Level Skip in New Adventure Island/Takahashi Meijin?

[SmaMan]

I just got in the above game today, (the PCE version) along with a 5-player multitap. So I decided to hook them both up and give this game a go. I only played this briefly on the iPhone TG-16 Gamebox app, so overall it was a new experience.

I watched the opening cutscene and demo, then I start playing. Things go as usual for the first few jumps. But then I hold the 2 button to get a bit of a run for the next one to get a higher fruit. So I pressed 1 while holding 2 and... The game pauses! Made the sound and everything just as if I had hit Run.

I pressed 1 while holding 2 again, and the game unpaused. Still curious however, I pressed them again and suddenly the stage clear screen came up! I was then brought to the next stage.

Now even more curious. I pressed the buttons again. Same thing happened! The first time paused the game, the second time unpaused, (and even if you unpaused with the run button...) the third time went to the stage clear screen!

I went through the whole 1st world like this! Strangely confused and not wanting to clear this new game in less than a half hour, I did a soft reset. (Pressed run+select)

I go to start a new game again. Going straight to it this time, and lo and behold; the "trick" doesn't work this time! And since then I haven't gotten it to do it again! Powering off the console completely doesn't seem to change a thing.

So, what I ask is, has anyone else experienced this? I have any found anything online about this, but I know many of you contain knowledge beyond the web.

[esteban]

Bardoly: Methinks playing with Le Tap is causing problems. Try playing Sans Le Tap and report your findings.

[SuperPlay]

There is a level skip cheat if you plug in a 6 button pad.

http://www.consoledatabase.com/cheats/necpcengine/newadventureisland/

As esteban says maybe your tap is causing a similar effect.

[SmaMan]

Hmm, interesting. Who knows, we could be on to an entirely new cheat/secret here... amazing for a game that's of the legal U.S. drinking age.

As for what was plugged in to that tap, it was a regular black and orange NEC pad with no turbo switches in port one, and a beige (though it may have been white at one point) and blue pad with turbo switches in port two. I noticed that I still had them switched up to max (3 dots) when it happened. Also, the whole thing was hooked into the console via an 8-pin mini-DIF serial cable. (Works just like one of those PC Engine extension cords, at 1/10th of the price!)

Unfortunately, I can't get it to happen again with all of this as it was, so perhaps it's something else. It's only done this that first time I described in the first post. But I'll keep experimenting with different setups. Are there other games that have some sort of affinity towards 6-button pads like this one?

[Necromancer]

Extension cord between the tap and the system?  That's your culprit.

[SmaMan]

Huh, really? Then how come I can't get it to do that again with that in place?

[Necromancer]

Having an extension cord between a tap and a system can cause all sorts of weird shit, but it's not consistent and repeatable.

[SmaMan]

Hmm, interesting indeed.
But how would this not also happen when the cord is just between the tap and the controller?

[Tatsujin]

The tab and the system uses a multi/demultiplexer circuit. So if you extend the cord, it my cause strange effects due to the different length of the connection.