Sega

Mega Drive / Genesis, Sega

Pulseman [MD GEN – Beta]

monokoma
10-04-2010
No Comments

Pulseman is a side-scrolling action platform game developed by Game Freak and published by Sega for the Mega Drive / Genesis in 1994. The game was released in cartridge format only in Japan, with the North American version being released via the Sega Channel as an “exclusive”. When first announced, Pulseman was originally named Spark.

Derboo found a screen of the beta Spark  from the Korean gaming magazine, Game World #5 (1994). The on-screen display changed, and the screenshot shows a boss from the game with a slightly different sprite in a totally different situation.

The palette is also different, but the article also shows artworks with the characters colored just like in the final game, so it was probably just the prototype palette for the underwater effect.

Thanks to derboo for the contribution!

Beta:


Final Version:

Images: 

32X / Mega CD, Sega

Last Action Hero [Sega Mega CD – Cancelled]

monokoma
10-04-2010
7 Comments

Last Action Hero for the Sega Mega CD is a cancelled game adaptation of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name, developed by Bits Studios to be published by Sony Imagesoft.  The NES, Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Boy and Sega Game Gear versions were released, but they all look different from the Mega CD version, that used pre-rendered characters and background, as in the Bram Stoker’s Dracula CD game. A Sega Master System version was also developed, but never released.

Thanks to Celine and S.J. Reed for the contribution! (scan from EGM51! and a few from HG101)

Images: 

32X / Mega CD, Sega

32 Xtreme [Sega 32X – Cancelled]

monokoma
06-04-2010
1 Comment

32 Xtreme is a cancelled extreme sport game that was in development by Sega for the Sega 32X add-on for the Mega Drive / Genesis. It was going to be a collection of different sport genres, as Snowboard, roller-hockey, Jetski racing and… frisbee throwing? How’s that supposed to be extreme? Sadly we’ll never know, as the game was canned and the only screens preserved in the gallery below are from the “WipeOut” Jetski part.

Thanks to Celine and Rod_Wod for the scans!

Images: 

Mega Drive / Genesis, Sega

Smaartvark [GEN MD – Cancelled]

monokoma
03-04-2010
9 Comments

Smaartvark (also know as “Arnie the Aardvark” and “Miniature Aardvark TV Repairmen”) is a cancelled platform / action game that was in development by Codemasters for the Genesis / Mega Drive. The title is a wordplay between “aardwark”, a medium-sized mammal native to Africa, and “smart”: infact the main protagonist of the game was an aardwark TV technician, as we can see from its sprite in the screens below.

There are not much info about this project and we dont know why it was never released. It seems that the player had to repair a TV by entering in its channels and defeating the bugs that cause the problem.

Thanks to Rod_Wod and Celine for the scans!

Images: 

Dreamcast, Sega

Rent A Hero No. 1 [Dreamcast – Beta]

monokoma
01-04-2010
1 Comment

Rent A Hero No. 1 is an action game / beat ’em up with RPG elements, developed by Sega and published for the Dreamcast in 2000, with an Xbox port in 2003. When the game was first announced in 1999, it did not look like the final version: the city layout was completely changed, the HUD and the MAP were different. From a video of the Rent-A-Hero No. 1 presentation at the V-jump Festival 99, shared by Carnivol from his YT channel, the combat seemed almost turn based or “on-rails”, while in the final game they play like in a classic action beat ’em up with free movements.

It’s possible that this 1999 version was still an early beta, but it’s interesting to notice how much the city was evolved from it’s initial form.

Images:

Videos (Beta @ 0:53):

For comparison, here’s a video from the final Xbox version: