Under the microscope: Solar Eclipse (Titan Wars)

60 cheat codes and a debug menu for the 3D space shooter with the weirdest bonus levels

Apr 11, 2024

In this edition we’re looking at Solar Eclipse (a.k.a. Titan Wars) on the Saturn:

I found its huge trove of cheat codes: 60 in all, many of them previously undocumented.
It’s got a hidden debug menu with options for invincibility, level skip, HUD changes, and more.
I’ve made a patch to enable the debug menu from the pause screen. Get it from SegaXtreme.

See below for details! Here’s a video of the debug menu patch in action:

Intro

I most associate Crystal Dynamics with the ads for Gex that were in every magazine in 1995. However, the group was responsible for a number of Saturn games, many of them ports of 3DO originals.

Solar Eclipse (Titan Wars in the NTSC-J and PAL regions) wasn’t a 3DO game itself, but a followup to a 3DO game. Reviews for it were mixed - this one from Total Saturn is representative:

The video sequences really are that bad - you’d expect a better standard of acting from a cow. Still, you can’t deny that Crystal Dynamics made an effort… It’s not a terrible game, but Titan Wars really isn’t anything special at all.

That’s roughly where I land on it. It’s got some weird 90s energy that I appreciate, though. There’s a bizarrely long preview for several Crystal Dynamics games that you can watch from the main menu:

The Crystal Dynamics ad’s premise is that the games are going to punch you in the face and that you should walk it off.

Some people liked the game, though. It got 7.5s and 8.0s from EGM. The “Sushi” character’s review says:

This version has good graphics, sharp control and many action-intense levels (including tons of secret codes and levels)… it is hard. Only with hours of practice (or by cheating) will anyone have a chance to see any of the later levels.

Secret codes and levels, huh? Let’s investigate…

The codes

They weren’t kidding about “tons of secret codes.” The game recognizes 60 different ones. As of this writing, 15 are documented on GameFAQs, 9 are on Console Database, a dozen or so on this Japanese site… I don’t think anybody gathered them all.

Here’s the full list:

 1.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Right, A, Start, C, A, Left
 2.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Right, A, Left, Left, Y
 3.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Down, Right, A, C, Up, Left, A
 4.  Right, Down, Down, Left, B, Up, Left, Left, Y
 5.  Right, Down, Down, Left, B, Up, Start, Y
 6.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Start, A, Left, A, Down
 7.  Right, Down, Down, Left, B, A, Left, Left (Guide-able weapons)
 8.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Left, A, Down, Y (Tracking weapons)
 9.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Down, Up, Down (Detonating weapons)
10.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Start, C, Up, Down
11.  Right, Down, Down, Left, A, Left, Left
12.  Right, Down, Down, Left, B, Up, Down, Down, Y (9 lives)
13.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Right, A, Z, Z
14.  Right, Down, Down, Left, C, Up, Down (Bonus "Horde")
15.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Right, Right, Down, Down (Bonus "The Trench")
16.  Right, Down, Down, Left, X, Y, Z, Z, Y (Bonus "Fade to Black")
17.  Right, Down, Down, Left, B, A, Right, Start (Bonus "Still Trippin'")
18.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Y, A, Right, Down (Bonus "House Hunt" level)
19.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Start, C, Right, Up (Bonus "Corkscrew")
20.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Start, Up, B (Bonus "Undersea")
21.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Right, A, C, Y, C, A, Right (Bonus "Off World")
22.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Y, Down, Down, Up, Right, C (Bonus "le Chowder")
23.  Right, Down, Down, Left, B, Up, Right, Right (Bonus "Frost Byte")
24.  Right, Down, Down, Left, C, Right, A, Z, Y (Bonus "Heads Up" Level)
25.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Down, Up, C, A, Left, Left (Play videos)
26.  Right, Down, Down, Left, Down, Up, C, B, A, Down (Play videos)
27.  L, R, Right, Left, X, A, Start
28.  L, R, Right, Left, X, A, A, Start
29.  L, R, Right, Left, X, A, A, A, Start
30.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, A, Start
31.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, A, A, Start
32.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, A, A, A, Start
33.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start
34.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, A, Start
35.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, A, A, Start
36.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, A, A, A, Start
37.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start
38.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, A, Start
39.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, A, A, Start
40.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, Start
41.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start
42.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, A, Start
43.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, Start
44.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, Start
45.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start
46.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, Start
47.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, Start
48.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, Start
49.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start
50.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, Start
51.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, Start
52.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, Start
53.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start
54.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, A, Start,
55.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, Start
56.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, Start
57.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, Start
58.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, Start
59.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, Start,
60.  L, R, Right, Left, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, A, A, A, A, A, Start

If you want to help fill in the list of effects, send me a note with ones you’ve tried and confirmed! Numbers 27 through 60 seem to take you the the normal levels. Numbers 14 through 26 all take you to bonus levels.

Some of the bonus levels reference other Crystal Dynamics games, like The Horde and Off-World Interceptor Extreme.

The last one features pictures of the development staff attacking you!

See this video from Saturn Memories for more footage of the bonus modes in action.

Technical details: these are stored at 0023d538. The function at 002118ac checks for their entry when the game is paused.

The debug menu

The prototypes of this game have a debug menu - see the articles at Hidden Palace for screenshots. Is it still there in the final game? Yes!

Left: the main debug menu. Right: Debug stats enabled.

The most useful things are the Invulnerability option and Level select. The latter saves you from entering the the codes from above, thankfully. I’m not sure what CD Access does.

There’s not a cheat code for enabling this menu, alas. I replaced the pause menu using this set of patches:

0020f214 2300
0020f280 0023ca78

Here’s my annotated disassembly of the game code:

The patches replace the reference to pause_function_01’s address with one to 0023ca78, the address that determines whether the debug menu is on or not. Then it writes a nonzero value to that address.

Outro

Feel free to add the information in this article to your favorite website; it will save me the trouble.

For previous coverage of long lost cheat codes, see:

What other games might have hidden secrets? Send me your suggestions!

Rings of Saturn

Discussion about this post