Hello folks. We have a couple of SNES treats for you for today. These prototypes were brought to you by Baker64!
Run Saber (Jan 27, 1993 prototype)
First up, we have a nice prototype of Run Saber! This has some really interesting changes in comparison to the final version. The biggest of which is that the boss for the end of level 2 was altered from a woman to a corpse (see the comparison picture above)! There are also some other gameplay related changes as well. What differences can you find?
Coincidentally, a later prototype was actually released by a scene group called LEGEND back in April of 1993. This prototype hasn’t been documented before, and unfortunately is altered from the final release since it contains a trainer. The unaltered ROM has never been released.
Aero the Acro-Bat 2 (Aug 8, 1994 prototype)
Next we have a late prototype of Aero the Acro-Bat 2. There are only some small changes in comparison to the final release. We’re not sure what gameplay changes were made however, as there is evidence of some code changes throughout the ROM as well.
Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 (Feb 10, 1997 prototype)
Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 (Feb 11, 1997 prototype)
Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 (Apr 11, 1997 prototype)
Next we have a bunch of prototypes for Arcade’s Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 for the SNES. This collection is interesting as this is one of the earliest collections featuring Atari’s arcade classics. The games featured in this collection are actually ported from their original source code to the SNES. The first two prototypes are actually separate prototypes for Centipede and Missile Command respectively. The April prototype is a prototype for the entire collection, which still has its fair share of differences in comparison to the final release. Be sure to check this out!
The Death and Return of Superman (Aug 8, 1994 build)
Finally, we were also given a slightly altered build of The Death and Return of Superman as well. This build only has a single byte change in comparison to the first US release. The byte was changed to serve as a fingerprint/watermark to track preview/review copies of games to their intended party in the event that the games were ever leaked early. This game, along with the Aero the Acro-bat 2 prototype, are fingerprinted to the same party. That party remains a mystery, however.
Until next time!
