Shining Force III - Beta Version

Beta Version

In 1997, Sega of Japan released the beta prototype for the game and featured several key differences, such as an unused level format, key character voice differences and monsters of which would not appear in the final game. This demo was not released anywhere outside of Japan, and thus is a sought after item for retro gaming collectors and RPG collectors alike. With its key differences (such as a final level that is not featured in the final game) the Beta version was Sega's way of testing the market for one of its popular series. The differences from the finished game are very noticeable, such as:

• Magic for the main character, Synbios, is not included in this version. In the finished product his magic is in fact: Return, which would bring the party back to a church for saving progress. As this was only a demo, though, there was no need for it to be included. His Spark magic can be obtained at level 9 in this version; however, the spell doesn't work, yet the icon and MP appears on the status screen.

• This particular version of the game character voice-overs for their special attacks are only included for Synbios, Masqurin, Grace and Hayward. The other characters, Obright and Dantares, have no voiceover and as such their mouths move for when they attack but nothing is said.

• The various monsters included were in there to test out size and span of the monsters, such as Minotaur, Lich, Worm, Bat, and Lizard. This is an unusual grouping of monsters when compared to the finished version, as the player encounters them at different times and with different statistics to that which they have in the beta.

• An area that did not make it into the finished version of the game is known as Dwarf Valley Beta and is the original battle of Dwarf Valley. The level itself was a prototype of the Waterfall battle before Aspia in Scenario 1, as the virtually identical Suspension Bridge, waterfall and cliff area are included. However, the differences are that the land texture mappings have not been completely finished and the beginning and end areas of the level are different compared to the finished falls.