SEGA DREAMCAST iNFO Preservation games

A new prototype of the Propeller Arena Dreamcast looms on the horizon

The game  Dreamcast Propeller Arena could have suffered the same fate as Tetris on Megadrive. Tetris MD had been produced and then its stock was finally destroyed. Some employees at Sega of America make this hypothesis without being able to confirm it.

Its release date was scheduled a week after its cancellation. A deadstock that could sleep in a warehouse? If September 11 had not happened (the reason for its cancellation), it would undoubtedly have been delayed.  No destruction order was given. I love this idea!

"I still think there must be retail copies in a warehouse somewhere!  But everyone I asked told me that they were never made and that the game was going to be delayed if 9/11 hadn't happened.  Who knows if they were telling the truth? "

It was canceled only because of September 11. It had been totally done, packaging, etc., although no retail copies came out. This is a good game ! Just bad timing. "

"I know they didn't go and destroy it, so they're somewhere if they were made."

You want proof here!

During the event dedicated to  the firm with the blue hedgehog, the Segafes 2018 (a kind of Japan Expo on a smaller scale), visitors could contemplate relics exhibited behind glass plinths, a temporary exhibition retracing the history of Sega , from the Megadrive to the Dreamcast ...

In a window, Sonic fans could admire a new accessory from the Dreamcast, a kind of tablet proudly enthroned next to a mysterious copy of Propeller Arena !!!

We still do not know what this touch screen could be used for, perhaps a concept of a level editor. What was that copy of Propeller Arena doing there that seemed to be ready for sale?

The story does not end there. When Sega Japan moved its headquarters in 2019, an employee named Makato Osaki shared photos of a prototype on his twitter account.  but above all a version with a GD-Rom in a hurry and labeled with the title!

The more the years go by, the more the revelations about Propeller Arena leave us wondering. The proofs of its production may be before our eyes. We are just missing a confirmation!

Segafes 2018

Makoto Osaki prototype photo

Makoto Osaki GD-Rom pressed GD-ROM photo

"We are going to go through an area of turbulence"

Propeller Arena is an aerial combat game on Dreamcast, developed by Sega-AM2 , which places the player in control of planes competing in tournaments in the near future. He has the choice between different models, such as the Spitfire or the Mustang . He must make the best possible score in a limited time. A large number of figures such as twists or loops are achievable thanks to key combinations on the controller.

Hothead Pappy Boyington could have  enlist the best pilots by seeing them fight online. An online mode was planned. The competitions promised to be tight. Who has never dreamed of being part of an aircraft squadron !!!

The environments are 8 in number without counting the 2 secrets. Air combat takes place above a city, leveling the buildings. Other hunting grounds allow you to fight above an erupting volcano or even by flying over polar bears in a world of ice.

At the start, 8 pilots, each with its own zinc, are available. By completing the game, several times, it will be possible to unlock up to 5 new future Red Barons . The particular style of Sega is present, each aviator is caricatured by having a separate genre.

In terms of graphics, the sets can seem empty or even monotonous. It may be missing details like trees. Apart from this small flaw, the game is fun to play.

Propeller Arena didn't take itself seriously, it wanted to be  easy to learn. As for Crazy Taxi , the watchword was " FUN " !!!

We can only regret that this AM2 title has never been released, it would undoubtedly have been successful by positioning itself today as a reference for the White Queen.

The particularities of this new prototype of Propeller Arena:

It was discovered in 2003 and then made available to the community in a truncated version. It took 19 years to get a GD-I from Propeller Arena . Half Life had known the same fate until the appearance of a physical disc in 2018. History repeats itself for our greatest pleasure!

This beta is the same build that was leaked at the time. Today,  the extraction of the game will have been done correctly. The modified files are linked to downsampling (reduction, data compression) to put the game on CD. The sounds, the music were mainly impacted. The BIN had also been changed.

Sur le GD-R (format des GD-Rom prototypes, à lire ici), il n'y a aucune annotation. On pourrait le confondre avec un disque vierge.

Propeller Arena Dreamcast analysis

You can download it below, it includes a CDI (the same one already known) to burn your game as well as the original dump in GDI

New prototype of Propeller Arena for Dreamcast (11.09.2001)

Thanks:

• to Régis Monterrin for the correction.

• to Sizious for his expertise on the build.