Hidden Palace continue their incredible digital archiving work with a brand new SEGA Saturn prototype release of Burning Rangers from January 3rd 1998.
This latest prototype dump showcases a near complete version of Burning Rangers that features all the game’s missions, but they are missing certain features and tend to be a little bit on the buggy side. It’s a fascinating look at the later stages of the game’s development and can be downloaded direct from Hidden Palace by clicking here.
An extensive article by Bo Bayles is also available to read that details every interesting feature in that latest prototype dump. You can read that by clicking here.
Thanks once again to the incredible work of these dedicated digital archivists for continuing to preserve these amazing insights into SEGA Saturn game development.
The wonderful people at SEGA Dreamcast Info have managed to acquire and archive an early build of Shenmue II from April 11th 2001 that features a multitude of differences when compared to the final game. The most interesting discovery is that art assets of the game’s director Yu Suzuki are included in this build, and SEGA Dreamcast Info have also released a version of the prototype that changes Ryo’s character model so that you can play as Yu Suzuki instead. You can see him in action via the embed below:
A full article about every difference in this prototype can be accessed by clicking here. A download link for this prototype and the Yu Suzuki version are also included at the end of the article. Once again we have to say a huge, “thank you” to the team at SEGA Dreamcast Info for preserving this amazing piece of SEGA development history.
The wonderful people over at SEGA Dreamcast Info have released an astounding collection of 44 Dreamcast prototypes that are sourced from an ex-Acclaim beta tester.
Dubbed ‘Duffy’s Dreamcast Collection’, this collection features prototypes of games like Shadow Man, Vanishing Point, Re-Volt, F355 Challenge, Fur Fighters, Dead or Alive 2 and the infamously terrible/amazing Spirit of Speed 1937.
Hidden Palace’s amazing archiving efforts with Project Deluge continue! This time we have a brand new set of 135 unreleased Dreamcast prototypes and some SEGA Xbox prototypes as well.
Some notable inclusions on the Dreamcast side of things are an unreleased English localisation of Shanghai Dynasty, an early build of 4 Wheel Thunder called Offroad Thunder, an early prototype of Deep Fighter and a prototype of SEGA GT that features a track called “sonygt2” and features Luigi (see above). This one was clearly not made for public distribution!
On the Xbox side of things we also have prototypes of Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth and Gunvalkyrie.
One of the most infamous lost Dreamcast developments is Castlevania: Resurrection. This 3D Castlevania title was being developed by Konami and sadly cancelled in March 2000. Outside some scant screenshots in magazines as well as some reporting from E3 1999, the game was never showcased to the public in a playable or even viewable form until now.
A digital archivist called Comby Laurent has come into ownership of the 1999 E3 demo that was shown behind doors to the press and it has now been released publicly for the first time. The early prototype of Castlevania: Resurrection can be downloaded from Archive.org and played on real Dreamcast hardware or under emulation.
You can check out footage of the game in action via Retro Core and the embed below:
The continuing digital archiving efforts of Hidden Palace and Project Deluge have brought the world 80 new SEGA Saturn prototypes that are available to download and play right now. Included in these recent dumps are prototypes of Bug Too!, Fighting Vipers, SEGA Rally Championship, Virtua Fighter Kids, Magic Knight Rayearth, Dragonforce and many, many more.
Project Deluge has brought with it a huge swathe of Saturn, Playstation and CD-i prototypes and its revealed some fascinating discoveries. You can find out more about these latest releases by clicking here.
You may have seen the various unused gameplay elements and alternate artwork from this prototype in pre-release footage or the various magazine coverage from the time. This includes the UFOs in Marble Garden Zone, the different neon signs in Spring Yard Zone, the checkerboard ball that Sonic can run on in Green Hill Zone and the different stage titles for Spring Yard Zone and Scrap Brain Zone. Well, they’re all in this prototype and it makes for a fascinating insight into the game’s development.
Fast becoming one of the most important resources for digital archiving of prototype software, Hidden Palace have released another slew of prototype versions of various Sonic the Hedgehog titles. These new dumps of late development builds of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Spinball and Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine showcase some fascinating insight into their development and feature a slew of differences from their final builds.
Sonic Adventure 2 features many grammatical errors that would be corrected for the final build, Metal Harbor and the final Sonic and Shadow battle are considerably more difficult and the driving stages feature different collision results when driving into other vehicles. The full list of differences can be read on the Hidden Palace entry for this release.
All of these dumps can be downloaded and played through emulation or on real hardware from the Hidden Palace entries linked above. Hidden Palace will be streaming and revealing their “last present from under the tree” tonight (31/12/2020) at 10pm GMT on Twitch, so if you’re excited to see more prototypes from their team then be sure to tune in.
In the new year, SEGA are running a 60th anniversary initiative called the SEGA Test. This will be an online course that will contain 60 questions and take roughly 60 minutes to complete. The test will take place 3 times a day on January 23rd and 24th 2021.
In preparation for the test, Hiroyuki Miyazaki, the Chief Contents Officer at Sega of America, is hosting a series of online SEGA history videos and the first is now available to watch below. In this video, Professor Miyazaki discuss SEGA’s console history and the code names used for its various hardware.
A real surprise occurs at 11:36 has Professor Miyazaki shows the Venus prototype of the Genesis Nomad for the very first time. It’s a fascinating look at the console’s development and it clearly uses the buttons of a stock 6 button Mega Drive controller and a directional pad from a Game Gear. Check out the full video below and brush up on your SEGA knowledge so you’re ready for the SEGA Test!
Once again those wonderful people at Hidden Palace have uncovered a truly fascinating piece of Mega Drive history and archived it for future generations. This time we have an unreleased port of Super Star Wars to the Mega Drive by SEGA Interactive, more famously known for Greendog. This prototype dates back to January 1993, and despite some mention in magazines from the time, this port has never been seen until now. Check it out in action below:
If you’d like to try this prototype yourself you can download it from the game’s entry at Hidden Palace. The ROM will work in an emulator or on actual hardware with use of a flash cart. A huge thanks to all involved for making this available to the public. Want more news on Star Wars? Check out sites like The Direct for the latest.
SEGADriven and its original content are copyrighted to their respective authors. Media related directly to SEGA is copyrighted to its respective authors. Any comments on SEGA-related materials do not represent SEGA themselves. All rights reserved 2008-2022.
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