I started posting a bit about this one over on DP and realized I never talked about it much. Out of all the unreleased stuff that has come through the hands of my brother and I, I can't think of a game that tops our licensed version of Tengen Tetris for both it's rarity and bizarreness. Tengen Tetris already had some weird legal issues when it was released, the info behind the pre-release proto makes things even more complicated: Similar, although very different at the same time, title screen: An example of the title screen from the released version for comparison: Game selection screen. Notice the licensed by Mirrorsoft and licensed by Nintendo? A cap of the game play. Plenty of minor differences, most notably the lack of texture on the blocks. Just thought I'd share some pics for those who were interested, definitely a very cool piece of Nintendo history!
I find it kinda funny that the prototype title screen there doesn't have a trademark TM slapped in after Tetris, while the final does.
Very odd indeed. Think they knew they were going to step on some toes even before it got released? I really do love this proto because of all the hype around the Tengen release of Tetris, I feel like there is some info here that many were not aware of.
Weird! Nice find Mark. Back in the late 1990's when I was gathering my collection of NES junk, I kept stumbling over Tengen tetris like mad. At one point I kid you not I had 7 copies. However due to life over the last decade and emergencies it's withered to 3. Sadness.
Yeah, it's definitely one of those games with an inflated rarity, due largely to Mike Etler's old NES rarity guide. Not quite sure how many ended up staying on the shelves, but I heard an estimate of 50k making it to homes.
