Genesis Revenge of Shinobi differences

[zombiecraig]

I'm pretty sure that there were at least two versions of this Genesis cart. I think the "batman" boss that looks like Batman and then the revised version where DC Comics pressured them to change the appearance of the "batman" boss. I'm not sure if any of the other bosses were changed, however. There was a "spider-man" boss and a "godzilla" boss, too.

 

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Is there an easy way, without playing through the whole game, to see which version is on the cart?

[108 Stars]

First there were Spider-Man, Batman and Godzilla in the game.

 

Then it was revised and Batman was turned into some bat-monster.

 

Then came a revision where not only Batman was gone, but also Godzilla had been turned into a giant dinosaur skeleton.

 

 

Spider-Man remained in the game in all versions.

 

You can tell the first print apart from the others because of the copyright. I believe the first version does not have any mention of Marvel Comics (because of Spider-Man) on the title-screen. Sega than cooperated with Marvel to keep Spidey in the game and put in the copyright.

[mbd30]

I have the revision with the skeletal dinosaur replacing "Godzilla".

 

It looks pretty cool, IMO.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1PRtBeGKvk

[NE146]

Funny.. I bought the game immediately when it came out on the store shelves.. and while I remember thinking it looked like Batman & Spiderman, I never thought it WAS them. And I just thought it was a dinosaur, not Godzilla.

[Classic Pac]

Here is what I found

 

Software revision 1.00 (1989): Enemy characters resembling Rambo, The Terminator, Spider-Man, Batman, and Godzilla are present. Both Spider-Man and Batman are actually fake representations of the characters conducted by a shapeshifter who alters his appearance after sustaining a certain amount of damage. Additionally, Joe Musashi's face on the title sequence resembled that of actor Sonny Chiba dressed as his character Hattori Hanzō from the Japanese TV series Kage no Gundan (Shadow Warriors).

Software revision 1.01 (1989): Batman is replaced by a winged Devilman-like creature. Godzilla and Spider-Man remain unmodified, the latter now morphs into the Devil when defeated. The "Gunner" enemy soldiers with flamethrowers are also changed to bald men with headbands, altering their original likeness to Rambo (although Sega had the license to the character for their Rambo III console games, they did not use it for this game).

Software revision 1.02 (1990): The fake Spider-Man is now redesigned into the licensed character from Marvel Comics, acknowledged by a copyright notice (Sega already had the license to the character for their game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin). Since he is now the real Spider-Man, he doesn't morph into the Devil and actually leaves the battle when enough damage is inflicted, with the winged Devil entering to replace him. Godzilla still remain intact.

Software revision 1.03 (1990): Godzilla is replaced by a skeletal dinosaur. Everything else remains intact from the previous revision, including the licensed use of Spider-Man. This version was used in the Genesis 6-Pak cartridge.

Software revision 1.04 (2009): Since the licensed use of the boss Spider-Man was for a limited period of time, the game was subsequently prevented from being re-released years later. The 2009 release for the Virtual Console features a new specific software revision (1.04) that omits the Marvel copyright notice and replaces Spider-Man with a pink palette swap of the character that still behaves the same as the licensed Spider-Man. Joe Musashi's design in the title screen was also altered to remove his likeness to Sonny Chiba.