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Post by korax on Jul 14, 2014 14:41:44 GMT
I must admit I've never looked much into collecting variations of different games, and therefore know very little of the different versions of SMS games, but an incident today sparked my interest and I thought I'd ask some of the savants on this forum for advice  I just got my 2nd copy of Alex Kidd in Miracle World today (European version) and noticed some differences. At first I saw that the coloring was different, the one copy was darker than the other and I thought to myself that this was just due to wear (however it seems that many other people have these dark colored releases, so now I'm not sure), and as I flipped them over I noticed the "Now there are no limits" written on the back of the "dark" copy, but missing on the other.   I did a search on this forum and found an old thread from 6 years ago about the different variations of AKIMW just to confirm that there were different variations, but I was wondering if anybody knows which one of these was the original release, and which one was the re-release? I've looked through my other SMS games and the latest game I could find with the "Now there are no limits" was Phantasy Star from 1988. All my other SMS games from after that time don't have this, which leads me to believe that they moved away from that slogan? (Which to me would mean that the "dark copy" is the original release) Both copies have this manual:  I am aware that there's also a manual with different front page artwork (which also should be european, but never had a release with that one though):  Does anyone know what release the "alternative" manual comes with? Anyway, I'd appreciate any input regarding all of this  |
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Post by ShadowAngel on Jul 14, 2014 15:45:47 GMT
I am aware that there's also a manual with different front page artwork (which also should be european, but never had a release with that one though): Does anyone know what release the "alternative" manual comes with? I got that manual with my Master System 1 which had Alex Kidd built in. That was in 1990. Maybe it was just used for the Console release? I've got 2 lose Alex Kidd in Miracle Worlds, and they have the other manual. |
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Post by brian on Jul 14, 2014 19:52:37 GMT
I'm betting it's a later release manual... it's title font matches Alex Kidd in Shinobi World's font.
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Post by gallos_11 on Jul 14, 2014 20:09:02 GMT
I'm totally inexperienced with these minor variations, so can't answer which one was the original release.
However I can definitely confirm that the second AKIMW manual was included only with the consoles that have Alex Kidd built-in (SMS1 & SMS2). Unfortunately many people who had bought the physical cartridge release were exchanging or throwing away the correct manual for unknown reasons and today there's huge confusion when they are up for sale. Also some "clever" sellers trying to sell the game with the console manual as it's more common than the original.
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Post by rupert on Jul 14, 2014 23:44:47 GMT
The 'Now there are no limits ®' version is earlier however not the first. Before this there was a 'Now there are no limits sm' that came with a different manual, similar US style all English.
After the 'Now there are no limits ®' was dropped and the ® can be found just on the SEGA logo's. This period was 1988/89 I believe (from memory but I fully worked it all out at one point, lol).
From 1990 the ® on the SEGA logos was also dropped, this dates your manual as later than the game box it has come in. Also the art style is from the console built in version anyway.
So there are 4 euro releases of the game (not counting individual regional variations i.e. German). 86 now there are no limits sm, 87 Now there are no limits ®, 88/89 ®, 90+ no ®.
This can be said for quite a number of games. I started to create a grid to show these variations and dates of release, lots of work and still unfinished. Also a good source of info are the scans on SMSPower as there are many small variations included.
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Post by ddevilfingers on Jul 15, 2014 7:10:59 GMT
I believe the thread you found 6 years ago was mine when I first joined up here asking a similar question. Up to 8 variants of this game now. |
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Post by korax on Jul 15, 2014 10:08:03 GMT
Thanks for your replies guys, and thanks for the clarification rupert I see now that other games follow a similar pattern. Now I just have to decide which one of these two I should keep And you're right ddevilfingers, it was your thread indeed! |
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Post by korax on Jan 14, 2015 16:43:58 GMT
Hey guys! Just wanted to update this old thread with another aspect of the Alex Kidd variations I hadn't really noticed before. I looked at the 2 versions of the game that I have atm and noticed that one of them had a different colored PCB - usually I always expect the reddish-brown color PCB when I look at the bottom, but this one was light grey, which I couldn't find in any of my other SMS games. I thought I might as well have a look inside: The reddish-brown PCB  The light grey PCB  The light grey one came from a seemingly older version of AKIMW with the "Now there are no limits" on the back. The PCBs have different layouts, chips have different serials and the light grey pcb has printed "SEGA 1986" on it. I'm sure someone here has seen this variation too - I reckon the light grey PCB is the older version due to the date print perhaps? I thought however that the variations were visible in the cover only, but that the cart was the same. |
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Post by gallos_11 on Jan 14, 2015 21:08:11 GMT
I've seen the light grey PCB in other games as well. As you said, seems to be from an older production line.
You may just check the dates on chips. The one on reddish-brown PCB says 8934, which means 34th week of 1989 and the other says 8816, which means 16th week of 1988.
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Post by ddevilfingers on Mar 10, 2016 12:50:59 GMT
Hey guys - wanted to clarify something so resurrecting this thread. I just noticed that this site segaretro.org/Alex_Kidd_in_Miracle_World#Master_System_version states that the Euro releases of AKIMW came with what I consider to be the pack-in only manual. Pretty sure that wasn't the case but as mine are only boxed I was hoping someone could confirm? |
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Post by gallos_11 on Mar 10, 2016 15:27:16 GMT
I think it's just a mistake.
I've seen a couple more errors on Master System and SC-3000 stuff.
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Post by ddevilfingers on Mar 11, 2016 3:03:32 GMT
Cheers Nick. Yeah I was pretty certain that wasn't the case and that manual was only with consoles with AKIMW built in.
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Post by Stan on Mar 11, 2016 16:02:17 GMT
Have fun finding the Asian version of it if you get the variant bug hahaahah.
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Post by ddevilfingers on Mar 12, 2016 4:54:52 GMT
Have fun finding the Asian version of it if you get the variant bug hahaahah. The Korean one? Yep - have had an eye out for it for a long time! |
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Post by Stan on Mar 21, 2016 12:09:08 GMT
Have fun finding the Asian version of it if you get the variant bug hahaahah. The Korean one? Yep - have had an eye out for it for a long time! Chinese I meant. |
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