Much of my NES collection

Not a huge update, but got another proto in today. This time, Crystalis!



I'm really excited for this one for a few reasons. First off, Crystalis is a great game and it's nice to have a proto of it. More than anything else though, is I'm excited because of where it came from.

My Mega Man 2 proto was the first I ever owned. I purchased it from MachineGex a while back who had found it at a flea market. He also found this Crystalis proto there and it's nice to reunite the 2

Not to double post, but yet another NES proto came in today:



This time it's a very cool looking Terra Cresta preview cart. Some fancy rewiring on the PCB of this one, I'll make sure to dump it quickly (the EPROM window is already covered) as it looks a bit more fragile than some other protos that I've had.

 

Awesome protos!

Excellent collection!

 

It's been 2 weeks, but my brother and I have managed to add two UNRELEASED NES protos to our collection. I am very excited about these two and was pumped to add these to the pile:

Ike! Ike! Nekketsu Hockey Bu:



At first glance, the name may not ring a bell, but this is an early proto of what was meant to become Crash and the Boys Ice Challenge! Unbelievable game so far as unreleased games go, very unfortunate this one did not receive a proper release in the states.

Last, Chuka Taisen (Cloud Master):



As always, I covered the EPROM windows immediately after taking the picture, i just like to snap off one in it's original state. This game kicks some serious ass as a side scrolling shooter. Cool sprites (especially boss sprites), great power ups, and a healthy difficulty make this one very enjoyable. I ended up playing 3 levels last night, I would have LOVED to have seen this one state side too.

So I think that brings my unreleased NES game total to around 11-12. Not too bad in the last 1-2 years

A simple thanks is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I could ask for, I just hope people enjoy them and that they get preserved one way or another. Thanks so much for the support though, it means a lot to us!

Just got a Christmas proto in, this one is a bit interesting to boot:



Tecmo Bowl! This label has seen it's share of battles it appears, and apparently before I had gotten it, so had the PCB. The story goes that when the game first showed up, it wasn't playable. Kevin Horton (haven't heard that name in a while) was able to repair the board to the state it is currently in. It has a different title screen, but I don't know of any other differences currently.

Thanks to Buyatari for selling this to my bro without my knowledge, you rock!

Wow, haven't updated in a while. I have a bunch of new stuff that has come in the last few weeks, so here we go!



This was a very cool lot that I picked up recently. From top left to bottom right are:

Overlord Proto
Color a Dinosaur Proto
Spy Hunter Proto
Tommy T's Play Me Sound Editor Proto

The Overlord and Spy Hunter protos, although super cool, don't have any show stopping differences from the final versions, though I haven't gone through them very thoroughly just yet.

The Color a Dinosaur proto is incredibly early. On the select a dinosaur screen, there are no pictures of dinosaurs, just the word "image" in each space. There are roughly 4 dinos that can actually be colored in, the other selectable "image" squares just contain garbled graphics.

The next one is easily the coolest in the lot. Tommy T's Play Me Sound Editor is a cartridge developed by Tommy Tallarico for his work on the Color a Dinosaur soundtrack. It's really cool to mess around with and a very nice piece of gaming history, the ROM was made publicly available and can be found in my thread in the downloads section of this site.

Next up, The Hunt for Red October:



This build is EXTREMELY early. It's a single repeating level with no hit detection. All the sprites are different and the HUD is completely different. What's the best part? There are giant red octopi that are taken out of the released version! Super cool, one of my favorite pieces.

Next up, one of the bigger hauls I've had over the years:



First on the list from this lot, the only other known copy of the unreleased game Hoppin' Mad!



Unknown and undocumented for 20+ years, I've managed to secure TWO copies of this unreleased game, both found across the country from each other. I was hoping that it would be a more complete version than the one I had found previously, but unfortunately it is the exact same unfinished build. This leads me to believe that this is as far as the game made it into development.



The proto pictured here, Digger, is an easrly build of what would later become Digger T. Rock. There is no mention of Digger T. Rock in this game, there are complete palette swaps found, and many, many text differences.

The neon yellow chips are for Marble Madness, and to the far right are various Gameboy proto chips (Jordan vs Bird, Mousetrap Hotel, etc.)

Also pictured in the top right corner, a chip for the unreleased NTSC version of Elite! Very cool proto chip, although I couldn't compile the game into a working .NES file just yet, I was managed to take this picture from the file in a tile editor along side the released PAL version running on an emulator:



Clearly, a work in progress, though I'm excited to see how far into production it got.

Next up, protos for Battletoads and Videomation:



I've wanted a Battletoads proto FOREVER, and I don't know of any others currently out there. Hunting down protos produced by RARE isn't easy, you can trust me on that. I haven't been able to play through either much, though they seem to be very close to the final versions. I would love to find the unused Battletoads vehicle though

Next are boxes containing NES proto chip sets:





First, a set of chips for the NES version of One on One: Jordan vs Bird (as labeled). The other, although labeled "Time Lord", are chips that were just labeled Natsume. Using a tile editor, I have confirmed that they are proto chips for Abadox.

Next, 4 Gameboy protos:



All for Jordan vs Bird and Mousetrap hotel in various stages of development, I love the stickers on some of those protos.

Next, some cool unpopulated long Gameboy protos:



Next, a 3.5" Floppy with the source code for Prince of Persia for the NES:



This thing was really cool an unexpected. Not only is it issued from Bronderbund, it's dated OVER a year before the retail release of the game. I managed to copy all of the files and back them up, though I don't know much about how to check them out.

The last item is the storyboard and marketing strategy for the unreleased Dinosaur Planet for the Gamecube:





This game (as many of you know) was completely overhauled and released as Starfox Adventure. This binder has all the character bios, market strategies, as well as the entire storyline chock full of highlighting and editor notes.

Phew! Well I think that's it, though I do have a few more protos that I'm currently closing a deal on. Hopefully I'll update sooner than later this time

 

Fantastic Collection

 

Your collection of NES retail and prototype games never ceases to amaze me. Makes me really look forward to being done being a poor college student so I can start affording things like this.

Very nice find on the Battletoads proto though! Anything interesting in it?

 

Well, time to add another unreleased NES proto to my list!



Chuck Yeager's Fighter Combat. A great series of DOS and PC games, someone big Chuck never found his way onto the NES. Great polygonal graphics for the time period and cool digital voices are the story in this one, very happy to add it to the shelf.

 

how do you know this stuff is even out there or exists?? how can you keep uncovering stuff which is obviously very old and rare? top stuff..

 

Gauu!!! (spanish "woow!!" xDD)...

very nice stuff!! I love nes protos...I'm jealous

 

I shouldn't look at this while at work. I'm having a hard time scraping my jaw off the floor...

 

Thanks for the props guys! Two more protos came in the last few days, take a look at these guys:

First up, Wacky Races for the NES:



Not only did I get the proto in an auction, it came with the production box and manual which CIB's my personal copy! This box and manual are a real bitch to hunt down, so I'm very happy to have snagged them. From a quick play of the proto and the retail game, they appear to be very similar if not identical.

Next up, The Haunting starring Polterguy with early box art:





I've never much been into collecting Genny stuff, but I loved this game as a kid. What also helped, was that after my brother and I noticed the box art look a tad odd, we did some research and found this:



VERY different stuff going on there! Out of all the proto junk we've acquired over the years, this was our first proto box and we're pumped to be able to add this to the shelf.

Several more protos are coming in this week, including TWO more unreleased NES games, so stay tuned!

Got a few more gems in today, including 2 more unreleased NES games:

First up, Airball:



Obviously, most have you are familiar with Airball after BunnyBoy made it famous with his first major Retrozone repro release. This one is cool for a few reasons. First, it is a VERY early build and completely different from the version Bunny released. Although early, it is still beatable (I actually beat it minutes ago). It does not have a difficulty option, so it's one hit and you're toast this time around. No floating ability and you can burst from over inflation. the one thing it DOES have that the Retrozone version doesn't have is the ability to change the configuration of the D-Pad movement. You can set it to "Diagonal" which is the set up you have in the Retrozone version, or you can set it to "Normal" which allows you to move up and down and left to right.

Next up, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier:



After reading all of the hate about this game, it's honestly not THAT bad. Decent graphics and platforming aspects, it just doesn't seem polished. I can forgive it for that as it never saw release. The game definitely has a tough learning curve, but I found it enjoyable enough.



I also picked up a proto of James Bond: The Duel for the Genesis with box (what appears to be a photocopy of the final art), but I'm just not excited enough for it at the moment to snap a picture.

These two games bring Matt and my total of Unreleased NES games to 16! Not bad for a couple of Science Teachers

 

Your proto collection amazing as usual!!

Could you get to see how far in production Elite was?

 

Still working on trying to get some usable data from it, but so far I've dumped it with 2 different EPROM programmers and each time the last half of the data (or so) can't be retrieved. I'll have to give it a shot at a lower voltage and see if can get some better results.

Got another cool proto in today: Snow Brothers!





There are few things in this world that get me more excited than Capcom prototypes, so I'm very happy to cross this one off the list. I really haven't had much time to play it, but it seems pretty polished from just a quick once over.

Got a nice haul of protos in over the last few days, so its time to update!

First up, my first Game Gear proto, and of an unreleased game to boot; Off the Wall:





Based off of the Atari arcade game of the same name. I have yet to get it to boot as I no longer have a functioning Game Gear, though I did dump both of the EPROMs individually. I just have to figure out how to combine them into a working ROM file.

Next up, 9 new NES protos!











Super pumped about getting these guys in. The titles are:

R.B.I. Baseball
Rally Bike
Milon's Secret Castle
Bad News Baseball
Blaster Master
Freedom Force
Iron Tank
Tecmo World Wrestling

I knew that Tecmo World Wrestling was going to be a double, but I actually forgot that I already had a Bad News Baseball proto, so that's a double as well

As for notable details, I haven't had much time to play through them. Blaster Master has the level select featured in every other proto of the game, but nothing else jumps out immediately.

By far and away the coolest thing I found was the PCB to RBI Baseball. It is a very early Atari (note: not Tengen) proto board. I have only seen one other similar board and that was in my Super Talking Jeopardy proto. Most Tengen protos that I have seen, including all that have come through my hands (Airball, Road Runner) are on Tengen dev boards.

I have at least one more proto in transit, so I'll be sure to update when it arrives.

 

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/nintendo/100_1219.jpg

You should protect the eeproms ! If you do not the game may be earased.

 

First off, they're EPROMs, not EEPROMs. EEPROMs won't lose their data from UV light exposure.

I said right under that picture that I covered the EPROMs shortly after, but I'm really not concerned about bit rot occurring that quickly. EPROMs are much more resilient to keeping their data than most people may think, these things are good for a while.

Besides, all my protos are dumped, so none of the data will ever be lost

In other news, I've snagged another NES proto. Today's proto: Tail Spin!



The only thing I love more than collecting prototype NES games is collecting Capcom prototype NES games. Very happy to scratch this off the list, it seems to be near identical to the released version upon first glance.

Wow, haven't bumped this in a while. A few unreleased Genesis games came my way:





Swamp Thing (Unreleased Genesis game).

Yes, that dingy cart is the unreleased Swamp Thing game for the Sega Genesis. I haven't tested the game yet as my Genny is not hooked up here. I will be giving it a play later tonight for sure though.

Here's some gameplay footage from the seller. It's not great quality, but it gives you an idea of what we're working with here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfqnIbVwELc

You play as Swamp Thing (of course), and you have the ability to transform into everything from a log, to a leaf. Yes, that's right: A log and a leaf! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the creative process. Ah, NUVISION, how I love thee. There are a few other equally bizarre transformations (an apple, etc.), but unfortunately the game stops before the end of the first level. I would have loved to see this one completed, but it wasn't meant to be.

Next up, Dragon's Lair (Unreleased Sega Genesis Game):





I'm super excited about this one! This proto of Dragon's Lair plays much like it's SNES counterpart, but there are some notable differences that I've notice after just a brief play through:

- The game has a copyright of 1994. This is 4 years AFTER the SNES version was released.
- The game was set to be released by Taito. The SNES version was released by Data East in the US, Elite in the UK and Konami in Japan. I found this to be sort of neat.
- Something else of note: I can't take a pic of the PCB because the case has been epoxied shut. Guess I'll just have to dump it blind.

The game appears to be very close to, if not entirely, complete. I played through the first 5 or so levels quickly and made it to the first boss fight. I'll play through of it more later in the week, but I'm hopeful that it is near completion.

The only bug that I could find initially is that when you duck and throw daggers, you stay in a crouch and the daggers just sort of appear in front of you. Not a huge deal, but worth noting.

This is our 3rd unreleased Genny game now behind Swamp Thing and Prince of Persia 2, so the collection is filling out quite nicely.

This game will absolutely see a release and a public ROM dump shortly after, so hopefully you all can check it out soon!

 

unbelievable collection

 

Long overdue bump! Got a bunch of pics of protos I've picked up over the last few months, so here we go!

Swamp Thing NES Proto



This one was originally posted for a ridiculous $1K BIN, and it was later dropped to $650 OBO. I offered $150 for it on two separate occasions, and the seller refused to even counter. He relisted at 99 cents and I won it for $178.50 shipped. eBay link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=...

I tested it and it works fine. There doesn't appear to be any obvious differences in the game, but I didn't exactly put a lot of time into it. This prototype sucks just as much as the retail release. It will look nice next to it's Genesis counterpart.

Magician, Rad Racket II, Trolls on Treasure Island, Impossible Mission II NES Protos



Just got these bad boys in the mail, knocking another four off the list. Matt and I tend to shy away from unlicensed stuff, but seeing as these were listed as having differences (in some cases major differences) and knowing that Hakan was the seller, we just couldn't resist. The deal almost fell through as my paypal account was suspended for a short period of time due to the Blockbuster fiasco. Thankfully, it was reinstated just in time to make the purchase.

Some of the prototypes have noticeable differences after just a moment of play (Rad Racket 2 being such an example), while other appear to be retail/close to retail. The listing mentioned Trolls as being much different, but it appears to be the same from what I can tell. I might have to shoot Hakan a PM and ask what I'm missing.

Noah's Ark NTSC NES Proto






First off: What's with all these typos on Prototype carts? "Noah's Aek," really? I mean, I know that the "E" key and "R" key are right next to one another, but how much effort would it take to print a second label? It adds character of course, so I can't complain.

Now I don't usually get excited over "Unreleased" domestications, especially bible-themed titles, but this one is different. Not only does the PAL version not play on an NTSC console (the background graphics are all distorted making the game virtually unplayable), but the game kind of kicks ass. Yes, a Noah's Ark themed bible title that is actually fun to play. It's got great graphics, varied gameplay, suitable difficulty, and tight controls. It is the first religious title I've actually enjoyed playing.

I'm entertaining a reproduction release, but that's well done the road. My main focus is on Adam's recent homebrew efforts, as well as a few Genesis prototype releases I have in the works. I still haven't forgotten about Yeager either, and I'm still hopeful that Fighter Combat will see a Summer release.

F-15 City War, Tecmo Super Bowl, Tecmo Cup Soccer NES Protos




Got these in the mail from Dream the other day. I try to stay away from unlicensed stuff, but seeing as Dream can shed light on the origin of F-15 I decided to cave in and buy it.

The Tecmo Super Bowl has a cracked front shell, but it doesn't seem to have any issue playing.

It had been a while since we picked up any protos, so it was really nice getting these in!

Panic Restaurant NES Proto






Huge thanks goes out to Adam (Hades Rejects) for allowing me to purchase the game. He managed to score it off eBay not long ago and made it available to me last week. The timing was perfect as I was unloading some sealed titles and I had some fun money.

This prototype means a lot to me as I originally purchased a copy in the perwinkledancer debacle years ago, and I have been on the hunt ever since. Add to that the fact that Matt and I absolutely love the game, and it makes it that much sweeter!

So that's pretty much it for now, though as always I'll be posting and documenting things as they come in.

 

amazing collection, i wouldn't even know where to start to look for these things
thanks for dumping and preserving the cartridges too

 

Really great! Thanks for sharing.

 

Sir, I salute you. That is some collection there...
I really like the big box Gyromite. Do you have a complete Stack-Up too (PAL or NTSC)?

Is your hardware collection just as extensive...?

 

Wow!
Amazing collection. Thank you for sharing it with us. :thumbsup: