Shining Force 3 Beta
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| Shining Force III (Orignal Beta) | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Camelot Software Planning |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Tactical role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Sega Saturn |
| Media | CD-ROM |
In 1997, Sega of Japan released a demo disc known as Shining Force 3, this disc was the original Beta prototype for the game and featured several key diffences, such as an unused level format, key character voice differences and monsters of which would not appear in this early of the game
This demo was not released anywhere outside of Japan, and thus is a sought after item for retro gaming collectors and RPG collectors alike. With its key differences and even a final level of which was not in the final game, the Beta version was Sega's way of testing the market for one of its popular series.
Contents |
[edit] Differences
The main diffences from the finished game are very noticeable, in that given the early product, they would not have been put into the game at that time such as:
[edit] Magic Spells
Magic for the main character, Synbios, is not included in this version. In the finished product his magic is in fact Return, which would bring the party back to a church for saving progress. As this was only a demo, though, there was no need for it to be included. His Spark magic can be obtained at level 9 in this version; however, the spell doesn't work, yet the icon and MP appears on the status screen.
[edit] Character Voiceovers
This particular version of the games character voiceovers for their special attacks are only included for four characters
- Synbios - Has a different voice actor than the final version, similar to that of Zero in Scenario 2
- Masquirin - Has an entirely different set of speech fo her magic spells, but the voice is the same
- Grace - Is identical to the finished version
- Hayward - Is identical to the finished version
The other characters, Obright and Dantares have no voiceover and as such their mouths move for the attack but no voiceover happens.
[edit] Monsters
The various monsters included were in there to test out size and span of the monsters, such as:
- Minotaur (large with a weapon)
- Lich (hovering with magic)
- Worm (earth bound crawler)
- Bat (flying with a generalised attack)
- Lizard (small with a weapon)
These monsters together was unusaul in the finished version, as the player encounters them at different times and with different statistics to that which they have in the beta, for example:
- The Minotaur has 22HP, in Scenario 1 it has 110HP
[edit] The Battles
The battles which the player is able to choose from are:
- The Railhead Train Battle (Characters Missing)
- The missing Characters are:
- Cybel
- Julian
- Eldar
- Irene
- However Eldar does make an appearance at the start, but nothing else is changed
[edit] Dwarf Valley Beta
The second choice is a battle, and area which did not make it into the finished version of the game, it is known as Dwarf Valley Beta and is the original battle of Dwarf Valley.
The level itself was a prototype of the Waterfall battle before Aspia in Scenario 1, as the virtually identical Suspension Bridge, waterfall and cliff area are included. However the differences are that the land texture mappings have not been completely finished and the beginning and end areas of the level are different to the finished falls.
The logical explanation would be that the level was almost finished and ready to go on the final version, however those plans were scrapped when they decided to finish the area itself.
[edit] External links
- Camelot Software Planning - Official site of Camelot Software Planning (Japanese)
- Shining Force Central - Fan site with comprehensive coverage of Shining Force III
| Shining Force • II • Gaiden • CD •III Beta • III • Neo • EXA Shining in the Darkness • Shining Wisdom • Shining the Holy Ark • Shining Tears • Shining Soul II |
