There are a total of 16 screenshots of A Link to the Past that were given out by Nintendo at the third Shinshokai event in spring 1991. Some of these screens were included in the poster that came with the SNES. I have gone through and did a direct comparison of these beta shots and the final game. http://www.snescentral.com/review.php?id=0164&num=1&fancy=yes&article=proto If anyone knows of any other early screenshots for A Link to the Past, please let me know!
Unusually for games, looks like they delivered what was expected. There are minor differences like in the village but close enough in spirit to be the same as on the poster.
Not too much but i liked it. Some parts looked better in the beta like the light from the Lantern and some textures like the floor ones
I have to agree. I don't know if it was Miyamoto himself or Nintendo's meticulous planning, but Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time must have had solid direction to pull off what they did at the times they delivered it. I know it's big now to plop OoT in the "worst 3D Zelda" category, but they are true achievements in the industry. Respectfully, I totally disagree - The light from the lantern is pixelated and less polished, and the dungeon floor tile is far less detailed than the final. Everything else seems mostly the same with some possibly egregious palette choices. It's nice to see more beta objects too, like the alternate lantern, statue, and prisoner/Zelda. The final doesn't have nearly as many unused assets as one would expect.
Love it! Thanks for doing the comparison, I know at least one Zelda / Link fan who will enjoy looking at the differences!
It looks like beside the hue & saturation (RGB metry scan problem ?), it's seems to be a minor difference of colors, specialy in the sanctuary shots. The palete was a bit adjusted or I'm wrong ? Thanks for posting this, with a a good presentation as usual.
Thanks for writing this article badinsults! I've never really seen too much of ALTTP's beta, so it was a very interesting read. Actually, the guy in the red hat on the left in Kakariko Village reminds me of the Kokiri that was trying to lift up the rocks in OOT. Although it's probably just a walking frame =P
Beta Nintendo stuff is always interesting. 64 era was best time for beta screenshots. You can see in final product how much they tried to polish and make it really good. Good article btw.
