In-development screenshots in magazines

[David]

In-development screenshots in magazines

I looked through the magazine scans on popuw.com.
While doing so, I found some screenshots which show things that are different from the final/released versions of PoP.
Maybe they are from earlier, work-in-progress versions, like those old SNES PoP screenshots.

DOS PoP

Differences from the released game:

• all: The prince has blue hair (or a turban?), and he is not barefoot.
• all: The wall patterns are different from the final game. Especially the dark bricks are at noticeably different places.
• top: The guard is all-yellow.
• bottom: The skeleton's skull looks different from the final game.

For easier comparison, I reconstructed each screenshot in the released version.

Comparison:

Sega Master System PoP

Differences from the released game:

• all: There are lines between the floor tiles.
• all: The torches are arranged quite differently. They seem to match the torches in DOS PoP?
• all: Hit points are not displayed.
• middle left: There is a gate in the top left room of level 1.
• middle right: The first guard of level 1 is a fat guy? And, I'm not sure if he's dying or just attacking (without a sword?).
• bottom left: A skeleton and a chomper are in a room which looks like the room of the second guard on level 1.
• bottom right: The jumping prince is closer to the ground than in the final game. The broken floor is barely visible.

Again, I reconstructed each screenshot in the released version.

Comparison:

[Norbert]

• all: The prince has blue hair (or a turban?), and he is not barefoot.
• all: The wall patterns are different from the final game. Especially the dark bricks are at noticeably different places.
• top: The guard is all-yellow.
• bottom: The skeleton's skull looks different from the final game.

Most changes appear to make sense, looking at the in-development graphics. The blue hair color is too similar to the black background; the shoes to the clothes. The monotonous guard almost looks like a ghost. And the skull looks 2D, and lacks details.