|
|
ForumsSega Master System / Mark III / Game GearSG-1000 / SC-3000 / SF-7000 / OMV |
Home - Forums - Games - Scans - Maps - Cheats - Credits Music - Videos - Development - Hacks - Translations - Homebrew |
View topic - "Pre-Release" Master System Games
 |
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
|
 "Pre-Release" Master System Games
 Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:11 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:47 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
Several Master System games are known to have been made available in a "pre-release" form. These games are characterised by:
- A manual with the front cover dominated by a grid (either white-on-blue or black-on-white) - A slightly different box (which may have the grid pattern on the back superimposed on the text) - In some cases, box (and card label, where applicable) images which are entirely red rather than multicoloured Many of these pre-release games have been dumped - almost all were found to contain prototype versions of code and/or data. There is a lot of information scattered around regarding these games - I intend to collect as much as possible of it here. Please let me know if you have anything to add. This information will be transferred to the wiki at some point in the future. |
|
  
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:12 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:35 am; edited 14 times in total |
|
Choplifter
ROM CRC-32: fd981232, SHA-1: 95d8f826248118afb9265c05c476709731015d12 Fantasy Zone ROM CRC-32: f46264fe, SHA-1: b46cb68c330dad61cd2a2ef1f5f5480af303816a. Minor differences from Western release. Manual scan: http://www.smspower.org/Scans/FantasyZone-SMS-US-Demo-Manual Ghost House ROM CRC-32: c3e7c1ed, SHA-1: f341e68bad5029bf475922c2c1b79eb109f467a1 Hang On / Safari Hunt ROM CRC-32: a120b77f, SHA-1: 7e0b0dc82c2a1d64d26ce525ec498a520d32cfa7 TransBot ROM CRC-32: 58b99750, SHA-1: 4cd1d5e94b31bb3c3e449bc995890c0a4707bc5f. Minor differences from released version. World Grand Prix ROM CRC-32: b5a9f824, SHA-1: 9b44f322f8c2f59ebf1372f7911046cc6b3c156c http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=67235#67235 http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/85452/thread http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/72570/thread http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/84053/thread http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/77896/thread http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sega-Master-System-World-Grand-Prix-PROTO-PreRelease-SAMPLE-Version-/151649897802 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:13 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:52 pm; edited 15 times in total |
|
Action Fighter
ROM CRC-32: e2d765ad, SHA-1: 88fe2ee194981c82b5db2a9166dd97a8edb6d852. Major differences from released versions. http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/106653/thread http://s215.photobucket.com/user/schlingel1/library/Mobile%20Uploads http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sega-Master-System-Action-Fighter-PROTO-PreRelease-SAMPLE-Version-/151649891496 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:13 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Sun Nov 12, 2017 12:31 pm; edited 4 times in total |
|
Astro Warrior / Pit Pot
Box image entirely red This version's box title is different from the released version's. It uses & instead of /, and the second P in "Pit Pot" is in lower-case. The lower-case P is also present on the cartridge label, which would allow an unboxed cartridge to be distinguished from the released version. Some released cartridges also include a "TM" symbol after "Pit Pot". http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/82131/thread http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/77997/thread 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:13 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:51 pm; edited 5 times in total |
|
Black Belt
ROM CRC-32: da3a2f57, SHA-1: 7c5524cff2de9b694e925297e8e74c7c8d292e46. Identical to released version. http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=43771#43771 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:13 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:28 am; edited 2 times in total |
|
F-16 Fighter
Box and card label images entirely red http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=77245#77245 http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/98826/thread 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:14 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:59 pm; edited 4 times in total |
|
Hang On
ROM CRC-32: 649f29e8, SHA-1: 817d7bba41f0619342127d562f848045b9ddd7ea. Minor differences from Western release. Box and card label images entirely red http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=41086#41086 http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/10746/thread http://www.smstributes.co.uk/view_page.asp?articleid=36#hangonred 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:14 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
My Hero
http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=77495#77495 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:14 am Last edited by RetroSpark on Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:55 am; edited 2 times in total |
|
Teddy Boy
http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/84053/thread http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/77896/thread 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:12 pm
|
|
This may be of interest. Ariolasoft had three consoles with games in the UK in 1986, which were used for demonstrating to journalists at the very least (I suspect potential retailers too). They never did release the SMS in the UK (Mastertronic did a year later) or Holland, but did in Germany around October 1986. I'm sure it's no coincidence that many of the Pre-Release games have turned up in Germany.
Note the "Instructions written in hilarious English translation" for Transbot (The Fantasy Zone instructions linked above have a similarly less professional translation than the full production one). Also mentioned are Hang-On, Black Belt, Fantasy Zone, World Grand Prix, Choplifter, Action Fighter, and Astro Warrior/Pit Pot. The only other European country to Get the SMS in 1986 was Italy, where "NBC Italia" distributed it. Early Italian SMS manuals have the same "manual with the front cover dominated by a grid (white-on-blue)" design as some of the Pre-Release manuals. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:13 pm Last edited by TinchoDJ on Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
LOL @ "Transbots", "280A processor" and "Hang Up".
These pre-release carts and cards are amazing! I remember Hang-On and F-16 in red posted in this forum (the same topic you linked to above) as an interesting find, but there were no mentions of them as pre-release units. I guess they didn't know back then. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:25 pm
|
| Thanks a lot for compiling this thread, Paul. | |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 7:50 am
|
That is interesting, thank you. I notice that the Hang On card on the first page of the article is this pre-release version - the picture matches the red image (in shading and layout) much more closely than the final image.
It seems quite likely that the Master System prototype in this thread (which came with 5 pre-release games) is the same as these three consoles. As with the pre-release games, the prototype hardware was almost, but not quite, the same as the first production version. Page 6 of the same magazine has another picture of the Master System, this time with 8 games - likely the same ones listed in the article. Interestingly the picture also includes a light phaser - but none of the listed games can use it. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:20 am
|
|
A few pictures of pre-release games have also been found.
http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/10757/thread http://shinobiman.proboards.com/post/13136/thread 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:20 am
|
Some things will never change =) |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 2:10 pm
|
|
The article in the magazine was extremely pessimistic. And they were right. Sega culdn't afford such bureaucracy when it was in dire need of titles for a new system.
So, if Mastertronic, Virgin and Ariolasoft marketed the system in different European countries, and game publishers/developers had to sign deals with the distributors and with Sega Japan, when did Sega Europe started operations? Did they ever take over the distribution of the Master System? |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:39 pm
|
| Virgin bought Mastertronic, and the Sega division was taken over by Sega later. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastertronic for details. | |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:15 pm
|
|
I have noticed a little difference in the Action Fighter prerelease copy.
It looks like the developpers wrote their name in the ranking list. In the released version, it says just Player 1, Player 2, Player 3....... Can anyone verifiy if those are the programmer's names? 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:45 pm
|
|
This is a great find. The early Japanese games are very rarely credited.
I don't have this cartridge and it's not dumped AFAIK. Could you help dumping it ? (I could dump it and send it back to you promptly, or if you have rewritable cartridges you may be able to do it yourself.) |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:59 pm
|
It looks quite likely. "Wakihara", for example, was very recently revealed to be a programmer. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 7:08 am
|
|
Thanks for the answers. I am quite surprised that the developpers are unknown.
I think it would be best when the rom is dumped, maybe there are more hints inside from the developpers. I am just unsure if i shall/can do it myself, or if i shall send it to you, Bock. I am justl a little paranoid that it gets lost by the postal service... |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:20 am
|
|
I never had a lost mail within Europe but it can be signed on delivery for extra security.
For European style SMS cartridges, they are extremely simple to dump with a SMS Reader and the right tools. I or someone could lend you one if you are using a Windows PC. (For card or asian style cartridges or some types of prototypes on development board it may be more tricky but it shouldn't be the case for that type of Action Fighter cart.). I know you have heaps of other interesting stuff (Captain Silver, etc.) if you are happy to have them dumped we could do a combo. Or, more far-fetching - I could even potentially appear in Germany with a rucksack of tools :) Dumping is totally safe btw. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:23 am
|
Wakihara was also the colummns developer, he was interviews in the extras for Sega Genesis Collection |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:25 am
|
| It is likely the same person yes, the name is not overly common in Japan. | |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:18 am
|
|
Thanks for the info Bock :)
I guess it would be the easiest when i lend them you for dumping. I also have some korean cartridges. I can't remember the titles but i think they were some lame msx or sc 3000 ports. My aladdin boy is boxed away and i am too lazy to hook it up to check them... Are you also interested in checking them? |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:49 pm
|
I recently got my hands on prerelease/proto versions of World Grand Prix and Black Belt. The cover of World Grand Prix is pretty similar to that of the relesead version with the exception of the underlined title and Sega's phone number. Sadly, no manual was included.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:08 am
|
Another Red Hang On spotted in Germany (jdyer found it)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:14 pm
|
|
Red Hang On pictured in French magazine "SVM" #41 (Jul/Aug 1987). The interesting thing is that this was just ahead of the French launch, which happened about a year after full production versions were available. It suggests that Sega must have produced quite a few "pre-release" copies if they were still supplying new distributors with them in 1987.
Also, another article on Ariolasoft's showing off of the SMS in the UK. This one from a weekly publication that I've never heard of before "BANG" #8, which covered music, film, TV, as well as games. Not too much more info than the Popular Computing Weekly article, apart from the fact that the demonstration took place at Ariolasoft's UK headquarters (both articles are from the same week). Also an article from C+VG 62 (Dec 1986), which must have come from the same event. It's also worth noting that the early Italian manuals seems to be based off of the "pre-release" manuals. I guess that the Italian distributor produced these themselves ahead of receiving their shipments of production games with English manuals (maybe they didn't order a high enough quantity for Sega to supply localised manuals & covers as they did for Germany). 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:58 pm
|
|
>It suggests that Sega must have produced quite a few "pre-release" copies if they were still supplying new distributors with them in 1987.
Perhaps they were supplied to distributors and media as early samples for packshots, etc. and not actually in large quantity aimed at selling. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 7:43 pm
|
| Yeah, I'm sure that they were just meant as samples, and not meant for resale. I presume that the magazine obtained them from the distributor (Master Games Systeme France). It's just interesting that Sega still had some left when Master Games Systeme France became the distributor in France. | |
|
|
|
|
Red Hang On Card Manual
Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 6:42 pm
|
Interestingly, the manual for that version of Hang On shows a Japanese style cart.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:24 am
|
Not only does this article (1 / 2) from the November 1986 issue of the German "Happy Computer" magazine contain a red Hang On, but it also contains a cartridge for "Trap Shooting / Safari Hunt". I've never heard of that combo before (although Trap Shooting and Marksman Shooting were initially announced as stand alone titles), hopefully it turns up one day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 12:10 pm
|
|
Action Fighter V0 now released here:
http://www.smspower.org/forums/posting.php?mode=quote&p=93691
Yes. That's the game I bought from Schingel: http://www.smspower.org/forums/15467-SellingMyMasterSystemProtosSamples Sorry I don't know offhand which pre-release carts are missing. If you don't mind keeping one list up to date with all known pre-releases I could tell what I haven't dumped. I'll keep buying whatever I don't have. I have bought the Red Hang On but not dumped it yet! (Will try shortly, but since I moved to France I've been relying mostly on smsreader + various adapters, need to dig in for a SMS somewhere to confirm the cards).[/quote] |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 4:14 pm
|
Going through this thread, these have CRC codes noted;
These don't;
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:12 pm
|
Thanks! I can confirm I don't have those apart from Red Hang-On (which I will dump later). If you spot auctions or owner (to either buy either borrow for dumping) I'm always interested. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:22 pm
|
| I own the F-16 Fighter, Teddy Boy and Ghost House cards photographed above. Ghost House is likely to be a known dump, but the others could well be new. They won't be leaving my collection but we may be able to work out a way to get them dumped at some point in the future. | |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 9:03 am
|
|
Hi Barney,
Do you have a flash cart, e.g. Master Everdrive? With those and using a custom software you could easily confirm their checksum at home. Writing down instruction, may be useful to others as well! If you get this ROM: http://www.smspower.org/Homebrew/SMSDump-SMS 
You can run it from the Flash Cart (in the cartridge slot) on a Master System 1 while your Card game stays in the Card slot. Using D-PAD you need to set the options to: - Slot: CARD - Mapper: NONE - Start: 0 - Address: 0 - Size: 32 or 48 Then press B button and it should show the second page: 
You can press the B button again to "refresh" the data, and you want to make sure that the output is stable (the numbers on the right most column doesn't change). If the number changes it means either the settings are wrong either the cards might not be plugged correctly. You can totally safely wiggle the card, unplug it, plug it back again while the console is running it is safe, it might freeze occasionally, it might not (not so much with cards). You can press A to return to the menu and B happen to come back as a way to tell that the console hasn't frozen (it can happen while unplugging stuff). If you press B multiple times and the number are stables and not dummies (like all FF FF or 00 00 or all C0 C0) it means it the card is connected correctly. If you take a picture of the screen from there we can compare the value to retail card and confirm if the code is different or not. Historically those pre-release commonly use different code at least for cartridges. Thanks :) |
|
|
|
|
|
Black Belt
Posted: Sun May 07, 2017 2:21 pm
|
Found by Bela22 in Germany.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2017 5:33 pm
|
|
I came across three of these today. I posted a separate thread to figure out what they were (pre release) and then found this thread based on that.
http://www.smspower.org/forums/16749-SegaMasterSystemDemoCartsManuals Carts + Manuals, + PCB pics attached. Hey Bock (Omar/Zoop right? long time, alexkidd dot org dude here) if you're interested in dumps of these, I'm open to something, such as one of us ships a dumper to me, or I ship carts to you for dumping purposes. Unsure if worthwhile as there's already dumps of prototype versions. I guess there's a chance that different protos could be different- the labels on the Super Monaco chips are different at least. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 6:09 am
|
|
Nice find, congrats! Yeah I am Omar/ex-zoop :)
I'd be more than happy to pay for tracked shipped back and forth and dump them..I'm in France (but currently travelling so after Sept 1). I'll message you. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:15 pm
|
| Just looking at the CVG magazine scan. The picture of supposedly Fantasy Zone, is that an actual sms game or just some random screenshot? | |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:21 pm
|
| It looks like someone in a bowling alley perhaps? | |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 3:52 am
|
It looks to be 2/3 of a screenshot of the C64 version of Superstar Indoor Sports. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 3:57 pm
|
|
I have now dumped:
- The Red Hang On card, CRC: 649f29e8, it is a unknown dump. - Black Belt cartridge posted above (May 07, 2017), CRC: da3a2f57, it is the same as the regular regular build. |
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:14 pm
|
I wasn't able to find scans of these Ghost House or World Grand Prix manuals online so I scanned them in and are available here: * https://falz.net/static/World-Grand-Prix-Manual-SMS-Demo.pdf * https://falz.net/static/Ghost-House-Manual-SMS-Demo.pdf Feel free to grab and add to appropriate section. |
|
|
|
|
