6 Baffling Early Prototypes of Your Favorite Video Games
Imagine an alternate reality where Mario is packing heat, Link looks like Wolverine and Halo games are all about strategy instead of shooting aliens in the face.
All those things were close to happening but were changed at some point, for better or for worse. You be the judge.
#6. Super Mario Bros. Was Almost a Shooting Game
The Game We Know:
If there's one thing Mario does well, it's stomping on shit. Even in his early games, jumping on or over things was always, well, pretty much the only thing he did. But that wasn't always the plan for our dear red-shirted plumber when he got his big NES debut.
Mario showed us how to cut corners. In honor of that, we're not writing a punchline.
But It Was Almost:
Mario was going to shoot the shit out of his enemies. Seriously. In some early design documents and test versions of Super Mario Bros., Mario was going to carry guns.
Oh, and he would also be able to punch and kick his enemies when he was empty-handed. Instead of stomping enemies' heads, he was gonna stomp their asses.
flasharcade
Turns out those Russian bootlegs had it right all along.
And yes, we said "guns," as in more than one: Mario was going to carry a "beam gun," which sounds kind of like what Samus uses in the Metroid games, but then he would also have a freaking rifle. Instead of fireballs, Mario was gonna roll like a gangster and spit out bullets.
"Is he ... is he whistling 'The Farmer in the Dell'?"
Some levels would even have Mario riding on a cloud and firing at enemies in what sounds a lot like the Mushroom Kingdom's version of a drive-by. Earlier in development, he was going to be "flying on a rocket," but clearly a cloud made more sense in that context.
us.wii.com
Sweet revenge on that goddamn Lakitu.
Even the classic control scheme would have been different: Mario would jump by hitting the up arrow on the control pad, leaving the "A" button for attacks. All this changed when Nintendo decided to focus more on the jumping (and stomping) aspect, but some elements of these insane early versions did end up in the finished game. The guns became fire flowers, the cloud drive-bys eventually turned into bonus coin stages and Mario finally gained the ability to punch and kick enemies in Super Mario 64. Rifles can't be that far behind. After all, we got Super Mario Sunshine's water cannon ...
He can waterboard 50 Koopa Troopas a minute with this thing.
While it's probably for the best that they simplified the game, we can't help but wonder what a game starring a gritty, badass Mario would be like. He could even roam around an alternate world New York, with realistic Goombas and Koopas and ...
Oh wait.
#5. Mortal Kombat Was Almost Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Game
The Game We Know:
It really speaks for a game's content when punching the head off your opponent is considered tame in comparison to the rest of the shit you can do. But Mortal Kombat isn't just about the mindless violence -- OK, it's mainly about the mindless violence, but there were other things that set it apart from all other fighting games of its time. Like its rich mythology, dark sense of humor and extremely realistic graphics.
This is exactly what blood looks like when you drink nothing but Pepsi and "Pixy Stix tea."
But It Was Almost:
A game about Jean-Claude Van Damme. Seriously. Mortal Kombat was originally conceived as a vehicle for Van Damme in which he would fight a selection of digitized opponents -- like Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu with better graphics. However, the license to use Van Damme's name and likeness was apparently too expensive for Midway Games at the time ... so they started calling him "Johnny Cage."
"If we add a 15 percent Nicolas Cage to his face no one will notice."
Small snippets of Van Damme still remain in the game: Johnny Cage is modeled after Van Damme in the movie Bloodsport, including his signature shorts and, of course, that double groin punch.
It's called a double groin punch because it involves slamming his own against the floor.
However, not having to center the game on Van Damme also meant they were free to go crazy with the characters and the settings -- they kept the photorealistic look that presumably would have reminded people of a Van Damme movie, but used it to feature undead ninjas, lightning gods and cyborgs. There's also a pretty big chance that if the game had been associated with a Hollywood star, they might have been forced to tone down some of the most outrageous examples of violence to avoid controversy, or at least to avoid Van Damme having his spine ripped out of his body. So in addition to some pretty hilarious viral videos, you can probably thank Van Damme's ridiculous ego for the existence of fatalities.
This is how many careers in medical school got started.
So basically, the creation of one of the most influential games ever was governed by the fact that the company didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. This might explain why the controls were so simple (forcing developers to focus on special moves to differentiate the characters) and also why they reused the exact same character model for Sub-Zero and Scorpion, only changing the color.
The beginning of a noble tradition.
Mortal Kombat turned out to be a major arcade hit and went on to have one of the biggest console game launches of all time. And it could have all been lost if Van Damme was willing to sell out for less money.
thepeoplesmovies
He was waiting for a bigger fish, apparently.
#4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Was Almost a First-Person Shooter
The Game We Know:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is often lauded as one of the best games of the Zelda series (or any series), with its innovative and much copied target-based gameplay system and a story that borrowed the best elements of all its predecessors -- except maybe Zelda II, because that one sucked. Zelda II had that side-scrolling stuff going on and had a bunch of boring RPG elements thrown in. It was not very Zelda-like at all.
Yes you are, Zelda II.
But It Was Almost:
Originally, Ocarina of Time was going to be played mainly from a first-person perspective, like a shooting game but without the shooting (presumably). That means the over-the-shoulder lock-on mode the game was known for would have been completely absent. Also, whenever an enemy approached, the screen would switch to a side-scroller -- we're thinking this would have ended up looking like a combination of Wolfenstein 3D and Zelda II. In fact, some of the developers initially set out to remake Zelda II instead of creating a whole new story that didn't suck. In fact, thanks to Radix on the TIGForums, we have an idea what this may look like:
tigsource
Needs more swastikas.
However, the developers changed their minds when they realized that if they went ahead with the FPS format, that meant that for most of the game, you wouldn't be able to see the Link model they'd spent so much time on. And speaking of Link, he was initially meant to be an adult the whole game and had a "distinctive" button nose and sideburns.
Link gets closer to Wolverine with each update.
That also got dropped when a developer's wife said Link wasn't handsome enough. Link looks like he does today because one Japanese woman happened to find him a little unattractive. Exactly how many bullets did they dodge while making this game?
Hey, listen! It wasn't enough!
As for the lock-on targeting system, that came up because they were initially interested in featuring one-on-one sword fights. So instead of two backflips, throw the boomerang and then a jumping slash, it was more like fencing, with parries and dodges and stuff. That turned out to be too complicated, so they simplified things and added the targeting system that every other game would go on to copy.
Ocarina's enduring legacy. That, and grown men in pantyhose.
SO much butt-hurt. Good, good, let it flow through you.
ReplyI just realized that Link holds his shield in the wrong hand. Weird.
ReplyLink is left handed.
#3 To say Doki Doki Panic is an unrelated game is only half-true.
ReplyShigeru Miyamoto (the creator of the Mario games) was actually involved in the creation of the original Doki Doki Panic.
More than the "true" Mario sequel.
I am so glad Ocarina is the way it is. Though, if it were a first person shooter, then maybe other games would have followed suit, and Call of Duty might actually have been good. . . .
ReplySpeaking as someone who both LOVES the LOZ games, and can't play third person games at all, I'd appreciate the option to go first person. I know that it's not for everyone, so I don't expect it to happen. Still, I'm holding out for a sword-fighting first person Zelda game.
zelda 2 was awesome!
ReplyTheres enough stuff on Ocarina to make a seperate Article, like how it was also going to be like Mario 64, for one
Replygreat article! I never realized that about arkham asylum, one of my favorite games I've ever played (great storyline and the fighting style is easy yet never got old, at least for me), but once I read the title, it weirdly made sense. gold star stickers for all three writers responsible for this article!
Reply@ #2, I don't own a shitbox or shitbox 360
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesGood for you. Wanna brag about not owning a DVD player or an MP3 player too?
Making bad gaming console puns is lame. Only GayStation 3 owners do that.
Jimmy's right, console jokes are lame. Don't forget about Pee-C's.
I kind of get the feeling that Midway are sort of getting revenge on Jean Claude by depicting the character that would've been him as a dickhead.
ReplyHis backstory is that he's an actor who does action movies and joins Mortal Kombat to dispove the romours that he uses stuntmen or special effects, yet every single adaption of Mortal Kombat I've seen in which he opens his mouth, Johnny Cage is depicted as a complete douchebag.
You mean like every video game character ever?
Seriously you only see him as a douchbag because you made that assumption yourself. The things Deadpool says would be seen as "douchbagy" if the guy saying them looked like Johny Cage. We both know this is true. Question, where is he mentioned in this article?
what the f**k are you talking about derelix? first, you made your retarded rant about deadpool, and second......where is "Who" mentioned in this article? where is deadpool? f**k deadpool! Are you some fucked up Johnny Cage fanboy? Why was Deadpool brought up at all? Goddamn it, you just ruined a perfectly good pork chop dinner with your inferiority.
I love Mario Bros 2 to this day. It was a really fun game and until this article, I didn't know there was any hate for it. Sure, looking back now after a hundred previous Mario games, it looks odd but that doesn't mean it's a bad game.
Reply"Farmer in the Dell" - That The Wire reference was all I needed to make me happy tonight. Thank you for making me happy.
ReplyWhy did Batdance seem so much cooler in 1989?
Replycocaine
Mario DID go on to do drive-bys in a plane in Super Mario Land.
Reply"Playing a sociopathic god general really appealed to those of us without the reflexes for Halo or dodge ball."
Replyf**k that, those professional SC players in Korea have better reflexes than any FPS professional, what with their 300 apm and constant need to micro.
Have you seen FPS professionals? Do not compare reflexes until you have. Being able to nail a headshot while being launched into the air by one of those lift things is not something to scoff at. Playing SC isn't even about reflexes, it's about strategy. The only time reflex becomes an issue is when you are going to slow. Going "faster" never gives you much (if any) of an edge because the speed of everything you are moving is set in stone.
Zelda an FPS? Chad Wardenn would be pleased!
Replyohh cmon mario 2 was a great game! Screw yall
ReplyI agree, and so was Zelda II.
Bullshit. You need tons of reflexes to play a tactical RTS game.
Reply Hide All See All 5 RepliesClearly they haven't seen many StarCraft vids.
No. I play shooters and RTSs and no. There's no comparison. RTSs require planning and quick thinking, but they sure as f**k do not take any amount of "reflexes".
Dealing with unexpected circumstances requires both reflex and quick thinking.But it honestly depends on how difficult the game is,or what game,really.You need at least above-avergae reflexes to be successful in MOBA games.
ChristopherDiaz does not play SC competitively or watch the competitive scene at all.
You people need to understand what reflexes are. No it does not take reflexes. Yes it requires you to be fast, but not to hit something with precision as quickly as possible. SC is great but saying it requires reflexes just because you like the game is like saying Mortal Kombat requires actual knowledge in the field of martial arts.
Oh, come on, SMB2 may have stuck out, but it was no less fun. And as the article said, it was that game that turned the likes of Luigi and Peach into actual characters and not just game elements.
Reply"Japan, we need to talk."
ReplyThis caption to that picture is by far the most excellent thing I've read so far this week! I laughed like an idiot for about 10 solid minutes!!! Good job!
I wasn't wearing my glasses when I saw that, so it took me a moment or two to work out what it was. I thought it was a coconut with a face painted on to start with.
Only one I knew about was #3. And it was actually my favorite NES Mario game.
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesI concur. I really don't understand the hatred some people (Irate Gamer, I'm talking about you) have for SMB 2. Yeah, the formula was completely different, but so were the previous 4 Mario games.
In Donkey Kong Mario runs and climbs on girders, can't survive a fall greater than the height of his own body, and hits barrels and fireballs with a hammer. And he's a carpenter. In DK jr., Mario's the freakin' bad guy, and Dongkey Kong's kid has to climb vines and drop fruit on Mario's freakish pets. In Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi hit the bottoms of platforms to flip over enemies, then kick them while they're down.
It wasn't until Super Mario Bros. that we got the formula that was used again in SMB 3, Super Mario World, New SMB, etc. (and the Japanese SMB 2) But those games didn't exist when SMB 2 came out over here. To say that it didn't feel like a Mario game (or that Zelda II didn't feel like a Zelda game, for that matter) is nonsensical because back then, those games were all we had. We didn't know what a Mario game felt like, because we only knew what Nintendo told us a Mario game was.
And, damn it, we had fun.
Don't talk about Irate Gamer. It just encourages him.
Fair enough. On the flipside, we haven't found anything to discourage him, either.