The unreleased English translation of Sega’s Rent-A-Hero No. 1 for the Xbox, the first such entry in the series ever planned for release outside of Japan, has appeared on torrent sites in an apparently complete state.
Developed by Hitmaker (formerly — and currently — Sega-AM3) and planned to be published in the USA by the apparently short-lived AIA USA, Ltd., Rent-A-Hero No. 1 is a strange game that combines traditional RPG exploration mechanics with Final Fight-like battles. The series started life on the Mega Drive in 1991, with an expanded 3D remake released for the Dreamcast in 2001 - neither of which were released or, as far as I’m aware, planned to be released outside of Japan. The Xbox version of Rent-A-Hero No. 1 is a slightly modified version of the Dreamcast release, with new online capabilities (and, of course, a brand new English translation). This translation was very close to release and, in fact, was even reviewed by GamePro in February of 2003.
I haven’t had a chance to check the game out, but early impressions from elsewhere on the internet tell of an apparently complete game, with only minor text errors present.
ColecoVision homebrew author and all around good guy newcoleco has compiled a snazzy new video about unreleased ColecoVision stuff on YouTube. Besides having some really definitive and up-to-date information on unreleased ColecoVision games and accessories, the video also has some great extras, like old CES footage and clips of other related videos, all of them sourced with links to the originals.
I really like the robotic voice narrating this video, it sounds like it comes from the future, where the humans are extinct and artificial intelligence lives on, teaching each other about the accomplishments of man.
While we’re on the subject, here is some more unreleased ColecoVision stuff on YouTube (courtesy Scott Stilphen in this thread:
Unseen64 reader Martin Konrad has scanned and uploaded two screenshots from the unpublished Game Gear version of Road Rash II, proving true the rumors of its existence.
The scans come from “two different German magazines,” though the exact issues have not been specified, so I’m not sure of any content surrounding them. Evidence suggests that the game was being developed by Teque London, and that the title was either converted to or shares code with the little-known Game Gear version of Kawasaki Superbike Challenge. The most damning evidence for this theory is that a HEX string within Kawasaki Superbike Challenge, discovered by the Game Developer Research Institute, contains the phrase “ROAD RASH 2 CONVERSION BY TEQUE LONDON.” Additionally, screenshots show a very similar-looking game, as seen in the comparisons below:
This isn’t exactly scientific, given the nature of the source image, but as you can see the HUD and horizon lines appear to be in identical locations. The road also appears to be the same width, and the mountains in the background are similar, if not the same.
The similarities are not quite as obvious in this comparison shot, but it doesn’t require much of a stretch of the imagination to theorize that these games share quite a bit of code and design.
For the sake of preservation, I’ve mirrored the two screens from Unseen64 - get the originals here and here.
Speaking of previously-unknown NES ports, Digital Press forums member mrmark0673 has located a work-in-progress port of Elite Systems‘ computer game Hoppin’ Mad (itself an expanded update of budget title Cataball). To my knowledge this game was never announced in any publication, and is an entirely new discovery.
The build itself, according to mrmark0673, has complete renditions of the first two levels of the original game, with the third playable but missing enemies.
The post was made on Digital Press just today, so watch the thread if you’re interested in learning more.
Screenshots from a previously-unknown (and, of course, unreleased) port of Space Ace for the Nintendo Entertainment System have surfaced, via recently-created scans of the December 1991 issue of Italian games magazine Console Mania.
A brief article on page 11 of the Old Computer Mags-made scan previews two of what were then upcoming NES games - Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, both stripped-down ports of Don Bluth’s laser disc-based, fully-animated arcade games (both of which are still available for purchase via Digital Leisure).
The article itself does not contain too much information on the Space Ace port - in short, the author says that the release date is unknown and that the graphics look nice. I’ve cropped and artificially “enhanced” the two shots from the article which, as far as I’m aware, are the first shots from this particular port seen on the internet. You may enjoy them as you see fit below, or view the original scan.
Over on his blog, a gentleman by the name of maxzhou88 has been posting (in Chinese) stories, art, and even source code from bootleg Famicom/NES conversions (or “Hong Kong Originals”) of 16-bit games that he helped develop while working for a company called SuperGame. This marks the first time I’ve ever seen anyone from that strange segment of the international video game industry write about his experiences, so it’s good stuff!
This post (translated here) shows off some very impressive GRASP art files from an 8-bit conversion of Super Shinobi, Boogerman and Aladdin - all three were fairly competent ports considering the market, with Aladdin being the best gameplay-wise and Shinobi being the most graphically impressive. This post (translated here) discusses SuperGame’s port of Earthworm Jim 2, and explains a bit about how the team had to build emulators, rip graphic tiles, and decrease color palettes to make the games look right. It also talks about his frustration in not finding a clean copy of the ROM on the internet and with having lost the source code due to a confidentiality agreement, which is neat to see. I never would have considered there were strict anti-piracy measures in effect over at piracy companies, but it makes total sense. And finally, this post (translated here) contains early test builds and source code for ports of both Boogerman and Pocahontas. After these, the studio (translated by Google as Boqing Columbia Enterprises Ltd., though I can’t vouch for the accuracy of that) also worked on a version of Toy Story, but the author did not retain a copy of it.
The final post also contains a full list of the studio’s staff, and a paragraph explaining the studio structure,which I’m having difficulty understanding. If I’m reading this right, the studio had (circa 1996) eight programmers (all male), seven or eight artists (both male and female) and two producer/planners, both of whom were cut during a staff reduction.
As a strange 19-year-old I wrote up a completely bizarre fictional story about the development of this particular version of Pocahontas on a website that has been dead for about eight years now, so it’s a pretty weird feeling to see someone actually writing a factual retrospective on how it was made.
It should come as no surprise that the worst Star Trek movie would have made the worst Star Trek game.
Review: Colors
In this exclusive Lost Levels review, we take a thorough, introspective look at Colors, the GTA-alike that would have
saved the Gizmondo. SPECIAL BONUS: Sodomy inside!
Elusions: Thunder Force VI
A brief retrospective of the butt-rockingest series of shooters that ever was, and the Dreamcast sequel that wasn't.
Spotlight: Pescatore
A glitchy puzzle game with multi-colored seafood that bears more than a striking similarity to PuyoPuyo? Not very fresh.
Elusions: Final Fantasy 64
Is it possible that yet another title from
this popular series has eluded fans for over a decade?
Spotlight: Bashi Bazook
We promise this is the last unreleased Jaleco game
we'll ever talk about. Maybe.
Posted on September 11th, 2008 by Frank Cifaldi 
The unreleased English translation of Sega’s Rent-A-Hero No. 1 for the Xbox, the first such entry in the series ever planned for release outside of Japan, has appeared on torrent sites in an apparently complete state.
Speaking of previously-unknown NES ports, Digital Press forums member mrmark0673 
Over on 
