Chip's Challenge NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly abbreviated as NES, is a video game console first released in the 1980s.

A NES port of Chip's Challenge was developed, but never commercially released.

History

The port was developed by Images Software, like most other ports of CC. It was first announced to the public in January 1991 at the Consumer Electronics Show, and exhibited again at Summer CES in June 1991. The exact reason why it was never released are unknown, but it has been speculated that this is due to the initial publisher, Bullet-Proof Software, changing their mind.

In 2014, a prototype cartridge of the NES port was put up for auction on eBay. It was ultimately sold for on 14 December for $4,123.99. In 2015, A ROM dump was posted on the Internet, and can now be downloaded from several locations. This development build is dated 5/8/1992.

Description and gameplay

The NES ruleset is largely similar to Lynx, including key behaviour and block slapping. The original "boot" designs — water shield, fire shield, magnet, and cleats — remain. There are no major gameplay glitches, although the game's graphics sometimes fail to refresh properly, and there is a noticeable lag when stepping on a hint tile. The hint is displayed in white text with a black background, over the middle of the gameplay area.

The most noticeable difference between the NES port and other versions of the game, is the viewport: a 16 by 13 tile area is visible at all times, rather than the usual 9 by 9. This has the side effect of making several levels, notably Cellblocked, much easier. The level number, chip count, time limit and player's inventory are superimposed over the left of the map.

Prior to starting a level, its name, number, and password are displayed in green text on a black background. The player must then press A to start the level. The level, however, remains paused until Chip moves.

The game features all the original Lynx's game's decade messages, although in a different order, and between different levels. These are also displayed in green text on a black background.

The player can press A before starting a level to skip to the next one, or B to go back to the previous one, without having to enter the level's password; this is most likely due to the game's beta state. There are are no sound effects or music, also likely due to the game's beta state. The game also lacks a proper ending sequence, crashing after displaying the final message.

The game features an Easter Egg: entering the password CRED at the beginning displays the game's credits. However, unlike Thanks to..., this is not a credits level; instead, it is once again green text on a black background. The first credits page reads:

NES VERSION
PROGRAMMED BY
JAMES SMART
GRAPHICS BY
STEVE BEDSER,
AT IMAGES
SOFTWARE LTD.

The second credits page reads:

HELLO TO RICKY.
THANKS TO
KARL JEFFERY!

Levels

The NES port features 149 levels. 148 come from the original Lynx game, albeit in a different order. One level, appropriately called Exclusive, is exclusive to this port. Levels level 133 to 136 are secret and can only be accessed by entering the right password, which is found in Cypher.

In a significant departure from Lynx, levels 137 to 149 are hidden within an Easter egg: they have no passwords themselves, but entering the special password HARD will warp to level 137, Forced Entry, and they can be played in order from there. Many of these 13 "hard" levels are well-known for their difficulty; others, like Yorkhouse, are more curious choices.

As this port is based on the Lynx edition, most levels match the originals, and for example the alteration to Spirals found in MSCC is not present. However, some levels do have new differences:

• In Lesson 4, the fire beneath the hot block has been replaced by a wall. The block remains, but is immobile.
• In Potpourri, Playhouse, and Block N Roll the hot blocks have been completely replaced with walls. (The only remaining hot blocks in the game are in Lock Block, The Marsh, and Special.)
• In Nuts and Bolts, the upper-right block of the four near the beginning has been moved down one cell, from (15, 25) to (15, 26).

Notably, all of the hints are identical to those in the Lynx levels, meaning that the hint in Cellblocked still prompts the player to press Option 1 (a button on the Lynx) to restart the level.

#	Lynx #	Title
1	1	Lesson 1
2	2	Lesson 2
3	3	Lesson 3
4	4	Lesson 4
5	5	Lesson 5
6	6	Lesson 6
7	7	Lesson 7
8	8	Lesson 8
AFTER WARMING UP ON THE FIRST LEVELS OF THE CHALLENGE, CHIP IS RARING TO GO! "THIS ISN'T SO HARD," HE THINKS. (originally seen between #10 Brushfire and #11 Trinity)
9	57	Strange Maze
10	9	Nuts and Bolts
11	10	Brushfire
12	12	Hunt
PICKING UP CHIPS IS WHAT THE CHALLENGE IS ALL ABOUT. BUT ON THE ICE CHIP GETS CHAPPED AND FEELS LIKE A CHUMP INSTEAD OF A CHAMP. (originally seen between #50 Digdirt and #51 I Slide)
13	13	Southpole
14	14	Teleblock
15	15	Elementary
16	17	Nice Day
17	19	Digger
18	36	Ladder
BUT THE CHALLENGE TURNS OUT TO BE HARDER THAN CHIP THOUGHT. THE BIT BUSTERS WANT IT THAT WAY--TO KEEP OUT LOBOTOMY HEADS. (originally seen between #20 Tossed Salad and #21 Iceberg)
19	42	Beware of Bug
20	34	Cypher
21	77	Invincible Champion
22	79	Drawn and Quartered
23	84	Wars
24	11	Trinity
25	20	Tossed Salad
26	21	Iceberg
27	85	Telenet
28	24	Oorto Geld
29	26	Chchchips
30	37	Seeing Stars
31	39	Glut
CHIP READS THE CLUES SO HE WON'T LOSE (originally seen between #40 Floorgasborg and #41 I.C. You)
32	41	I.C. You
33	47	Pier Seven
34	51	I Slide
35	67	Chipmine
36	78	Force Square
37	98	Shrinking
38	16	Cellblocked
39	18	Castle Moat
40	27	Go with the Flow
41	28	Ping Pong
42	29	Arcticflow
CHIP'S THICK-SOLED SHOES AND POP-BOTTLE GLASSES SPEED HIM THROUGH THE MAZES WHILE HIS CALCULATOR WATCH KEEPS TRACK OF TIME (originally seen between #30 Mishmesh and #31 Knot)
43	31	Knot
44	35	Lemmings
45	38	Sampler
46	40	Floorgasborg
47	46	Three Doors
48	54	Grail
49	64	Spooks
50	65	Amsterdam
51	66	Victim
CHIP USED TO SPEND HIS TIME PROGRAM-MING COMPUTER GAMES AND MAKING MODELS. BUT THAT WAS JUST PRACTICE FOR THIS BRAIN-BUSTER! (originally seen between #80 Vanishing Act and #81 Writers Block)
52	75	Steam
53	83	Up the Block
54	86	Suicide
55	94	Now You See It
56	89	Block Buster
57	43	Lock Block
58	44	Refraction
59	48	Mugger Square
"I CAN DO IT! I KNOW I CAN!" CHIP THINKS AS THE GOING GETS TOUGHER. BESIDES, MELINDA THE MENTAL MARVEL WAITS AT THE END! (originally seen between #90 Playhouse and #91 Jumping Swarm)
60	53	Traffic Cop
61	56	Deepfreeze
62	58	Loop Around
63	59	Hidden Danger
64	60	Scoundrel
65	69	Bounce City
66	74	Playtime
CHIP IS HALFWAY THROUGH THE WORLD'S HARDEST PUZZLE. IF HE SUCCEEDS, MAYBE THE KIDS WILL STOP CALLING HIM COMPUTER-BREATH! (originally seen between #70 Nightmare and #71 Corridor)
67	80	Vanishing Act
68	95	Four Square
69	97	Metastable to Chaos
70	101	Apartment
71	104	Jailer
72	111	Time Lapse
73	117	The Marsh
74	25	Blink
75	45	Monster Lab
76	49	Problems
77	50	Digdirt
78	52	The Last Laugh
BESIDES BEING AN ANGEL ON EARTH, MELINDA IS THE TOP SCORER IN THE CHALLENGE--AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE BIT BUSTERS. (originally seen between #100 Colony and #101 Apartment)
79	72	Reverse Alley
80	73	Morton
81	88	Spirals
82	91	Jumping Swarm
83	92	Vortex
84	93	Roadsign
85	96	Paranoia
86	106	Kablam
87	110	Chiller
88	114	Deception
89	116	Block Buster II
90	118	Miss Direction
CHIP CAN'T WAIT TO JOIN THE BIT BUSTERS! THE CLUB'S ALREADY FIGURED OUT THE SCHOOL'S PASS-WORD AND ACCESSED EVERYONE'S GRADES! (originally seen between #110 Chiller and #111 Time Lapse)
91	119	Slide Step
92	120	Alphabet Soup
93	121	Perfect Match
94	122	Totally Fair
95	123	The Prisoner
96	124	Firetrap
97	125	Mixed Nuts
98	127	Skelzie
99	128	All Full
100	129	Lobster Trap
101	135	Trust Me
102	138	Partial Post
103	141	Underground
104	142	Pentagram
CHIP HITS THE ICE AND DECIDES TO CHILL OUT. THEN HE RUNS INTO A FAKE WALL AND TURNS THE MAZE INTO A TRASH-A-THON! (originally seen between #60 Scoundrel and #61 Rink)
105	61	Rink
106	63	Block Factory
107	70	Nightmare
108	81	Writers Block
109	99	Catacombs
110	103	Memory
111	107	Balls O Fire
112	108	Block Out
IF CHIP'S GRADES AREN'T AS GOOD AS MELINDA'S, MAYBE SHE'LL COME OVER TO HIS HOUSE AND HELP HIM STUDY! (originally seen between #120 Alphabet Soup and #121 Perfect Match)
113	113	Open Question
114	130	Ice Cube
115	143	Stripes?
116	144	Fireflies
117	55	Potpourri
118	76	Four Plex
119	82	Socialist Action
120	112	Fortune Favours The
"I'VE MADE IT THIS FAR," CHIP THINKS. "TOTALLY FAIR, WITH MY MEGA-BRAIN." THEN HE STARTS THE NEXT MAZE. "TOTALLY UNFAIR!" HE YELPS. (originally seen between #130 Ice Cube and #131 Totally Unfair)
121	131	Totally Unfair
122	132	Mix Up
123	136	Doublemaze
124	137	Goldkey
125	140	Icedeath
126	105	Short Circuit
127	115	Oversea Delivery
128	68	Eeny Miny Moe
129	71	Corridor
130	90	Playhouse
131	109	Torturechamber
GROOV-U-LOIDS! CHIP MAKES IT ALMOST TO THE END. HE'S STOKED! (originally seen between #140 Icedeath and #141 Underground)
132	—	Exclusive
GREAT JOB, CHIP! YOU FINISHED THE CHALLENGE! NOW YOU CAN TAKE MELINDA THE MENTAL MARVEL TO THE BIT BUSTERS E-PROM! (Different from the Lynx text, which was about gaining entry to the Bit Busters. Game crashes after this.)
133	146	Cake Walk
134	147	Force Field
135	148	Mind Block
136	149	Special
(Plays the same ending as completing Exclusive.)
137	22	Forced Entry
138	23	Blobnet
139	30	Mishmesh
140	32	Scavenger Hunt
141	33	On the Rocks
142	62	Slo Mo
143	87	Cityblock
144	100	Colony
145	102	Icehouse
146	126	Block N Roll
147	133	Blobdance
148	134	Pain
149	139	Yorkhouse
(Plays the same ending as completing Exclusive.)