In this old video from Earthworm Jim 2 there are some differences from the final version: the health display’s different, there’s some extra animations in the flying segment, the door segment’s layout has changed completely and there’s the unused green tentacle enemy (which looks incredibly well animated- maybe that’s why it was cut). You can check more info and screens about the beta version of EJ2 in our archive page
Video:
Al Carlson has made us notice that The Roots, a cancelled XBOX action RPG, was released for the Nokia N-Gage. Obviusly the Ngage version looks different from the XBOX one and probably even the gameplay is a bit different, but we wonder if it could have the same storyline as the unreleased game. You can check the Ngage version of The Roots at these links:
Thanks again to Al for this information! It’s interesting to notice that another cancelled game, Johnny Whatever for the PS2, was somehow released for the Gizmondo . Even if they are some of the more unknow portable gaming consoles, the Ngage and the Gizmondo have some love for lost games.
The Unseen 64 Podcast is only in Italian, sorry!
U64 Podcast: Episodio 1.4 – Sonic Xtreme 3° parte [32:37] Eccoci finalmente all’ultimo episodio della podcast dedicato alla leggenda di Sonic Xtreme, per concludere la discussione sul progetto e mettere un po’ di ordine alle tante informazioni di cui abbiamo parlato nelle scorse puntate. Una mezzoretta in compagnia dello staff ormai stanco e poco sveglio, per ascoltare la triste storia del team impiegato per 16 ore al giorno nel tentativo di finire Xtreme, la richiesta dell’engine 3D di Nights, il rifiuto di Naka, la malattia di Coffin, la fiducia di Sega Of America, la cancellazione definitiva del progetto Sonic Saturn, i collegamenti con il cartone animato, la sostituzione con Sonic 3D Blast, i misteriosi livelli bonus di Sonic 3D Poll, le palle di Sonic, le lezioni di economia aziendale del sig. Bakka, la filosofia giapponese dello sviluppo videoludico, Sonic e la lotta contro il tempo, l’eredità del progetto Xtreme, il rilascio online del prototipo giocabile, le crudeli lotte fra i Sonic fans, la rinascita di Xtreme nel Project S, l’utopica questione delle beta rilasciate su WiiWare e le aggiunte a Pokemon Snap, le rivelazioni segrete di un Nintendaro fallito e il cambio di personalità di un giovane Segafan. Un degno finale per una podcast con poco ordine. >> U64 Episodio 1.4 – Download Versione in MP3
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a platform game and the sequel to Crash Bandicoot. It was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation video game console and released in 1997. [Info from Wikipedia]
In the beta screens and videos there are some interesting beta stuff that were removed or changed: 3 levels that are shown (one with snow, the space one and another one in the sewer) are not used in the final version, while the warp room was really different from the one that we played. Even the HUD was changed (similar to the one from the first game), there was a Jetpack enemy (removed), a couple of animations and the design of some of the levels (like in the Turtle Woods) were not like the final version. For more informations you can check the Crash Mania website, that has donate these images for the U64 Archive! Thanks a lot to HPZr :)
In the second video below, OKeijiDragon noticed some more differences:
From what can be made out, the video shows vast differences compared to the final. Most of the levels layouts shown don’t resemble anything we know, except maybe the Jet Pack levels. Details include Crash 1’s HUD, and Easy / Hard poll in the middle of a Road to Ruin-like level, suggesting alternate routes were planned for levels.
Images:
Videos:
Lunar Knights, known in Japan as “Bokura no Taiyō: Django & Sabata” and abbreviated Boktai DS, is the fourth title in the Boktai series of games developed by Kojima Productions. The ultimate goal in Lunar Knights is to destroy a number of boss vampire enemies, in which the basic mission is to defeat each of them in their respective dungeons. [Info from Wikipedia]
In some of the old screens, we can see a couple differences in the beta-HUD: the feather and the energy bar (for Lucian) had a different color than the final version. In the original artwork, we can even see some unused or different character design. In the video, there are some odd parts: the sword of Lucian looks smaller than usual and the transformations dont have a time limit (probably it’s just not showed on-screen).
Beta HUD:
Final HUD
Images:
Videos:
