Version Differences

This is a sub-page of LED Storm (Arcade).

The original version of the game, titled Rally 2011 LED Storm, went through a substantial number of changes in both gameplay and character design. Strangely, this version was the one used as the basis for all of the game's home ports!

Despite being dumped in MAME long time ago, It was only in 2022 where this version saw the light of day, in an official way, through the Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium.

General Differences#

• Two distinct sets of this original version are present in MAME: the North American set (leds2011u) and the European set (leds2011, known in MAME as World). The latter set is an interesting case because it could have been the version that European countries could get, but since this first version tested quite poorly in arcades, it was eventually scrapped since the revised version was released in Europe instead.
• Aside of the in-game shouts (i.e. Energy! Barrier! etc...), MC (the Storm Navigating Computer Type K1 mounted in your veichle) features some unique quotes in the original version. These were removed in the Revised version due to the entire plot change and you now take control of three type of cars instead of one. Here's a list of the unique quotes used in the original version.

Gameplay Changes#

Player#

• One big difference between versions - in the original version, the player's Storm 11 (which is the name of your vehicle) can transform between a car and a motorcycle by pressing Button 2. There doesn't seem to be much point to this, though: The car seems a little more resistant to crashing, and the motorcycle has a slightly higher top speed, but that's about it.
• In revised version, the player chooses one of three vehicles at the start: The F-1 Machine, which is very fast but prone to crashing if it hits anything; the Porsche 959, which is average in both speed and crash resistance; and the Convoy, which is the slowest vehicle but can bump into most vehicles and isn't affected by oil slicks.

• Once the player has completed their first loop, they're sent back to the player select screen, where they have to pick one of the two remaining vehicles.
• In all versions of the game, letting go of the gas and then quickly hitting it again will allow the player to perform a wheelie. In the original version only, if the player is doing a wheelie and they hit a car or one of the border rails, they'll jump into the air as if they've hit a jump ramp. This feature was removed from later versions.
• The aforementioned wheelie methods and jump ramps are the only way to perform a long jump - pressing Button 1 only performs a short hop. In the revised version, pressing Button 1 always does the longer jump.

Fuel#

• In the original version, the player uses one unit of fuel every 96 frames. In the revised version, the amount depleted depends on the difficulty setting: It's one unit every 76, 71, 66, or 61 frames.
• Exploding or falling into a pit doesn't use up any fuel in the original version. The revised version's punishment is much harsher; The player loses 3 / 4 / 6 / 8 units of fuel depending on the difficulty setting.
• In the original version, the ENERGY RED warning appears when there're only four units of fuel left. In the revised version, it appears when there're six left.

• In the original version, each stage has three checkpoints per stage, and passing one gives the player 7 units of fuel. These were removed from the revised version.

Items#

• The small gas tank power-ups work differently in the original version. Instead of immediately granting fuel, they fill up the player's "ENERGY" meter. Once the player collects six of them, they'll get 10 units of fuel back.

In revised version, they just give 5, 4, or 3 units of fuel, depending on the difficulty level.

• The balloon-based energy pick-ups give just 1 unit of energy in the early version, and 5 / 4 / 3 units in revised version.

• In the original version only, there are flying item carriers found throughout the game. If the item carriers run into a different enemy, they'll explode and drop their payload: "Barrier", "Energy", and "Points" pick-ups.

• The barrier and point power-ups work identically in each version, but in revised version they appear sans carrier.

• The "Energy" pick-up gives the player 2 units of fuel. There's no equivalent to this in the revised game.

Scoring#

• In the original version, the player gets 54 points per frame at top speed. This was reduced to 10 points every 20 frames in revised version.
• Every time the player explodes or falls down a pit in the revised version, they receive a single, shameful point.

Original	Revised

• While the time bonus values are the same in all versions, the times to beat are formatted differently.

In the original version, it's presented as a Top 5 list, with each stage having different default names:

The revised version just lists the time thresholds with no fanfare.

• In revised version, the player gets 5,000 points for each enemy they destroy in the stage.

No Hit Clear	Normal Clear

• In the original version, the player receives 1,000 points for each unit of fuel they had at the end, and an extra 30,000 points if they get through the entire stage without exploding or falling down a pit.

Attract Mode#

US	Europe (World)

• In the original version, each sets display a standard export copyright notice on boot. The revised version doesn't have an equivalent notice (neither the Japanese version), and instead goes straight to the intro sequence. Oddly, the European version retains Capcom USA's copyright.

Original	Revised (US)	Revised (Japan)	Revised (International)

• The title screen is different between versions. The US version of the revised game use a shortened version of the early version title with an updated logo, while the Japanese and International versions completely change the title graphics.

• The stories are presented differently in both the original and revised versions:

In the original version, two rival buddies named Fred (The player character in a red suit) and Robert (The rival character in a blue suit) are making a bet for determine whose vehicle can run across 2 big cities first. These story screens appear after the player starts a new game.

In the revised version, the story is about Fred (Hero The player) entering a daredevil's race of his own accord. The story is at the very start of the attract mode loop.

• In the original version only, the attract mode includes a gameplay tutorial to teach players how to transform...

• ...how to do a long jump...

• ...and how to destroy enemies and collect the floating fuel cans.

• The revised version replaces the tutorial with a cast roll, featuring Fred (A total different person from Fred of the original version), Snake (Replacing Robert from the original version), and new characters Hougan, Arnold, Vebroag, and Mohikan.

Original	Revised

• In all versions, the default high scores names are abbreviations of 70s and 80s computers. Later versions add two more computers: C64 (Commodore 64), and SMC (Sony SMC-70). FM8 (Fujitsu FM-8) was replaced with AP2 (Apple II).
• All of the high scores are much higher in the original version.

Stage Changes#

Since the stages are far too long (both in distance and vertically) to include in this article, this section will only highlight the major changes between versions.

General#

Stage Distance#

• In the original version, each stage is exactly the same length...

Stage 1, 3, 8	Stage 2	Stage 6	Stage 4, 5, 7, 9

• ...but the revised version allows for certain stages to be shorter than others.
• In general, the original version puts more emphasis on avoiding obstacles and enemies, while the revised version puts more emphasis on jumping over bottomless pits.

Removed Stage Elements#

There are a few enemies and features that only appear in the original version.

These ramps will automatically launch the player in the air at a high speed.

These traffic barrier enemies are harmless -- they're used to mark when a pit is coming in early stages. It doesn't take a genius to figure that these were replaced with the flashing "JUMP" mark in the revised version.

These yellow rats only show up in stage 2. They cling to the player's vehicle like the running robots in the original version and the motorcyclists in revised version.

Only appearing in stage 3, these skimmer robots pop out of the ocean from both sides of the screen and try to ram into the player.

These boxing robots try to punch the player away. They appear in stages 3 and 8.

Stage 1#

Initial	Revised

The opening of Stage 1 was changed to feature the drivers seen in the game's cast roll.

Initial	Revised

The path split after the first checkpoint was replaced by the first of many jumping sections.

Initial	Revised

There are a convoy of trailers near the end of the stage in the original release. In the revised version, this is replaced by a single long trailer truck that the player has to avoid.

Stage 2#

There's a long section in the original version with yellow rats, ostrich robots, and oddly shaped trees that was completely cut from revised version.

Stage 3#

The revised version starts off with a long section of jumping between platforms...

...then follow up with more clingy motorcycle guys and the first helicopter appearance in the game. This enemy takes until stage 6 to show up in the original version.

About halfway into the level in the original version, the player is attacked by the aforementioned bug-like water skimming enemies.

After the third checkpoint, the original version-exclusive boxing robots make their first appearance.

Stage 4#

A section where the player has to dodge or jump over many precariously stacked tires was added to the revised version.

Original	Revised

The tractor trailer was replaced by a cargo truck in the revised version.

The screen flashing enemies appear in two sections rather than one in the revised version, with the second section being a thin winding strip of road at the end of the level. Pretty rude.

Stage 5#

The drive-through skeletons appear about a quarter of the way into the stage in revised version. In the original version, they're only seen at the end of the stage.

Original	Revised

There are many more TNT trucks in the revised version, each of which will explode after driving a short distance.

The clingy enemies seen in Stage 1 make a reappearance here, but only in the original version.

The original version has a special screen at the end of Stage 5 that encourages the player to keep going.

Stage 6#

The road is in much worse condition in the revised version, so the player is at further risk of falling off the stage.

And yes, this does turn into a jumping section. The helicopter doesn't help matters.

The cargo truck section used in the updated version of Stage 4 was originally found in Stage 6.

While the helicopter does show up in about the same spot in the earlier version of the game, it shows up again three-quarters of the way into the stage.

Stage 7#

There's an extra area with the clingy robot enemies in the original version.

The glass pane area appears in all versions, but the revised version ramps up the difficulty by adding the TNT trucks from Stage 5.

After that, the stage becomes a long series of pretty difficult jumps until it "mercifully" ends.

Stage 8#

In the original version, the boxing robots from Stage 3 make their second (and final) appearance here.

A rather uneventful section that consists of a few mild turns and a couple of motorcycles was cut completely from the revised version.

Stage 9#

Original	Revised

A mildly difficult section with cars and oil slicks was changed to a much more difficult jumping section in the revised version. The jumps are spaced where the player has to precisely control their speed to avoid jumping into one of the pits.

The trailer convoy seen in Stage 1 of the original version finally shows up here, now with helicopter!

If you thought the revised version wouldn't end with a difficult jumping section, think again!!

Ending#

Original	Revised

• Obviously the name of the person who beat you in the (secret) bad ending had to be changed.

Strangely, despite having a name, Robert is referred as LED Storm.

Original	Revised

• In the original version, the player gets a 300,000 point bonus for winning. In revised version, they get 1,000,000 points.

• The revised version obviously had to delete the earlier car design from the ending.
• While the "I HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN." voice clip and "GOOD LUCK. GOOD bye" (a rare use of lowercase letters) is kept in the revised version when you beat the second loop, it was correctly removed from the second screen when the first loop is beaten.
• The condition to get the secret credits to show up was changed:

In the original version, the special credits are shown if the player is on their second loop and there's exactly one extra credit in the machine.

In the revised version, the special credits are shown if the player is on their second loop and their score ends in 0. So, the player has to either get through the game without exploding or falling down a cliff, or they have to get hit a number of times divisible by ten.

Graphical Changes#

General#

Original	Revised

The unique futuristic font was simplified, and now is much closer to the typical Capcom game font.

Original	Revised

The cartoonish hoverboard that lifts the player out of pits was transformed into a more realistic...hoverboard? Huh. The original version's hoverboard has three stages for the lights, letting the player know when they have to jump off, while in revised version, the board only tells the player when they can get off.

Original	Revised

The font for the stage names changed as well, which unfortunately introduced some spacing and spelling errors.

Original
Revised

The "E" and "F" markers of the energy gauge are in larger type and closer to the actual start and ending of the meter.

Original	Revised

The countdown numbers are red and more detailed in the revised version.

Original	Revised

"Let's Go!" has a flashing palette and uses the same font as the stage names in the original version. In the revised version, it has no animation and the font it uses is unique to this graphic.

Original
Revised

Due to the game's story changing, the "CHECKPOINT" graphic was changed to "GOAL". Plus, they're blue now.

Original	Revised

Pretty much the same change as the Checkpoint graphic.

Items#

Original	Revised

The small gas can pick-up is no longer dripping all over the place. That's not safe, man!

Original	Revised

The nebulous "E" canister was changed to a larger gas can.

Original	Revised

The balloon pick-up went through the same change, except for that flashing "E".

Enemies & Obstacles#

As you may have noticed, the original version's graphics use heavy amounts of dithering, something that the revised version doesn't do. The shadows that objects cast are also much larger and are similarly dithered in the original version, though this doesn't apply to all graphics.

Original	Revised

The clinging enemy was changed from a yellow robot to a man in motorcycle gear.

The clinging man doesn't run like the robot does; Instead, it appears from a motorcycle sidecar.

Original	Revised

The standard car enemy is substantially less colorful and substantially more modern.

Original	Revised

The compact car is more compact in the original version.

Original	Revised

More modernizing, more dull colorizening.

Original	Revised

Even though their designs are pretty different, both trailers have the same janky two-frame wheel animation.

Original	Revised

The revised design is more modern and therefore less interesting.

Original	Revised

The flashing enemy was changed from a blue...something to a more reasonable airplane.

Original	Revised

The trailer connector has windows in the initial design. Not in later versions, though, no sir no ma'am.

Original	Revised

These are the trailer units. The graphics are different, you see.

Original	Revised

There's certainly no ambiguity in the TNT car's first design.

Original	Revised

The original version's design for this desert enemy doesn't look like a car at all! Obviously that had to be rectified.

Original	Revised

Besides the new paint job and the jittery blade, the bulldozer didn't really change that much.

Original	Revised

The cargo truck has more wheels in the revised version, and the hatch opens about twice as fast.

Original	Revised

They even changed the cargo graphics! Not sure what the initial design is supposed to be.

Original	Revised

The fancier car enemy was clearly too fancy for the redesign, so they toned it down a bit. Still fancy, though.

Original	Revised

One of the biggest changes here; The ostrich enemy was turned into a four wheeler in later versions, which also solved the whole tripping problem. Cars can't trip. Pfft.

Original	Revised

While the actual helicopter designs are obviously different, the propeller is actually the same shape in both designs, just colored differently.

Original	Revised

The helicopters don't drop cannonballs in the revised version. That's ridiculous. They drop missiles instead.

Original	Revised

The motorcycles appear to be self-driven in the original version.

Original	Revised

Yes, even the obstacles in the road had to be changed. The large boxes used in the original version made way for the tire stack in the revised version.

Original	Revised

Now, this change was just done to make the boulders easier to see against the brown backdrop of the desert. That was nice of them.

Unused Graphics#

A blue "S" canister, similar to the standard "E" canister. Maybe it completely filled the player's fuel gauge?

This giant version of the robotic grabber enemies was probably meant to appear in the game's bad ending.

There are slanting and jumping animations for this enemy that aren't prompted by anything in the original version.

These are odd busted versions of the flasher and water skimmer enemies, both of which are taken down in one hit.

The desert runners have falling and spinning animations, but they're not used: They ignore collision damage unless it would destroy them, and they just glide right over pits!

Seems to be an alternate design for the boxing robots. Not all of the necessary graphics are in the ROM anymore - note the incomplete right-facing sprite.

Another design for the boxing enemies - this one doesn't even have hands!