Prerelease:EarthBound/1992
This is a sub-page of Prerelease:EarthBound.
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Contents
November
Super Famicom #5 - November 10, 1992
One of the earliest previews and one of the only known ones to cover Mother 2 before its subsequent retooling by Satoru Iwata.
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The map around the Twoson Bus Station was completely overhauled. Notice how the bus sign is more primitive and is missing the bench on the left to it, the road is at a completely different angle (it was replaced by a building in the final), as two bushes were also added south of the sign, as all three were moved down slightly. Ness is also missing his backpack (something that is noticeable in all the screenshots).
As is a common theme in these '92 screenshots, there are a myriad of NPCs always clustered around Ness for some reason, possibly to make the screens seem more "active" and appealing to potential buyers.
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The Onett burger shop received a number of extra touches in the final: the table inset into the wall was given a glass finish and completely different seats, and the menu sign on the top was redesigned to protrude outwards. A table was removed (with the remaining tables redesigned) and a second worker was also removed in favor of two more customers. The registers were redesigned, and the floor was given a checkerboard finish. The menu is more simplistic graphics-wise and reminiscent of the first game, with a completely different font.
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The sign on the right was shortened, and there are more NPCs clustered around Ness again. The man speaking to Ness was moved to in front of Town Hall in the final, but the dialogue seems to be identical between versions. Additionally, the sign outside of the Hotel is missing and there is a trash can on the sidewalk instead, which was moved to the right of the center building in the final.
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A mailbox was added in the final, and the fence was redrawn to be thicker. The porch was expanded rightward so as to not look like it was at a complete angle. Additionally, it is not possible to have King in your party at this point in the final. The flowers are different and more primitive-looking, even from other screenshots in the magazine.
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Besides the usual cluster of NPCs, a trash can was removed and a few bushes around Town Hall were trimmed.
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The Chaos Theater has fenceposts out front in the pre-release that were removed for the final, replaced by a pair of bottles. The ticket booth was redesigned, the Tonzura Brothers' (Runaway Five's) tour bus is missing, and a stoplight was added to the corner in the final. The lettering on "TONZURA BROTHERS" is a different color, and there is a sign above "CHAOS THEATER" that was removed. Finally, there are two NPCs near Ness: an unremarkable dog, and an NPC (bearing a similar design to the blue-haired NPCs in the previous game) that was completely removed from the final! The NPC has been recreated as a mockup below:
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Other than the obvious missing backpack, Ness' arms clip into the bike in the 1992 version of the sprite. In fact, large parts of his sprite were seemingly redrawn for the final game. Ness' mouth was opened for the final game, too.
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Another trash can was replaced by a hotel sign and bus stop sign in the final. A flower was removed near the Bus Stop and a bench was added, forcing the tree nearby to relocate. The color of the top of the tent is blue instead of purple, and the color of the text on both signs is different. A bush beside the hotel entrance got pruned in the final.
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Much of the foliage is more simplistic. A second floor was added to the house on the right, the light post is slightly different, the boats are in different positions, and a hole decoration was added to the pier. There is an NPC that was completely removed from the game here who resembles Colonel Sanders somewhat. A version of this NPC's sprite is present in the localization prototype and is provided below.
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Dalaam was completely redesigned from a snowy area to a grassy mountainside area. The palace is also completely different from the final! Although this design fits better with the interior aesthetic, it's also somewhat generic in appearance, which is likely why it was redesigned.
December
Super Famicom Perfect Video '92-'93
This two-and-a-half-minute segment features a Q&A between GTV Editor-In-Chief Koji Watanabe and Shigesato Itoi on the then-current build of the game before it entered development hell in 1993.
The gameplay at this point seems fully scripted - stiff and on-rails, with "enemies" being NPCs that just walk around in very short form. The segment also provides a release date of February 1993, yet the game didn't come out until a year and a half later.
In-Depth Comparison
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"Preview (予告篇)" moniker aside, the Earth logo is colored and animated in this version, just like its predecessor. In the final game, the Earth isn't animated at all. The Earth and text were also recolored from blue to grey.
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The Onett arcade feels unfinished in general, lacking the dark shading and numerous elements found in the final, like the poster and pinball machine. All of the arcade games also use the same graphic in the preview, and shadowing was added onto the floor behind them. The stairs and protruding section of the wall were moved upwards.
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The ceiling of Dalaam's throne room is low enough to fit on one screen in the prototype. The throne and pillars were also redesigned, changing the indents inside the pillars from squares to a more unique shape.
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This area in Summers was kept 100% as-is, but all the objects were relocated (e.g. the ice cream stand was moved to the left for the final and is instead run by the Magic Cake lady).
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The Tenda Village seems to be barely worked on at this point, since the hot spring and inn are entirely missing. The Tendas themselves have a very different design, appearing as little black-colored creatures with beady white eyes.
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Paula's cell was changed from a small door to a larger jail cell. While the room is the same size when compared to the final version (the incorrect aspect ratio on Perfect Video makes it look shorter), the change of cell splits the room in half. The chair and exit were moved down, the table was made wider, and the chair also got a perspective change.
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Out with the Coil Snakes at the Lilliput Steps cave, in with the bones and pebbles. The present on the right was also removed in the final.
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This area of Dusty Dunes Desert seems to have been completely remapped for the final version. Besides the mapping changes, there's a Come truck (using a different, even more infringing logo design) parked on the side of the road; this was removed and replaced with more buttes, likely because it looks very strange. Some NPCs were added and the vehicles were rearranged, with one of them even gaining a driver.
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The bridge just outside Fourside was given a more detailed shadow and a new perspective.
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Jeff and Tony switched beds for the final game, and the room received an extra chair and some tools as well.
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In the preview, the Pyramid had two different tiles for each of the doors. This was cleaned up to use the same one for both in the final.
Music
Aside from the completely scrapped song at 1:16 in the video, Onett's theme went through some interesting changes too.
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In the final version, the warm pads were changed into rock organs, the French horn was changed into a trumpet, and the echo was toned down a bit. In the preview version, the guitar has a weird portamento which makes the main melody sound off-key at times and it lacks the electric piano harmony.
Also of note is that Buy Somethin' will ya! sounds slightly different.
Absent Details
At this point in development, characters lack diagonal walking sprites, as in the first game. Ness' cap is also being mirrored during his downwards walking animation, which is not present in the final game as he has a unique animation frame to prevent it. (This error is still present on his upwards walking animation, though.)
