Super Mario Bros. 2 Proto on Ebay

[GrandAmChandler]

http://cgi.ebay.com/NINTENDO-NES-SUPER-MARIO-BROS-2-PROTOTYPE-ULTRA-RARE_W0QQitemZ8222431940QQcategoryZ62053QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Does that title screen look different? Or am I just used to playing the GBA & SMAllstars versions?

-Chris

[syd]

Nope I think the screen is the same, even though I haven't played the original in a good while. If it's legit then it would definitely be a cool cart to get.

[leonk]

WOW!

That is wierd! If what the guy says is true, then what you got there is a SMB2 cart that runs on an SNROM board! (i.e. using MMC1 chip + battery!)

But the released SMB2 cart actually doesn't use a battery and uses an MMC3 chip.

That's kind of wierd. Sounds like a scam. How can the same game fit on a single PRG chip on one cart, but require a separate CHR chip on another!

[Li Wang]

If I had to guess what the hell this thing really was, I'd say it could be a "prototype" for a run of pirate carts or just some guy's home hacking project. Pressing select to turn invincible sounds like the type of feature pirates love to add to games as is giving the player an unneccesary amount of lives. Hacking games to run on different mappers is also a pirate trademark.

And not that we have much to go on, but the only debug modes we've seen/heard of in first party Nintendo games so far have been more organized than the crude hacks we're seeing here.

[mb7241]

I dunno about it one way or the other. I can confirm, however, that the title screen pictured is indeed not the same as the released version (the actual release had the text in white on a blue background)...

[evil_genius]

Someone snagged that sucker. It seems kinda weird to me that game is labeld "prototype." Seems to me like someone came along later and put that sticker on there.

[leonk]

WOW!

350$US for a pirate! not bad..

[Insaneclown]

Someone snagged that sucker. It seems kinda weird to me that game is labeld "prototype." Seems to me like someone came along later and put that sticker on there.

Thats what I was thinking.

[goatdan]

Someone snagged that sucker. It seems kinda weird to me that game is labeld "prototype." Seems to me like someone came along later and put that sticker on there.

Thats what I was thinking.

Yup, Nintendo usually put a code on their test carts labeling when they were made and stuff like that. Labeling it as "Prototype" is a clear indicator that it either did not come from Nintendo but is instead a pirate proto, or was labeled after the fact.

[van_halen]

Hi, I am the one who bought the SMB2 "prototype" or "pirate hack" or whatever off of eBay a few days ago. Since it was kinda lot of money (I get so eager when carts like this carts show up on eBay @_@ that I just have to buy them, without knowing what I will get), I would really like to know if this is a prototype or if I got ripped.
So I am going to discribe the differences between this and the regular SMB2 game that I've found out so far.

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=12
Title screen is different

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=10

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=11
Text changes

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=9
Three dots after extra life and 19 lives from the begining

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3
The invincibility works like this: when you press select you'll get large if you are small...

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4
...and the life dots changes to weird things...

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5
...and every time you get hit by an enemy the life meter further changes to different things...

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=6

When you have been hit like 10 times, the regular dots returns and you are not invincible anymore until you press select again.

The dungeon music is remade SMB1 Dungeon music.

This version seems to have many Doki Doki Panic sprites:

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=7
Instead of potions are magic lamps. The grass, POW blocks and cherries have no animation frames.

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1
The Bonus room is very similar to the one in Doki Doki Panic. Also, the vegetables change depending on what level you're in.

http://www.classicgaming.com/tmk/images/ddp_smb2_veggie7.gif
This little veggie is included in world 7!

http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=8
This is the ending screen, "Prize Money $10000000" instead of "Contributor".

And after the prize money screen, then there's just
http://se.msnusers.com/NESSMB2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2
No sleeping Mario at all.

What do you think about this cart? Please give your opinion if this could be a hack or not. The pics of the cart is in the eBay link at the top.

/Johan

[jajaja]

You say the titlescreen is diffrent, but I dont really see anything. Whats the diffrent?
Usualy protos have the ROM showing in front so they didnt have to open and close the cart all the time, this one doesnt. Im not that into prototypes, but what I know prototypes doesnt have "Caution" on the back. Altho if its a pirate it looks very proffesional made.

Another question, did this auction have a BIN in the first place? I dont recall seeing it. Just wondering.

[van_halen]

The title screen has white instead of blue, the "Super Mario Bros. 2" text is in red and "c 1988 Nintendo" is in brown.

I asked the guy if he would do a buy it now, and we came to an agreement.

[jajaja]

Ok then I rememebered right about the BIN not being there :)
I dont think this is a pirate acctualy. The only thing I find strange is the cartridge, that it have the "Caution" on the back and the ROM isnt showing in the front.

[van_halen]

Jajaja: What do you think about the piece of tape on the front that says "Mario Bros II prototype"?

Nintendo would use better labels on their protos right? I have no clue..

[jajaja]

Its hard to say. Maybe the cartridge have been replaced.

[van_halen]

I have now been able to compare the "proto" to the original game, and I have found some more differences.
You can't walk quicker if you hold down B like in the original game, and the egg that Birdo/Ostro (or what his name is) leaves when you kill him, isn't spinning and have no red line on it.

I'll update as I will probably find more interesting differences.

[leonk]

significant amount of work is required to move a game from one mapper type to another. In this case, MMC1 to MMC3. So either it's a really clever hacker, or it's a real prototype.

Can you provide the eprom info? what's written on it? (not the sticker, but the actual chip)

[van_halen]

Sure thing! Near the battery on the green chip it says:
NES-SNROM-02 (c)1987 Nintendo
Under it there is an N with a circle around it.
On the green chip near the EPROM with the sticker it says PRG

On the white sticker on the EPROM it says
SM2 D7D6 (the D:s has a - through them, like -D)

Is this all you have to know?


More differences: If you trow a shell on an enemy there is the regular sound, however, when the shell hits a wall it produces the sound Birdo/Ostro does when he gets hit.
The waterfalls have different sprites and are running really fast and have more bubbles and foam at the top of them than in the regular game, also the sound of when you get a star is different than on the regular game, it doesn't have the bongo-like drums in the background for example.

[Li Wang]

Woah. I really don't know what to think of this thing now. Everything about those changes is consistent with the differences between Doki Doki Panic and SMB2.

[DreamTR]

I sure saw this late, that is the second SMB2 prototype to be discovered. And no, that is not a hack, that is the real deal.

Johan, nice find off of eBay!

[van_halen]

Jason, are you really sure that this is not a fake? Considering the invincibility mode and the (I think) misspelling in the story text. Also that the label is just a bit of tape...

[DreamTR]

Johan, it does not sound like it is.

Most protos DO have misspellings and things such as that. The label on the cart might have been placed on there by anyone, but the data and the board are the real deal with the Doki Doki Panic stuff on the cart..

[BMF54123]

Hey. I don't normally post here, but I'm kind of a (really huge) SMB2 nut, and have done a ton of digging into this game over the years. Needless to say I was a little excited when I heard about this topic... :eek 2:

Anyway, I'm quite certain this is the real deal here. I've found several unused things (http://bmf.rustedmagick.com/cr/supermariobros2.htm) in the final ROM, a few of which make an appearance in those photos: the old DDP items (the lamp, for example), the $ sign in the ending scene, and the "THE END" text.

Regarding the debug cheats, SMW had some very similar (and occasionally buggy) cheats left in the final ROM. One of them allows you to cycle through Mario's various powerups by pressing UP + SELECT. SMB3 has a similar one activated by SELECT alone. I've disassembled some of these routines, and compared to the rest of the code, I would consider them "crude hacks" (SMW's cinema scene selection cheat will mess up the game if activated at the wrong time). Debugging code doesn't need to be pretty, just functional.

So...congrats on your purchase of a truly rare first-party prototype. I'll gleefully take this off your hands if you ever get bored with it... LOL

[van_halen]

Thanks for the help!
Glad to find out that I didn't get ripped!
So my final question is, how much are first-party prototypes like this approximately worth? Not that I think I will sell it in the near future, but it would be nice to know :)


By the way, if anybody cares LOL , forgot to mention before that the vines, bomb fuses, oceans and all that doesn't have animation frames, just like in Doki Doki Panic. The albatosses just have two frames as well.
Birdo opens his mouth and does the sound about a half of a second before the egg shoots out, so he's easier than ever hehe. 'Nuff said.

[jajaja]

Depends on what buyers you meet. My guess would be around $500+. On the other hand, it is a proto which have alot of diffrence than the retail version and it is Super Mario Bros 2.. so maybe its worth more.