PROTOTYPE - LUFIA and the Fortress of Doom - What's it worth???

[ITM_247]

I recently obtained a prototype SNES game of Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. The game cartridge is noticeably heavier, the screws on the front to open the game are different, there is no disclaimer sticker on the back nor trace of there ever being one, and the only label is a sticker that says "Lufia 7/14". The person I obtained this item from has other prototypes that all have the name of the game and a taito sticker underneath, but this one simply has the sticker on.

As for the game, i put it into the system and it starts the game with a create-a-name followed by the intro about the sinistrals, and then the game LITERALLY starts at the fortress of doom with all characters in the high level 70's and ready to fight the sinistrals. I know nothing about these games but I think it is so cool that this game starts at the last boss. I don't know if I will ever part with a game like this since i'm such a traditional RPG kinda guy, but I would definately like to know what someone more knowledgeable on the subject thinks this game is worth. It also comes with a plastic game case that I believe it was originally put in.

66306631


if anyone could help me figure out the value of a game like this I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

[Kitsune Sniper]

Uh...

I don't know about the value, but at least consider preserving the cart's contents. Even if you never release it. :\

[FamicomFreak]

That's actually how the game starts with you playing with the legendary heroes and afterwards the game starts you off with your main characters. It's basically part of the game ^_^

[SparTonberry]

As for the game, i put it into the system and it starts the game with a create-a-name followed by the intro about the sinistrals, and then the game LITERALLY starts at the fortress of doom with all characters in the high level 70's and ready to fight the sinistrals. I know nothing about these games but I think it is so cool that this game starts at the last boss.

That's normal. That part of the game is essentially a playable introduction.
At the end of the introduction, you start the real game with the actual protagonist at level 1.
Despite the box's claim that "your actions determine the outcome of the opening story", if you get a game over in the intro (you're so overpowered I think you have to be purposely trying to do that), you just start it over.

7/14 is about 5 months before the game was released in the US (I rented this game so much from Blockbuster back in the day I can remember the date 12/4/93 on the case that I assume is the date they got it and likely release date), one month after the Japanese release, if that may put things in perspective.
Maybe there could be some localization changes, but that's likely it.

EDIT: I notice you said it starts with a create-a-name? Did it ask you to choose a save file? If not, that might mean the battery is dead. Though I suppose for a prototype, a dead battery probably has comparatively little effect on the cart value.

[ITM_247]

Uh...

I don't know about the value, but at least consider preserving the cart's contents. Even if you never release it. :\


Could you please be more specific?

[ITM_247]

I notice you said it starts with a create-a-name? Did it ask you to choose a save file? If not, that might mean the battery is dead. Though I suppose for a prototype, a dead battery probably has comparatively little effect on the cart value.


it does give me a save option, perhaps I should take screen shots or maybe even buy the regular game to compare differences?

[SparTonberry]

Could you please be more specific?

He means you should get a device to copy the prototype to a ROM, whether or not you decide to do anything with it.
(also making a ROM would make it easier to find out if it's different because you could compare the file to a retail ROM)
Just make sure you don't ruin it like the guy that broke an early Estpolis II (Lufia II Japanese) proto. :( (should be safe to dump the cart into a ROM copier, though)

One thing I can immediately think of that COULD be different: item descriptions. In the Japanese game, you could point to an item or spell and press X to get a brief description. In the US version, the item descriptions were removed (pressing X just gives you an error noise). I recall the game was originally reported to be a 12-megabit (1.5MB) cart, but was dropped to 8 megabit for the final. Since I once looked at the ROM and it seemed pretty much all used, I wondered if the item descriptions were cut for space (as from what I could read in the Japanese version, they didn't seem that helpful anyways :P ).

A couple other UI changes I recall:
A couple changes to allow longer item names in the EN version. While the item and shop menus used 1.5 or double spaced lines with item name and quantity/price on the same line in JP, the EN version put them on alternating single-spaced lines.
Equipment slot labels (on the EQUIP screen), like "Weapon","Armor",etc. were removed to make room for longer names.
Also, on the shop menu, the LOOK command (used to see how an equipment piece could affect a character's stats) displayed the current item in JP. This was probably removed because the longer EN names no longer fit in the window.
The name screen: the Japanese version had three pages of characters, selectable with L and R (the page window was changed to "Enter name" text. L and R still work in the English version, but it loops to the same page (makes the cursor jump back up to "A").

[badinsults]

I recently obtained a prototype SNES game of Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. The game cartridge is noticeably heavier, the screws on the front to open the game are different, there is no disclaimer sticker on the back nor trace of there ever being one, and the only label is a sticker that says "Lufia 7/14". The person I obtained this item from has other prototypes that all have the name of the game and a taito sticker underneath, but this one simply has the sticker on.

As for the game, i put it into the system and it starts the game with a create-a-name followed by the intro about the sinistrals, and then the game LITERALLY starts at the fortress of doom with all characters in the high level 70's and ready to fight the sinistrals. I know nothing about these games but I think it is so cool that this game starts at the last boss. I don't know if I will ever part with a game like this since i'm such a traditional RPG kinda guy, but I would definately like to know what someone more knowledgeable on the subject thinks this game is worth. It also comes with a plastic game case that I believe it was originally put in.

66306631


if anyone could help me figure out the value of a game like this I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!


Yeah, that is how the game starts (the first scene is actually the final boss in Lufia II, I believe, which is a prequel to Lufia).


I do hope you back up the game (using a device such as a Retrode (https://www.retrode.com/)).

Judging the value of a prototype is quite difficult, as these are one of a kind things. The last Lufia 1 prototype sold on Ebay for $76 in July 2009. I know of one other Lufia prototype aside from that. I would expect that you could get more than $76 now, though it is very hard to say how much. Certainly, if you can demonstrate it is different from the final version of the game (which is most easily done by backing up the game, and comparing it with the final binary), it will be worth more. I've analyzed dozens of SNES prototypes for my site SNES Central (http://www.snescentral.com/), so if you need assistance, I would be more than willing to help out.

[ROSTEER]

hI my firend i have one prototype my cuestion how much value the game because thanks

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