This page outlines the differences among the various versions of Breath of Fire.
Super Famicom / Super Nintendo
ROM Variants
There are a total of 3 known ROM versions: Japan, Japan Rev 1, and USA.
Breath of Fire – Ryuu no Senshi (Japan)1
Size: 1572864 Bytes / 1.572864 MB
CRC32: FD96A42F
MD5: 8396DBB5C335B76E3578EC95E1E8E3B4
SHA-1: 0C1708953683FAC3429838E512667FD6CBFEE6A0
SHA-256: 214075837B7559078C32507F9D4DBC278F3745882207D0E73137FB1B34D86344
Product Code: SHVC-BF
Stamp Code: 07, 27
PCB Serial: SHVC-2A3B-01
Chip Serial 1: SHVC-BF-0 P0
Chip Serial 2: SHVC-BF-0 P1
Save Type: Unknown
Box Barcode: T4976219045414
Description: This is the Japanese launch version of the Super Famicom ROM.
Breath of Fire – Ryuu no Senshi (Japan) (Rev 1)23
Size: 1572864 Bytes / 1.572864 MB
CRC32: E0B0BBEC
MD5: A8421D749DA1510DF9A37FED5909E129
SHA-1: 3AB85EE92F5E2C9069E3D2FA595FAB3D452C5D99
SHA-256: A4F127D7601E0F6A3328C37F6FB15A1AAD8D7B3A635527EFFDBCB29E0D91F6F8
Product Code: SHVC-BF
Stamp Code: 3 ? ?
PCB Serial: SHVC-2A3B-01
Chip Serial 1: SHVC-BF-1 P0 (9321)
Chip Serial 2: SHVC-BF-1 P1 (9321)
Save Type: SRAM (02)
Box Barcode: Unknown
Description: This is a subsequent Japanese revision of the Super Famicom ROM. It is currently unknown when this version of the cartridge was released and what was modified. The best way to determine the version is to carefully open up the cartridge and inspect the PCB’s chip serial numbers.
Breath of Fire (USA)4
Size: 1572864 Bytes / 1.572864 MB
CRC32: C788B696
MD5: CDEF890E99A0FB62C4D449D867C4244A
SHA-1: B8A9E3023B92E0F4139428F6D7A9E0F9DB70F60E
SHA-256: CBC496A7879BA78F32C51C3DF4BA1A1A42F17D78D48A39EA9C709D1AD18CB8DF
Product Code: SNS-BF-USA
Stamp Code(s): 07, 19
PCB Serial: SHVC-2A3M-11
Chip Serial 1: SNS-BF-0 P0
Chip Serial 2: SNS-BF-0 P1
Save Type: SRAM
Box Barcode: 094689141048
Description: This is the English language, North American version of the Super Nintendo ROM.
Company Logos
Title Screen / Logos
Breath of Fire: Ryuu no Senshi (SFC)
User Interface
Currency
Breath of Fire: Ryuu no Senshi (SFC) | Breath of Fire (SNES) |
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The SFC version uses the “Ƶ” zenny currency symbol | The SNES version uses “G” as the currency (short for “GP”, or “gold pieces”). |
Field Menu
Shop Menu
Battle Menu
Dragon Shrine Symbol
Enemy Attack: Graniddo vs. P. Bug
Danc vs. Karn
In-Game Sprites and Portrait
Breath of Fire: Ryuu no Senshi (SFC) | Breath of Fire (SNES) |
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In the SFC version, the thief character Danc’s character sprite has gray, ashen-color skin, and his portrait shows his exaggerated pink, puffy lips. | In the SNES version, Danc is renamed “Karn” and his character sprites and portrait were changed to a lighter skin color with thinner lips. These changes were likely made due to the original Japanese design resembling a stereotypical “blackface” character (a historically derogatory caricature of black people).5 |
Artwork
Credits
While the credits sequences of both the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo versions have the same background visuals, a majority of the Capcom Japan staff credits were replaced by Squaresoft’s own staff credits in the North American release. For a complete breakdown, please visit the Credits page.
Game Boy Advance
ROM Variants
There are a total of 4 known ROM versions: Japan, USA, Europe, and Europe (En,Fr,De).
Breath of Fire – Ryuu no Senshi (Japan)6
Size: 4194304 Bytes / 4.194304 MB
CRC32: 66E96B35
MD5: 15DE8E3ED041332E0529C0B884D42D42
SHA-1: B09DC97AB42F5E32DC6254D09B0B195295B24932
SHA-256: CDEBAFD678E9B51A41E28162C42072E66123EE5120758D2831B6AF4F2B95C705
Product Code: AGB-ABFJ-JPN
Stamp Code: 07
PCB Serial: AGB-E06-01
Save Type: Eeprom_v121
Box Barcode: 4976219535892
Description: This is the Japanese version of the Game Boy Advance ROM.
Breath of Fire (USA)7
Size: 4194304 Bytes / 4.194304 MB
CRC32: F06422A8
MD5: 17A32CFA3D0A5C74F914281EF55C75CD
SHA-1: B30533F68037B47D5439BAB0182169E4A643A38D
SHA-256: 3289AEC193497C86C3C769B42C1024A1D491D48F15B90FCB58910DCA0A79647A
Product Code: AGB-ABFE-USA
Stamp Code(s): 08, 22
PCB Serial: AGB-E06-10
Save Type: Sram_v112
Box Barcode: 013388280049
Description: This is the North American English language version of the Game Boy Advance ROM.
Breath of Fire (Europe)8
Size: 4194304 Bytes / 4.194304 MB
CRC32: A1C3165D
MD5: 1CB94E81DD0168C33E0EB8B070FDDB6E
SHA-1: F47870D25665588D19B75E90D0BD32A759E64918
SHA-256: 241CCC3DB2F169EA9A73F1DE953431021E6EE4A688E11CA202400EBFD6DE509E
Product Code: AGB-ABFP-EUR
Stamp Code: Unknown
PCB Serial: Unknown
Save Type: Sram_v112
Box Barcode: 3307210323613
Description: This is the European English language version of the Game Boy Advance ROM.
Breath of Fire (Europe) (En,Fr,De)9
Size: 4194304 Bytes / 4.194304 MB
CRC32: D3660549
MD5: A413CF9036C03EAC937539A255AC6949
SHA-1: FDC7E7B6AB680229DCD159EB4DD7D1967B9E88EE
SHA-256: 6CA11E110C4FAA74DB3AA86E8C5B1A34D1282AF7280EC12EC1E63F5B79669F3D
Product Code: AGB-ABFX-EUU
Stamp Code: Unknown
PCB Serial: Unknown
Save Type: Sram_v111
Box Barcode: 3307210323620
Description: This is the European English/French/German language version of the Game Boy Advance ROM.
Language Selection
Company Logos
Title Screen / Logos
Resolution and Color Palette
The original Super Famicom/Super Nintendo version of Breath of Fire has an internal/native 256 x 224 resolution that was stretched to 4:3 on consumer cathode-ray tube TVs (CRTs). The Game Boy Advance in comparison has a 240 x 160 resolution reflective thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) with a 3:2 aspect ratio.
While the field of view (FOV) is smaller in the 2001 GBA version of Breath of Fire, character sprites and world elements remain at their original, native SFC/SNES resolution.
On top of this, the color palette for GBA games is discernibly different from SFC/SNES games. Depending on which GBA handheld, emulator, or FPGA device you’re playing on, the color palettes will differ as well.
The original GBA color palette features muted colors, whereas emulators and hardware that use backlit screens will feature harsher, oversaturated colors. Interestingly, Nintendo’s own official Game Boy Advance emulator on Nintendo Switch Online features a muted color palette reminiscent of the original GBA screen.
It is assumed the game’s colors were adjusted with higher brightness/contrast settings when porting the assets from the SFC/SNES to account for the lack of a frontlight/backlight on the original GBA model (AGB-001). A front-lit screen was introduced with the Game Boy Advance SP (AGS-001) in 2003, and a backlit screen version of the GBA SP (AGS-101) was introduced in 2005.
Color Palette: Regional
Interestingly, the color palette for the GBA version’s environments was modified when the game was released overseas in North America and Europe. In the overseas release, the contrast was increased between light and dark shades, which resulted in certain colors changing entirely. (Thanks to FlamePurge for bringing this to our attention!)
Breath of Fire: Ryuu no Senshi (GBA) with Color Correction | Breath of Fire (GBA) with Color Correction |
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GBA 4X Scaling | ![]() |
Breath of Fire: Ryuu no Senshi (GBA) with Raw Color Palette | Breath of Fire (GBA) with Raw Color Palette |
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GBA 4X Scaling | GBA 4X Scaling![]() |
User Interface
Breath of Fire received an overhaul of its user interface in the Game Boy Advance version, including updated field and battle menus, new menu backgrounds, and new text boxes.
Text Box
Save Menu
Field Menu
Item Menu
Vital (Key) Item Menu
Status Screen
Shop Menu
Battle Menu
Battle Menu – Spells
Character Portraits
Cutscenes
Endgame/Ending Cutscenes (Click to reveal)
Audio
The Game Boy Advance’s audio has a lower sampling rate in comparison to SNES audio. Some music instrumentation differs in the GBA version of Breath of Fire, with some samples utilizing the legacy Game Boy sound channels.
Under Construction!
Dash Button
The Game Boy Advance version of Breath of Fire adds a “dash” mapped by default to the ‘B’ button to allow the player to move Ryu and his companions at a much faster pace.
In the Options menu, the dash can be set to automatic so that it’s activated without pressing a button.
Under Construction!
Quick Save
Under Construction!
Item Trading
Under Construction!
Wii U Virtual Console
Flash Effects
Under Construction!
Resolution
Under Construction!
Restore Point
Under Construction!
Miiverse
Under Construction!
New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console
Resolution
Under Construction!
Miiverse
Under Construction!
Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online
Save States
Under Construction!
Rewind
Under Construction!
Online Spectating
Under Construction!
Evercade EXP
Company Logos
Under Construction!
Font
Under Construction!
Web Browser (Capcom Town)
Company Logos
The Squaresoft logo and Squaresoft copyright information were removed and replaced with a blank, black screen. The first visual the player will see is the Capcom copyright text screen.
The SNES instruction booklet and cartridge scans on the site have all mentions of Squaresoft removed.
Sources
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 0293 – Breath of Fire – Ryuu no Senshi (Japan)“. Retrieved 21 May, 2024. ↩︎
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 3440 – Breath of Fire – Ryuu no Senshi (Japan) (Rev 1)“. Retrieved 21 May, 2024. ↩︎
- RevisionX. “[SFC] ブレス オブ ファイア 竜の戦士 (v1.1) – RevisionX“. Retrieved 21 May, 2024. ↩︎
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 0292 – Breath of Fire (USA)“. Retrieved 21 May, 2024. ↩︎
- The Cutting Room Floor. “Breath of Fire – The Cutting Room Floor – Regional Differences“. Retrieved 23 May, 2024. ↩︎
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 0059 – Breath of Fire – Ryuu no Senshi (Japan)“. Retrieved 22 May, 2024. ↩︎
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 0239 – Breath of Fire (USA)“. Retrieved 22 May, 2024. ↩︎
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 2342 – Breath of Fire (Europe)“. Retrieved 22 May, 2024. ↩︎
- No-Intro.org. “DoM – 0381 – Breath of Fire (Europe) (En,Fr,De)“. Retrieved 22 May, 2024. ↩︎