Tetsuwan Atom

This is a prototype of Tetsuwan Atom with some debug features. Thanks to nz136x for dumping and releasing the ROM image. By: Evan_G Last updated: January 3, 2026

Tetsuwan Atom (known as Astro Boy outside of Japan) has a long history in Japan, with the original manga first published in 1952. In the 1980s, the second anime series was localized in Canada, which is something I remember as a kid. The show really frightened me for some reason! As a result, I have some mixed feelings about Astro Boy. Most of the episodes of the Canadian dub are lost media, so I couldn't go back to it even if I wanted to.

Anyways, the premise of Tetsuwan Atom as a robot boy in the future lends itself well for a video game adaptation. Unfortunately, Zamuse's treatment leaves much to be desired. The graphics and music are good, but the gameplay is clunky and frustrating. Atom's standard attack of punching requires you to get too close to the enemies, which makes it hard to defeat them without getting hit yourself. The second component is to get Atom to fly and then do a charging attack. To get Atom to fly, you have to hold down the X/L/R button to charge an energy bar up, at which time Atom is completely defenseless. The charging takes too long, and the charge attack cannot be controlled. This means that you will be repeatedly doing this to go after the enemies that fly around the screen quickly. Using the punch is not really an option. Another annoying thing is that the A button is jump, and the B button is punch, going against standard gaming conventions. At least this can be changed in the config menu.

Prototype	Final - no changes here

Changes in the prototype

I have compared the first level available in the prototype (the second in the final game). There are no major changes to that level.

On the title screen, the final version of the game eventually goes into a demo. This is not in the prototype.

The config menu in the prototype brings you to a stage select screen rather than the final version which has a controller configuration option menu. Thank goodness they added that. There is also an option to turn off damage in the prototype.

Prototype	Final

The first level (and presumably 3, 4.1 and 7) is not in the prototype. It is greyed out in the stage select menu and can't be selected. If you select "Start", it takes you straight to the second level (a haunted castle). The 4th level is the same as the 3 level in the final game, which is the mode 7 rotating level. Maybe they had ambitions for more levels. Level 7 seems to be missing for sure, though.

The prototype gives you five hearts on your health meter to start with. The final version gives you three.

Prototype	Final

One thing in this prototype is that the charging for the rocket boots takes even longer! Maybe 2 seconds longer. It is still too long in the final version, but they must have acknowledged it was a painful exercise.

The pitter-patter of Atom's feet when he is walking is not in the prototype. I find it annoying, but for a kids game I can understand why they added it in.

The prototype gives you 9 continues, instead of the 3 in the final version. The music in the final version on the continue screen is different as well. If you beat the game, it loops to level 2 again.

The prototype PCB

The PCB has a label similar to other Banpresto published games, like the Kenyuu Denesetsu Yaiba prototype I got a few years ago. The label says it is 60% complete and has a date of October 15 (1993). The date on the debug menu says October 14, 1993. The label states they wanted the prototype returned early January 1994 (I guess that never happened, lol). The game was actually released on February 18, 1994. The 60% estimate seems kind of low. My impression playing it is that the game is close to being finished, but needed a bit of polish (which happened by reducing the charging time of the rocket boots).

Prototype PCB - Front

Prototype PCB - Back

Download the ROM image here