Proto:The Legend of the Mystical Ninja

This page details one or more prototype versions of The Legend of the Mystical Ninja.

To do: Figure out the codes needed to access levels past Zone 4 as shown in this thread here Rip and compare text, graphics and sounds Compare more gameplay differences & check if unused content is present: for example, these items

Included in the July 2020 Nintendo leak was a prototype of Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyuushutsu Emaki (aka The Legend of the Mystical Ninja), with a file modified date of May 31, 1991. It can be found at NEWS\テープリストア\NEWS_05\NEWS_05.tar\.\home\kimura\games.lzh\goemon\game.exe.

General Differences

Title Screen

Proto	Final

• The "Continue" and "[Stereo/Monoaural]" options are absent.
• The text is placed differently, and uses a different color.
• The player must use the Select button to choose main menu options, and cannot use the DPAD like in retail.

Game Over Screen

Proto	Final

Intro Cutscene

Proto	Final

• Different fonts are used.
• Characters are "chunkier" in appearance, and their cheeks are rosier.

Proto	Final

• The island graphic on the chapter screen appears briefly then fades to black before the text appears. It does not rotate at all, unlike in retail.
• The characters and text are positioned differently.

Graphical Differences

• Different tiles are used for buildings' doors, roofs, windows, backgrounds, and more.
• The colored selection cursors do not blink. They are colored red rather than orange in some places, such as Zone 1's shops.
• Some enemies' robes have darker greens and blues.
• Slightly different player sprite.

Music & Sounds

• Title screen song is similar but different. It is not as "bright" sounding, has no snare or hi-hat, and has no percussive intro to the song as the title initially zooms in.
• The sound that plays when starting a new game is absent.
• The Intro cutscene's song is also different.
• Some NPC speech sound effects are higher pitched.

Level and Gameplay Differences

Caution: Some doors can warp the player out of bounds causing soft locks, for example, in Zone 3.

• Player can pause the game and access their inventory while NPC dialog boxes are open, during or after boss fights, at any time.
• Unable to skip zone ending cutscenes (when the text is displayed) by pressing buttons.
• Some area transitions (for example, exiting buildings) were quicker.
• Money pickups only used to be worth 5 coins, vs. 10 coins in retail.
• The player doesn't appear to begin with sandals as in retail. The sandals' icon appears to always show a stack of two sandals, no matter how many the player actually owns.
• The hidden items (such as lollipops) are only worth 10 coins vs. 100 in retail.
• Most cheats for retail seem to work in the proto, including the Location Menu.

Zone 1

• Different barrel placement throughout the town areas.
• In the 2nd area of the town, the Maze game near the entrance to the side scrolling area is just takes you to the player's house.
• Player is unable to play at the minigame house, even after defeating the zone boss.
• Player is not healed when selecting the premium travel packages (even when paying for the most expensive!).
• Hidden area has a heart instead of a gold cat statue (in the 3rd visible jar).

Proto	Final

Proto (Shop)	Final (Shop)
Sandals (2): 20	Sandals: 20
Straw Coat: 80	Onigiri: 30
Bombs (5): 60	Bombs (3): 30

Proto (Restaurant)	Final (Restaurant)
Miso Soup: 60	Miso Soup: 40
Unagi Kabayaki: 80	Unagi Kabayaki: 60
Sushi: 100	Sushi: 80

Zone 2

• Different statue and box placement throughout the town areas, and no obstacles to jump over near the bath house.
• Grass paths are a lot less winding, and more linear / boxy in design.
• The hidden area next to the bath house is not present, but hitting the statue in this area gives an item worth 10 coins.
• The Jutsu instructor's building (near the area with the bridge) was originally a restaurant.
• The log record house (next to the minigame house) was originally just a regular NPC's house.
• The aforementioned minigame house originally had the maze house's interior, but only lets you play one game, the whack-a-mole game.
• The bath house in Zone 2 had a younger NPC originally. The player is unable to use the bath house in the proto, with no text appearing.
• The hotel is unable to be used in the proto.
• The restaurant behind the arcade was originally a burger house.

Proto	Final

Proto (Shop)	Final (Shop)
Sandals (2): 20	Sandals: 30
Onigiri: 50	Straw Coat: 50
Straw Hat: 50	Straw Hat: 50

Proto (Shop #2)	Final (Shop #2)
Chain Mail: 200	Sandals: 30
Bombs (10): 100	Straw Coat: 50
Straw Coat: 90	Bombs (3): 50

Proto (Restaurant)	Final (N/A)
(translate me): 60	N/A
(translate me): 80	N/A
(translate me): 100	N/A

Zone 3

• The building featuring the Circus Side Show can be entered, but nothing happens, similar to the Zone 2 bath house and hotel.
• The quiz show building in retail is the ball-shooting minigame.
• The log record house is a game house in the proto, featuring the whack-a-mole minigame.
• The mini-games building is where quiz show is located in the proto.
• The horse race NPC is positioned slightly to the right in the proto.
• Proto Zone 3's ending scene is like retail Zone 6's.

Proto	Final

Proto (Shop)	Final (Shop)
Sandals (2): 90	Sandals: 30
Hourglass: 100	Hourglass: 50
Plum Onigiri: 50	Onigiri: 50

Zone 4

• The proto begins Zone 4 at the side-scrolling section, and the textbox has a black, non-transparent background.
• The rolling enemies in Zone 4 take many more hits to defeat in the proto.
• The bouncing enemies in Zone 4 are not present.
• In the proto this zone is more difficult. The rotating spike-screw columns have spikes which move from the top, to the bottom, rather than staying still. In addition, the room with the rotating columns has far less platforms in the proto, and no jars at the top right of that room. This door, which takes you to the beginning in retail, instead takes you to a rotating room which is essentially a dead end, as the room doesn't rotate in a way to allow progress.
• The "slot machine" room with the trap floor has 3 statues in the background. In the proto, the light illuminating the statues flickers off and on, rather than the statues and lights glowing as in retail.
• The dialog after beating the Zone 4 boss is completely different, with the game returning to the title screen afterwards.

Proto	Final

Interior Areas

• The shops and other interior areas feature changes, as well as some slight NPC and text differences.
• The fortune teller and dice game NPCs had different text as well, with the latter NPC being positioned slightly higher.

Area Name	Proto	Final
Minigame house
Game house
Restaurant
Arcade
Bath House

Maze Game

Selecting the 6th option in the 1st page of the Location Menu takes the player to a version of the maze mini game. * X and Y buttons can be used to increase and decrease the size of the viewport for the first-person view/map. The DPAD can be used to move the map around while it is open.

• The player sprite is not animated and does not turn.
• There is a brown door present in addition to the blue and red doors.
• No sound effect plays when bumping into walls.

Bank

Select the 4th option on the 2nd page of the Location Menu to warp to an early, broken version of a bank. The player can choose to deposit or withdraw money here.

• The value for the amount of stored money won't update unless the player attempts to exceed held amounts, and the text box is updated.
• The player's movement is not locked while adjusting amounts, and DOWN presses will cause the player to exit the building.

Pawn Shop

By selecting the last entry on entry on the 3rd page of the Location Menu, the player is able to warp to an broken, glitchy version of a Pawn Shop. The player would have been able to sell unneeded and extra items they do not need.

• Attempting to sell an item seems to cause the menu selection sound effect to glitch and loop, rapid-fire.
• The player's movement is not locked while selling, and DOWN presses will cause the player to exit the building.
• Pressing down rapidly and pausing (before the player exits) shows different money values for each item.
• Pressing Y / X appear to enlarge / shrink the size of the box displaying the player's items.
• As shown below, disabling the BG2 Layer allows a better view of the menus.