Proto:Mega Man X2/X-Hunter Base

This is a sub-page of Proto:Mega Man X2.

General Notes and Access

Early Proto

• Exiting a stage after beating all eight Mavericks will send the player back to the stage select, but will not enable the Maverick icon that leads to the X-Hunter base. Use Pro Action Replay (PAR) code 00BDB280 to enable the icon.

• There's a "COMING SOON" screen in the game's code that would send the player back to the title screen, but it's normally not accessible. For some reason, the screen will only come up if the player beats every stage except Morph Moth and Wheel Gator. The value checked was probably changed from FF (all stages beaten) to F3 to quickly disable this screen.
  • As to why this screen was effectively dummied out, well, look at it. This game doesn't have the large font necessary to display the "COMING SOON" message, and even if the final X2 font was imported in, the message would still be corrupted. This is because the message is mapped to the large font from Mega Man X, which is out of order and missing quite a few letters. The "Coming Soon" screen in Mega Man X uses the game's smaller font, so this screen has to be from an earlier sample version.
• Even with the above code active, the Maverick icon is hard-coded to only enter X-Hunter 1. Use Pro Action Replay (PAR) code 7E1FAB?? to access further stages, where "??" is one of the below:

ID	Stage
0A	X-Hunter 2
0B	X-Hunter 3
0C	X-Hunter 4

• None of the X-Hunter stages have camera boundaries set up.
• With a single exception, there are no objects in any of the older prototype's X-Hunter stages.
• X-Hunter 1 and X-Hunter 2 use Morph Moth's track, while X-Hunter 3 and X-Hunter 4 are silent.

Later Proto

• Exiting a stage after beating all eight Mavericks displays a "Coming Soon" screen, then resets back to title. To disable this screen, use Pro Action Replay (PAR) codes 0097A9EA 0097AAEA 0097ABEA.
  • However, even after disabling that screen, it still isn't possible to access the X-Hunter stages. Either activate Pro Action Replay (PAR) code 00B6F680 to make the Maverick icon work, or select any stage with Pro Action Replay (PAR) code 7E1FA9?? active, where "??" is one of the below:

ID	Stage
09	X-Hunter 1
0A	X-Hunter 2
0B	X-Hunter 3
0C	X-Hunter 4

• X-Hunter 5 can be accessed by beating X-Hunter 4 and selecting the Central Computer stage. Entering through the Maverick icon will load an invalid stage.
• All stages but X-Hunter 5 use Flame Stag's music.

X-Hunter 1

Level Graphics

Early Proto	Later Proto/Final

The older background has a blue sky and is missing the background gradient and stars. It's obvious in the early prototype's background that there are land tiles in-between the mountains; the palette change in the final background makes the ground nearly indistinguishable from the mountains.

Layout

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

One of the more obvious differences between builds is the improvement of the accoutrements on the walls in the foreground and background. The graphics in the early prototype are lacking most of the detail seen in newer versions. The later prototype redraws the frost graphics and adds more of them to the tileset, adds a shine to the windowpanes and rounds out the windows, removes the cycling red and orange lights from the columns in the floor, and changes the cycling blue lights in the floor to a more complicated design. In the final game, the graphic with four thin pipes was redrawn with two thicker pipes, the exposed circuity made more colorful, and black strips with green circles were added to break up the monotony.

That Tubamail-S is the only object found in the early prototype's stage. Tubamail-S is the last object in the early prototype ROM by ID, so it's likely that the developers were still testing it and the object was placed at the start of this stage for easy access. The ceiling was later extended 32 pixels to the left in the newer prototype and final game.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Most of the green cylinders in the ceiling are crudely cut off in the older prototype. This was changed in the later prototype so that they always reach to the bottom of the ceiling and to the top of the screen.

The Scrambler in this section was later removed, as was the Scriver on the left.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The first pipe in this section was even worse cut off than in the previous section. Even if the camera boundaries were properly set up, it would be obvious to see where the foreground ends. The final game adds another 128×128 block below the pipe to fix this error.

All three enemies on the right side of the screen - the Scrambler, Scriver, and Barrier Attacker - were removed in the final game.

Early Proto
Later Proto
Final

The early prototype is missing the drop-shadow graphics under the ceiling that the later prototype and final game have. And objects, but that's obvious.

All layouts have a spike pit that is impossible to cross through normal means. In the later prototype, the player has to freeze the Barrier Attackers with Crystal Hunter and hop on them to get across the pit. In the final version, a floating switch platform was placed on the left side of the pit. To give the area some semblance of difficulty, two Scrivers that try to jump at the player were placed in the pit. One of the Scrivers on the right side was deleted in the final game.

The background color for the spikes matches the background color in the early prototype, but not in the later build. This was corrected in the final version. Those black tiles with the green circles were placed above the pit.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

There's more variety to the purple tubes inside the crushers in the early prototype. Later versions of the tileset remove the smaller tubes.

While the background tiles in the crusher sections match the rest of the stage, they only use two different tile graphics in the final version. Why?

Well, there's a bug with the background tiles in the later prototype: If the player destroys the Slidame with something like a charged Sonic Slicer before it gets a chance to move, the background tiles are deleted. It seems that the new tiles seen in the final version were created to mask this bug.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Just a few rearranged green cylinders in the early prototype. All of the Barrier Attackers here are placed too low to the ground in the later prototype. There are three Barrier Attackers in the newer prototype, but two in the final game.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

There are fewer gaps in both sides of the crusher, and the gaps that do exist go up further.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

See those green cylinders in the early prototype? They sure did change. The floor at the bottom of this area has two Crash Roaders in the later prototype, both of which were removed. The Aclanda at the top of this section moved to the bottom to fill the double Crash Roader-sized gap.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Usual background tile changes.

Early Proto
Later Proto
Final

This part of the upper path is empty in both prototypes. The final version adds two each of the Mecha-Arm and Crash Roader enemies.

The early prototype has two sets of tiles set aside for the Mecha-Arm objects, while the later prototype adds another to the left of the first one. The final game removes what was originally the first Mecha-Arm base. The second gap opens up more in the later prototype and final game.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

There's another Mecha-Arm base at the bottom-left corner in the prototypes. The lone Barite Laster on the right wall was removed to make the climb up less dangerous and/or tedious.

Early Proto
Later Proto
Final

There are strange sets of blank tiles in the early prototype. It's not clear if this is a mistake or if they were meant to be small windows. Both of the large windows were moved further apart in the later prototype, and the set of "stairs" on the right was changed from three to two steps and lowered in height.

The final game adds two more Crash Roaders and spreads them out over the entire area instead of clustering them on the right side. An extra life and large life energy pickup were placed below the ladder, and another Barite Lastar was added to guard those items.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The non-lethal spikes were changed to electrical currents, most likely to make clear their non-lethalness. The final version adds more indented tiles to the middle of the area.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The last crusher is much nastier in the prototypes. There are indents on both sides of the crusher that are two blocks wide - it's almost impossible to climb up the crusher using just one wall.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The boss shutters use the X-Hunter design in the early prototype. Appropriate given that this is the X-Hunter base and all, but later versions turned them into standard boss shutters anyway.

In the later prototype, the Barite Lastar's palette is overwritten by the boss shutter's palette. The final game fixes this oversight by just removing the Barite Lastar entirely.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

All versions have different arrangements of wall decorations, but that should be expected by this point. What is weird is that the early prototype doesn't have a ceiling in Violen's boss room.

There's a strange background layer that the player can see by warping to the second checkpoint. The bottom of this layer is nearly identical to the bottom of the ceiling in the later prototype and final game. This suggests a different Violen boss fight was planned: Making the ceiling a separate layer would allow the developers to lower and/or raise it during the fight, which would make Violen's morning star and bullet attacks more difficult to avoid. Later versions simplify this concept by adding disappearing blocks that the morning star bounces off of and that both the player and Violen can stand on.

Boss

Damage Taken

Proto	1/2/3/4	0/0	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	2
Final	1/1/2/3	0/0	2/4	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	2

• Violen's weakness changed from the Spin Wheel to Bubble Splash, and he was made immune to all other special weapons.

Damage Given

	Proto	Final
Contact	4 HP	3 HP
Mace	7 HP	6 HP

• No boss fight music.

Misc.

• None of the stage's palette cycling effects are implemented in the early prototype.

• In the later prototype, checkpoint #1 is identical to the starting point of the stage. The final game changes that checkpoint to the path split halfway through the stage.

• In both the later prototype and the final game, the stage palette changes halfway through the level. In the later prototype, this change occurs once the player moves to the right of the third crushing section and the player can clearly see where it changes. In the final version, this change happens during the third crusher section, which makes it less noticeable.

X-Hunter 2

Level Graphics

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The early prototoype's background is spartan, to say the least. It's just a collection of thin and thick pipes set against a black backdrop. Blackdrop.

The diagonal beams in the background aren't placed very well in the later prototype - most of the beams look like they're floating in the air rather than actually being connected to the surrounding structures. The final version adjusts the placement of those beams and changes one of the cylindrical structures so that they all look properly placed. The two lowest beams were simply deleted.

Layout

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The early prototype's tileset is again different, though not as much as in X-Hunter 1. The final tileset adds borders around the square and rectangular tan blocks in the walls, changes the circuit blocks from a sort of maroon color scheme to purple, and alters the background walls from green blocks with small lights to purple walls with strips of green machinery. Contrary to what the image would have you believe, there is water in the early prototype - it just uses the same palette as the above-water areas.

The final layout changes one of the corner tiles in the upper-right to a solid pipe, covering up the small opening in the wall.

Early Proto
Later Proto
Final

Most of this area is flat in the early prototype, with a nasty collection of spikes that the player has to navigate past at the end. The later prototype removes those spikes and adds some platforms and pits before then. The final game removes the last Fishern and places two of them higher up, away from the walls they originally rammed into.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The lower shaft is more narrow in the early prototype, and the upper shaft is more spike-filled.

In the later prototype, this area is infested with underwater Morguns. Not quite sure how that works with the flames and all, but they were all replaced by Barite Lastars in the final game. This is the last time "Barite Lastar" appears in this article, thank God.

Early Proto	Later Proto/Final

The floor next to the would-be Garakuta Robot doesn't extend as far to the left as it does in the final game. The floor in the water section is 16 pixels lower in the early prototype.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

All of the spikes on the ceiling (which would have made the rides on the Probe missiles more hazardous affairs) were deleted later on. The spike pits are flush with the ground in the older prototype and sunk into the ground in later versions. The first ceiling ends later in the early prototype, while the second ceiling is higher up than it is in the final version.

All Probe missiles were moved 16 pixels to the right in the final version.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

As expected, more spikes in the early prototype. Not expected is the presence of five gas vents, three of which were deleted in the later prototype. Said gas vents are missing nozzle graphics, which were added in the later prototype but are longer than the ones in the final version. The flame geysers are missing from both prototypes.

Even though the Probe missile starts out lower in the later prototype, it still goes up higher than it should.

Early Proto
Later Proto

The early prototype has extra spikes below the platform in the lower-left, a cruel surprise for anyone who clung to the right side of the Probe missile in the previous section.

Later Proto	Final

Both sample versions are missing the Spinning Wheel blocks before the spike pit and the extra life after the spike pit. The spikes have the same problem as X-Hunter 1 where the background color isn't the same as the walls above them.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The foreground walls are bare in both prototypes. The final version adds some purple circuitry inside the walls, like you do.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The platform on the left is wider in both prototypes, almost reaching the floating platforms.

Boss

Damage Taken

Proto	1/2/3/4	0/0	1/2	1/1	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/1	1/1	2
Final	1/1/2/3	0/0	1/1	1/2	0/1	2/5	1/1	1/2	2/1	2

• Lots of tweaking that went on here:

• Serges is weak to the Strike Chain in the later prototype and the Sonic Slicer in the final game. Probably thought that making both the Sigma Virus and Serges weak to the same weapon was redundant.
• Serges was given a second weakness in the final in the form of the uncharged Speed Burner.
• The charged Bubble Splash does normal damage in the final game, but the charged Silk Shot and Magnet Mine do double damage.
• Serges was made immune to the uncharged Spin Wheel.

Damage Given

	Proto	Final
Contact (Cannons)	6 HP	4 HP
Cannon Shot	2 HP	3 HP

• For this boss fight, the later prototype uses the track that plays during X-Hunter 3 in the final version.

• If the player jumps on the floating platforms and then uses Giga Crush just before the screen locks, the cannons on the Serges Tank will be destroyed before Serges even gets a chance to move. The final game fixes this by disabling collision on the cannons until the boss intro is done.
• Serges has nothing to say after he's defeated.

X-Hunter 3

Background

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The background in the older prototype - which is seen far less than the background in later versions - is very different, with a lighter color palette, no towers, and six giant lights.

The background layer in the later prototype is transparent and set against a dark brown background color. See Crystal Snail's stage for why this is a bad idea. The lights in the background are darker than in the final game. Palette cycling hasn't been implemented yet.

Even though the diagonal beams were fixed in the previous stage, they still look like they're floating in place in this stage.

Layout

Early Proto
Later Proto
Final

The tileset in the early prototype is completely different; not a single tile made it into the final version. The way these tiles are drawn and shaded doesn't seem to match any other stage in the game, which is likely why it was completely redone.

Far too many enemies here in the later prototype; the final version removes the first Pararoid and the last two Batton Bone Gs. The Pararoid by the large energy pickup will always jump into the pit in the prototype, while in the final game it's positioned to jump on X's head.

There are minor changes in how the pipes and such in the walls are lain out in the final version - this applies to almost every room in this stage. The hanging platform that the extra life and energy pickup lie on extends over the second pit in both prototypes. All this does is force the player to wall jump and waste time, so the platform was shortened in the final game.

The ladder in this area extends all the way down to the floor in the older prototype, which isn't a good idea in any of the SNES X games.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The walls in the switch-activated platform section - the section that is supposed to let the player test how the platform works in a safe environment - are loaded with spikes in the early prototype. The later prototype removes the spikes and adds three Hanging Reploids that don't seem to be hanging from anything in particular. The final version removes all three of them and deletes one of the Tiranos enemies at the top.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The spikes on the ceiling and floor stretch out further in the early prototype, making it impossible to reach the other side without the air-dash or a charged-up Speed Burner. The later prototype removes four sets of spikes from both the top and bottom. The ladder, which is fully embedded in the ceiling in the older prototype and thus much harder to grab on to than it should be, is lower to the ground starting in the later prototype.

The Barrier Attacker is placed too far to the right in the older prototype version, so it ends up passing through the wall on the other side.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The second switch platform section was toned down significantly by the final version. In the older prototype, all of the platforms in this section have spikes underneath; these were removed in the newer prototype. The first tier of jutting platforms was moved higher up to let the player get used to how the thing works, the second tier was shortened to give the player more room for error, and the Garakuta Robots were eliminated.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Well, at least the early prototype didn't put spikes underneath those two short platforms at the bottom. The later prototype did some more spike removal here, but still: Flanked by Batton Bone Gs and Tiranos enemies, one way up... it's a little much.

The most noteworthy change in this area in the final version is lowering the two platforms that the Batton Bone Gs roost on. To get all the way up in the later prototype, the player has to use one of the following methods:

1. Use the switch platform. The intended method, but losing the platform means the player will have to go through the previous section again.
2. Freeze one of the Battons with Crystal Hunter, jump on the frozen Batton, jump again, then quickly switch to Giga Crush while in the air to get enough height to reach the side of one of the platforms. Doesn't require the switch platform, but can only be done once.

By lowering those platforms in the final game, all the player has to do is freeze one of the Battons with Crystal Hunter, jump on the frozen enemy, then jump again to reach the sides of the platforms... or they could use the switch platform.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

There are strange solid tiles blocking the way to the extra life and large energy pickups (or, well, nothing in the early prototype). Seems like these should be destroyed by Spin Wheel, but that weapon (or any other weapon, for that matter) has no effect on these blocks. These were removed in the final game, and the Disc Boy 08 that was once wedged in those blocks was repositioned on the other side of the gap.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Aside from the misplaced Batton Bone G and the usual aesthetic changes, this area is almost identical between versions.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

This room contains the Shoryuken Light Capsule in the final game, provided that the player had obtained every other before entering the room. The room is empty in the early prototype, while the later prototype filled it with four large life energy pickups and an extra life.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The background walls start out sooner in the early prototype. The later prototype added two sets of spikes on the steps below. In the final game, all four Batton Bone Gs were removed and the Cannon Driver was properly placed on the platform to the right instead of up in the air.

This is where the stage's palette changes in the final version, but in the later prototype the palette change never occurs. This will cause significant coloring errors later in the stage.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Standard aesthetic changes in the floor and wall tiles, plus some ladder-lowering.

Early Proto
Later Proto
Final

There's an extra spike pit in the prototypes with two Barrier Attackers inside. Unfortunately, the walls around that spike pit are so tall that the player can access the Light Capsule room from below. The final game removes that spike pit and the Barrier Attackers to keep the player from bypassing the tougher upper path.

The longer spike pit is unforgiving in the prototypes - there's no solid ground anywhere, so the player has to make a series of Crystal Hunter jumps while Batton Bone Gs and Pararoids try their hardest to knock them into the pit. The final game shows some semblance of mercy by removing the Battons, syncing the movements of the first two Pararoids, and adding three narrow platforms to the pit.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

This is where the later prototype's lack of a palette-changing point presents problems...

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

...and it gets worse in the boss room. Look at poor Agile. The background is transparent in both prototypes; hopefully it should be obvious by this point why this was changed. The floor starts out flat in the prototypes, while in the final game the floor is a spike pit with two spike platforms on either side, cluing the player in on one of Agile's attacks ahead of time.

Boss

Damage Taken

Proto	1/1/2/3	0/0	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/1	1/2	3/4	1/2	2
Final	1/1/2/3	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	2/2	0/0	2

Damage Given

	Proto	Final
Missile	8 HP	6 HP

• No boss fight music.
• Agile only takes damage if his face is hit in the later prototype. In the final game, hitting any part of his body counts for damage.
• In the later prototype, if Agile's spike blocks fall on the player, the player will phase through the blocks. In the final game, the blocks will explode if they land on the player.
• No dialogue from Agile after he's defeated.

Misc.

• The final game adds another checkpoint at the path split.

• There are three instances where object tiles are either unloaded too quickly or not loaded at the right time. The first one is with the switch platform at the start, where its graphics are quickly being overwritten by the Hanging Reploid's tiles.

• The second is with the Garakuta Robots on the upper path. Their graphics are already loaded in the second switch platform section, but are then overwritten by Disc Boy 08's graphics.

• The last is with the Tubamail-S. The game loads the graphics for the boss shutter sprite too early, causing the Tubamail-S' tiles to glitch out while it's still on-screen.

X-Hunter 4

Layout

Early Proto	Later Proto/Final

Unlike the tilesets for the previous three stages, X-Hunter 4's tileset is very close to being finished in the early prototype. The only difference is in the teleporters, which use a flatter, bluer design.

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

The four small energy pickups at the top of the stage aren't in either prototype layout.

Early Proto	Later Proto/Final

Morph Moth's room is missing the junk at the bottom (necessary for explaining how the cocoon is sucking in debris) and a ceiling.

Early Proto	Later Proto/Final

Bubble Crab's room is transparent in the early prototype, with the background layer taking up the empty space. Since that layer is needed for Bubble Crab's shield, the background was later baked in to the room.

Protos	Final

Wheel Gator's arena is more narrow in the prototypes, and the oil overlaps with the walls.

Misc.

• This stage is so early in development in the older prototype that it doesn't have its checkpoints defined. The game defaults to (0000,0000), which places X above the first room in the stage.
• In both prototypes, the background scrolls slower than the foreground. In the final game, they both scroll at the same speed.

• The railings for the platforms in the teleporter hub aren't properly defined as high-priority tiles in the early prototype.
• The graphic for Bubble Crab's shield isn't in the later prototype's background yet, making the shield invisible.

X-Hunter 5

Layout

Early Proto	Later Proto	Final

Even though neither Sigma nor Zero have been coded in the early prototype, there's already an early version of Sigma's boss arena. It's missing the unique glass-like tiles and looks more like a standard Magna Centipede room. The game doesn't load a new palette for the background, leading to the incorrect colors seen here.

In the later prototype, the room is missing its ceiling (the behavior that lets X pass through it at the start doesn't seem to have been coded yet) and the background doesn't have an orange tint.

Boss(es)

Damage Taken (Zero)

Proto	0/1/2/4	0/0	1/1	255/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	2
Final	0/1/1/3	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	3/6	0

• Zero takes normal damage from all weapons except for the X-Buster (he's immune to the normal X-Buster shot but takes greater damage than in the final game) and Silk Shot (which instantly defeats him; this is a testing feature). He's not weak to Speed Burner yet.

Damage Given (Zero)

	Proto	Final
Buster Shot	1 HP	2 HP
Charge Shot	2 HP	4 HP
Debris	1 HP	2 HP

• In the later prototype, there's no cutscene with Sigma and Zero. He just pops into the room like Magna Centipede.
• The real Zero always appears here in the later prototype, even if the player got all of Zero's parts, but the game does load the palette for the fake Zero into RAM.
• Zero's fight uses the standard boss music instead of his theme song.
• Because there's a gap on the left and the wall on the right isn't solid, Zero's dash attack will send him flying out of the room. The only way to get him to come back is to stay in the air until he does his Earth Gaizer attack.

• Beating Zero will cause him to kneel like in the final game, but he then starts to explode and fade like a typical boss. After that's done, the stage clear sequence plays and X teleports out. The game will jump back to the stage select screen and the player can challenge Zero over and over should the external cheat codes be activated.

To access Neo Sigma's room, use the Controller 2 checkpoint cheat (B + Up) to reach checkpoint 04.

• Neo Sigma doesn't say anything after he teleports in.
• Unlike every other boss, Neo Sigma's weaknesses and damage dealt are identical between versions.

Damage Taken (Sigma Virus)

Proto	1/2/3/4	0/0	1/1	255/1	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/1	1/1	2
Final	0/0/1/3	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	2/1	0/0	0/0	0

• Sigma Virus' weakness chart is close to Zero's, including being instantly defeated by Silk Shot, though unlike Zero it already has its final weakness set. It takes normal damage from the X-Buster, which makes the fight pass by a lot quicker.

Later Proto	Final

• Sigma Virus' palette changing is different between versions:

• In the later prototype, its colors do a reverse rainbow progression from purple to red.
• In the final game, it starts out green, changes from light blue to purple, then from orange to red.

• Sigma Virus does talk in the later prototype. After it's done talking, the normal boss defeated sequence plays and X teleports out of the stage. Like with Zero, the game will jump back to the stage select screen.

Misc.

• This stage still uses the standard Magna Centipede track. The final game changes the track to the intro stage's piece.

• If the camera's lower boundary is hacked and X is placed below the Chop Register / Zero room, X will fall into Neo Sigma's lair. The palette fading effect that the final game uses is already present, but the dark blue color of the background changes to this orange-brown color.

Ending?

An ending (of sorts) is in both prototypes, and can be accessed by using the following Pro Action Replay (PAR) codes:

Early Proto	Later Proto
009E94FF 0098BCBE 0098BD98 7E1FAC04	0097A9EA 0097AAEA 0097ABEA 7E1FAA05

Early Proto
Later Proto

This is a heavily corrupted version of the first game's ending! This looks best if Magna Centipede is the last boss the player beats.

It's in better shape in the early prototype, keeping the correct sound effects, gradient effect, and ending text. After the text stops, the intro stage is loaded and the game will quickly softlock.

By the later prototype, the ROM had changed enough to completely corrupt the graphics, the sound effects had been reordered, and since the X1 script had been fully expurgated, the game keeps loading garbage text until locking up.