Nintendo Player – An Unofficial, Non-Profit Nintendo Fan Site

Nintendo Player has a thing for quirky unreleased video games; California Raisins still to this day remains our favorite prototype find.

So when presented with the opportunity to get our hands on a Super Nintendo prototype of one of the most infamous unreleased video games ever, we succumbed to our strange desires.

Not much is known about this title, so we tracked down the game’s main designer, and that resulted in quite possibly the site’s most entertaining and enlightening interview yet–full of hilarious anecdotes and tales of back-stabbing industry politics.

Stay tuned for the full article!

A prototype of the unreleased/unlicensed NES game, Robert Byrne’s Pool Challenge, was auctioned off on eBay back in February of 2011. An anonymous collector purchased the game for $500. That collector recently contacted me to share some photos of the cart and circuit board.

I’m happy to report that the Intro to Protos feature is achieving its goal in helping to open up the prototype world to more people.

One of these new aficionados, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent me five NES prototypes to look at and document. (Click on the carts for more information.)

First, a prototype of the surprisingly solid unlicensed Christian game, Spiritual Warfare, which is chock-full of differences.

Little Samson may just be one of the biggest sleeper hits on the NES, and the game also makes for a pretty interesting prototype.

This first-party Nintendo prototype of Wario’s Woods is anything but “final,” but I have yet to find out what exactly is different.

Next up is Romstar’s Thunder & Lightning. Unfortunately, this proto is the same as retail, so I have only uploaded the following photos for archiving purposes: Front Cart / Back Cart / Front PCB / Back PCB

Bringing up the rear is Impossible Mission, another prototype identical to the released game: Front Cart / Back Cart / Front PCB / Back PCB

I haven’t had much luck with the Turtles’ prototypes, but that doesn’t stop me from still trying. Will this NES beta of their very first video game outing, Konami/Ultra’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, finally turn the tide? Or will I get nothing but coal again? Read the article to find out once and for all if there really is a Santa Claus.

Cowabunga to all, and to all a good night!