Atlantis no Nazo

Game Center CX

Atlantis no Nazo was featured on the Japanese television show Game Center CX. It was the weekly challenge game played by host Shinya Arino for Season 2, Episode 1 (Nov. 20, 2004). It was the first title featured in the challenge-centric format introduced in the second season.

References to the game

Sunsoft referenced this game several years later in the game Gimmick!, but in a rather unusual way: the copy protection! If the Gimmick! ROM is modified to remove or change the copyright information, when the player reaches the final stage, the game will hang on a black screen with the text "BLACK HOLE". This is a reference to the "42th Zone" in Atlantis no Nazo, which is just a bottomless pit with the words "BLACK HOLE!" that cannot be escaped.

Title

The Japanese title, Atlantis no Nazo, directly translates as Mystery of Atlantis. The Japanese title uses an unconventional spelling (アトランチス "atoranchisu" rather than アトランティス "atorantisu"), and would sound more like "Atlanchis" when pronounced. This quirk was the subject of multiple jokes when the game was featured on Game Center CX.