[Skrybe]

Just recently got a nice little Famicom prototype of Superman by Kemco. Take a look at the title screen:


Proto on the left, retail on the right. I'm guessing someone at DC had a fit when they saw the original interpretation of Superman, and made Kemco change it for the retail release. Besides the picture of Superman, the font as well as the Superman and Kemco logos were changed for retail.

Other changes I noticed during a quick playthrough of the first mission:


Certain building interiors look entirely different.


Exterior windows have a "reflection" on them in the proto. The effect looks a bit odd, and was removed in the final.


When flying over Metropolis, the streets lack any kind of vehicles or markings in the proto. The retail version actually looks populated.

There's also that little "H" icon in the upper right of the main gameplay screens. I have no idea what it's for, but it was pushed offscreen for the retail release.

Looking through the graphics in a tile editor turns up a few more changes I didn't get screenshots of, including policeman and robot characters that were tweaked for the final.

Besides the graphical changes, one thing that's immediately obvious about the proto is how the music slows drastically in outdoor areas when Superman isn't moving. It's a really strange bug, and I'm curious why it does that.

Here's the rom, and a scan of the cart. Enjoy!

[Tongueman]

The art for Superman is as crappy as it is because they enlisted a (well) known Manga artist, Jun Ishikawa to do his "idea" of Superman.

http://ishikawajun.com/books.html

[gamegeezer]

Fantastic! It's almost hard to imagine a poorer version of 'Superman'. This is an interesting find, to be sure;thank you for sharing!

Do you plan to make a comparison chart on your wiki page for this, as you did for some other titles (at some point when time permits, of course)?

I would be curious to see the sprite changes that you've mentioned; I almost prefer the window style, though the glare could certainly use some work. The metal patterning on the building interior is also more appealing than the flat grey of the released version.

[KingMike]

[Skrybe]

[Skrybe]

Mike from Nintendo Player posted some comparison screens here showing several changes I hadn't documented above, primarily palette changes and different placement of background objects.

[gamegeezer]

Apparently, somebody really hated telephones.