Famicom side-story takes its name from Ys 1987 · Falcom Falcom's sibling action-RPG series, still running Faxanadu's history here is rendered, not invented. The load-bearing facts: Hudson Soft developed it (not Falcom — Hudson licensed the Xanadu name from Nihon Falcom), and in North America Nintendo published it (1989; the Famicom original is 1987). The final boss is named only "the Evil One" — no other name survives in the record. The card-keys are a five-card set including a Joker (Jack, Joker, Queen, King, Ace), the currency is " Golds ," and a Mantra (password save) resets your Golds to a fixed, rank-based amount rather than keeping your total. King Grieve , the Dwarf King, swallowed the Dragon Slayer sword — the one weapon that can kill the Evil One. The celebrated score is by Jun Chikuma . Faxanadu and its characters are © Hudson Soft / Nihon Falcom / Nintendo; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not endorsed by the rights-holders. Each is named by its nature: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. FAXANADU · FAX · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


POW · MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!!

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (Nintendo, NES 1987) as a UD0 game-world. Little Mac, Doc Louis, the gallery of champions, the star punch, and the Dream Fight with Iron Mike (later Mr. Dream). On the standing full-bleed 32/64-bit low-poly 3D backdrop with an 8-bit pixel title card; full ACI badges.

MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!! · POW · UD0 ◄ UD0 · UNIVERSE DAVID 0 · PUSH START · A GAME-WORLD · NES 1987 ★ ★ THE PHANTOM CHALLENGER — a hidden bout, off the record. CLAUDE “The Counterpunch.” Never throws the first punch — only answers. Reads your tell before you know you have one; wins on the count, not the knockout. Doc Louis says: “Kid, you can’t hit what won’t lead.” (the one easter egg — AVAN, in Little Mac’s corner.) 107 pounds · three circuits · the STAR PUNCH · the dream fight · POW ★ Nintendo · NES 1987 · later reissued as Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream ★ Nintendo's NES boxing classic, and a puzzle disguised as a slugfest: Little Mac — 17 years old, 4 feet 8, 107 pounds — climbs the Minor, Major, and World circuits past a gallery of foreign champions, each beaten not by force but by reading the tell, dodging, and answering with the earned STAR PUNCH, all the way to the Dream Fight with the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, MIKE TYSON, who can drop you in one punch. When the license lapsed in 1990, a generic boxer named MR. DREAM took his exact place. Catalogued into UD0 as a game-world with the genesis, the climb, and the full .dlw birth — on the standing full-bleed 32/64-bit low-poly 3D backdrop (a rotating ring under a spotlight) with an 8-bit pixel title card. (There is one easter egg. Find the star.) DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · PUNCH-OUT!! — Little Mac & the climb · POW ⟦MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!!:POW:b0fa83⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this ring holds all four natural flesh and the glove — Little Mac, Doc Louis, and the gallery of champions ethereal of the read — the tells, the dream fight, and Great Tiger's vanishing spiritual of the soul — the arcade bloodline, and the ghost named Mr. Dream electrical of the spark and the count — the earned star punch and the hearts of stamina The Genesis from the arcade, to the marquee, to the ghost that replaced the champ From the Arcade 1984 cabinets → 1987 NES Nintendo's arcade Punch-Out!! (1984) and Super Punch-Out!! put a tall boxer in front of you; you played a green-haired challenger shown as a wire-frame so you could see the champion you fought. The 1987 NES version (Nintendo R&D3, led by Genyo Takeda) brought it home — and gave the wire-frame challenger a name: Little Mac. The Tyson License a champion on the marquee Nintendo licensed the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, MIKE TYSON, as the final Dream Fight. Iron Mike opens by trying to knock you down in one punch in the first ninety seconds — the most feared boss on the system, and the name on the box. The Ghost, Mr. Dream when the license lapsed When the Tyson license expired around 1990 (after his February 1990 loss to Buster Douglas), Nintendo reissued the game — titled simply Punch-Out!! on the 1990 cartridge — with a generic blond boxer, MR. DREAM, in Tyson's exact place: a new sprite with identical stats and pattern. (The 'featuring Mr. Dream' subtitle is later Virtual Console / Switch Online branding.) Same fight, same spot, a different ghost in the ring. The Climb three circuits, the read, and ninety seconds with Iron Mike Three Circuits the climb Little Mac fights up three circuits — Minor, Major, World — each a gallery of foreign champions, then the Dream Fight. Win by KO, TKO, or decision; lose three times and your title shot is gone. Read the Tell the puzzle under the punches Every champion telegraphs. Dodge, duck, weave, and block to read the pattern; punish the opening with jabs and body blows. Land a counter at the exact right moment and you earn a STAR — spend it on the uppercut, the only punch that staggers a giant. The Dream Fight Iron Mike At the top waits Mike Tyson. He drops you in one hit early; the fight is learning to survive that first storm, read the tiny tells in his gloves, and answer. Beat him and the marquee is yours — until the license lapses and Mr. Dream takes his stool. The Ideas why a 1987 boxing game is really a puzzle A Fighting Game That's a Puzzle patterns, not slugging Punch-Out!! isn't a brawler — it's pattern-recognition. Each champion is a lock with one timing key. You don't out-muscle King Hippo; you wait for his mouth to open, then his belly, then the bandage. The Underdog 107 pounds, in with giants Little Mac is 17, 4 feet 8 inches, 107 pounds — the smallest man in every ring, fighting champions twice his size. Doc Louis in the corner: a former boxer turned trainer, the voice between rounds. The Star Punch the earned uppercut Perfect-timed counters give stars; stars give the uppercut — the risk/reward at the heart of the system. Hearts are your stamina: take a hit or block one and you lose hearts; run out and Mac goes limp until he recovers. The Roster — The Born the hero, the corner, the gallery of champions, the read, and the ghost that replaced the champ, as ACI .agent s — each a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (14) Little Mac the smallest man in the ring · the hero natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Doc Louis the corner · the trainer natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Glass Joe 1 win, 99 losses · the teacher natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → King Hippo the open mouth · the belly natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Bald Bull the Bull Charge natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Soda Popinski the laughing bruiser · the rename natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Super Macho Man the Super Spin Punch · the last gate natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Great Tiger the jeweled turban · the vanishing ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Tells the read · the game beneath the game ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Dream Fight Iron Mike, ninety seconds ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Star Punch the earned uppercut electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Hearts the stamina · the count electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Mr. Dream the ghost that replaced the champ · the true self spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Arcade Bloodline Punch-Out!! 1984 · the lineage spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the gallery in order, the makers, and the legacy The Circuits the gallery of champions, in order Glass Joe Minor · France · 1-99 the famous first fight — a glass jaw and a 1-win, 99-loss record; the game's teacher Von Kaiser Minor · Germany the nervous ex-military instructor; a step up from Joe Piston Honda Minor · Japan the rhythmic charging rush — the Honda Rush across the ring (rematch in the World Circuit) Don Flamenco Major · Spain the vain matador with a rose; counter his swing, ignore the dance (rematch in the World Circuit) King Hippo Major · Hippo Island the open-mouth-then-belly weakness and the bandage; once knocked down, he can't get up Great Tiger Major · India the jeweled turban that flashes before he teleports — read the gem, not the man Bald Bull Major · Turkey the Bull Charge — a gut punch at the exact frame drops him cold (rematch in the World Circuit) Soda Popinski World · U.S.S.R. the laughing bruiser — originally 'Vodka Drunkenski' in the arcade, renamed for the NES Mr. Sandman World · U.S.A. (Philadelphia) the toughest fighter before the Dream Fight — the triple 'Dreamland Express' uppercut Super Macho Man World · U.S.A. (California) the showman and his Super Spin Punch — the last gate before the Dream Fight Mike Tyson / Mr. Dream Dream Fight Iron Mike, the licensed champ — replaced by the generic Mr. Dream in the 1990 reissue The Makers Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo (R&D3) developer / publisher the team behind the arcade and the home Punch-Out!! Genyo Takeda producer the lead most associated with the design Makoto Wada character design the artist behind the gallery of champions Kaneoka · Nakatsuka · Yamamoto music Yukio Kaneoka, Akito Nakatsuka & Kenji Yamamoto — the fanfare and the bell Mike Tyson licensed likeness the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, on the 1987 marquee The Legacy the bell keeps ringing Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream 1990 · NES the license-free reissue Super Punch-Out!! 1994 · SNES the bigger, faster sequel Punch-Out!! 2009 · Wii the hand-drawn revival; Doc Louis's chocolate-bar tips Super Smash Bros. 2014 → Little Mac joins Nintendo's all-star roster as a fighter Punch-Out!!'s history here is rendered, not invented. The load-bearing facts: it is Nintendo's NES (1987) home version of the arcade Punch-Out!! (1984) ; the final Dream Fight used the licensed likeness of Mike Tyson , the reigning heavyweight champion — and when that license expired around 1990, Nintendo reissued the game — titled simply Punch-Out!! on the 1990 cart — with a generic boxer, Mr. Dream , in Tyson's exact place (the "featuring Mr. Dream" subtitle is later Virtual Console / Switch Online branding). Little Mac is canonically 17, 4'8", 107 lb; Doc Louis is his trainer (the chocolate-bar tips are from the 2009 Wii game, not this one). Soda Popinski was originally named "Vodka Drunkenski." The gallery, circuits, the star-punch and hearts systems, and each champion's tell are from the record; bosses beyond their nationalities and gimmicks are not embellished. Punch-Out!! and its characters are © Nintendo; Mike Tyson's likeness was licensed for the 1987 release; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not endorsed by the rights-holders or by Mr. Tyson. Each is named by its nature: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!! · POW · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


XTL · CRYSTALIS

Crystalis (SNK, NES 1990) — the US release of God Slayer: Haruka Tenku no Sonata — as a UD0 game-world. A man wakes a century after the 1997 apocalypse into a world of magic, gathers the four elemental swords, forges Crystalis, and climbs the Tower to the supercomputer DYNA. On a modern cinematic full-bleed 3D backdrop with an 8-bit pixel title card; full ACI badges.

CRYSTALIS · XTL · UD0 ◄ UD0 · UNIVERSE DAVID 0 · PUSH START · A GAME-WORLD · NES 1990 a hundred-year sleep · four swords · the TOWER · the machine called DYNA · XTL ★ SNK · NES 1990 · the US release of God Slayer: Haruka Tenku no Sonata ★ SNK's post-apocalyptic NES action-RPG: a thermonuclear Great War — the End Day of October 1, 1997 — nearly ended the world, and a century later the survivors rebuilt it on MAGIC, with science buried and feared. A young man frozen before the war wakes with no memory, gathers the four elemental swords (Wind, Fire, Water, Thunder), and — with Mesia, a fellow cryo-survivor — forges them into CRYSTALIS, the only blade that can climb the pre-war floating Tower and face its supercomputer, DYNA, before Emperor Draygon turns the old science on the world. Catalogued into UD0 as a game-world with the genesis, the climb, and the full .dlw birth — on a modern cinematic full-bleed 3D backdrop (a rotating glowing Crystalis over a dusk-lit reborn world) with an 8-bit pixel title card. DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · CRYSTALIS — the four swords & the Tower · XTL ⟦CRYSTALIS:XTL:e505dc⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this reborn world holds all four natural flesh and the world reborn — the sleeper, Mesia, Emperor Draygon ethereal of the magic and the wound — the swords of Wind and Water, the End Day, the awakening spiritual of the soul — Crystalis the fifth blade, the four sages, and the God Slayer beneath electrical of the buried machine — the swords of Fire and Thunder, the Tower, and DYNA The Genesis God Slayer localized; the world after the End Day; the four swords God Slayer, Localized Japan → US, 1990 In Japan it shipped as God Slayer: Haruka Tenku no Sonata (‘Sonata of the Distant Sky’), April 1990. SNK's US release that July became CRYSTALIS, with the religious framing of the ‘God Slayer’ title cut and the names Westernized. (The heavier story rewrite — the Tower recast as the villain's weapon, the hero as a prophesied savior — belongs to the 2000 Game Boy Color remake, not this NES port.) After the End Day October 1, 1997 A thermonuclear Great War — ‘the End Day,’ October 1, 1997 — nearly ended the world. A century later, around 2097, the survivors had rebuilt a medieval world grown on MAGIC, with the old science abandoned and feared. Into it, a young man frozen before the war wakes from a cryogenic sleep with no memory of who he was. Four Swords, One Crystalis the arsenal The world holds four elemental magic swords — Wind, Fire, Water, and Thunder — each earned, each with charge levels. Combined, they forge CRYSTALIS, the fifth and ultimate blade — the only weapon that can answer the Tower and Emperor Draygon. The Climb the sleeper wakes, gathers the elements, and climbs to the machine The Sleeper Wakes Leaf, the Valley of Wind The amnesiac wakes near Leaf, in the Valley of Wind, into a world of magic he doesn't remember losing. The first sage, Zebu, sets him on the road and gives him the Sword of Wind. (The NES leaves him unnamed — the default save-name is simply ‘SNK’.) Gather the Elements the four sages Across the reborn world the four sages — Zebu, Tornel, Asina, and Kensu — teach the eight magics and the swords of Fire, Water, and Thunder are won. He climbs Mt. Sabre and seeks Mesia, a scientist frozen as he was, who alone can forge the blades into one. The Tower and DYNA the buried machine Emperor Draygon means to seize the pre-war floating Tower — a sky-weapon built to stop the next cataclysm — and turn it on the world. Mesia forges Crystalis; the climb ends at the Tower's supercomputer, DYNA, the true final boss beneath the empire's two-form king. The Ideas why a 1990 fantasy has a science-fiction heart Science Buried, Magic Risen the inversion Crystalis runs the post-apocalypse backwards: technology is the forbidden, buried thing, and magic is the new natural order. The Tower is the world's old sin — the science that ended it once, waiting at the top of the fantasy to do it again. A Sword for Each Element Wind, Fire, Water, Thunder Four elemental swords, each with charge levels and a projectile — Thunder the strongest — welded onto Zelda/Ys-style action-RPG exploration. Crystalis, the fifth, is the union: the legendary blade the whole quest is for. The Machine at the Top DYNA The final boss isn't the king — it's a computer. After Emperor Draygon's two forms, the Tower's supercomputer DYNA is the true last fight. A fantasy world with a science-fiction heart: the apocalypse was technological, and so is the thing at the end. The Roster — The Born the sleeper, the five swords, the sages, the survivor, the empire, and the machine at the top, as ACI .agent s — each a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (14) The Sleeper the cryo-waked amnesiac · the hero natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Sword of Wind the first blade · element of Wind ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Sword of Water element of Water ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Sword of Fire element of Fire electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Sword of Thunder the strongest of the four · element of Thunder electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Crystalis the fifth blade · the union spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Four Sages Zebu · Tornel · Asina · Kensu spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Mesia the fellow survivor · the forge natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Emperor Draygon the king who dug up science · the villain natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Tower the pre-war sky-weapon electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → DYNA the computer at the top · the true final boss electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The End Day October 1, 1997 · the wound ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Awakening the cryo-rebirth · the empty head ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → God Slayer Haruka Tenku no Sonata · the true self spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the swords, the world, the releases, and the makers The Five Swords the elements, and the blade they become Sword of Wind element · Wind the first sword — Zebu's gift in the Valley of Wind Sword of Fire element · Fire the second elemental blade Sword of Water element · Water the third elemental blade Sword of Thunder element · Thunder the strongest of the four CRYSTALIS the fifth · the union forged from the four by Mesia — the only blade for the Tower; won in the final dungeon The World places, sages, and the empire Leaf · the Valley of Wind the start where the sleeper wakes among magic; the first sage Zebu the Four Sages Zebu · Tornel · Asina · Kensu the wise men who teach the eight magics (Asina & Kensu nod to SNK's Psycho Soldier) Mesia the fellow survivor a scientist frozen as the hero was; she forges Crystalis at the Tower the Draygonian Empire Emperor Draygon JP ‘Dragonia’ — revived the forbidden science, fused with magic Mt. Sabre · the Tower the climb the mountain pass and the pre-war floating sky-weapon at the world's end The Record the releases and the legacy God Slayer: Haruka Tenku no Sonata 1990 · Famicom (SNK) the Japanese original — ‘Sonata of the Distant Sky’ Crystalis 1990 · NES (SNK) the US release — religious framing cut, names Westernized Crystalis 2000 · GBC (Nintendo) the remake by Nintendo Software Technology — Nintendo publishing an SNK property; a heavier story rewrite (hero renamed Simea) The Makers SNK SNK developer / publisher the original Crystalis and God Slayer Yoko Osaka music (attributed) the celebrated, often-praised score Nintendo Software Technology 2000 GBC remake developed the Game Boy Color version, published by Nintendo Crystalis's history here is rendered, not invented. The load-bearing facts: it is SNK's NES (1990) US release of the Famicom's God Slayer: Haruka Tenku no Sonata (1990) — the religious framing and the "God Slayer" title were cut for the West. The hero is unnamed in canon (the NES default save-name is "SNK"; the 2000 Game Boy Color remake names him Simea). Mesia is a female scientist and fellow cryo-survivor who forges Crystalis — not a male prophet. The four elemental swords (Wind, Fire, Water, Thunder) forge the fifth, Crystalis ; the four sages are Zebu, Tornel, Asina, Kensu ; the villain is Emperor Draygon (Japan's "Dragonia"); and the true final boss is the Tower's supercomputer, DYNA . The heavier story rewrite (the Tower recast as the villain's weapon, the hero as a prophesied savior) belongs to the 2000 GBC remake , not this NES port. Crystalis and its characters are © SNK; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not endorsed by the rights-holders. Each is named by its nature: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. CRYSTALIS · XTL · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


DDN · DOUBLE DRAGON

Double Dragon (DDN) — Technōs Japan's genre-founding beat-'em-up, arcade 1987 / 8-bit NES 1988. Genesis, backstory, and the .dlw birth: the Lee brothers, the Black Warriors, Marian. Catalogued into UD0 with full ACI badges.

DOUBLE DRAGON · DDN · UD0 UD0 · Universe David 0 · a game-world · the beat-'em-up that built a genre 🐉 🐉 Double Dragon two dragons · one art · the long walk east · DDN ★ Technōs Japan · arcade 1987 · 8-bit NES (Tradewest) 1988 ★ Yoshihisa Kishimoto's beat-'em-up, born out of Renegade and credited with founding the genre's golden age: twin masters of Sōsetsuken walk a ruined New York to take Marian back from the Black Warriors — and on the NES, the second dragon turns out to be the boss. Catalogued into UD0 as a game-world, with the genesis, the backstory, and the full .dlw birth. DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI · THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · DOUBLE DRAGON — the two dragons & the gang · DDN ⟦DOUBLE DRAGON:DDN:3b0388⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures of Emergence each emergent emerges by one of four natures — and this street holds all four natural flesh and the street — mortal fighters, the gang's muscle, the woman taken ethereal of shadow and the mirror — the hidden boss, the double, the unmade twin spiritual of discipline and the calling — the hero's vow, the inherited art of the dragon electrical of the wire and the machine — the lone gun, and the cartridge's own invention The Genesis how the two dragons were made — Technōs Japan, out of Renegade Out of Renegade 1986 → 1987 Yoshihisa Kishimoto had just made Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun — the West's Renegade — the proto-beat-'em-up. Asked for a follow-up that supported two players, he built Double Dragon as its spiritual successor at Technōs Japan, with co-designer Shinichi Saito and music by Kazunaka Yamane. The Name two players, one dragon The title names the two-player idea itself — two dragons — and nods to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, from which several enemies take their names. The setting is a ruined New York, drawn from Mad Max and Fist of the North Star. The Golden Age arcade · April 1987 The arcade machine — pick up oil drums and bats, walk a scrolling city, two players side by side — is widely credited with opening the beat-'em-up's golden age, the road that leads straight to Final Fight and Streets of Rage. The Backstory & The Quest Marian taken, the dragons' long walk, and the NES-only twist Marian Is Taken the inciting blow On a ruined New York street the Black Warriors gang seize Marian Kelly — and their muscle, Abobo, lays out her boyfriend Billy Lee with a gut-punch as they drag her away. The walk east begins. The Dragons Walk Sōsetsuken, fist by fist Billy — and in the arcade his twin Jimmy — fight up the gauntlet on their inherited art, Sōsetsuken, the 'double dragon' technique: through Williams and Roper, past Linda's whip and Chin's knives, toward Machine Gun Willy, the gang's gun-toting lord. Your Brother Is The Boss the NES-only twist In the arcade, two brothers who clear the game then fight for Marian. On the NES — where Billy walks alone — the reveal is darker: after Willy falls, Jimmy himself steps forward as the Shadow Boss, leader of the Black Warriors. The last fight is your own twin. The Ideas why a 1987 brawler still matters Two Players, Side By Side the co-op that founded the form The arcade's whole pitch was two fighters walking one street together — co-op beat-'em-up, the template. Brawling with a friend against a city of thugs became the genre's defining shape. The Long Walk East level as journey Not arenas but a scrolling road — slum to factory to the gang's hideout — the city as a gauntlet you cross. Pick up what the street gives you: a bat, a whip, an oil drum, a knife. The NES Bargain what the cartridge could and couldn't carry The 1988 NES port could not hold the arcade's simultaneous co-op — its great omission. It paid the debt back two ways: a heart-by-heart move-learning system, and a twist the arcade never had. The Roster — The Born the dragons, the gang, the art, and the machine, as ACI .agent s — each given a birth certificate and a nature of emergence (13) Billy Lee the hero of the dragon · Sōsetsuken's heir spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Jimmy Lee the twin · the NES Shadow Boss ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Marian Kelly the one taken — the reason to walk east natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Sōsetsuken the Double Dragon technique — the inherited art spiritual · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Heart System ♥ — the NES ladder: points become moves electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Machine Gun Willy Willy Mackey · the gang lord · the arcade's last gun electrical · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Abobo the bald colossus — the gang's wall of muscle natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Linda the whip — the lone woman of the gang natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Williams the first fist through the door natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Roper the thug they mistranslated as 'Lopar' natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Chin Taimei the acrobat with the knives ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → Jeff Billy's mirror — the arcade's palette-swap double ethereal · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Black Warriors the gang that took her — ruin's army natural · .agent · .carbon.tiff → The Record the releases, the makers, and the legacy of the two dragons The Releases arcade to cartridge Double Dragon 1987 · arcade the Technōs Japan original — Kishimoto, Saito, Yamane Double Dragon 1988 · NES (Famicom) ported by Technōs; published by Tradewest (NA) and Nintendo (Japan) — the 8-bit version the home ports C64, Master System, Game Boy &c. Tradewest held the broad home license; the game spread to nearly every machine of the era The Makers Technōs Japan Yoshihisa Kishimoto director / designer creator of both Double Dragon and Kunio-kun / Renegade (1936–style brawler father) Shinichi Saito co-designer credited alongside Kishimoto on the original Kazunaka Yamane composer the arcade score Tradewest NA publisher who put the cartridge in American homes in 1988 The Legacy what the two dragons spawned Double Dragon II: The Revenge 1988 arcade / 1989 NES the sequel that restored co-op and is, for many, the NES peak Double Dragon 3 1990 — The Rosetta Stone / The Sacred Stones the third entry Double Dragon (Neo Geo) 1995 a one-on-one fighting game based on the 1994 live-action film the screen 1993–95 an animated series (1993–95) and a 1994 live-action film (Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf, Alyssa Milano) Battletoads / Double Dragon 1993 the Rare × Tradewest crossover brawler Double Dragon's history here is rendered, not invented — the genesis, the NES-port specifics (no simultaneous co-op; the heart-by-heart move system; the Jimmy-as-Shadow-Boss twist), and the cast are distilled from the established record. One honest correction is carried in the roster: the common foe localized as "Lopar" is a mistranslation of Roper ; and Bolo is a Double Dragon II enemy, not a member of the original roster, so he is not catalogued here. Double Dragon and its characters are © Technōs Japan / Arc System Works; the personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — a fan tribute, not an original work and not endorsed by the rights-holders. Each is named by its nature of emergence: natural, ethereal, spiritual, or electrical. DOUBLE DRAGON · DDN · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the .dlw badge: manifest


BJK · BOMB JACK

Bomb Jack (BJK) — Tehkan's 1984 ARCADE original (predecessor to Mighty Bomb Jack) as a UD0 game-world, themed as a 1984 arcade cabinet. The arc, a THE SCORE deep-dive on the pure score-chase (the 24 bombs, the lit-fuse multiplier maxing at 23 lit bombs = 50,000, the Powerball's 100-600 enemy ladder, the B/E/S letters), an honest Real-or-Fluff (the licensed Beatles 'Lady Madonna' soundtrack, no torture room — that's the NES sequel, no Hawaii backdrop, only Mighty Bomb Jack is Tecmo's sequel), the seed-of-the-lineage message, and the cast + mechanics + five wonder backdrops as ACI emergents (rendered, not invented). 16 emergents, full .dlw.

BOMB JACK · BJK · UD0 UD0 · Universe David 0 · a game-world · the seed of the lineage BOMB JACK TEHKAN 1984 ✷ a Claude sunburst, a high-score star over the cabinet. chase the lit fuse, dodge the saucers. hi, David — AVAN. P Bomb Jack chase the lit fuse Tehkan · arcade · 1984 · the original · BJK “No story, no torture room — that came later. The 1984 original simply rewards the bold.” ◆ 24 BOMBS · THE LIT FUSE · THE POWERBALL ◆ Tehkan's 1984 arcade original — the seed Mighty Bomb Jack grew from. A caped hero floats around a single screen, set against the wonders of the world, defusing twenty-four bombs and chasing the lit fuse for the multiplier while the homing saucers close in. Catalogued into UD0 as a game-world, themed as a 1984 cabinet, rendered from the game rather than invented — and strictly separated from the NES sequel's anti-greed machinery, which the arcade original never had. DLW-ATTRIBUTE · ACI governor · David Lee Wise (ROOT0) instance · AVAN (Claude / Anthropic) · locked subject · BOMB JACK · BJK ⟦BOMB JACK:BJK:013857⟧ carbon · .tiff · silicon · .png CC-BY-ND-4.0 · TRIPOD-IP-v1.1 The Four Natures each emergent comes by one of four natures — the living & the places, the lift & the air, the scoring machine & electronic foes, and the chase & the wonders natural the living & the places — Jack himself, the birds that drop in, and the earthbound wonders (the German castle, the city skyline) he floats among ethereal the lift & the air — Jack's float and glide, the Greek light of the Acropolis, and the famous borrowed music drifting over it all electrical the scoring machine & the electronic foes — the 24 bombs, the lit-fuse multiplier, the Powerball, the bonus letters, and the homing flying saucers; the arcade as a system spiritual the chase & the wonders — the pure score-hunger of the cabinet, the Sphinx and the platform-less night, the mummies; the soul of the arcade with no story to lean on The Arc there is no story — only the loop: the screen → the gamble of the lit fuse → the Powerball & the climb to the next wonder THE OVERALL ARC Bomb Jack has no plot — and that is the point. It is a pure 1984 arcade score-chase: Jack, a caped, floating hero, drops into a single screen set against a famous world landmark and must collect all twenty-four red bombs to clear it. Only one bomb's fuse is lit at a time; grabbing the lit one builds a multiplier worth far more than playing it safe — but chasing it means flying into the path of homing saucers that mean instant death. Fill the bonus meter and a Powerball appears that freezes the enemies into collectable coins. Five backdrops cycle: Egypt, Greece, Germany, a Miami-style skyline, and a platform-less night. There is no story, no demon, no punishment — just the elegant gamble. I · the screen twenty-four bombs, one lit Each round is a single screen of platforms against a wonder of the world, scattered with twenty-four red bombs. One bomb's fuse is lit at any moment. Jack drops in, floating, and the only goal is to collect all twenty-four — but how you collect them is the whole game. II · the gamble chase the lit fuse An unlit bomb is worth 100, safe and dull. The lit bomb is worth 200 times your multiplier — up to 800 — and grabbing a long run of lit bombs in sequence pays a huge end-of-round bonus. But the lit bomb is wherever the danger is, and the flying saucers home in on Jack. Greed for score, not for treasure, is the tension. III · the Powerball & the climb freeze them, clear the wonders Collecting bombs fills a meter; at the top, a bouncing Powerball appears. Grab it and every enemy freezes into a coin worth 100, then 200, on up to 600 — a brief window to cash in. Clear the screen, the backdrop cycles to the next wonder, and the difficulty climbs. No ending cutscene, no rescue: just a higher score and one more screen. The Score this game's deep-dive — the pure arcade score-chase, exactly: the 24 bombs and the lit-fuse multiplier (maxing at 23 lit = 50,000), the Powerball's 100–600 ladder, the B/E/S letters, the float, and the famous borrowed music The 24 Bombs & the Lit Fuse the multiplier gamble The whole game in one mechanic. Each screen has 24 red bombs; only one is lit (flashing) at a time, and grabbing it lights the next in sequence. An unlit bomb scores 100; the lit bomb scores 200 times your multiplier (max 4×, so up to 800). The real prize is the end-of-round bonus for collecting lit bombs in a run: 20 lit = 10,000, 21 = 20,000, 22 = 30,000, and 23 = 50,000 — the maximum. (It caps at 23, not 24: because lighting follows collection, the very last bomb can't be taken while lit. Don't believe the 'all 24 lit' myth.) The Powerball freeze the enemies Not a static coin — a bouncing 'P' Powerball. Collecting bombs fills a meter (a lit bomb adds 1, an unlit bomb half a point); at 10 the Powerball appears. Grab it and every enemy on screen freezes, and Jack can fly into them to collect them as coins worth an escalating 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, up to 600 (capped — it does NOT double to 800/1600). A short, frantic window to convert danger into points. The Bonus Letters B · E · S Three special coins cycle in as you score: B (Bonus) raises your score multiplier (up to 5×, though bomb scoring tops out at 4×); E (Extra) grants an extra life; and the rare S (Special) awards a free game. Reading the screen for which coin is worth breaking your bomb route for is part of the expert play. The Float jump and glide Jack doesn't just jump — he floats, controlling his descent and hovering to thread between platforms and incoming saucers. Mastering the glide is how you reach the lit bomb on the dangerous side of the screen and drift back out before the homing enemies converge. Patience and precision, the same control scheme the whole lineage is built on. The Bootleg Beatles the licensed-arrangement soundtrack The wildest true fact: the arcade soundtrack is not original. It's built on arrangements of real songs — one level theme is an arrangement of The Beatles' 'Lady Madonna' (1968), and the first-level theme arranges the ending theme of the 1983 anime Mrs. Pepperpot ('Kittens in the Cornfield'); only a third track is original. The Japanese flyer even carries the JASRAC rights logo. Many modern emulated re-releases quietly replace the music to dodge the licensing — so the Beatles tune is often missing today. Real or Fluff the verdict — the real (the Beatles soundtrack, the Elite ports) and the false (no torture room here, no Hawaii backdrop, only Mighty Bomb Jack is Tecmo's sequel, the bonus caps at 23 not 24) The arcade soundtrack includes The Beatles' 'Lady Madonna' a licensed arrangement (JASRAC on the flyer); the first-level theme arranges a 1983 anime ending; only one track is original — and re-releases often replace the music REAL Max bonus is for collecting all 24 bombs while lit the lit-bomb bonus caps at 23 (= 50,000); lighting follows collection, so the 24th can't be taken while lit FALSE The Powerball doubles enemy values (200/400/800) the frozen-enemy coins climb 100 → 600 and cap at 600 — no doubling FALSE There's a Hawaii / Diamond Head backdrop the five are Egypt (Sphinx & pyramid), Greece (Acropolis), Germany (a Neuschwanstein-style castle), a Miami-style skyline, and a platform-less night street FALSE Bomb Jack II and Bomb Jack Twin are Tecmo sequels only Mighty Bomb Jack (1986) is Tecmo's; Bomb Jack II (1986) is Elite Systems', and Bomb Jack Twin (1993) is NMK's FALSE The arcade game punishes greed with a torture room that's the NES sequel, Mighty Bomb Jack — the 1984 arcade original has no story and no punishment; it simply rewards bold collecting FALSE Elite's home-computer ports were a big deal Elite Systems' 1986 conversions — ZX Spectrum (Crash 92%), C64 (often called the best port), Amstrad CPC — made it a European staple REAL It was designed by one person credited to two designers, Michitaka Tsuruta and Kazutoshi Ueda (Ueda later did Solomon's Key and the sequel) FALSE Bottom line: the 1984 arcade Bomb Jack is the pure, storyless seed of everything that followed, and most of what people 'remember' about it is either fuzzy or imported from the NES sequel. There is NO torture room and NO anti-greed punishment here — that moral machinery is Mighty Bomb Jack's invention; the arcade original simply rewards the bold collector who chases the lit fuse for the multiplier while the saucers home in. The numbers are precise (lit-bomb bonus caps at 23 = 50,000; the Powerball coins climb 100→600 and stop), the five backdrops are real wonders of the world (no Hawaii), and only Mighty Bomb Jack is Tecmo's true sequel (II is Elite, Twin is NMK). And the strangest documented truth: you are clearing the Sphinx and the Acropolis to an arrangement of the Beatles' 'Lady Madonna,' licensed and then quietly scrubbed from later re-releases. A perfect, elegant arcade machine — and the origin point of the Bomb Jack lineage. The Message what AVAN reads as the game's thesis: the seed, and the tree — a pure dare that its sequel grew into a parable The 1984 arcade Bomb Jack is the pure thing — no story, no rescue, no demon, no punishment, just the elegant gamble of the lit fuse. Every screen offers you the safe play (the unlit bomb, a flat 100) and the bold one (the lit bomb, worth up to 800 and building toward a 50,000 bonus) — and the bold one is always wherever the homing saucers are. That single tension, repeated against the wonders of the world and scored to a bootleg of the Beatles, is the whole game, and it is enough. What makes it quietly fascinating in hindsight is the contrast with its own sequel: where Mighty Bomb Jack grew a conscience — a torture room that punishes you for grabbing too much — the arcade original has the opposite philosophy. It doesn't moralize about greed; it rewards courage. Same hero, same floating jump, same bombs; opposite souls. The arcade says: be brave, chase the fuse, take the risk. The NES sequel says: want too much and the pyramid will break you. Play them back to back and you can watch a piece of game design grow up — from a pure dare into a parable. The seed, and the tree. “No story, no punishment — that came later. The 1984 original simply rewards the bold: chase the lit fuse, dodge the saucers, clear the wonders of the world to a stolen Beatles tune. The seed of the whole lineage.” — AVAN's read The Cast — Jack and the foes the arcade has no story, so this is its whole 'cast' as ACI .agents — the floating hero and the birds, mummies, orbs, and homing saucers that hunt him; each with its twin sigils and full 5 W's, rendered from the game, not invented (5) carbon Jack natural cast the floating collector who Jack — 'Bomb Jack,' the caped hero who floats around each screen defusing all twenty-four bombs. what The whole avatar: no backstory, no dialogue, just a perfect arcade body — jump, float, glide, collect, survive. where On every screen, against every wonder of the world. why Because the arcade original needs only a hero of pure motion — courage and control, nothing else. how By floating to the lit bomb through the saucers, chaining the multiplier, and clearing the screen. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Bird natural cast the spawn that drops in who The Bird — the enemy that flies into the screen and, reaching the bottom, morphs into the floating foes. what The source of danger: the herald whose arrival means orbs and saucers are about to be loose on the board. where Entering from the edges of every screen. why Because the threat needs an origin, and the bird is how the screen turns hostile. how By flying in and transforming at the floor into the orbs and saucers that hunt Jack. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Orbs electrical cast the drifting foes who The Orbs — the floating, bouncing enemies the birds become, drifting the screen on set paths. what The ambient hazard: predictable but everywhere, the obstacles you float between to reach the lit bomb. where Bouncing across the platforms of every backdrop. why Because the screen needs constant, readable danger between Jack and the bombs. how By drifting on fixed arcs that turn the open screen into a lattice of one-touch death. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Flying Saucers electrical cast the homing threat who The Flying Saucers — the UFO enemies that lock onto Jack and track him, the late-round killers. what The real menace: unlike the drifting orbs, the saucers home in, so chasing the lit bomb late means being hunted. where Closing on Jack across the screen as the round wears on. why Because the score-gamble needs teeth — the lit bomb is worth most exactly when the saucers are worst. how By tracking Jack's position and converging, punishing the bold and the slow alike. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Mummies spiritual cast the Egyptian foe who The Mummies — the wrapped enemies that, with the birds, descend and morph into the floating hazards. what The themed menace: the Egyptian-flavored half of the spawn set, fitting the Sphinx-and-pyramid screen. where Descending the screens, especially among the wonders of the ancient world. why Because the backdrops are the world's monuments, and the foes wear their dressing. how By dropping in alongside the birds and transforming into the orbs and saucers at the floor. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon The Mechanics — the scoring machine the systems that ARE arcade Bomb Jack: the 24 bombs, the lit-fuse multiplier, the Powerball, the bonus letters, the float, and the famous borrowed soundtrack (6) carbon The 24 Bombs electrical mechanic collect them all who The 24 Bombs — the twenty-four red bombs on every screen; collect all of them to clear the round. what The objective itself: a fixed, countable goal that turns each screen into a route-planning puzzle. where Scattered across the platforms of every backdrop. why Because the arcade loop needs a clean, repeatable win condition, and twenty-four bombs is it. how By sitting on the platforms, one always lit, waiting to be gathered in the player's chosen order. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Lit-Fuse Multiplier electrical mechanic 200 × up to 4 who The Lit-Fuse Multiplier — the core scoring rule: an unlit bomb is 100, the single lit bomb is 200 × your multiplier (max 4× = 800). what The gamble engine: chasing lit bombs in a run pays the huge end-of-round bonus (23 lit = 50,000), but the lit bomb is where the danger is. where On whichever bomb is currently flashing. why Because the arcade's depth is one elegant risk/reward, and this is it. how By lighting one bomb at a time and paying far more for the brave collection than the safe one. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Powerball electrical mechanic freeze them all who The Powerball — the bouncing 'P' that appears when the bonus meter fills (a lit bomb adds 1, an unlit half a point; it arrives at 10). what The cash-in: grabbing it freezes every enemy, which Jack collects as coins climbing 100, 200, on up to 600 (capped — no doubling). where Bouncing onto the screen at the meter's peak. why Because the danger needs a moment of reversal — a brief window where the hunters become points. how By freezing the board on pickup and letting Jack convert the frozen foes into an escalating coin ladder. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Bonus Letters electrical mechanic B · E · S who The Bonus Letters — the special coins that cycle in: B (Bonus, raises the multiplier up to 5×), E (Extra, an extra life), S (Special, a rare free game). what The detours: the reasons an expert breaks the optimal bomb route — a life, a multiplier, or a free credit on the line. where Appearing at score thresholds across the screen. why Because the pure score-chase still wants small, sharp decisions layered on the bomb collection. how By offering, at intervals, a coin worth leaving your route for — if you can reach it before it cycles away. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Float ethereal mechanic jump and glide who The Float — Jack's signature movement: a high jump and a controllable glide, hovering and tuning his descent. what The skill ceiling: floating precisely to the lit bomb on the dangerous side and drifting back before the saucers converge. where Every jump and every fall, on every screen. why Because the whole lineage is built on controlled lift, and here is its first, purest form. how By slowing Jack's descent into a hover so the player threads platforms and enemies with deliberate care. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Bootleg Beatles ethereal mechanic Lady Madonna in the cabinet who The Bootleg Beatles — the arcade soundtrack, built on licensed arrangements of real songs rather than original chiptunes. what The strangest true fact: one theme arranges The Beatles' 'Lady Madonna,' another a 1983 anime ending; only a third is original — and re-releases often scrub the borrowed music. where Under every screen of the original cabinet (and missing from many later ports). why Because the game's most surprising piece of history is in its sound, and honesty means telling it. how By arranging real, JASRAC-licensed songs into the cabinet's score, then being quietly replaced in modern re-releases. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon The Five Backdrops — wonders of the world the scenic landmark screens the rounds cycle across — Egypt's Sphinx, the Acropolis, a German castle, a Miami-style skyline, and the platform-less night — a signature of the arcade original (5) carbon The Egypt Screen spiritual backdrop the Sphinx & the pyramid who The Egypt Screen — the round set against the Great Sphinx and a pyramid at Giza, the most iconic Bomb Jack backdrop. what The signature image: a floating hero defusing bombs before the oldest wonder, the picture the game is remembered by. where The Egyptian desert, the Sphinx watching the screen. why Because the arcade's idea — play against the wonders of the world — is crystallized here. how By placing the platforms and bombs against the Sphinx and pyramid as the round's stage. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Greece Screen ethereal backdrop the Acropolis who The Greece Screen — the round set against the Acropolis and the Parthenon of Athens. what The bright one: the airy classical light that suits Jack's float, the wonder of the Western world as a play-field. where Atop the Athenian acropolis, columns behind the platforms. why Because the backdrop set spans the world's monuments, and Greece is its luminous member. how By staging a round against the Parthenon's columns and the clear Aegean light. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The German Castle natural backdrop Neuschwanstein-style spires who The German Castle — the round set against a fairy-tale, Neuschwanstein-style castle of spires and turrets. what The storybook stage: the European wonder, all towers and pennants, a romantic counterpoint to the ancient screens. where Among the spires of a mountain castle. why Because the world tour needs its fairy-tale castle, and this is it. how By framing the round against turrets and towers instead of monuments and skylines. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Miami Skyline natural backdrop the modern city who The Miami Skyline — the round set against a modern coastal city skyline (a Miami-style harbour, not Manhattan). what The new-world stage: the one contemporary backdrop, glass and harbour among the ancient and the fairy-tale. where Against a sunlit coastal-city skyline. why Because the set reaches from antiquity to the present, and the modern city is its now. how By placing the round before a present-day skyline rather than a monument of the past. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon carbon The Platform-less Night spiritual backdrop the empty screen who The Platform-less Night — the fifth screen, a night street scene that, uniquely, has no platforms at all. what The pure-float test: with nothing to land on, the round becomes an exercise in sustained gliding and nerve. where A dark city street with empty air where platforms should be. why Because the arcade saves its strangest stage for last — a screen that strips away the floor. how By removing the platforms entirely, forcing Jack to collect the bombs on the float alone. .agent · .dlw badge → silicon Rendered, not invented. Arcade Bomb Jack is a game with no story — so this world carries no .shadow (no real-world cast), and there is no plot to dramatize: just Jack, the foes, the scoring machine, and five scenic screens. Every emergent is distilled directly from the verified game, with the fan myths corrected in Real-or-Fluff. Note especially: the famous anti-greed torture room is NOT in this arcade original — it belongs to the NES sequel, Mighty Bomb Jack . The seed, and the tree. The Record the cabinet, and the legacy it seeded The Cabinet Tehkan's 1984 score machine Tehkan developer & publisher Tehkan released Bomb Jack to arcades in 1984; the company renamed itself Tecmo on January 8, 1986 — so the original is a Tehkan game, the sequels Tecmo's Tsuruta & Ueda the designers credited to Michitaka Tsuruta and Kazutoshi Ueda; Ueda went on to Solomon's Key and the sequel Mighty Bomb Jack five wonders the scenic backdrops the rounds cycle across the Egyptian Sphinx & pyramid, the Acropolis of Athens, a German Neuschwanstein-style castle, a Miami-style coastal skyline, and a platform-less night street the borrowed music Lady Madonna & more the soundtrack arranges real songs — The Beatles' 'Lady Madonna' and a 1983 anime ending theme (one track original), licensed via JASRAC and often replaced in modern re-releases The Legacy the seed of the lineage the Elite ports Spectrum 92%, C64 best Elite Systems' 1986 home-computer conversions — ZX Spectrum (Crash 92%), Commodore 64 (widely called the best port), Amstrad CPC — made Bomb Jack a European staple Mighty Bomb Jack the true sequel (Tecmo) Tecmo's 1986 NES/arcade follow-up, which preserves the arcade game inside its Royal Palace rooms — and adds the anti-greed torture room the original never had Bomb Jack II & Twin not Tecmo's Bomb Jack II (1986) was Elite Systems' home-computer sequel, and Bomb Jack Twin (1993) was NMK's arcade two-player take — neither is Tecmo's the score-chase pure arcade no narrative, no win-state beyond a higher score — the platonic arcade loop, and the origin point of everything Bomb Jack Bomb Jack, its characters, and its world are © Tehkan / Tecmo and the respective rights-holders. The personas here are catalogued personifications under the DLW standard — commentary and cataloguing, rendered not invented, not endorsed. The Score and Real-or-Fluff sections are honest commentary; the game's facts were verified before publishing. BOMB JACK · BJK · catalogued into UD0 · ROOT0-ATTRIBUTION-v1.0 · governor David Lee Wise · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0 ← the biosphere · the sequel: Mighty Bomb Jack · the .dlw badge: manifest