Shamisen Brothers

This page details one or more prototype versions of Shamisen Brothers.

Program and chart data for an early version of the game, known as V1.00K (for reference, the final build is V1.01K), can be found within the game's disc. It is assumed to be a prototype, as this data is ran from the game's ROM instead, and many things, especially the charts, are in a somewhat incomplete state. The last modified filedate is July 17, 2003, which is about 3 weeks before the final build.

Known Differences#

Title Screen/Attract Sequence#

• The prototype's title screen is more plain, lacking the animation of the game's logo and cherry petals falling down.

Prototype	Final

• The Kato's logo screen is also static; in the final game, the indiviual letters come falling to form it.

Prototype	Final

• The Exam mode ranking screen is also static; in the final game, mice come from the right corner of the screen, bringing the ranking slots with them.

Prototype	Final

• Upon highlighting Exam Mode, the message that appears comes fading in (and out after a different mode is highlighted), rather than instantly.

Prototype	Final

• There is no narration on the How to Play Screen.

Songlist#

• The song Yuke Yuke Hyuuma was originally featured in the Normal songlist rather than the Easy/Very Easy one.
• The song Tsugaru jongara bushi (Rock ban) does not appear in the Normal songlist in the prototype. This renders its music track in the final game, tsugaru2.sdx, unused.

Gameplay#

• No confetti falls down, nor does the announcer react if a high enough grade is obtained.

Prototype	Final

Charts#

Of the game's 48 used charts, a grand total of 34 have differences between the prototype and the final version. Most of the changes are related to the Couple charts, as proper charts for most of these 34 files did not exist yet, being copies of the Single chart on both sides. A list, with the songs that have proper Couple chart data being marked with ※, can be seen below:

Any charts not listed above only have proper Couple chart data not existing as their difference in comparison to the final game. The other differences are documented below:

Chart Differences

Hidden Credits#

Some of the early .mux chart files contain hidden strings where they start. These strings include a developer credit, as well as a date. K.Nakanishi is Keiichi Nakanishi, who also inserted a hidden credit in the final version.