Why didn't someone tell me Square worked to port its Aliens MSX game to the Famicom Disk System and that the ROM had found its way on line?

Anyone new to this blog may not yet know this bit of oh-so-interesting news, but I am an absolute Alien nut.

Both Ridley Scott's 1979 film and James Cameron's 1986 sequel (called Aliens, naturally) are among my all-time favorite pieces of cinema.

Combine that with my love of video games, and you've got a situation where a person (that would be me) scours the globe in search of quality games that were inspired by the above-mentioned films.

Sadly, that lifelong search has turned up only a few worthwhile possibilities, such as Konami's side-scrolling action game from 1990, 1994's Aliens vs Predator title for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar, WayForward's Aliens Infestation for the DS and last year's Alien: Isolation for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Is the awkwardly named Aliens: Alien 2, made by Square for the MSX computer platform all the way back in 1987, another example? I've never played it, so I have no idea, but videos such as this one certainly make it look like a contender.



I share all of this because I just--well, a couple of days ago--became aware of the fact that the fine folks at Square worked on a Famicom Disk System port of Aliens: Alien 2 at some point in time.

For whatever reason, though, the company's higher-ups weren't happy with the effort and scrapped it before it could be released.

Amazingly, some wonderful person got his or her hands on the game's not-quite-finished prototype and leaked its ROM onto the Internet in 2011--another piece of news that only recently reached my ears.

If you, too, are an Alien buff and this is the first you're hearing of the Famicom Disk System port of Square's Aliens: Alien 2, you may get a kick out of the footage included in the video above.

Personally, I prefer the more minimalist aesthetic of the MSX original, although the FDS version is far from unappealing. What do all of you think?

Boomerang or sword?

You know that Zelda prototype mentioned in my last post? Well, unfortunately it isn't the version that gives players the option of beginning the game with either the boomerang or the sword.

Does such a build exist? Probably--or at least it did at some point. After all, it was mentioned in the instruction manual (see first screenshot below) that accompanied the North American version of the game.

With any luck, that build of The Legend of Zelda will be the next to leak.

See also: 'It's a secret to everyone'

It's a secret to everyone

Attention Zelda fans: The folks over at The Cutting Room Floor and Lost Levels have unearthed an early build of Link's very first adventure.

How does this prototype differ from the version of The Legend of Zelda that hit store shelves in 1986 (in Japan) and 1987 (everywhere else)? Well, it features altered sprites, different room layouts, new music and a few bugs and glitches.

Oh, and it's easier, too. The dungeons in this build tend to include an easier selection of enemies than in the final one, for instance, and rupies are easier to obtain.

Go here to learn more about--and download the FDS image of--this most fabulous of Christmas gifts. (It was revealed in the Lost Levels forums yesterday.)

(Via neogaf.com)

Super Mario Kart's secret song

Did you know that some gamer (with too much money in his wallet, I'm sure) got his hands on a prototype version of Super Mario Kart a while back? I sure didn't.

Said prototype isn't radically different from the version that showed up on store shelves in late 1992 and early 1993, with one exception: The tune that plays on the Vanilla Lake track.

Here's the song that appears in the released version of the game, and here's the song that appears in the prototype:



After a few listens, I think I prefer the final track to the one that appears in the prototype. The former is bubbly and charming, while the latter is a bit too melancholy for my liking.

In related news: Super Mario Kart will hit the European Wii Shop Channel with an 800-Nintendo-point price tag on Friday. Hopefully it'll hit the channel's North American counterpart next Monday.