Originally posted by koolaidman
Not sure if this is topic worthy so I'm just posting it here for now.
Some details on the Earthworm Jim 2 SNES prototype:
1.) The game isn't working completely. The game crashes upon loading a level.
2.) The title music plays at the Nintendo logo, causing the accordion and other instrument samples to clip. In the final version, the music plays once the Shiny logo appears.
3.) The "Splat" SFX is missing when the Press Start and Options text appears.
4.) The Press Start and Options text is slightly off center.
Besides what can be seen by loading the game, here are some differences that can be seen looking at the ROM:
5.) The original dump still has copier information at the beginning of the ROM.
6.) Near the beginning of the ROM at 00001195, credits for the programmer and an address are found. This doesn't exist anywhere in the final ROM: "Program by Nicholas Jones Program Director of Shiny Entertainment. All enquiries:- 1088 North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. CA 92651-1338 U.S.A Tel No. (714) 494 0772 Fax No. (714) 494 7673".
7.) In the level select/debug screen, the prototype has the word "S N E A K E R S !" where the date of the rom should be. This might indicate that the rom build was a preview copy. The final has "31ST. AUGUST 1995".
8.) The game mistakenly calls Lorenzen's Soil (named after the designer Mark Lorenzen) Lorenzon's Soil in the level select screen. Likewise, the credit for Mark is also misspelled. The level name on the title card is spelled "Lorenzo's Soil". However, one of the references for the level name is spelled correctly in the prototype, but I don't know where it's used.
9.) The title card calls the Puppy Love levels "Puppy Love 1/2/3", the final says "Puppy Love Part 1/2/3".
10.) The prototype has strings for the title cards "Carnival", "Chicken Head", "BREAKOUT", three strings for "ISO 9660"*, and "Cathedral". The final version doesn't have these strings. The prototype is also missing the strings "Door Chase" and "See Jim Run, Run Jim Run".
11.) The prototype has the string "Winner" instead of "You Did It" from the final, I don't remember where this string is used (I think the ending screen?).
12.) Hard to tell but I think the staff credits are missing a name or two.
13.) The prototype has the string "GROOVEY WOOVEY! You made it!". No idea where this would be used, but it comes between the strings for the Continue? screen and the Game Over! screen.
14.) Some of the quiz show answers are different (ex: Proto - "A secret move for Jim", Final - "A secret Jim move"), I don't think the questions themselves are different.
I wish someone could fix the rom up so the levels would load. I would love to see the differences in this game. 
*Fun fact: The final name is "ISO 9000", which according to Wikipedia means "family of standards is related to quality management systems and designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders [1] while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to the product". The prototype's "ISO 9660" is CDFS, a file system for optical media. Interesting.
Really late reply, but here it goes:
Regarding the Cathedral level, it originally wasn't the same as See Jim Run Run Jim Run, but a different level that wasn't even the endgame:

Also, here's the "Breakout" level that's mentioned in the prototype text strings:

No idea about the "Chicken head" thing... Might have been a previous concept for the inflated head. The description for the Carnival level in there mentions riding a dragon, so who knows.
|