Nightmare Busters

Nightmare Busters is an unreleased game that was developed by Arcade Zone. In Japan, it was planned to be published by Nichibutsu. Thanks to drx and Hidden Palace for the prototypes, Matthew Callis for the cart and box scans, ChronoMoogle for some information on the bootleg, and Retromags and Out of Print Archive for the magazine scans! By: Evan G Last updated: May 8, 2026

Nightmare Busters is an action shooter game, in development by the London-based studio Arcade Zone by Christophe Gayraud and Jean‑Christophe Alessandri, and was to be published by Nichibutsu in Japan. According to an interview on 1up Games, Arcade Zone had a publishing agreement with Sony in Europe, and when Sony decided to bring out the Playstation and abandon Nintendo consoles, it became impossible to continue running the studio. At that point, they had to stop working on Nightmare Busters, even though it was almost finished. A version of the game eventually came out on mobile phone platforms in 2004, as Flynn's Adventure. From the first prototype leak, it appears that Nichibutsu was planning to take over as publisher in Japan, but that obviously never came to fruition.

Physical releases

The first physical release of the game came as a bootleg originating from Japan. Every once and a while around 2010-2011, a well made Japanese-style boxed version of the game came up on auction sites like Ebay. It had some original artwork and was made from scavenged copies of Super Donkey Kong 3. This was apparently made by people associated with various used video game shops in Japan, so the bootlegs were probably also available in these stores. I call this a bootleg because it was in no way officially sanctioned by the original developers. The exact timing of when this came out is a bit unclear at this point (I found a mention of it from a thread on the Assembler Games forum in 2010) but it presumably used the leaked "Duofan" prototype.

Box artwork from the Japanese bootleg.

Once the first prototype was released online, the game caught the eye of Super Fighter Team, who created an aftermarket version (an archived version of the website is here). This release was officially sanctioned by the original developers. The game was originally announced in June 2010, but it wasn't until December 2013 that it actually came out. There was some discussion about this on the Nintendo Age forum back then questioning why it took so long and gave some impressions when it finally shipped. The people who got the physical copy were not very impressed with the quality and questioned why it took so long.

Box artwork from the Super Fighter Team release of the game

Perhaps sensing the poor quality of the Super Fighter Team release, the original developers pledged to return to the game in 2025. They launched a crowdfunding campaign, with a goal of creating a remake of the game, plus a revamped version of the SNES game. Their mock-ups definitely look a lot nicer than what Super Fighter Team did. As I am writing this, it isn't out yet, but it sounds like it should be soon.

Mock-up boxes of the new edition of the game

The game and prototypes

Gameplay-wise, Nightmare Busters is perhaps comparable to a cross between Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts and Contra. A commentator on Unseen64 noted that the game is likely inspired by the Capcom arcade game, Midnight Wanderers. With the amount of enemies, you have to be quick hitting the fire button! The sound and graphics are excellent, and aside from some balance issues (namely that the game has a lot of unavoidable hits), it appears pretty close to completion, at least with the later prototypes. The enemies respawn relentlessly, sometimes exactly where you are standing! It can be tough to avoid getting hit. Perhaps the ideal way to play is with two players.

There are three prototypes of the game. One is definitely in an earlier stage of development, while the other two are almost finished. According to Hidden Palace, the September 4, 1994 version is more complete, though it has some debug features enabled. The Super Fighter Team version appears to be almost the same as the Duofan prototype, except that it has the logo of Super Fighter Team added on and some extra time tacked in the first level.

Prototype 1 (Duofan prototype)

The first prototype of this game was discovered by Digital Press user Duofan in 2007, who posted it on the forum. It was subsequently purchased by prolific prototype collector Simon_Belmont, who offered to dump the game. There was a fundraiser on the Assembler Games forum which saw the prototype of the game get leaked sometime around 2010 (although I was unable to find the original thread). This prototype shows the game in a nearly finished state.

Picture of the prototype, courtesy of Duofan

Prototype 2 (September 4, 1994 prototype)

This prototype was released by Hidden Palace in a big New Year's release of prototypes in 2022. Originally it was labelled as April 9, but it is actually September 4! It is hard to say whether this prototype is earlier than the Duofan prototype, as the first two levels seem almost the same. The first few lines of the prototype binary says it is a work in progress and the internal header calls the game "Faeries" (something that is also in the earlier prototype described below). The Duofan prototype does not have the "work in progress" text, and it has "Nightmare Busters" in the header, so I assume that this prototype is earlier, even though the analysts at Hidden Palace think this is more complete. A direct binary comparison of the Duofan and September 4, 1994 prototypes and the Super Fighter Team version indicates that the Duofan version is much more similar. The ROM image release does not say what the origin of this prototype is, and I do not know if it originated off a prototype PCB.

A C. GAYRAUD & J.C. ALESSANDRI GAME. WORK IN PROGRESS 9/4/1994 

Prototype 3 (June 21, 1994 prototype)

This prototype was released by SNES Central on May 8, 2026, from a lot that was acquired by drx of Hidden Palace. This is definitely the earliest of the three prototypes, though most of the gameplay is intact. The first stage is very different in that there are several places where the screen is fixed and you have to defeat waves of enemies before progressing. It is not so engaging. The second stage seems more similar to the later prototypes, and I would expect this was completed before the first stage. The game lacks sound effects in some places and the music is a bit different. The PCB has a checksum on the label, but it does not match the binary that is on it.

A C. GAYRAUD & J.C. ALESSANDRI GAME. WORK IN PROGRESS 6/21/1994

Prototype PCB for the June 21 prototype

Prototype 4 (DreamTR prototype)

In 2013, famed prototype collector DreamTR sold a prototype of Nightmare Busters on Ebay. There was no information stated on the level of completion of the prototype, and its fate is unknown.

Image of the prototype PCB sold by DreamTR

Magazine Coverage.

The game was shown at Shinshokai 1994 (held on November 15-16, 1994), and made it into Nintendo Power's 1995 preview issue. It was also previewed in the September 1994 issue of Total! magazine. In both cases, the game appears to be close to the late prototypes.

Screenshot in the January 1995 issue of Nintendo Power

Preview in the September 1994 issue of Total!

Comparisons

Splash screen

The splash screen is only in the Duofan prototype and not the other two. The Super Fighter Team version ads their own splash screen (which required expanding the ROM to do).

Duofan prototype	Super Fighter Team release

Copyright information

The copyright information is different between the versions of this game. The Duofan prototype removes the "Licensed by Nintendo" part that is not required for Japanese releases, and instead includes a copyright for Nihon Busan ("日本物産" - Nihon Bussan versus "日物" - Nichi Butsu, the shortened version of the company name, which means "Japanese made"). The Super Fighter Team version removes the Arcade Zone copyright in favour of the two developers, Christophe Gayraud and Jean-Christophe Alessandri, as well as Super Fighter Team.

Duofan prototype	September 4, 1994 prototype

June 21, 1994 prototype	Super Fighter Team release

Options menu

The options menu for the Duofan prototype and the Super Fighter Team release are the same. The September 4, 1994 prototype has extra options for debugging (presumably). The options menu doesn't work in the June 21 prototype, as far as I can tell.

Duofan prototype	September 4, 1994 prototype

Super Fighter Team release

Opening screen

The HUD for the June 21 prototype is a lot different from the later versions. The Super Fighter Team has an extra minute of time added for the first stage compared with the two later prototypes, indicating there was some moves to make the game a bit easier.

Duofan prototype	September 4, 1994 prototype

June 21, 1994 prototype	Super Fighter Team release

First treasure

The earlier prototype clearly has a different background (and foreground!) and the colours are different. No treasure here! The other versions look pretty much the same.

Duofan prototype	September 4, 1994 prototype

June 21, 1994 prototype	Super Fighter Team release

Burning building

The treasure does not appear in the earlier prototype, and the building is not as three-dimensional. The other versions are basically the same here.

September 4, 1994 prototype	June 21, 1994 prototype

First boss

In the earlier prototype, the enemy health bar is designed in a different way. The colours are also more washed out in the background. The other versions are basically the same.

September 4, 1994 prototype	June 21, 1994 prototype

Second level

The second level in the early prototype is a lot more similar to the other prototypes than the first level is. The design of the treasure chest is different, though.

Duofan prototype	June 21, 1994 prototype

Download Prototype 1 (Duofan prototype)

Download Prototype 2 (September 4, 1994)

Download Prototype 3 (June 21, 1994)

Bibliography

• Flynn's Adventure on Gamespot (link)
• Nintendo Power, Shoshinkai: The Showcase, Publication date: January 1995, Volume: 68, Pages: 54
• Total!, STOP PRESS (preview), Publication date: September 1994, Volume: 33, Pages: 11