4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

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MicroMidget
Posts: 437

4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by rjay63 »

These cheats were originally published in the UK Official Dreamcast Magazine's August 2000 edition
4wheel2.png
Aside from an archived Usenet message (circa 2000) on Google Groups, these cheats do not seem to be listed anywhere online. However there was not enough detail present to activate the cheats without a lot of trial and error. Therefore I have decided to list them here in a more descriptive and user friendly manner. The 'Unlock All Cars' cheat is listed on GameFAQS however it lacks detail (probably due to the format you have to use to submit cheats).

Unlock all cars

1. On the 4 Wheel Thunder 'Press Start' screen (before the Main Menu), hold down the Left Trigger + X together, then press Start.
If you do not have a VMU on your controller, a warning message will pop up after pressing Start. Select the 'Continue without saving' option by pressing A.

2. On the Main Menu screen, place the cursor on 'Option', hold down X and then press А. IMPORTANT: If you get a loading screen instead of the Main Menu, the cheat will not work. Once that loading screen ends and you get to the Main Menu, you will need to soft reset your Dreamcast back to the 4 Wheel Thunder 'Press Start' screen and start again.

3. In the Option menu hold down Y and then press В. A 'jackpot sound' should occur if you have done this right.

You will now be able to use all secret cars & customizations in this game, including the CPU cars (under the 'Bonus' names). However this cheat will not unlock the Special Midway car; that has a separate code.

Please note, this cheat does not work in Championship mode. This cheat is also the only way you can play as the CPU vehicles however be warned as they are quite underpowered.
4w3.PNG
CPU cars appear are titled as Bonus vehicles.

Unlock all tracks (Practice Modes and the 2 player Special Modes only)

1. On the 4 Wheel Thunder 'Press Start' screen (before the Main Menu), hold down the Left Trigger + X together, then press Start.
If you do not have a VMU on your controller, a warning message will pop up. Select the 'Continue without saving' option by pressing A.

IMPORTANT: If you get a loading screen instead of the Main Menu, the cheat will not work. Once that loading screen ends and you get to the Main Menu, you will need to soft reset your Dreamcast back to the 4 Wheel Thunder 'Press Start' screen and start again.

2. On the Main Menu screen, press A to enter 1 Player Mode.

3. Put the cursor on 'Practice', hold down X + Y and then then A to reach the next screen.

4. Put the cursor on Enemy and press right once on either the D-Pad or Analog stick to change the setting to 'OFF'

5. Place the cursor on Checkpoint, hold down X and push the D-Pad/Analog stick right once

6. Finally, place the cursor on Number Of Laps, hold down Y and push the D-Pad/Analog stick left once. A 'jackpot sound' should occur if you have done this right. You will now be able to select all tracks including those with time of day and weather variations.

Special Midway Car (Practice Modes and 2 Player Special Modes only)

1. On the Select Track menu within Practice mode, hold down Left Trigger + Right Trigger + Y simultaneously, then press A. If you are playing 2 player mode, then only Player 1 has to do this part.

2. On the Select Your Car menu within Practice mode, hold down Left Trigger + Right Trigger + X simultaneously, then press A. If you are playing 2 player mode, both players must do this part if they both want the special car.

Note: if you are playing in 1 Player practice mode, all CPU cars will be the Special Midway Car too.



End credits

1. On the Main Menu screen, hold Left Trigger + X together, then press A.

2. On the One Player menu screen, hold Right Trigger + Y together, then press A.

3. On the remaining screens, hold Left Trigger + Right Trigger + Y + X simultaneously and then keep pressing A through the menus. The credits will appear instead of the race starting.
Last edited by rjay63 on Mon Mar 24, 2025 11:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
My Metropolis Street Racer Blog: http://www.msrdreamcast.blogspot.com
MSR ghosts/time trials and official DLC: https://www.dreamcastlive.net/metropoli ... r-dlc.html

brutal
Posts: 235
Dreamcast Games you play Online: None

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by Cass »

It's a great game if you knuckle down.Arcade is a quick blast but it's got a great Championship mode. Good track variety, strategic boost mechanic, nice upgrades but it is tough to complete. I always thought its difficulty curve was a tad unfair and had some overly frustrating spikes. It's becomes a grind at times. Thanks for the cheats.

Metallic
Posts: 845

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by DCGX »

You are a god rjay!

Difficulty was a tad unfair? lol I feel like they forgot they were making a home game and not an arcade game, and never adjusted the quarter-munching difficulty to reflect that.

MicroMidget
Posts: 437

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by rjay63 »

Thanks for the comments guys. Added a video for the first 3 cheats.

4 Wheel Thunder is a technical showcase for the Dreamcast in terms of graphics, framerates and sound. However once you master the "tap-tap-tap" method of boosting (instead of holding the boost button down), the game becomes rather easy. Unfortunately the fact you have to constantly boost to win a race means your car always ends up bouncing off walls. If they had modified the CPU racers, toned down the boosting and made the turning physics more gradual instead of sudden, this could have been a classic.
My Metropolis Street Racer Blog: http://www.msrdreamcast.blogspot.com
MSR ghosts/time trials and official DLC: https://www.dreamcastlive.net/metropoli ... r-dlc.html

lithium
Posts: 35

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by Woodneeded »

rjay63 wrote: Mon Mar 24, 2025 11:16 pm Thanks for the comments guys. Added a video for the first 3 cheats.

4 Wheel Thunder is a technical showcase for the Dreamcast in terms of graphics, framerates and sound. However once you master the "tap-tap-tap" method of boosting (instead of holding the boost button down), the game becomes rather easy. Unfortunately the fact you have to constantly boost to win a race means your car always ends up bouncing off walls. If they had modified the CPU racers, toned down the boosting and made the turning physics more gradual instead of sudden, this could have been a classic.

It definitely had a lot of potential. Also clearly it was hurt by the "Thunder" label being applied later in the process. I think this would have been much better if it was released as it would have been without the Thunder label as a more realistic game or as a more wacky wide open full Arcade style game. On a side not I owned some sort of dreamcast preview book as a kid not realizing the name change I really tried to hunt down this "Xleration" title.

MicroMidget
Posts: 437

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by rjay63 »

Woodneeded wrote: Tue Mar 25, 2025 7:32 am
It definitely had a lot of potential. Also clearly it was hurt by the "Thunder" label being applied later in the process. I think this would have been much better if it was released as it would have been without the Thunder label as a more realistic game or as a more wacky wide open full Arcade style game. On a side not I owned some sort of dreamcast preview book as a kid not realizing the name change I really tried to hunt down this "Xleration" title.
Thanks for the reply Woodneeded. I didn't realise the game started out as "Xleration". Another early name for this game was "Off Road Thunder" however Midway took that name for their own coin-op racer that was released a tad earlier than the Dreamcast game.

https://hiddenpalace.org/4_Wheel_Thunde ... prototype)

I would have liked the 2 player only modes (Tag & Bomb) incorporated into the 1 player game as well. Would have added some much needed variety.
My Metropolis Street Racer Blog: http://www.msrdreamcast.blogspot.com
MSR ghosts/time trials and official DLC: https://www.dreamcastlive.net/metropoli ... r-dlc.html

minority
Posts: 67
Dreamcast Games you play Online: no

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by foxx »

Thanks.

1300
Posts: 1379

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by MoeFoh »

If you have a VMU inserted, will the cheats be permanently saved to the VMU and work automatically the next time the game is started?

MicroMidget
Posts: 437

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by rjay63 »

MoeFoh wrote: Tue Mar 25, 2025 5:54 pm If you have a VMU inserted, will the cheats be permanently saved to the VMU and work automatically the next time the game is started?
Funnily enough, I never tried this out before as I had already fully completed the game by the time I discovered these cheats. The first two (Unlock All Cars & Unlock All Tracks) do save to your VMU so you don't have to enter them again. So you can save to your VMU after entering one/both cheats.

Please note, the Unlock All Tracks code will not unlock courses in the Arcade/Championship modes. The Unlock All Cars code will unlock all cars for use in the Arcade modes but not Championship mode.

The Special Midway Car and End Credits cheats cannot be saved.
My Metropolis Street Racer Blog: http://www.msrdreamcast.blogspot.com
MSR ghosts/time trials and official DLC: https://www.dreamcastlive.net/metropoli ... r-dlc.html

1300
Posts: 1379

Re: 4 Wheel Thunder Cheats

Post by MoeFoh »

Cool writeup. Are there any other similar type post you have done I should read?

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