Prototype A

This is a sub-page of Proto:Tetris (NES, Tengen).

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

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General Differences#

• No music plays at the title screen, or when the Game Over graphic shows up.
• Pausing in-game doesn't mute the music.
• Loginska sounds unfinished, lacking the second half of the song.
• In the main menu, the only options are 1-Player and 2-Player.
• You can only choose from four starting levels - 0 (Beginner), 3 (Intermediate), 6 (Advanced), and 9 (Expert) - as opposed to 0-9, and cannot enable handicap/height/round at all (handicap/height/round doesn't exist yet compared to later builds).
• There's no results screen, gameplay continues until the player gets a game over or pauses.
• Lines will clear instantly with no visual effects.
• Levels increase every 10 lines, rather than every 30 lines.

Graphical Differences#

Prototype A	Prototype B to Vs. System

• The O, I, and L pieces share the same graphics throughout the remaining prototypes, but the T, Z, and S pieces' graphics are different compared to later builds, the J piece using a darker shade of green compared to other builds, and the S piece's graphic being used for the T piece in later builds. Surprisingly, the graphics that were used for those pieces in later builds can be found in the CHR data in Prototype A, albeit unused.

Prototype A	Prototype B

• The Game Over text has a blue border, but unlike the later builds, the inside is gray rather than teal.

Title Screen#

Prototype A	Vs. System	Final

• The title screen is much simpler, lacking a border, the text "TENGEN PRESENTS THE SOVIET MIND GAME", and the Tengen copyright notice, along with having a rather unfinished-looking backdrop. Further, the R in the logo is not the backwards style (Я, or "ya" in Cyrillic).
• Notably, the title screen has the licensed by Nintendo wordmark, which is not present in the final title screen.
• There's even licensing credits to Sphere Inc. and Andromeda Software Ltd. on the first mode select screen, which aren't present in further builds or the final game.

Unused Graphics#

Present in the CHR data are these 19 (one duplicate at the end of the top row of unused graphics) block tiles that aren't used anywhere in-game.