Lord of the Rings Volume 1, J.R.R. Tolkien's

This is an essentially final prototype of the German version of Lord of the Rings Volume 1. Thanks to drx and Hidden Palace for this release. By: Evan G Last updated: January 16, 2026

Lord of the Rings Volume 1 is an action RPG based off the Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the series. The game is an action RPG, but this is no Link to the Past. It is slow and confusing and not very appealing. It is notable for having a German localization, which this prototype is of. This was part of a collection that originated from Germany. It is basically final, except for 13 bytes:

Comparing files THELORDOFTHERIN.sfc and 
JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Volume One (G).SFC:
00000006: 14 FF
00000007: 52 FF
00000008: 90 FF
00000009: E6 FF
0000000A: 6F FF
0000000B: 19 FF
0000000C: BD DF
0000000D: 90 DF
0000000E: 92 DF
0000000F: 96 DF
00000010: 9C DF
00000011: 90 DF
00000012: 00 DF
End of both files.

Considering that the internal checksum is the same as the final version of the game, these changes are almost certainly some kind of watermark. Everything in this game is likely the same as final.

The stickers have some labels on them. "LOTR" - obviously the title. In the serial code, the number "1452" is written. I have no idea what this means. It has 8/16 as the date, presumably August 16, 1995 (the game came out in 1995 in Europe).

Prototype PCB - Front

Prototype PCB - Back

Download the prototype here