Proto:The Lawnmower Man (SNES)

This page details one or more prototype versions of The Lawnmower Man (SNES).

A prototype of the SNES Lawnmower Man somehow found its way online.

Download The Lawnmower Man (SNES Prototype)

File: Lawnmower_Man,_The_(USA)_(Prototype).zip (573 KB) (info)

To do:

Different music and sound effects.
Apparently different level ordering, layouts, and difficulty adjustments?
Rest of the level intro screens.
Do the cheats work here? They might have different button combos (ALL, URSADLADS, RUBABUS, URABULL, SAYUSA, ABBA, A, X, BYS, and UDLRAXLR are in the ROM where the final ones are).

General

Voice samples (i.e. the "access granted" voice when opening a portal) are missing.
The slow motion cheat is enabled by default (pause the game and press L or R repeatedly to advance frame by frame).
Credits have a few differences. Interestingly, the cheat menu is called the "Nigel Wayne Mode", who is credited under licensing in the proto.

Proto	Final
PROGRAMMING GAME DESIGN SIMON JOHN PICK	PROGRAMMING GAME DESIGN SIMON INTERESTING PICK
N/A	DRIVING GAME MUSIC REAL
DIGITISED IMAGES SOUTHAMPTION PEOPLE	N/A
PROJECT GUIDANCE JAMES LOFTUS ROB HENDERSON	PRODUCER JIM LOFTUS
MARKETING COLIN NICKY	N/A
LICENCING JANE CAVANAGH NIGEL WAYNE	N/A
N/A	EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS JANE CAVANAGH ROB HENDERSON
N/A	PLAY TESTERS CHRIS LIPSCOMBE CRAIG GILLIGAN MIKE WOLLISTON

Intro and Attract Mode

Though it appears to be an NTSC prototype, the THQ logo is missing. The credits screen is much more brief and is "typed" onto the screen like text on the story screens.

Proto	Final

"Millenium" was corrected to "millennium". Also, while hardly noticeable, some letters are also different by a few pixels (i.e. the V and R in "VIRTUAL REALITY").

Proto	Final

The default names and scores in the High Score screen are different:

Proto

Final

1st 3000 JOBE All Clear
2nd 2000 ANGELO 94%
3rd 1000 ANNA 90%
4th 400 FREDDY 80%
5th 300 GINGER 70%
6th 200 SIMONP 65%
7th 200 GINGER 50%
8th 100 FREDDY 40%
9th 90 ANNA 30%

1st 2000000 JOBE 85%
2nd 1500000 ANGELO 80%
3rd 1000000 CARLA 70%
4th 900000 ANNA 60%
5th 800000 PETER 50%
6th 700000 ZORN 40%
7th 500000 JAKE 30%
8th 250000 HARLEY 20%
9th 100000 SWIV 15%

The order in which the screens progress when the game is left running differs between versions. Other noticeable changes include:

Lack of the flashing "DEMO MODE" text.
The prototype has two additional demos.
The driving stage demo seems to be broken. Dr. Angelo stops just short of the car and you can control him at that point. Pressing Up in front of the car continues the demo sequence. An additional screen is also displayed between entering the car and the top-down driving section.
The story summary was fleshed out in the final. Additionally, the prototype has a sound effect accompanying the text as it appears on-screen.
All the text on the level intro screens is different: