Beta + Cancelled SNES + Super Famicom Video Games - Page 27 of 33

In this article we can see a comparison between Secret Of Evermore beta screens and their final counterparts. During the game’s development Square USA made some interesting changes and probably the original story was a bit different from the one that we know.

Beta version

Final Version

The character’s bar was much different in the beta. While the area is essentially identical, with only little background differences, the enemies in the beta version are not the same as the final. The strange blue creature was completely removed, and we encounter raptors only much later in the prehistoric level. Also, you get the sword in Antiqua, the second area of the game.

Beta Version

I don’t recall this area anywhere in the game. The green dinosaur on the left was removed in the final version.

Beta Version

Final Version

Yet another enemy that was removed from the final game: the warrior with the pike at the center of the screenshot. Also, in the final version the machine is green (in the beta it looks to be black/grey) and there aren’t enemies in this area, maybe because the game’s story changed. The fake Fire Eyes (the girl at the center of the screen) didn’t exist or didn’t appear here in the beta version.

Beta Version

Final Version

An area with almost no changes. In the beta version the dog is still the prehistoric one.

Beta Version

This is a really strange beta screenshot. We can see what it looks like to be an early and much different version of Ivory Tower (or Ebon Keep when it is populated again). In the final game, the King is not here. Maybe the story was different ?

Here are some more screenshots from a pre-release version of Secret Of Evermore. The “dog’s bar” at the bottom of the screen has the “dog’s face” on the left side, while in the final version it’s on the right side.

Pre-release Version

Final Version

In these screenshots, we can see that this section of the market didn’t change at all. However, as in all pre-release and beta pics, the golden bar is different, and the dog is still the prehistoric one, while in the final version there are four different dogs.

Pre-release

Final Version

This area is different from the final version. There are not as many black crystals and there is only one skull. Also, the location seems much more barren. Thanks to Robert Seddon, that has found some infos from a developer / tester of the game, we know that they changed the Mammoth Graveyard because there was an issue with AI getting caught on the tusks. You can read more of these beta-infos on this old news: SoE beta infos

Pre-release Version

Final Version

We can see that in the beta versione there was no “heart” at the center of the spider.

Pre-release Version

Final Version

Again, as in the beta screenshot, the fake “Fire Eyes” girl is not here, but at least the machine is green now.

There are a couple of other beta screens in the gallery below, but they are not much different from the final version.

Images:

Nintendo, SNES + Super Famicom

SNES Hardware Test

U64 Staff & Contributors

12-05-2008

No Comments

A software used to test various hardware / video signals for the Super Nintendo.

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Video:

Nintendo, SNES + Super Famicom

Super Mario World [Beta / Unused – SNES]

U64 Staff & Contributors

14-04-2008

15 Comments

The formula setup by Super Mario Bros. 3 established the foundations for the SNES successor Super Mario World. Thanks to these uncovered beta photographs, the evolutionary connections from Super Mario Bros. 3 to Super Mario World are a bit more apparent. Interesting enough is that “World” once started out as simply Super Mario Bros. 4. Its “World” subtitle did not come development had actually progressed into planning and pre-production stages.

The images in this article represent a starting point as Nintendo journeyed from Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES to what would eventually become World. The structure of the geography, different icons, alternative floor on the castle entrance and castle texture, the flying fortresses and even mushroom houses show some serious evolutionary ties to its Mario Bros. 3 roots.

[Original description in italian by Sig. Bakke, english translation by MajorTom]

Would you like to play the Super Mario World beta? Check our Super Mario World Beta Remake Project!

Images:

Test map e Unused Characters from: www.themushroomkingdom.net

Thereʼs very little to say regarding the over world map. The beta version seems to have accommodated a much smaller adventure than what was produced in the ﬁnal version. In this article, there are two opening screens. One of which shows “Super Mario World” against a “beta” world map. This opening showed a very muted color scheme and a 1989 copyright date. This opening screen could have been one of the earliest known builds Nintendo made during its transition from the NES to SNES hardware. The second title screen does not show any copyright date but what is notably different from the ﬁnal version is that Nintendo excluded “Super Mario Bros” from the title in the ﬁnal build.

On screen elements during game play have changed. Notably, there used to be Yoshi sign that disallowed the usage of a Yoshi (or speciﬁc colored Yoshi) after the player walked past that sign. Signs similar to these would reappear in the semi-sequel Yoshiʼs Island (with signs limiting Yoshiʼs power-up as it walks past them). In the Donkey Kong Country 2 & 3 games (which share various similarities with SMW), silimar signs appear for animal buddies – a possible influence for Rare.

Other small differences to note are beta sprites. Mario and the Koopas look slightly different from how they turned out in the ﬁnal release. Mario tends to look more like his “Mario All-Stars” Super Mario Bros. 3 counterpart. The Koopa shells have a more rounded look to them. Some coins also had a look slightly larger and more oval (maybe they were a beta version of the Yoshi’s coin).

Raccoon Mario, who debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3, was either a place holder for the eventual cape/feather power-up or the concept of Cape Mario never came to fruition until much later in development. For a time, the leaf and resulting Raccoon Mario may have been the “de-facto” ﬂying power-up for Mario in “World”. There are many screenshots that show Raccoon Mario in various parts of the game. For readers that frequent Unseen 64, you might want to check out the “SNES Hardware Test” in the SNES section. One speciﬁc image from that section has a Mario sprite that appears to be from “World” but with what appears to be ears on top of his head that look VERY similar to the raccoon ears similar to those in Super Mario Bros. 3 and beta shots of “World”.

As Sammy has noticed, there was a Sears commercial that showed 3 Super Nintendo games; they were Super Mario World, F-Zero, and Pilotwings. On that commercial, it showed the title for SMW but with a little difference. Right next to the little beta “Super Mario Bros.” text of the beta title, there was a blue “4″ on the right of the text. You can check the video below thanks to Youssef!

Thanks to Jamie and Assjerk for the contributions!

Video:

Nintendo, SNES + Super Famicom

Zelda II [SNES – Tech Demo]

monokoma

14-04-2008

4 Comments

As we can read on Wikipedia, the Satellaview (also know as BS-X) was a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo’s Super Famicom system, released in Japan in 1995. The first game on the system was Zelda BS, a “remake” based on the original Zelda for the NES. The gameplay was identical to its predecessor, but a few differences exist which make the experience distinctly different. The overworld was altered from an 8 by 16 map to an 8 by 8. As in the The Legend of Zelda’s Second Quest, dungeons are again completely different.

Some years ago, a mysterious scan from an unknown Japanese magazine was found, and on it there was a screen that showed what it looked like a 16bit version of Zelda 2:

Images:

Thanks to Chris Covell on the Assembler Forum, we finally have some more informations about this assumed BS-X remake of Zelda 2: “Here’s my webpage which has pictures from the Famicom Tsushin special on the Super Famicom announcement in 1988 with that picture. That particular section in the Super Famicom article explains the graphical capabilities of the SFC, including a large number of on-screen colours, and large memory addressing, allowing for Kanji text display. That mock-up pic of a recoloured Zelda 2 with kanji text is all that was ever seen of a SFC ‘Zelda 2′. It’s just a single-screen mockup shown during the SFC’s tech demo showcase.”

“The text (in both magazine pictures) writes to the effect: The pixel-addressing capabilities of the SFC are so high that Kanji text can easily be displayed. This allows game like RPGs, for example, to display easy-to-read Kanji messages”

So, the presumed Zelda 2 BS-X was nothing more than a 1988 “tech demo” to show the SNES power to the press.. well, it was more fascinating to think about a SNES remake of Zelda 2, but we are happy to finally have an answer! Props to Chris Covell for these informations! You can read the original Assembler topic in here or take a look at Chris webpage in here. We can still wonder about the meanings of this image, as it could be seen as an early “concept” for the third Zelda game, but maybe it’s a bit too vague..

Nintendo, SNES + Super Famicom

Zelda: A Link To The Past [SNES – Beta]

monokoma

14-04-2008

2 Comments

The images on this page are taken from the Beta of The Legend Of Zelda 3: A Link to the Past, during the second half of 1991, a few months before its official release. The differences from the final version are in fact very small, but very interesting. Nintendo first changed the HEAD-UP DISPLAY of the game: the bar of the magic had a different shape, more similar to a test tube, the icons of object in your inventory were situated on the left of your stock (while in the complete game they are placed on top of your stock), the life meter went from being written as “+ LIFE +” to – “LIFE -“. Nintendo may have changed the symbol to avoid the presence of a symbol similar to a cross (In the 90’s Nintendo often removed religious symbols from games, in order to avoid controversy).

Beta Version:

Final Version:

In the second beta image, the main difference is the presence of 4 enemies, in place of the 2 single ones inserted in the complete game. This greatly lowered the difficulty of the stage.

In the third image, the bridge is pretty much the same, but on the right of the river we notice the lack of the trees. Instead of trees, some stones in a strange formation is found. The strange design perhaps indicated the location of the secret cove, which was removed from the final version of the game. The main difference in the beta is in minor graphic changes. We’re currently still looking through old screenshots and sprites to find more changes.

Beta Version:

Final Version:

[Original intro in italian by monokoma, translation by Sba sb3002]

You can find more info about Zelda: A Link To The Past in the Zelda Wiki!

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