The Lost Version of Super Star Wars for Sega Mega Drive

Super Star Wars was one of the best games released for Nintendo's console, and one that followed the events of the movie most closely, regardless of some artistic liberties taken to improve the experience. At the time, it was believed that it was impossible to reproduce the graphics of Super Star Wars on other consoles due to the famous Mode 7 on the SNES, but the community known as The Hidden Palace discovered nothing less than a prototype of Super Star Wars for Sega Mega Drive. The game was canceled for unknown reasons, and it was left half-finished... but a copy already exists online...

Star Wars. A complex saga if there ever was one. The discussions surrounding it never end, and probably never will. Examples? The (few) defenders of The Last Jedi say the latest movie is terrible. Then there are those who believe it manages to survive in an ultra-generic framework that plays it safe. And practically everyone has knelt down, surrendering to The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. Differences and common points that come and go. Star Wars is a permanent storm, and you have to dance within it.

That instability also reached the development of its video games, even in times that seemed a bit calmer. For example, Super Star Wars for Super Nintendo was released in 1992. A year later its sequel appeared, and in 1994 Return of the Jedi arrived. Only the last game found a place on alternative consoles (Game Boy and Game Gear), and all those who were waiting for a version for Sega Mega Drive were left wanting. However... today we can say with absolute certainty that the intention to release Super Star Wars on Sega existed, and we have conclusive proof: the prototype.

The prototype surfaces

That's right: work on Super Star Wars for Sega Mega Drive began in late 1992 and ended at some point in 1993, when its cancellation was ordered for unknown reasons. That didn't stop it from being mentioned in several European publications, and there were even speculations about ports for Sega CD and PC, but those projects were also withdrawn by LucasArts.

The Mode 7 challenge

Now, it was assumed that a console like the Sega Mega Drive could never receive a game like Super Star Wars due to the famous Mode 7 graphics on Nintendo hardware (Super Mario Kart? F-Zero? That's Mode 7), but judging by the data in the prototype, the plan was to replace the entire Mode 7 phase in the attack on the Death Star with a first-person view.

Try it yourself

Would you like to try it? You can! The folks at The Hidden Palace and The Cutting Room Floor joined forces to publish the dump of the prototype on the Web. Of course, we are talking about an unfinished game, full of bugs, missing scenes, and non-existent levels, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that fans might take this game and finish it on their own...

Download Super Star Wars for Sega Mega Drive: Click here