Prerelease:The Lion King (SNES)

This page details prerelease information and/or media for The Lion King (SNES).

To do: Is there true certainty that these are specifically of the SNES version? The screen ratio alone in these pics suggest that these feature an early build of the Genesis version.

Despite having three varied prototypes, there is at least one other prototype with noteworthy changes. These screenshots were featured in Nintendo Accion Issue 21 and/or Superplay Issue 23. Both magazines suggest that these screenshots came from a build shown at CES.

Levels

All screenshots show a different life counter font, closer to the one shown on title cards. This is interesting, because it suggests that it was changed only briefly between the early prototype and the 0.21 prototype.

As seen in early prototypes, the health bar and roar bar are switched. Speaking of which, they're way too large for the levels they're in.

Pridelands

Pre-release	Final

Pride Rock can't be seen so high in the background in the final. The ground seems to be more saturated, but that could be due to the scan.

Simba's Exile

Pre-release	Final

The boulder is nowhere near as large in the final. The one shown here resembles those found in adult Simba's levels, taken from the Genesis version of Aladdin. There are no large boulders in the early prototype, but the 0.21 prototype uses the ones found in the final.

The Elephant Graveyard

Pre-release	Final

The hyenas have a special animation for popping out of the skull, thus we never see one inside it like this.

There are no bats in any known version of The Elephant Graveyard. In fact, there are no bats in cub Simba's levels period.

These screenshots are again within the timeframe of the early prototype (which has a wildly different Elephant Graveyard) and the 0.21 prototype.

Willow Cascade

Early Prototype	Pre-release	0.21 Prototype

Yet another screenshot that places this version somewhere between the early prototype and the 0.21 prototype. The platform color matches the early prototype, but by the 0.21 prototype, the boulder has moved to the final position and the palette changed. The boulder shown here comes from the far right, too far away.

Music

Before the game's release, Westwood uploaded four music tracks to their Press FTP, as well as shorter but otherwise identical 19-second edits of these tracks.

These appear to be work-in-progress files, taken before they were resampled and resequenced for the SNES.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Circle of Life (Title Screen)
I Just Can't Wait to be King
To Die For