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Hello,

Happy to announce we have uncovered another unreleased game: BreakThru! prototype for the Game Gear !

(Those prototypes are part of a collection of loose EPROMs recovered by the Video Game History Foundation on behalf of an anonymous collector. This lot contained prototypes from various systems. The prototypes for Sega 8-bit systems will be released on SMS Power!, the prototypes other systems will be released on other sites, such as Hidden Palace and SNES Central)

In development in 1994 at Realtime Associates, the Game Gear port of BreakThru! went unreleased.
According to the BreakThru! Wikipedia page:
"The game is commonly attributed to being designed by Alexey Pajitnov, who also originally designed Tetris, and published by Spectrum HoloByte, the company who first published Tetris outside of Soviet Union, Pajitnov's home country. However, despite Pajitnov's name and face being on the game's title screen and box art, the PC version of the game clearly states that he only "endorses" and his only actual credits for the game is a "Special Thanks"."

The build we obtain appears final or near-final, tho admittedly the game is not particularly polished nor great, and was probably pulled out from release from that reason.

Note the dual control scheme, you'll have to hold a button and press a direction to move the top row of blocks.

The version we obtained has a bug preventing is to run on more systems, so we are also provided a patched version (thanks to Calindro for reverse engineering the timing bug and making that patch).

Graphics Assets

Additionally, we obtained through another person a Package of Graphics Source Assets. This is essentially a backup of some folders that some of the team used. We provided a unmodified folder and one with some of data converted to modern file formats. The package seemingly contains assets for both Game Gear and Game Boy version.

Enjoy!

Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_65_0300.jpg (347.98 KB)

Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_65_0300-Small.jpg (132 KB)

Graphics Archives.png (132.62 KB)

Playing BreakThru on a Game Gear.jpg (424.36 KB)

This message will auto destruct itself someday

+ Link to the Graphics Package:
https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Development/BreakThruGraphicsArchives1994.zip

breakthru-proto-gg.zip (77.58 KB)

breakthru-proto-gg-patched.zip (78.02 KB)

LOL !

Thankyou, I'll try it !

I own a copy of this game for another platform. As I understand it, it's essentially the SameGame as Chain Shot and Swell Foop. Is this correct?

Alexei Pajitnov did game endorsements at that time too, didn't he?
I have a game called ClockWerx, which I guess was for some computer platforms (though the one I have is the Super Famicom port). I think that was one sold with his name attached.

I have seen this title confused with a Data East shooter of the same name (though that game was coming close to being a decade older).

Thank you for this new dump! Here a small gameplay:

Ooh excellent!

Another amazing find, just wow. Thanks a lot Omar! *clap clap*

I can't believe I'm so late for this, but I played through the first loop of levels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQyVyXwizls.

After that, it goes back to Berlin, with a harder difficulty. I don't know how many times it loops, if not forever. Maybe I'll try to tinker with a savestate eventually, dunno, it's not the best of times for me.

Congrats for the awesome discover!! Really cool little game.

Definitely feels like SameGame, which is a game that has been copied so much it's hard to believe, but I think BreakThru! might slightly predate it.
(Same Game was made in 1995, BreakThru! was made late 1994, I think.)
Any other variants of the game earlier than that?

The difference I see here is that BreakThru! is designed to be finishable, whereas SameGame (and other clones I've seen) seem to just last until you create an unwinnable board.

Author	Message
Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8710 Location: Paris, France	Unreleased 'BreakThru!' for the Game Gear Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:21 pm Last edited by Bock on Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
	Hello, Happy to announce we have uncovered another unreleased game: BreakThru! prototype for the Game Gear ! (Those prototypes are part of a collection of loose EPROMs recovered by the Video Game History Foundation on behalf of an anonymous collector. This lot contained prototypes from various systems. The prototypes for Sega 8-bit systems will be released on SMS Power!, the prototypes other systems will be released on other sites, such as Hidden Palace and SNES Central) In development in 1994 at Realtime Associates, the Game Gear port of BreakThru! went unreleased. According to the BreakThru! Wikipedia page: "The game is commonly attributed to being designed by Alexey Pajitnov, who also originally designed Tetris, and published by Spectrum HoloByte, the company who first published Tetris outside of Soviet Union, Pajitnov's home country. However, despite Pajitnov's name and face being on the game's title screen and box art, the PC version of the game clearly states that he only "endorses" and his only actual credits for the game is a "Special Thanks"." The build we obtain appears final or near-final, tho admittedly the game is not particularly polished nor great, and was probably pulled out from release from that reason. Note the dual control scheme, you'll have to hold a button and press a direction to move the top row of blocks. The version we obtained has a bug preventing is to run on more systems, so we are also provided a patched version (thanks to Calindro for reverse engineering the timing bug and making that patch). Graphics Assets Additionally, we obtained through another person a Package of Graphics Source Assets. This is essentially a backup of some folders that some of the team used. We provided a unmodified folder and one with some of data converted to modern file formats. The package seemingly contains assets for both Game Gear and Game Boy version. Enjoy! Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_65_0300.jpg (347.98 KB) Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_65_0300-Small.jpg (132 KB) Graphics Archives.png (132.62 KB) Playing BreakThru on a Game Gear.jpg (424.36 KB)

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8710 Location: Paris, France	Attachments Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:23 pm
	This message will auto destruct itself someday + Link to the Graphics Package: https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Development/BreakThruGraphicsArchives1994.zip breakthru-proto-gg.zip (77.58 KB) breakthru-proto-gg-patched.zip (78.02 KB)

BcnAbel76 Joined: 28 Feb 2016 Posts: 503 Location: Barcelona	Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:48 pm
	LOL ! Thankyou, I'll try it !

PinoBatch Joined: 05 Dec 2019 Posts: 67 Location: USA	Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:53 pm
PinoBatch Joined: 05 Dec 2019 Posts: 67 Location: USA	I own a copy of this game for another platform. As I understand it, it's essentially the SameGame as Chain Shot and Swell Foop. Is this correct?

KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 533	Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 1:09 pm
KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 533	Alexei Pajitnov did game endorsements at that time too, didn't he? I have a game called ClockWerx, which I guess was for some computer platforms (though the one I have is the Super Famicom port). I think that was one sold with his name attached. I have seen this title confused with a Data East shooter of the same name (though that game was coming close to being a decade older).

Revo Guest	Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 3:04 pm
Revo Guest	Thank you for this new dump! Here a small gameplay:

S.F Joined: 08 Apr 2005 Posts: 483 Location: Netherlands	Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:20 pm
S.F Joined: 08 Apr 2005 Posts: 483 Location: Netherlands	Ooh excellent!

Gordman Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 365 Location: Berlin, Germany	Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:04 am
	Another amazing find, just wow. Thanks a lot Omar! clap clap

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 12:14 pm
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	I can't believe I'm so late for this, but I played through the first loop of levels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQyVyXwizls. After that, it goes back to Berlin, with a harder difficulty. I don't know how many times it loops, if not forever. Maybe I'll try to tinker with a savestate eventually, dunno, it's not the best of times for me.

Dezanuebe Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 27 Location: Odivelas, Portugal	Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2021 6:58 pm
	Congrats for the awesome discover!! Really cool little game.

KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 533	Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:33 pm
KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 533	Definitely feels like SameGame, which is a game that has been copied so much it's hard to believe, but I think BreakThru! might slightly predate it. (Same Game was made in 1995, BreakThru! was made late 1994, I think.) Any other variants of the game earlier than that? The difference I see here is that BreakThru! is designed to be finishable, whereas SameGame (and other clones I've seen) seem to just last until you create an unwinnable board.

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