Well that's odd.

I don't know how it was with Sega games, but there are commercially NES games that were on EPROMs.

This a pretty big stretch, but I'm guessing that maybe the cart had a manufacturing defect and someone sent it back to SEGA to get it serviced? I dunno.

Wow, if that board takes up the whole inside, how small would they normally be?! I know nothing about the SMS. Probably the only system I dont have anything for.

I asked DreamTR, and he said, "It's one of those SAMPLE STORE DEMO only games, but the sticker that says that is missing so it's a proto by definition."

That blank back space was supposed to have the store only demo sticker. I actually found the box it came in, and the box just has a sticker on it that says, "Choplifter - Sega", and the back of the box has what looks to be an advertisement for the game. I'll post a picture of the box when I get a chance.

just an observation, but did SMS carts use philips head screws? That one has them, is that normal?

Yes, it's normal. Every SMS game I've owned has phillips screws.

Ok, I finally got some times for some pics:



The manuals look very different from the copies I own, and they even have extra pages and such. One page has a rabbit called "Professor Playor", and he gives you some gameplay tips. I don't know if these manuals are a variant/different region, or they are actually prototype manuals?

The front of each box has a torn excerpt from some kind of catalog guide for Sega(these being Choplifter and Fantasy Zone.) The underside of the advertisements on the front of the boxes both talk about Black Belt, and what it's going to be like when it comes out.

Lastly the game cartridge labels aren't slick, and are more like ancient printer paper. They are very rough feeling. Maybe they were even cut out and glued on by hand?

I need to pop these in and play them, see if anything interesting comes up!