Suka Pass v2.0: Quiz, VMU Animations and More! | Shenmue Passport for Mobile

We’re very pleased to announce that the Suka Pass team has released version 2.0, a major new update for the fan-made mobile app inspired by the original Shenmue Passport.

SkillJim and I have had a lot of fun bringing this release together, and it has certainly kept us busy along the way. It is one of the most ambitious updates we have created for Suka Pass so far.

The main additions in version 2.0 include:

• Suka Pass Quiz, featuring a Daily Quiz, practice modes and Trainer Challenges
• Medals, quiz streaks and Winning Can rewards
• Shenmue Goodies, where character VMU animations can be unlocked and collected
• Everyone’s Space, featuring live Yokosuka weather and Shenmue community news
• A new My Collection page to view your items and medals
• Expanded statistics covering Quiz and Goodies in Data Review
• Topics page, bringing together links to Shenmue community websites

Below are a few details behind some of these features that Shenmue fans might find interesting.

Each day, the Daily Quiz gives everyone the same set of questions, making it possible for players to compare their results, scores and streaks with friends and other Shenmue fans.

The Daily Quiz splash

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Weekly AM2 Volume 15 - Report on Yu Suzuki's Presentation at the Game Developers Conference | 20th March 2000

Vol. 15: 20th March 2000

Hello, this is Takuan.

New content has just been released for Shenmue Passport.

Be sure to check it out… after you finish reading this week’s Weekly AM2, of course.

All right, here we go!

This week's contents:

• “Total Net Ranking” Opens on Shenmue Passport!
• GDC Report from the U.S.A
• Announcement: Japan Game Awards Results
• Masaya Matsukaze’s Advice Corner
• ‘Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka - Original Soundtrack’ finally hits store shelves!
• Tokyo Game Show 2000 Spring Information
• i-mode Image Service #4, Now with Color Support

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Shiro the Dog & Kuro the Cat: JPN vs ENG Character Profile Differences

The original Shenmue Passport provided detailed character profile descriptions for every character in the first game. These profiles (or abbreviated versions) were also published in various strategy guides and magazine features at the time. Until now it had been widely assumed that these profiles were identical between Japanese and English versions, but two recent discoveries have shown that this is not the case.

In this post we will be comparing the differing profile descriptions in the official profiles in the Japanese version vs the English for two animal characters: those of the white dog & the black cat.

Let's get started!

Alternative Lives

A hint that discrepancies may exist first arose thanks to a video created by our friend who runs the fantastic Wandering Through Shenmue YouTube channel. Among the wealth of Shenmue content on the channel is the Suka Pass Saturday series which highlights a certain aspect of the Shenmue Passport fan-remake Suka Pass app each week - and on this particular day, the official background of the white dog was introduced.

The English profile explains that the white dog, whose name is given as Shiro, can be found wandering around the streets of the residential area of Dobuita - however this information raised a couple of small but puzzling inconsistencies. Firstly, despite her home being in Dobuita, the background graphic that was displayed for this profile is New Yokosuka Harbor. Secondly, when playing Shenmue itself, the white dog can indeed be seen at the harbor. What is going on?

The white dog going for a walk at the harbor. (Screenshot from Wandering Through Shenmue's 6 Hour Walk Through Shenmue: Harbor Day/Night)

To answer this enigma, let's start by examining the English profile description for the white dog, and then translate the Japanese profile to see how it compares.

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for October 2024

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:

"Character profile comparison: Shiro the dog English vs Japanese versions differ!"

The original Shenmue Passport provided detailed character profile descriptions for every character in the first game. These profiles (or abbreviated versions) were also published in various strategy guides and magazine features at the time. Until now it had been widely assumed that these profiles were identical between Japanese and English versions, but recently an exception has been discovered.

In the English profile for the white dog, whose name is given as Shiro, we are told that she is to be found wandering around the streets of the residential area of Dobuita.

Bio for the white dog (screenshot from the Suka Pass app)

However this profile raises a couple of small but puzzling points. One is that the background graphic for the dog in the Shenmue Passport shows New Yokosuka Harbor, despite her location being described as Dobuita. The second is that, in the game itself, this white dog can indeed be found wandering around the docks at the harbor.

Some light can be shed on this by inspecting the equivalent profile description for the Japanese version - it is in fact completely different from the English description, and gives Shiro's home as being at the harbor in Amihama.

In this post we will be translating the information presented in Shiro's Japanese profile, for comparison with the English version.

Coming soon to the blog!

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Suka Pass RELEASE v1.9: Free Market!

James Brown (from the Shenmue Dojo) and myself have just released a new update for Suka Pass, the fan-made app that recreates the Shenmue Passport for your mobile device, so we wanted to let you know what it's all about.

Version 1.9 introduces the Free Market, which was a section of the Passport that let you exchange capsule toys for various animal toy prizes. The screen below shows the original screen in the Passport for the Dreamcast.

Oishi-san has set up a stand at Suzume Park, and the board behind him explains which type of capsule toy is needed to swap for a toy on the table (the cloth color on which the animals sit indicate the type of toy).

The original Free Market section of the Shenmue Passport

The Free Market in Suka Pass has been recreated with the same concept, together with some added twists.

17 capsule toys have been hidden inside the app to find, and they can be unlocked by performing certain actions. Once a capsule toy has been found, visit the Free Market to trade and start your animal toy collection.

An additional bonus item is awarded if you can successfully find them all!

James has put together a fantastic video showcasing this new feature, as well as giving an overview of the the app's other sections.

Suka Pass is available for iOS and Android devices.

Head over to the official Suka Pass site for download links!

We'd love to hear how people get on with locating the capsule toys. James has made a thread about the new release over on the Shenmue Dojo forums for any feedback or comments.

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Developer Interview on Shenmue Passport: Eigo Kasahara [Feb 2000]

When the first game in the Shenmue series was released on the Dreamcast, along with the three game discs was a fourth disc called Shenmue Passport. This was a stand-alone piece of software which acted as a companion to the main game, containing additional content to enhance the player's experience such as music, guide videos and in-depth information about the characters, places and objects in the game. It even made use of the Dreamcast's ability to connect to the Internet to download data and display Shenmue related event news and other messages. (Unfortunately, the Shenmue Passport was not part of Sega's Shenmue I & II re-release in 2018, so the fan community has created an app called Suka Pass that recreates the experience for mobile devices).

In this post we will be translating a magazine interview from shortly after Shenmue's release in February 2000 with senior Sega developer Eigo Kasahara, who oversaw the Shenmue Passport in addition to his role as Planning Director for the main game.

The translation starts below.

Eigo Kasahara was head of the Planning section for Shenmue, overseeing things like the game maps, mini-games, and characters' daily cycles. For the Passport, he was in charge of content planning and organization.

The Shenmue Passport uses the network to expand the game world. In the words of the developers themselves, you'll get a sense of the appeal of this software, which is filled with details you can't get just from playing the main game. It will surely inspire you to play the game a second time!

Shenmue Passport, Japanese version: entry screen (left) and Theater page (right)

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Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for December 2021

Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic for December 2021 is...

"Interview with developer Eigo Kasahara about the Shenmue Passport" (translation)

When the first game in the Shenmue series was released on the Dreamcast, along with the three game discs was a fourth disc called Shenmue Passport. This was a stand-alone piece of software which acted as a companion to the main game, containing additional content to enhance the player's experience such as music, guide videos and in-depth information about the characters, places and objects in the game. It even made use of the Dreamcast's ability to connect to the internet to download data and display Shenmue related event news and other messages. (Unfortunately, the Shenmue Passport was not part of Sega's Shenmue I & II re-release in 2018, so the fan community has created an app called Suka Pass that recreates the experience for mobile devices).

In this post we will be translating a magazine interview from shortly after Shenmue's release with senior Sega developer Eigo Kasahara, who oversaw the Shenmue Passport (as well as taking on the role of planning director for the main game).

Watch for it on the blog in the near future!

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Suka Pass v1.3 Out Now | Fan-Made Shenmue Passport

The Shenmue World menu screen, recreated in Suka Pass

Version 1.3 of the fan-made Shenmue Passport app Suka Pass, which we previewed here, has just been released and is available for download. A major new feature this time around is the All Moves Scroll section, giving information on all the kicks, punches and throws that Ryo has learned. And those who enjoy listening to the Shenmue music selection will also appreciate the addition of a progress bar to the music player.

A fine release trailer has been created by Jibby (check out his Jibmue YouTube channel here for more Shenmue vids) which highlights the new features:

SkillJim, from the Suka Pass project team, has also put together a comprehensive overview of the entire app:

The app is available for Android and iOS, and is of course completely free. Head over to the Suka Pass project site to download.

Link to download Suka Pass 1.3 (Project webpage)

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Suka Pass v1.3 Preview: All Moves Scroll

The Suka Pass fan-made app recreates the Shenmue Passport for mobile devices, and the development team has shared a preview of new features that will included in the upcoming release (v1.3).

One of the major features is a new section called the All Moves Scroll, which provides information on all the punches, kicks and throws in the game including the full descriptions of every move that were part of the original Passport. You can discover which moves "evolve" to a different form once they have been mastered, and observe both sets of animations.

Browsing the All Moves Scroll

Learning about a move

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Shenmue Passport - Feature Article | 2000 Dreamcast Magazine Translation

We translate an article that was published in the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine back in February 2000, about the Shenmue Passport that came on disc 4 of the set of Shenmue discs. While some of its content (such as music and video clips) could be accessed offline, it also contained many features that took advantage of an internet connection such as global leaderboards and more. This article focused on explaining these network-specific features for the reader.

Note: some images are of reduced quality as they have been extracted from the scanned article. 

-- Start of article ---

Shenmue Passport

Shenmue's world is vast. However, even vaster than that is the world of the Internet. Shenmue Passport is a bridge that connects your Shenmue world to the world of the net. Don't miss the information published on the official site either!

The Internet Makes Shenmue Twice As Fun!

To all Shenmue players who are not connected to the Internet: unfortunately you're missing out! Why? Because 30% of the fun of Shenmue lies within this Passport.

For example, even if you get stuck in the game at night, you can get a hint right away. Or, learn more about the profile of characters that take your interest while playing. Or even see how your mini-game scores compare with users around the country... If you connect to the Internet, all of these things become possible.

Left: By reading in save game data, optimal support can be provided per user.

Right: Data is sent through the Internet so the content is always fresh!

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Suka Pass v.1.1 Announced: New Character Profile Search

The fan-made Shenmue Passport app, Suka Pass, has received a shiny new update (the latest version is 1.1). You can now search for words across any character profile text, and check off characters as you meet them.

New features include:

• Character Profiles: Mark a character
• Character Profiles: Text search
• Character Profiles: Metric Units support
• Music: New music added
• Various fixes

Download the update via the Suka Pass site, or read more about the new features.

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Fan-Made Shenmue Passport Releasing August 27th | Suka Pass

Last year saw the release of Shenmue I & II HD, bringing our beloved game series to the modern day and creating a generation of new fans for the franchise.

However, those familiar with the Dreamcast version missed a certain part of the original release which didn't make the transition forward to the modern day: namely, the Shenmue Passport.

Well, Shenmue fans will not be left without for much longer. A new fan-made app called Suka Pass (a contraction of "Yokosuka Passport") has been in development over the past year, and is now ready for release! 

The release date for the app is in three days' time, on August 27th - a nod to the previously-scheduled release date of Shenmue III, providing fans with something to tide them over until they get their hands on the new game.

You can pre-register over at the Suka Pass website to receive an email with download instructions once the app is released.

Find out more at the Suka Pass website

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Shenmue Passport: Hidden F355 Challenge Feature

The topic for this article was selected by patron vote during our monthly topic poll. To help support the blog and vote for a topic you'd like to see, check out our PRS Patron page.

Shenmue and  F355 Challenge, another game created by Yu Suzuki, have several elements in common as we looked at in the previous post.

• Related post: Shenmue's Ties to F355 Challenge

One of these is an hidden menu item that can be accessed only in the Japanese version of the Shenmue Passport (with a VMU holding F355 Challenge driving data) that allows players to graphically review their driving performance.

In this post, we'll translate the manual that accompanies the Japanese Shenmue Passport disc to outline these driving analysis functions.

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List of Ryo's Goals | Shenmue Passport Disc

With our recent Shenmue Passport disc hack, some interesting sections of the disc can now be easily accessed.

One of these is the Data Review section, which spits out statistics on almost every imaginable aspect of a played game, from the number of game saves made, down to the number of times Ryo has walked into a wall(!).

Within this data is an item called "Present Goal" that describes what Ryo is currently trying to do - for example, after his battle with Chai in the arcade, it reads "Searching for the suspicious guy":

Ryo's Present Goal is displayed on the Data Review screen of Shenmue Passport.

Below is a list of all the goals, extracted from the Shenmue Passport disc. Reading through makes you appreciate the amount of effort Ryo - and you, the player - expends in the first game in his hunt for Lan Di!

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Shenmue Passport Unlocked! | Hack to Skip Dial-up Check

I'm excited to be able to share a hack I've put together which allows easy access to the online section of the Shenmue Passport disc - without the standard requirement of a Dreamcast console + internet connection.

It is in the form of a small, targeted patch to apply to the Shenmue Passport disc which effectively skips the check for an internet connection, thus allowing the "online" section of the disc to be accessed and browsed (to the extent possible while offline).

Read on for an overview of the unlocked content - and see the end for simple instructions to patch the Shenmue Passport disc image.

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