BLUE

I'm sure many of you aren't familiar with the game “Pocky & Rocky” and it's sequel. It's a scrolling shooter for the Super Nintendo made by a company called Natsume, the same company that made Harvest Moon. It's very difficult and it takes about 4-6 months just to complete. It's a rare game, it's almost impossible to find (unless you look online), not because the SNES is obsolete, but because it isn't a very well known game, and those who do know it probably still haven't beat it. The second Pocky & Rocky has newer monsters and bosses than the first, but it's the same game nonetheless.

There is this retro game store near where I live, and I visit the place frequently, mostly just to hang out and look around. One day I had a couple of bucks to spare and I didn't have any plans for the day so I decided to go down and see if the had anything new. I walked in and went straight to the PS1 section, and I grabbed Final Fantasy VII and a fighter called “War Gods”. Then I went to the N64 section and grabbed a copy of Pokemon Snap. Lastly, I went to the SNES section and looked around. I didn't see much aside from Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Mario All Stars, until I looked at the bottom shelf. There it was, Pocky & Rocky 2. Had I specifically been looking for this? No. Not really. But it was here and I wanted to try it out. I also found a game genie which I thought would be useful considering how difficult Pocky & Rocky is, so I grabbed that to. I took all my items to the counter and it all totaled to about 65 bucks. I got home and played the games in the order in which I found the games. Then I got to Pocky & Rocky 2. I played until about level 3, which is where the game got difficult. So, I pulled out the game genie and looked through the cheats. Typical things such as Infinite Health, Infinite Power Ups, but then I found 2 cheats that stuck out. One was called “CAT” (Yes, it was in all caps) and “BLUE”. Curious as to what they would do I clicked on them.

I started up the game and loaded my save, but I wasn't at the last place I saved. Instead, I was at the Demon Gate stage, the score was all zeroes, the time was just a japanese symbol, I had 99 keys, and 24 of something else. Pocky & Rocky were both riding those cat things that make you pretty much invincible, but the power up didn't end, I guess that's what “CAT” was. I walked through the level using both controllers, playing as both characters, but something was off. There were no enemies. Just an empty level. I got to the end of the level, right before the boss fight, but instead of fighting the Demon Gate, a cloud of smoke appeared. Then, another cat creature appeared, but it wasn't just any cat creature. It wasn't a cream color or white, it was blue. A text box appeared above his head saying “It's my turn.”

A name appeared on screen indicating a boss battle, but instead of “Demon Gate”, it said “Blue”. Then lightning appeared behind it, and shot Pocky & Rocky. The screen went black, then two angel versions of the characters appeared for a split second before the game shut off. I didn't know what to make of the game, and since then the game ran like normal. I looked for answers on reddit and GameFAQs, but I couldn't find anyone with a similar problem. I guess this was just a one time thing.