Super Metroid was the third game produced in the Metroid series. Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi oversaw the project, but owing to him being busy with designing the Game Boy Pocket and Virtual Boy, Super Metroid was produced by Makoto Kanoh, who had devised the original game’s storyline. The game’s early planning began in 1990 with Nintendo’s Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1) headed by Yoshio Sakamoto. [Info from Wikipedia] Looking through old screens from the game’s previews, we can notice some interesting changes made in the game while in development.
The Samus sprite had some differences in the beta version (top image) as you can see from this comparison with the final version (below). In the early build the graphic for Samus was simple and later Nintendo decided to make her more detailed; even the ship seems to have a couple of differences, but it’s hard to tell for sure.
Also, Jason noticed that there are some more differences, like the lack of the blue layer of light in the ship, the wing color in the bugs, and there is a section of Norfairs map that is completely different than anything in the game.
Thanks to Jason and Rlan for the contribution!
The beta Samus sprite from the side
Final:
The battle with Ridley looks almost the same (with beta Samus sprite)
Beta:
Final:
Beta Hud (Map & Energy in different position)
Final Hud
Beta
Final
Beta:
Final:
Beta
Final
Beta
Final
Beta sector of the map:
“Heres’s the map they show for the super guide for Super Metroid. Based on the actual map, the map layout here is nowhere to be found in the final game, but is a little close to the final one. The right slop is replaced with “stairs” in the final game.” by Rlan
Even this old screen of the Zebes map looks a bit strange (different colors / missing names), but i could be wrong and maybe it’s just like the final map at the start of the game. If you can confirm or deny this, please send us an email!
Beta Map?
Final Map
More random beta images:
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