Hi! I found an image of a flyer for Vs. Balloon Fight online, and there's 3 screenshots on the side. They're pretty normal-looking, until you zoom in, when you realize there's loads of stuff in the pictures that are not in the final game (Birds facing the screen, the large platform in the water, the player facing the screen while still flying, and what seems to be a rocket/missle of some kind), yet the screenshots on the left show the system itself and actually has what appears to be the final game on the screens.
Is this flyer fake, and if not, is there ANY information about the development/prototypes of Vs. Balloon Fight? I need to know because I run a wiki about Balloon Fight.
EDIT: Also, is there anyone who could translate the flyer,
if it is real?
EDIT 2:
Here's a list on things on the screenshots that don't seem to appear in-game:
-The extra life counter on the sides of the screen now have small icons of
yellow balloons on both sides.
-There is a large red dot above the lower giant cloud in the top screenshot. Possibly a frame of the lightning? After all, lightning uses the Balloon Fighter palette in the NES version (Blue, Yellow/Skin,
Red).
-There is a yellow "300" floating in the middle of the top screenshot. It looks like the numbers that pop up when you hit an enemy, showing the points. Maybe it would've changed color depending on the bird's color instead of the player?
-The top screenshot also shows a greenish-blue enemy with the balloon slightly more forward than usual. Maybe their balloons would bob around like they do in the Balloon Fighter's idle animations at one point?
-In the middle screenshot, the red Balloon Fighter is facing the screen (Like when he's falling), but he still has one balloon. In tingle's Balloon Fight (DS, Japan Club Nintendo only), Tingle will face the screen when he's turning. That game seems to have taken alot of inspiration from Vs. Balloon Fight, too.
-In the middle screenshot, there's a rocket, which seems to use the Balloon Fighter palette. I know that if you wait on a stage for a long time in the final game, an arrow will come from off screen to instantly kill you. Possibly this is similar, or it's a special kind of enemy. It should be noted that there is an opening on the top, possibly with a enemy inside.
-On the ground of the middle screenshot, there is a enemy, grounded, facing away from the screen. This also appears in the bottom screenshot.
-The ground on the bottom of the level is now in the middle of the water, instead of on the sides of the screen. It should be noted that the fish still appears on both sides (Seen in the middle/bottom screenshots)
-The ground also looks very different from the final in all three screenshots.
-There is no level number displayed, although all three screenshots seem to show different stages.
-It should be noted that a number is not shown in the water for the level number in the first level, but later levels show the number.
-In the bottom screenshot, the parachuting enemies are facing the screen. Nothing like this appears in the final game.
Also, there are two lines on the right of the bottom screenshot. I have no idea what these can be.
EDIT 3:
http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?...
On the bottom of this flyer, there's another screenshot showing the central ground and the missile thing. However, the two screenshots by it seem to be from the final. What's going on here? In fact, it seems very similar to one screenshot from the other flyer. Perhaps they were taken within a few seconds of eachother, or it was simply taken directly from there? Also, on this flyer you can really see the difference between this seemingly-prototype version and the final. The first and last screenshots seem final, the middle is definitely not, though. You can see clearly the change in how the ground looks.
EDIT 4:
Can someone examine the files for Vs. Balloon Fight? Look through the tiles/graphics, and also if possible look for unused entities or code that would indicate some kind of remnant of the stuff in the screenshots. I know that Balloon Fight on the NES has unused graphics for stuff in the arcade game (End tickets, ceiling blocks, etc.), so maybe there are some remaining graphics from the prototype in the final game of Vs. Balloon Fight? Otherwise, could someone at least tell me how to view the graphics and code for the game?
Update: I have actually looked through the graphics of the game and found no trace of anything from the prototype, at least from what I saw. There are some interesting things:
- In the tiles for the title screen, next to the tiles for the "1" and "2" buttons is a out of place sprite of the Balloon Fighter, just standing. It's only tiles for that specific frame and no other tiles of the character. Perhaps there was an icon of the balloon fighter on the mode select screen at one point?
- In the in-game tileset there were 3 tiles side-by-side which were all identical, and were of just a generic block-looking thing.
- There is actually a duplicate sprite of the arrow, for the frame where it is most visible.
EDIT 5:
Sorry about all the edits.
Could someone also find an approximate date of when this flyer was released? I know the game itself came out around 1984 for the VS. System, so it would make sense to have beta images if the game was then unreleased. However, it might be more interesting if this came out afterward. Maybe they thought no one would notice?
I'd also appreciate if someone could make for certain that none of this stuff appears in the final at any point. Also check the date for the other flyer I linked to with some final screenshots.
