1992

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:EarthBound.

To do: There's a lot more images of the build shown off in Super Famicom #5 and Perfect Video floating across various magazines. I'll get to documenting those images and restructuring the article soon. Try to rip the unused song around 1:16. Compare and contrast PERFECT VIDEO's version of "Humoresque of a Little Dog" to its final version. Onett is also a little different.

In 1992, a build of the game was compiled and shown off in various game review publications as anticipation of what was to come. What's interesting is that many of the screenshots, alongside a two-and-a-half-minute Q&A between GTV Editor-In-Chief Koji Watanabe and Shigesato Itoi, all appear to depict the same fully-scripted and on rails run of the game, meaning that what was publicized possibly originated from a tape of prerecorded gameplay. Very likely, this was done to show the game off in a palatable way without any of the programming difficulties that plagued much of its early development being immediately noticeable. The Q&A also provides a release date of February 1993, yet the game didn't come out until a year and a half later.

Title Screen#

Prerelease	Final

"Preview (予告篇)" moniker aside, the Earth logo is colored and animated in this version, just like its predecessor. In the final game, the Earth isn't animated at all. The Earth and text were also recolored from blue to grey.

Onett#

Prerelease	Final

A mailbox was added in the final, and the fence was redrawn to be thicker. The porch was expanded rightward so as to not look like it was at a complete angle. Additionally, King is present in the front yard of Ness's house, a callback to how Ninten's dog also sat in front of the house in the previous game. The flowers are different and more primitive-looking, even from other screenshots in the magazine.

Prerelease	Final

A trash can was removed and a few bushes around Town Hall were trimmed. Also, as is a common theme in this build, there are myriad NPCs always clustered around Ness for some reason, possibly to make the screens seem more "active" and appealing to potential buyers.

Prerelease	Final

The Onett burger shop received a number of extra touches in the final: the table inset into the wall was given a glass finish and completely different seats, and the menu sign on the top was redesigned to protrude outwards. A table was removed (with the remaining tables redesigned) and a second worker was also removed in favor of two more customers. The registers were redesigned, and the floor was given a checkerboard finish. The menu is more simplistic graphics-wise and reminiscent of the first game, with a completely different font. Ness is also missing his backpack (something that is noticeable across all coverage of this build).

Prerelease	Final

The sign on the right was shortened, and there are more NPCs clustered around Ness again. The man speaking to Ness was moved to in front of Town Hall in the final, but the dialogue seems to be identical between versions. Additionally, the sign outside of the Hotel is missing and there is a trash can on the sidewalk instead, which was moved to the right of the center building in the final. A common pattern across this build is Ness and co. talking to NPCs in a perfectly aligned manner towards them, suggesting that player movement was originally grid-based like the first game.

Prerelease	Final

The Onett arcade feels unfinished in general, lacking the dark shading and numerous elements found in the final, like the poster and pinball machine. All of the arcade games also use the same graphic in the preview, and shadowing was added onto the floor behind them. The stairs and protruding section of the wall were moved upwards.

Twoson#

Prerelease	Final

The map around the Twoson Bus Station was completely overhauled. Notice how the bus sign is more primitive and is missing the bench on the left to it, the road is at a completely different angle (it was replaced by a building in the final), as two bushes were also added south of the sign, as all three were moved down slightly.

Prerelease	Final

The Chaos Theater has fenceposts out front in the pre-release that were removed for the final, replaced by a pair of bottles. The ticket booth was redesigned, the Tonzura Brothers' (Runaway Five's) tour bus is missing, and a stoplight was added to the corner in the final. The lettering on "TONZURA BROTHERS" is a different color, and there is a sign above "CHAOS THEATER" that was removed. Finally, there are two NPCs near Ness: an unremarkable dog, and an NPC (bearing a similar design to the blue-haired NPCs in the previous game) that was completely removed from the final! The latter appeared in a restored form in the Secrets of MOTHER 2 artbook, which is provided below:

Early	Final

Prerelease	Final

Other than the obvious missing backpack, Ness' arms clip into the bike in the 1992 version of the sprite. In fact, large parts of his sprite were seemingly redrawn for the final game. Ness' mouth was opened for the final game, too.

Peaceful Rest Valley#

Prerelease	Final

Paula's cell was changed from a small door to a larger jail cell. While the room is the same size when compared to the final version (the incorrect aspect ratio on Perfect Video makes it look shorter), the change of cell splits the room in half. The chair and exit were moved down, the table was made wider, and the chair also got a perspective change.

Happy Happy Village#

Prerelease	Final

Evidently, the battle system hadn't been worked out correctly yet as these Coil Snakes and a Mr. Batty at the Lilliput Steps cave appear to be programmed as NPCs. Some bones were added in the final and the present on the right was removed.

Threed#

Prerelease	Final

Another trash can was replaced by a hotel sign and bus stop sign in the final. A flower was removed near the Bus Stop and a bench was added, forcing the tree nearby to relocate. The color of the top of the tent is blue instead of purple, and the color of the text on both signs is different. A bush beside the hotel entrance got pruned in the final.

Winters#

Prerelease	Final

Jeff and Tony switched beds for the final game, and the room received an extra chair and some tools as well.

Dusty Dunes Desert#

Prerelease	Final

This area of Dusty Dunes Desert seems to have been completely remapped for the final version. Besides the mapping changes, there's a Come truck (using a different, even more infringing logo design) parked on the side of the road; this was removed and replaced with more buttes, likely because it looks very strange. Some NPCs were added and the vehicles were rearranged, with one of them even gaining a driver.

Fourside#

Prerelease	Final

The bridge just outside Fourside was given a more detailed shadow and a new perspective.

At this point in development, characters lack diagonal walking sprites, as in the first game. Ness' cap is also being mirrored during his downwards walking animation, which is not present in the final game as he has a unique animation frame to prevent it. (This error is still present on his upwards walking animation, though.)

Summers/Toto#

Prerelease	Final

This area in Summers was kept 100% as-is, but all the objects were relocated (e.g. the ice cream stand was moved to the left for the final and is instead run by the Magic Cake lady).

Prerelease	Final

Ness and his party aren't visible here, suggesting that this screenshot was either taken in debug mode or during a pan shot akin to the introductions for Ness, Jeff and Poo. Much of the foliage is more simplistic. A second floor was added to the house on the right, the light post is slightly different, the boats are in different positions, and a hole decoration was added to the pier. There is an NPC that was completely removed from the game here who resembles Colonel Sanders somewhat. A version of this NPC's sprite is present in the localization prototype and is provided below:

Dalaam#

Prerelease	Final

Another character-less shot, although this one was more likely was taken during Poo's introduction. Dalaam was completely redesigned from a snowy area to a grassy mountainside area. The palace is also completely different from the final! Although this design fits better with the interior aesthetic, it's also somewhat generic in appearance, which is likely why it was redesigned.

Prerelease	Final

The ceiling of Dalaam's throne room is low enough to fit on one screen in the prototype. The throne and pillars were also redesigned, changing the indents inside the pillars from squares to a more unique shape.

Scaraba#

Prerelease	Final

In the preview, the Pyramid had two different tiles for each of the doors. This was cleaned up to use the same one for both in the final.

Tenda Village#

Prerelease	Final

The Tenda Village seems to be barely worked on at this point, since the hot spring and inn are entirely missing. The Tendas themselves have a very different design, appearing as little black-colored creatures with beady white eyes.

Music#

Aside from the completely scrapped song at 1:16 in the video, Onett's theme went through some interesting changes too.

In the final version, the warm pads were changed into rock organs, the French horn was changed into a trumpet, and the echo was toned down a bit. In the preview version, the guitar has a weird portamento which makes the main melody sound off-key at times and it lacks the electric piano harmony.

Also of note is that the shop theme "Humoresque of a Little Dog" sounds slightly different.