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Does anything ever go according to plan? Simple agendas falter in the blink of an eye. All it takes is one unexpected disagreement to throw your whole shit off. It happens. Some of the greatest moments in history and most beautiful pieces of architecture were accidents. The visionary saw things one way, but they never anticipated the script getting flipped. It's the same with game development. The men and women creating characters and stages get a green light to produce a million dollar idea, but time constraints and higher-ups get in the way of that. Some games switch consoles, push ideas to sequels, or scrap entire stages. We wonder what would have come of these games if the developers went according to plan? Let's take at some of the developers initial ideas for some of your favorite classic games in the 10 "What-Ifs" in Game Development.
Written by Obi Anyanwu (@obianyanwu)
Pokemon
Pokemon
Console: Game Boy
Idea Change: Fight removal
Complex Says: What if Professor Oak did more than just give you your first Pokémon? If you play Pokémon with GameShark, you can unlock a fight with Oak. Rumor has it that Oak was intended to be the final boss of the game since his roster’s levels are in the high 60s even reaching 70. His team includes: a level 66 Tauros, a level 67 Exeggutor, a level 68 Arcanine, a level 69 Blastoise, and a level 70 Gyrados.
Final Fight
Final Fight
Console: Arcade
Idea Change: Game title change
Complex Says: What if Final Fight was the sequel to Street Fighter? It could’ve happened, in fact Final Fight’s original title was Street Fighter ’89. One story behind the title is that the sales team wanted to pitch the side-scrolling beat-em-up as the sequel to the critically acclaimed Street Fighter. Another story is that there was confusion between the director and the development team, which resulted in the game we currently know.
Super Mario World
Super Mario World
Console: Super Nintendo
Idea Change: Game title change, removal of stages
Complex Says: What if Shigeru Miyamoto had more time to develop Super Mario World? We bet that if Shigeru Miyamoto could fix Super Mario World, he would. Though the game is a million seller every time it's re-released, Miyamoto regrets the rushed feeling he had about the game's development claiming that he wishes the story would develop more and have more emotion. Why the rushed feeling? Well, Nintendo had to push a 16-bit Super Mario game out as soon as possible to combat the Sega Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog. Beta versions of the game reveal a toad house and fortresses in the style of Super Mario Bros. 3. In fact, Super Mario World's title was originally Super Mario Bros. 4. Hmm, imagine that...
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Console: Nintendo Wii
Idea Change: Removal of characters and music
Complex Says: What if Nintendo and Hal Laboratory kept all of the Melee characters? A hack of the game discovered that all of the removed characters were slated to return. Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Roy, and others that were scrapped from the game have remnants and clues left over in the game itself with Mewtwo being the only character found with a finished model and voice. Interestingly enough, Mewtwo was also planned to appear in the original Smash Bros. but was left out due to time. On the topic of Brawl however, the only brand new character that didn't make the cut is Toon Zelda/Shiek. There is no development of the character so Toon Zelda/Shiek may have just been a character concept for the game, especially since Toon Shiek never existed.
Along with the removal of characters came the removal of several music tracks. Music from Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Animal Crossing, Metal Gear Solid, and the Mother Series were lifted from the final copy of the game with file names and code left over.
Halo
Halo
Console: Xbox
Idea Change: Gameplay style change
Complex Says: What if Halo played just like Starcraft? That’s right, early footage of Halo showed that the game was a real-time strategy game. Several armed Master Chiefs filled the screen before the development team decided to make the game a third person shooter. Critics responded favorably to the third-person game style, but the game received a third overhaul after Bungie Studios took over.
Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Idea Change: Series change
Complex Says: What if Capcom kept Devil May Cry as Resident Evil 4? Before the RE series adopted the over-the-shoulder camera angle and smart enemies, the development team put together a game engine that was very action packed. The engine resembled more of hack-and-slash style game than what the RE series is known for. The development team ditched the engine and switched to new camera angle and fight system that was adopted by Resident Evil 4 + 5. RE4 went through a premise change somewhat. Instead of having the protagonist, Leon, infected and receive supernatural powers, he becomes infected and has to search for a cure.
Enough about RE4 though. What came of the original fight engine? Well it was put in place for Devil May Cry. The development team made strides with this fight engine, and believed in it so much that they kept it and the environments that they designed for a new game. Enter Dante.
Mother 3
Mother 3
Console: Game Boy Advance
Idea Change: Console change, removal of characters, story change
Complex Says: What if Mother 3 was Earthbound 64? The original plan for Earthbound 64 was for it be an epic RPG that used the 64DD to its fullest potential. With the 64DD cancelled, Earthbound 64 saw a short life on the Nintendo 64. It later received a name change and a console change.
Development of Mother 3 began shortly after the Japanese release of Earthbound, and it was to be released for the SNES. Developers had big plans for the game on a console with more strength so they took development to the 64DD before moving it to the Nintendo 64. After cancelling the game in 2000, the game was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2006 with the story and elements still intact. The major change between the two aside from the graphical differences is the mood of the game. Earthbound 64 was intended to be more moody and darker, while Mother 3 was more colorful and hokey. Also, early builds of the game feature Ness running through a jungle and exploring the ruins of what we presume to be his hometown, Onett.
Though Mother 3 found a home on the Game Boy Advance a hacked rom of the game found an unused fight and unused music that is rumored to both be removed, because it was deemed to scary for the game’s audience. The fight’s background used floating images of Lucas and his brother, Claus, throughout the fight. The music is a dark and ominous tune that has a voice saying, “1, 2, 3, 5” slowed down. When the music is sped up, the song is actually, “1, 2, 3, 5!” being said over a cheering crowd, which is a Japanese superstition, that is believed to result in one’s death. Very grim, hence the removal.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Console: Nintendo 64
Idea Change: Overhaul
Complex Says: What if this game was more epic? Is that even possible? Well if the 64DD existed then it would have been. Nintendo had huge plans for the 64DD that would be played in conjunction with the Nintendo 64. The 64 Disk Drive would allow for games to have more memory, which would extend the game’s capability. The plan was to have Ocarina of Time played with the 64DD to create the game Ura Zelda (tentative title.) Unfortunately, the gamehad to be cut down immensely though the cartridge was used to its fullest extent.
The 64DD would have an internal clock and image editing which would play into your quest, for example if you were to cut down bushes, it would stay that way for the rest of your quest. The world would evolve during your quest. Hearsay raised thoughts and rumors like perhaps Hyrule would play in real-time as opposed to the 3-minute days that OoT had.
The beta version of OoT is Zelda 64, which had full 3D worlds, new enemies, gave Link the ability to jump, and includes a scene where you can obtain the Triforce like past Zelda games. Ura Zelda, however, resembled OoT (since they were to be played together), and would feature more weapons, more enemies, and more temples. Teams of hackers are working on restoring the game, and so far have images of new temples – the Ice Temple and the Wind Temple – as well as a new look for one of the Great Fairies.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Console: Sega Genesis
Idea Change: Removal and repurposing of several stages
Complex Says: What if the Sonic Team had more cartridge space and time? Sonic 2 is already a classic, but imagine if they went with their initial ideas? If you grew up cycling through the music in the sound test, you may have come across a full Death Egg Zone song and a song that never appeared in the game. That unused song was for Hidden Palace Zone where Sonic would officially change into Super Sonic. Sound familiar? We'll get back to that.
If you scour YouTube for a glimpse of the stage, you'll fall into several stages that have been pulled from the game. Stages like Wood Zone, Genocide City Zone, Dust Hill Zone, and even Death Egg Zone were either scrapped or re purposed in the game. Game hackers found the backgrounds and layouts of these stages through debug mode and rom hacks and posted playthroughs of each zone including the unfinished, Hidden Palace Zone.
The idea for Hidden Palace Zone was later used in Sonic & Knuckles where you can face Knuckles and see where the emeralds you collect originated. Wood Zone was in an early build of the game along with Hidden Palace Zone before both stages were scrapped. Dust Hill Zone was scrapped from the game entirely as well as an act of Genocide City Zone. The remaining act of Genocide City was kept as Metropolis Zone act 3. Lastly, Death Egg Zone was cut down to just the boss act, while act 1 was used as Chemical Plant Zone act 1 since the stage was thought to be "too easy."
Sony Playstation
Sony Playstation
Console: Sony Playstation
Idea Change: Release as a sole console
Complex Says: What if Nintendo joined forces with Sony? Super NES x Sony Playstation? It could have been real. Nintendo was in the market for a disc reading gaming console to work with the Super NES. Sony and their Playstation competed with Philips and their CDI. Nintendo decided to go with the Philips CDI, because the content for the gaming would match what Nintendo produces. Simply, Nintendo did not want adult themes around their major characters. Sony decided to take the Playstation and release it as a sole console to compete directly with Nintendo, while Nintendo chose to work with the Philips CDI. If Nintendo and Sony found a common ground and worked together, the gaming world would be entirely in Nintendo's control, arguably to this day. Instead, we had to hear about Link's craving for Octoroks.