Chameleon Twist Developer Interview

Email to Hideyuki Nakanishi:

Hello Mr. Nakanishi!
I spoke with some of the other members of the Chameleon Twist RTA community and compiled some questions for you! Most of them are about Chameleon Twist and Chameleon Twist 2 because we are huge fans of them!
1.	Why was Fred's color scheme changed from the box art to the in-game model?
2.	Why was Black not playable in Story Mode?
3.	Is there any specific reasons for the crown total in Chameleon Twist 1? Why 141 rather than 150 (25 per level)?
4.	What happened to Japan Supply System and moreover, who currently owns the games developed by the company?
5.	What games, if any, served as the biggest inspiration for Chameleon Twist?
6.	We found a little bit of footage from Space World 1996 that showed some gameplay of an early build of Chameleon Twist. What caused the big change in gameplay between then and the final release of the game a year later?
7.	Were there any features that were cut due to budget or time for either Chameleon Twist 1 or 2?
8.	What were the reasons for the regional differences? We were wondering this for both games because Chameleon Twist 1 had so many changes to rooms here or there and Chameleon Twist 2 mostly was model changes.
9.	Finally, this question has had fans wondering for years: What was the purpose for the Perfect Code that you get for beating the Chameleon Twist with White without taking damage?
If you would like to join us, we use Discord to talk about the series with each other. I’m certain everyone would like to meet you! [Link]
Thank you so much,
[Name]

Response:
He admits that his memory of some of these things is a bit hazy.

Why the color change: I don't know why the color was changed (I was not aware of the change). Incidentally, the graphics were designed first for the characters in the game, and then for the box art of the Japanese version. Then the box art of the Japanese version, and after that the box art of the international version.

Why can’t you play with Black: Were there fewer characters (colors) to choose from? I wasn't aware of that!

On the number of crowns: The same applies to carrots; there is no reason for the number. When we submitted the first version of the game to Nintendo's reviewing body (Mario Club), they pointed out that the game was not "voluminous enough” (not enough contents). We added two types of collectibles after the fact.

What happened to JSS: Japan Supply System went bankrupt in 2000 when it was discovered that it had been getting loans from unauthorized banks through forged bills. (They had a grafficker [trans: that is, a graphic or CGI artist] forge the impression). As for the copyrights, SUNSOFT owns the overseas version, but the Japanese version is unknown.

Game inspirations: It was based on a 2D game on the Sharp X68000 the year before I started development (1994). If I had to say it was inspired by something, it would be this game [trans: attached below, “Libble Rabble”]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libble_Rabble. Attached is a report on how the game was designed.
Re: the early build at 1996: We started with tongue-in-cheek action in the summer of 1996, so I don't think the basics of the game have changed. [trans: in other words, he doesn’t view the changes that happened as significant; thus, they likely weren’t intentional beyond getting the game to run better]

Cut features: No, there were no features cut, but the number of stages was reduced due to the budget.

Regional differences: I did not know there were differences between the Japanese and overseas versions!

The perfect code: I completely forget; I think you get a prize or something? [Trans: this made me lol. It’s possible that he did truly forget, or that he doesn’t want to share. However, the word “prize” that he uses is specifically 景品, keihin, which is not so much like a Christmas present but rather more like if you win on a lottery ticket and then go turn the ticket in. So I’m wondering if maybe, right when the game came out, there was some kind of “show the code at X store and you’ll get a free little figurine” or something promotion. Those existed in lots of American-made games too, where you mailed in certain stuff and got something cool back. Another meaning for keihin is “giveaway,” hence that idea.]