Proto:The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
This page details one or more prototype versions of The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang.
A prototype version of Chou Makai Taisen: Dorabocchan, dated December 21, 1992, was sold on Yahoo Japan Auctions in July 2008 and subsequently dumped. Being only three months away from its original Japanese release, it's pretty close to the final version of the game. Aside from some minor graphical tweaks between versions, there is at least one other notable difference: debugging features.
 | To do: Palette comparison screens from snescentral. |
Debug Menu
Unlike the final version, there is no button code to enable the debug menu in the proto. To access it in this version, use the Pro Action Replay codes:
80A1A805 + 80B3AAA9 + 80B3AB01 + 80B3AC4C + 80B3AD25 + 80B3AE9F
then press Start during the game.
These codes actually combine elements from two different debug menus: one is similar to the menu found in the final version of the game, but with no sound test; the other contains a sound test, as well as two other options which no longer work.
For all of the debug menus, use Y to select menu items and A/B/Select to exit the menu.
Selecting "Start" on the initial menu brings up the file load screen. However, using it from here no longer works and will crash the game when you attempt to load a file; this may be a side effect of attempting to access it from within gameplay (based on the menu's position on-screen, it is very likely it originally appeared on the title screen in place of, or after, the "PRESS START" prompt, but there isn't any way to put the menu back on the title screen without breaking something else.)
Debug Menu Part 2
The "Select" option was originally programmed to bring up a minimal stage select menu (see below); the PAR codes given here replace it with another debug menu, containing a similar stage select (and then some).
This menu is similar to the one found in the final game, but with some notable differences.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| To do: Document the options in both versions of the menu. |
Sound Test
Pretty much yet another standard sound and music test.
Old Stage Select
Omitting or disabling the first of the codes listed above will leave the original "Select" menu item intact. This is similar to the stage/scene select featured in the main debug menu but no longer seems to work as intended; no matter which stage you select, you are always taken to the same place you were when starting/loading the game.
Like the "start/select/music" menu itself, this is probably a leftover from earlier in development, possibly before the larger in-game debug menu, which does the same thing, had been implemented.
