BB1

Display barcode informations as seen by the Barcode Battler 1 handheld game system.

Usage

bb1 <ean_digits>

The tool accepts any valid EAN-8 or EAN-13 barcode (digits only, checksum validated) and displays the full card stats for both VS Mode and Story Mode.

Barcode Battler 1 Technical Reference

Barcode Battler (1991, Epoch) is a handheld game that reads standard EAN barcodes from everyday product packaging and converts them into battle cards. Every barcode produces a unique card with its own stats, type, and special ability — making any barcode scanner a card generator.

Barcode Formats

The device accepts two standard barcode formats:

The last digit is the EAN check digit, calculated from the preceding digits. It also carries meaning in post-reading mode (see below).

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Reading Modes

A barcode is decoded using one of two methods. The device selects the method automatically based on specific digit positions.

Pre-reading (Direct Mapping)

Stats are read directly from the barcode digits with no transformation. This method applies when:

• The first digit is 0 or 1, and the race digit (position 7) encodes a fighter race (0–4)
• The first digit is 0 or 1, the race digit encodes a non-fighter, and the raw stat values are low (HP ≤ 50, ST ≤ 19, DF ≤ 19)
• The first digit is 2–9, digit at position 2 is 9, and digit at position 9 is 5

Digit layout in pre-reading:

Position:  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12
           [  HP   ] [ST] [DF] [R][J][Sp][Spec ] [CK]

HP  = digits 0–2
ST  = digits 3–4
DF  = digits 5–6
Race    = digit 7
Job     = digit 8
Speed   = digit 9
Special = digits 10–11

Post-reading (Formula-Based)

When the barcode does not qualify for pre-reading, stats are derived through a non-linear formula applied to the upper digits. The race is determined by the last digit (position 12 — the EAN check digit). Stats involve modular arithmetic and digit recombination:

• HP — derived from digits 9, 10, 11 (digit 11 halved, then concatenated)
• ST — derived from digits 9 and 10 with +7/+5 offsets and modulo-10 wrapping
• DF — derived from digits 8 and 9 with +7 offsets and modulo-10 wrapping
• Job — digit 5 (EAN-13 only)
• Speed — digit 10
• Special — derived from digits 8 and 10 depending on the value of digit 8

Weapon and armor bonuses also follow distinct formulas in this mode.

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Stats

All raw stat values are multiplied by 100 to get the in-game value (e.g., a raw HP of 420 becomes 42,000 in-game).

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Card Types

The race digit determines the card's role in battle.

Fighters

Fighters are the primary battle cards. There are five races:

Race Bonuses (Pre-reading, HP ≥ 200)

These bonuses are applied automatically when a fighter's raw HP reaches 200 or more:

Weapons

Weapons provide an ST bonus to a fighter when played before a battle.

Armors

Armors provide a DF bonus to a fighter when played before a battle.

Items (Power cards)

Items restore stats and are identified by their Job digit:

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Jobs

Jobs apply to fighters and determine their class. Soldiers and Wizards have different capabilities in battle.

Soldiers cannot use magic (MP = 0). Wizards have access to MP-based abilities.

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Game Modes

VS Mode (2-player)

Full stats are used as-is. This is the standard competitive mode where two players face off with their scanned cards.

Story Mode (C1)

In single-player story mode, all fighter stats are scaled down using the following formula:

HP  = (HP  ÷ 10)
ST  = (ST  ÷ 10) + 1
DF  = (DF  ÷ 10) + 3

These values are then multiplied by 100 for the in-game display. For example, a VS Mode card with HP 42,000 / ST 9,500 / DF 7,800 becomes HP 4,200 / ST 1,000 / DF 1,000 in Story Mode.

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Special Effects

Each card carries one special effect encoded in the barcode. In pre-reading mode it comes from digits 10–11; in post-reading mode it is derived from digits 8 and 10. A value of 0 means no special effect.

The original Barcode Battler manual deliberately left most of these effects undocumented, encouraging players to discover them through trial and error. The descriptions below come from the original Japanese source material and community reverse-engineering. Effects marked uncertain have no confirmed mechanical specification beyond their Japanese label.

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Conditional 3× Attack (「三倍剣」— "Triple Sword")

Codes 1–8, 10 (job-targeting) and 11–15 (race-targeting)

The Japanese term 三倍剣 (sanbai ken, "triple sword") refers to a conditional attack multiplier. When this card's ST attack lands against an opponent whose Job (codes 1–8, 10) or Race (codes 11–15) matches the encoded target, the attack deals 3× the card's ST value instead of the normal amount.

This is the most common special effect in the game. It is highly situational — it does nothing against mismatched opponents — but dominant when the condition is met.

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Stat Multipliers

These effects modify the card's own stats or the opponent's stats for the duration of the battle.

Code 28 is the most powerful debuff: the opponent's HP is reduced by 30% at the start of the battle, before any attacks are exchanged.

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Item Curses

These codes affect item cards (weapons, armors, HP restorers) and introduce a chance of the item backfiring.

The curse is resolved randomly at the moment the item is played — the player has no way to know in advance whether the item will help or harm.

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Battle Modifiers (uncertain)

The following effects are documented in the original Japanese source material but their exact numerical impact was never officially published. The descriptions below are translations of the original labels.

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Story Mode Rewards

These effects only apply in Story Mode (C1/C2). When the player defeats a card carrying one of these codes, the hero's stats are permanently boosted by the listed amount for the rest of that story run.

Code 50 marks the hero card itself — the card the player scans as their main character at the start of Story Mode.