The SEGA AI Computer is one of the rarest SEGA systems ever created, what with it being largely made for Japanese audiences. This 1986 computer was sold to as an educational device for children and used in schools. In 2014, the team at SMS Power managed to source a unit and some software from a Yahoo Japan auction. Since then, the team have worked effortlessly to source as much software as possible for the system and get it all dumped and working under emulation, which you can now do via MAME.
Click here to be taken to SMS Power’s article on the SEGA AI Computer which includes detailed information on the computer itself, its specs, how to emulate it and see a full list of the software the team has managed to source and archive. SMS Power have managed to dump 26 My Cards and 14 cassette tapes containing SEGA AI Computer software, so there’s a lot to explore here.
SEGADriven would like to congratulate and thank the team at SMS Power for archiving another piece of rare SEGA history and finally allowing a wider audience to experience this previously Japan-only system that was largely sold to schools.
The wonderful people at SEGA Dreamcast Info have managed to source and dump 11 different builds of the unreleased PS2 Vectorman game that was infamously revealed at E3 2003.
This 3D take on Vectorman would see the game transition into a 3rd person shooter. The project was being lead by a new development studio called Pseudo Interactive. You can watch footage of the prototype builds in action via the embed below:
SEGASonic Cosmo Fighter is a 1993 Japanese arcade game for children that features a small, ride-in spaceship that houses a monitor and controls. In the game you must guide Sonic in his ship to defeat Dr. Robotnik and his army of robots and it plays more like a vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up than a traditional platformer. While an English version of the game was developed, it doesn’t appear to have made it to Western markets.
Twitter user ‘IAMAMAZING100‘ has now dumped the English version of the game and it’s available to download by clicking here. Unfortunately, the ROM is currently unplayable in MAME, but Twitter user FridayNehgGuy has ripped all the samples from the game so you can hear what Sonic and Dr. Robotnik sound like. Click here to hear that.
The Japanese version of SEGASonic Cosmo Fighter is playable in MAME and you can watch a full playthrough with fan-subs via the embed below:
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 over at Gaming Alexandria have discovered and dumped an unreleased SEGA Saturn game called The Sacred Pools.
Development on the game started in 1996 by SEGASoft of Bug Too! and Mr. Bones fame, and the title is described as an erotic thriller that heavily uses full motion video. The game was previewed at E3 that year and received a lot of negative press which eventually lead to the game’s cancellation.
The dumped disc image can be downloaded from The Internet Archive by clicking here. Gaming Alexandria also have an extensive article that delves deeper into the history of the game, it’s development and eventual cancellation that you can read by clicking here.
A huge thank you to Gaming Alexandria for preserving another lost SEGA title! You can watch the game in action via the video embed below:
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 good people over at SMS Power have managed to secure the loose EPROMs of an unreleased Game Gear title called BreakThru! and have now dumped the game and preserved it digitally.
BreakThru! was originally released on other systems such as PC, SNES, Game Boy in 1994 and Saturn and Playstation later in 1995. The game is infamous for being endorsed by Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. This Game Gear version was completed but never released for unknown reasons.
You can download the ROM file from SMS Power’s page on the title. SMS Power have also released a patched version that is more compatible with different hardware. The ROM file can be played on real hardware using something like an Everdrive cartridge. Alternatively the game can be played under emulation.
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.
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