Proto:Beyond Oasis

The prototype of The Story of Thor (Beyond Oasis in America) feels more like an engine test than anything else. The date on the header is July 1994, compared to November for the US version and December for the Japanese one.

General

 * After the SEGA screen, there's just a simple title screen. None of the title screen or new save codes work.
 * The HUD doesn't have the screen-flipping feature in the prototype, so it's always on the left side of the screen.
 * Ali is immortal; if the health bar runs out, he will still live, and the bar will refill.
 * Ali is missing the following moves from his repertoire:
 * Kick combo
 * Running stab
 * Rolling Slash
 * Double Rolling Slash
 * Chaotic Sword Slash
 * If the player dash-jumps, then holds the opposite direction and jumps again, they'll dash-jump backwards!
 * Enemy AI is quite poor.
 * The Ball of Light isn't affected by gravity. Dytto will be summoned by the ball if it hits any part of the foreground.
 * None of Dytto's moves cost any SP.
 * Pressing A + B + C doesn't cancel summons yet.
 * There is no dialogue.

Debug Controls

 * X: Mutes the current music track.
 * Y: Drains the player's SP.
 * Mode: Runs the game at half-speed when held.

Weapons
At this point, the player begins with six different weapons, each more functionless than the last. They can be equipped, but don't do anything or have associated sprites yet.

Each weapon besides the ALTKNIFE has a basic placeholder name: SWORD+1, SPEAR+2, BOW+3, etc. Six weapons aren't part of the starting inventory. Set or  to the appropriate item ID to put one of the unused weapons in one of the two unused slots.

SWORD+1:

SWORD+2:

SWORD+3:

SWORD+4:

While the swords in the prototype are merely palette swaps of the base sword, each sword has a unique hilt and blade in the final version. The shine around SWORD+4 isn't present in the final.

BOW+1:

BOW+2:

BOW+3:

The BOW+2 was changed from a palette swap of BOW+1 to a yellow bow with a unique handle and arrow tips.

SPEAR+1:

SPEAR+2:

SPEAR+3:

SPEAR+4:

All four of these spear weapons were thrown out and replaced with bomb-based weapons: three throwing bombs and one explosive crossbow. Pretty good trade.

Items
Keys and elemental gems are in the prototype...sorta. They can be placed in the player's inventory, but they don't function at all. The silver key in the prototype was replaced with an HP UP heart in the final.

Here are their names and item IDs. Even at this stage of the prototype the keys were changed from what they were supposed to be; check out the item names and compare them to the actual key graphics.

GOLD KEY:

SILV.KEY:

IRON KEY:

COPP.KEY:

BRON.KEY:

WATER ST:

FIRE ST.:

SHADOW S:

WOOD ST.:

Map
The map screen hasn't been implemented yet, and an area select (the same one that can be found in the final through a code) appears in its place.


 * Up/Down: Navigate current map page.
 * Left/Right: Go to a different map page.
 * A/C: Go to selected map.

Map Page 31 lists a number of test maps. Besides TES6 DRAGON, which loads the dragon boss' head into VRAM, all of these maps simply lead to a black screen and freeze the game. 00:TES0 AME 01:TES1 MORI 02:TES2 HASHI 03:TES3 TRIP 04:TES4 SINDEN 05:TES5 HASHI2 06:TES6 DRAGON 07:TES7 FALL 08:TES8 STORM 09:TES9 SEIREI 10:          11:           12:           13:

Graphical Differences
The background for the Crater map is more complicated than what ended up getting used. The Crater tileset in the final version is shared with the Fortress maps, which aren't in the prototype yet. So, to make room for the tiles that the Fortress maps needed, the background was redrawn and simplified.

The view from the top of the MOUNTAIN2 map changed from being the highest point in the mountain range to somewhere in the middle.

Unused Graphics
Graphics of a city, taken from the intro of Streets of Rage 2, were used as a placeholder image before the final map was drawn. This ties in with the unused sound effects in the final that are Streets of Rage 2 leftovers.



A nearly complete set of graphics for a Barbarian enemy that doesn't appear in the prototype or final versions of the game. All he's missing are hurt and death animations. These sprites don't match the more detailed style of the other enemy graphics. They must have been drawn very early in development.



The second idea for a sword-wielding enemy was this knight with shield, drawn in the same style as the other monsters in the game. He too is missing hurt and death animations, and ultimately, the only enemies in the final game who have swords are simple soldiers.

An alternate version of the Knight's idle pose is stored at the end of the Barbarian's graphics bank. This design's shield isn't pointed on the top and features less detailed shading.



A set of key icons that match the ones found in the prototype, extra silver key included.



These wooden bridge tiles are part of the MOUNTAIN5 tileset, but they're not used in that or any other map.

Unused Text
The prototype does not have region lockout. In the final, this text is very different.

Address : THIS CARTRIDGE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR USE OUTSIDE NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. IT CANNOT BE USED WITH HARDWARE UNITS FOR SALE WITHIN THESE AREAS This same text is present in the European Streets of Rage 2:

Address : Ancient Music Driver -MD- 68000 Program Version 1.03 Copyright (C) 1993-1994 Ancient corp., Programmed By     Hideki Koyama

Address : Ancient Music Driver -MD- Z80 Program Version 1.03 Copyright (C) 1993-1994 Ancient corp., Programmed By     Hideki Koyama