[AirRaid]

Okay this is not some incredible new discovery or anything and it's almost a given that some of you have seen these pictures before. Yet these differences have probably been overlooked -- the first level design of Magician Lord and face of the first boss in Cyber Lip seem different than the released games.


Magician Lord (beta?)

(Video Games & Computer Entertainment, September 1990, page 123)


(Japanese arcade flyer)



(released version)


notice the presence chasms in the floor, as well as the placement of the door in the beta(?) version compared to the released version which has no chasms in the floor, and the door isn't in the pic of the released version because the door is in a different part of that level. overall it's apparent that the first level was built differently in the released version.

Perhaps there are other differences that I didn't notice. well, the color/brightness is one thing. though that's probably due to several factors such as camera/screen capture for magazines in 1990 compared to a pic of the final game put on the internet in more recent years.


Cyber Lip (beta?)

(Video Games & Computer Entertainment - September 1990, page 123)


(EGM Number 14 - September 1990, page 29)



(released version)


notice the boss's face...the mouth, chin, nose.... look different between what's probably a beta version and the known released game. you might notice other small differences in the head.


all in all not huge revelations but perhaps somewhat interesting to fans of the NEO-GEO and two of its early games.