In this thread we flip through magazines on the wiki and find prototype screenshots.

The Wiki is now filled with a LOT of great scans of magazines - British, Japanese, and American, and each has been greatly put into the article sections of each game. That's a lot of work!

But I've been going through a bunch of these for some of my other blogs (Sega City & Old Game Mags) and man, there's a lot of prototype screenshots in there which aren't (or wern't) on the wiki! We should actually go through them!

So this topic is for anything you might find in some of these old scans, and get them posted into development pages on Sega and Sonic retro!

Some recent additions:



Early screenshots of 'Beast Wrestler' on the Megadrive. The backgrounds are completely different compared to the final. From https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:Mdfan_JP_1991-06.pdf&page=127



An early screenshot of Alisia Dragoon. With completely different HUD, and the first stage has no upramp like it is shown here. Via https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-05.pdf&page=131



In development Streets Of Rage screenshots. The Time Out building is here, as well as the Nora enemy with a Black suit showing off more skin compared to the final. Also, early names of the characters! From https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:Mdfan_JP_1991-06.pdf&page=126

 

Basically what I want. I don't want to do all the work, and quite frankly there are so many games I know nothing about that's not a Sonic or Streets Of Rage game :P

Found some more Alisia Dragoon screenshots:





And quick comparison:



Via: https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-04.pdf&page=114 , up at https://segaretro.org/Alisia_Dragoon/Development

 

Screens are a lot easier to check nowdays because people have put whole longplays online - means you just need to flip to the timestamp

Some Outrun comparisons:



The high score table. The names are slightly different for the defaults - 'T.YANPI' instead of 'T.YANO', 'K.MATU' instead of 'K.MAZ', 'K.KATO' instead of 'MEIDEN'[

Via https://segaretro.org/OutRun/Development#cite_note-:File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-07.pdf_p107_-1, post here: https://segaretro.org/OutRun/Development

 

Some Lunar The Silver Star shots. https://segaretro.org/Lunar:_The_Silver_Star/Development



These cutscenes don't appear in the final game. Also, Luna started as a Brunette?


The Ultra Fiend enemy shown here would only appear in the end of the game, while here they are at the start.

I'm not that knowledgeable about Lunar. There are other shots of the game at this early start (Aug 1991, when the game didn't come out in Japan till 10 months later) but I don't know the game well enough to make a judgement.



https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-08.pdf&page=12

Any Lunar fans out there?

 

Incidentily, those Wrestle War and Shadow Dancer screenshots are quite different to the final games. Wrestle War doesn't have the black bar of info on the right, and instead is fullscreen with the info at the top. Shadow Dancer has a different Dog HUD at the bottom compared to the final.

 

Early Rolling Thunder screenshot and comparison with final. https://segaretro.org/Rolling_Thunder_2/Development



Just a whole bunch of Golden Axe 2 screenshots, none of which seem to be in the final game at all. https://segaretro.org/Golden_Axe_II/Development#Prototype_screenshots



Early Crystal Warriors / Arliel title screen https://segaretro.org/Crystal_Warriors/Development



Also, bonus from a video I spotted for Gale Racer on the Saturn. More than 1 Sonic dangling from the top, and the UI is a mixture of the Saturn and Arcade UI. https://segaretro.org/Gale_Racer/Development

 

Ah you're right - I guess it was from the Arcade version, but claimed to be the MD game. How do I go about deleting all that, Black Squirrel?

Spider-Man! This screenshot is from an August 1990 issue of Megadrive Fan, a full year before the game actually came out, and looks NOTHING like the final game. https://segaretro.org/Spider-Man_vs._The_Kingpin/Development



Here's a fun one! In an EGM Magazine this was claimed to be an untitled RPG, but in Megadrive Fan it was categorized as Maze Walker, one of the first announced, but unreleased, Game Gear games.

 

Not a Sega Retro one, but we've found some new prototype screenshots of Sonic Drift!
http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_Drift/Development#Early_Game_Design




From micomBASIC 1994 03 https://archive.org/details/micomBASIC_1994-03/page/n281

Sonic's car does NOT do that on the title screen.

 

Burning Force https://segaretro.org/Burning_Force/Development



A different UI on the bottom left. Final for comparison:

 

Some recent finds:

World Of Illusion - https://segaretro.org/World_of_Illusion_Starring_Mickey_Mouse_and_Donald_Duck/Development


Background is way different.

Tale Spin - https://segaretro.org/TaleSpin/Development


The UI is unfinished, and the bridge is slightly different.

T2: The Arcade game https://segaretro.org/T2:_The_Arcade_Game/Development



The top UI is different to the final, as is the color of the sky.

Chester Cheetah: Too Cool To Fool https://segaretro.org/Chester_Cheetah:_Too_Cool_to_Fool/Development



The UI at the top is different to the final.

Crue Ball - https://segaretro.org/Crüe_Ball/Development



From when the game was Twisted Flipper

Astal https://segaretro.org/Astal/Development



A different bottom UI from the final.

Sega Rally https://segaretro.org/Sega_Rally_Championship/Development



Different UI from the final.