The Lion King (Early Prototype)

The Lion King (Early Prototype)
Dump status Released Dumped by Z Released by Z Origin EPROM cartridge EPROMs 4x 8Mbit Dump method Retrode Ownership Z (2015-Present) Game The Lion King System SNES Genre Action Release date US Dec 8, 1994 EU Dec 8, 1994

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An early prototype of The Lion King for the Nintendo SNES.

Notes

The Cutting Room Floor research

This prototype has a research article on TCRF.

• Level select can be activated by pressing LEFT + SELECT on the title screen.
• No version is specified in this prototype. The final is VERSION: .99.
• Title screen differences;
  • Music starts on title screen instead of the Virgin logo.
  • The music itself starts off with an audio sample of “The Circle of Life” directly from the movie, but then plays the music that is supposed to be used in “The Pridelands” level.
  • The background is set at sunrise rather than during the day like in the final.
  • The title screen selector is Rafiki’s drawing instead of a sun.
  • The options menu has the message written in the sound test (no sound can be played):
    • ROB IS A ROYAL PAIN IN THE BUTT AND KEVIN IS CHOOSING ROB’S SIDE WHICH MEANS NO MORE RIDES!
• The Pridelands - Level 1 differences;
  • Different object placement
  • Blue bug enemy is in skeleton form in the prototype.
• Can’t Wait to be King - Level 2 differences;
  • The color palette overall is more saturated.
  • The monkeys are all using skeleton tiles.
  • While the monkeys can fling you around, they often don’t fling you in the right direction and cannot be roared at to change direction.
  • Pink monkeys (that change direction when you roar at them) don’t seem to exist yet.
  • While the ostrich itself had been implemented in a previous build, the ostrich is instead absent in this build, so Simba is allowed to run around freely in those sections.
  • Simba can walk on the water in this stage.
  • Swinging on the rhino's tail feels more stiff.
  • There are no indicators during the ostrich riding segments.
• The Elephant Graveyard - Level 3 differences;
  • While the level art had just begun, it seems that the design of the level was meant to look different as to how it would eventually look in the final game.
  • The hyenas are all using skeleton sprites.
  • The hyenas are much harder to defeat.
• The Stampede - Level 4 differences;
  • The stage runs indefinitely.
• Simba’s Exile - Level 5 differences;
  • Small differences in the level layout.
  • The level is called “Exile” instead of “Simba’s Exile”.
  • The small cutscenes before and after the stage haven’t been implemented yet.
• Hakuna Matata - Level 6 differences;
  • The level is called “Willow Cascade” instead of “Hakuna Matata”.
  • The level design uses placeholder tiles and art for most of the stage, and is likely the most unfinished stage in this build.
  • The level starts you near the gorilla boss, which cannot be defeated.
• Simba’s Destiny - Level 7 differences;
  • The panthers never spawn in this level.
  • The breakable barriers are buggy.
• Be Prepared - Level 8;
  • Attempting to load the level warps you to Willow Cascade instead.
• Simba’s Return - Level 9 differences;
  • The level is called “Hyena Lairs” instead of “Simba’s Return”.
  • Contains minor stage design changes and no hyenas.
  • Simba can randomly die walking around entrances and exits for some reason.
• Pride Rock - Level 10;
  • Called “Pride Rock II” in this prototype.
  • Attempting to load the level warps you to Willow Cascade instead.
• Miscellaneous differences
  • The game softlocks when Simba dies and doesn’t restart the stage. However, you can resurrect him by pressing SELECT.
  • Adult Simba uses a skeleton model.
  • You can no clip by pressing L and R at the same time.
  • Simba chases his tail instead of looking at a butterfly during his idle animation.
  • The Timon Bonus Stages do not exist yet. Even though “Bonus II” exists in the stage select, selecting it resets the game.
  • The bug catching bonus stages are named “Kaboom” in the sound test.
  • Timon and Pumbaa are both skeleton models.
  • Timon will, on occasion, throw placeholder “bugs” at Pumba (ranging from giraffe heads to developer messages).
  • The majority of the backgrounds in most stages are rough scans of prexisting Lion King artwork (such as the background to the “Kaboom” bonus stage).

Screenshots

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  Title screen

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  The Pridelands

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  Fighting skeleton Hyenas in The Pridelands

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  Willow Cascade

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  The Elephant Graveyard

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  Hyena Lairs

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  The Stampede

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  Exile

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  Idling in The Pridelands

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  Can’t Wait to be King

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  Hyena Lairs bridge

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  The skeleton gorilla in the Willow Cascade level

Origin

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  PCB front

• 

  PCB back

Acknowledgments

Obtaining/dumping/freely releasing the prototype: Z.