Proto:Ristar (Genesis)/August Prototypes

This is a sub-page of Proto:Ristar (Genesis).

Also released in drx's February 2008 prototype dump. While the July prototypes were near-final versions of the final Japanese game, the August prototypes are in-progress versions of the finished localized game.

The most noticeable change is that "Ristar" is now "Dexstar". While the name change isn't unexpected (even in the July prototypes a name change was planned, though in that case the localized name was "Volt"), reverting the name back is more unusual. One possible explanation is that "Dexstar" was already trademarked by a rim manufacturer in 1985. While a separate trademark could have been filed since the old trademark was not in the same field of interest, Sega of America might have wanted to play it safe anyways...and since the name "Volt" is too generic to trademark, they simply went back to the Japanese "Ristar".

Intro

August 12 Proto	August 26 Proto	Final
FAR OUT IN THE GALAXY... EVIL ALIEN "GREEDY"START ATTACKING SURROUNDING PLANETS. EVEN... THE LEDGENDARY HERO OF THE SYSTEM IS NOW IN THEIR HANDS... NOW HIS SON,'DEXSTAR', IS TRYING TO HELP HIM...	IN A FAR OFF GALAXY... AN EVIL,ALIEN FORCE IS AT WORK. THE EVIL TYRANT,GREEDY HAS CORRUPTED THE PLANET LEADERS AND ENSLAVED THE POPULACE. EVEN THE LEGENDARY HERO HAS BEEN CAPTURED. A DESPERATE PLEA FOR HELP IS MADE... AND ANSWERED, BY THE HERO'S OWN SON.	IN A FAR OFF GALAXY... AN EVIL ALIEN FORCE IS AT WORK. THE EVIL TYRANT, GREEDY, HAS CORRUPTED THE PLANET LEADERS AND ENSLAVED THE POPULACE. EVEN THE LEGENDARY HERO HAS BEEN CAPTURED. A DESPERATE PLEA FOR HELP IS MADE. AND ANSWERED, BY THE HERO'S OWN SON.

• The August 12th script is obviously an early draft, probably not written by a native English speaker. Besides the confusing sentence construction, this draft doesn't mention the corruption of the planet leaders.
  • One line in the intro doesn't show up in the game proper:

FAR OUT IN THE GALAXY... LIES 'VALDI SYSTEM'..

• The August 26th script is almost finalized, barring a few fixes in the story's formatting and punctuation.

This text only appears in the August prototypes. It's on-screen after the story text but before Ristar/Dexstar flies in from the background.

Protos	Final

The localization team gave the logo a redesign as well! The shooting star was moved to the upper-right and evokes the image of a neon sign, two brown stars were stuck to the bottom, and the planetoid was removed entirely.

The added details help to fill the void that the "The Shooting Star" subtitle took up in the Japanese game, but it was ultimately reverted back.

The copyright text is in a different position than in the final.

Text Differences

• The "CONTINUE!" text is still "CONTINUE UP" in the August 12 build.
• The text for beating a developer time in the August 12 prototype is "GIVE UP", as it is in the Japanese version. In the 26th prototype and the final game, it's "NO WAY!"
• While the second best password rank has already been changed from "WONDER!" to "WONDERFUL", the best password rank still uses the Japanese "MIRACLE!" in the August 12th prototype.
• The bonus score text is "1000PTS!" in the August 12 build and "1000 PTS!" in the final version. The only difference is in the spacing.
• Opening Theme 1, "EBONY FORCE", is misspelled as "EVONY FORCE" in the August 12 build, just as it was in the July prototypes.
• Round 1-2's track name, "DANCING LEAVES", is "DACING LEAVES" in both prototypes. This is also how it was spelled in the July prototypes.

Credits

• The August 12 build is missing the SOA Staff credits.
• The text "BY PJ.RISTAR" is "BY PJ.DEXSTAR", matching the game's title change.

Final (JP)	August 12th	August 26th	Final (INT)
YOU ARE RISTAR MASTER..	YOU ARE DEXSTAR MASTER..	YOU ARE DEXSTAR MASTER‼A	YOU ARE THE MASTER‼

• The text for beating the game on Super difficulty was rewritten three times.
  • The first just changed Ristar to Dexstar.
  • The second tried to change the message to "YOU ARE A DEXSTAR MASTER‼", but because of a mistake in formatting, the "A" appears at the end of the second line.
  • The final game shortened the message to fit the formatting.

Passwords

The infinite continue password, "AAAAAA", still works in both prototypes. This password was disabled for the final localized version.

(Source: Original TCRF research, Ristar Cluster)