Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, The / Mickey No Magical Adventure

This is a two stage prototype of Magical Quest, with many minor changes. Thanks to anonymous for dumping and releasing this! By: Jonny Last updated: October 28, 2018

Date on Prototype : May 21, 1992 (This is from 6 months before the final version was released)
Final Japanese Release : November 20, 1992
Final USA Release : December 1992

The prototype is clearly an in progress development version with only 2 stages (7 levels) completed.

The bosses actions for stage 1 are not fully implemented, there are no bosses yet on stage 2, missing enemies such as the Bee or the Fish in the water, different enemy graphics such as the Bird or the Frog, an early implementation of Pete's Peak stage and an early tileset for Fire Grotto. Many bonus items are not added yet such as heart capsules or the general store and you don't receive points except for some bonus items. It's interesting that the dialog text in the prototype is exactly the same as the final version, just that it was better formatted in the final.

Summer CES 1992 was 1992-05-28 - 1992-05-31 (The date on this cart is 7 days before the CES 1992 show)

Nintendo Power issue 39 mentions "Mystical Quest starring Mickey Mouse" being displayed at CES 1992.

It's possible this was the version shown at CES 1992 or that it was given to magazines to get an early look at the game around that time (the presence of the slow motion button code supports this to get in-game screenshots).

Prototype PCB

Holding L&R ingame enables Slow Motion

//load controller 1 input
$01/83B8 LDA $029B  [$00:029B]   A:19CA
$01/83BB AND #$30                A:1900
//check if L&R buttons were pressed
$01/83BD CMP #$30                A:1900
$01/83BF BNE $02    [$83C3]      A:1900
//here if L&R was pressed
//05 = slow motion amount. Increasing this value makes it even slower
$01/83C1 ldx #$05                A:1900
//here if L&R not pressed
$01/83C3 TXA                     A:1900

Stage Number PAR Code 7E0290 XX

• 00 = Level 1-1
• 01 = Level 1-2
• 02 = Level 1-3
• 03 = Level 1-4
• 04 = Level 2-1
• 05 = Level 2-2
• 06 = Level 2-3
• 07 = Level 2-4
• 0C = Pete's Peak level (Stage 4-1 in final)
• 10 = Test level
• 20 = Bonus room
• 21 = Bonus room in clouds

Screenshots are Prototype on Left, Final on Right

prototype	final

-Title screen says "The Mystical Quest" in the prototype, says "The Magical Quest" in the final

Text says "Push Start" in prototype, but "Press Start" in final

prototype	final

-The prototype map has an extra point on the map just below the castle

prototype	final

-The game over title graphic is a slightly different color and displays some text at the bottom in the final

-When throwing a brick, it plays a different sound effect in the prototype eg start of 1-2

-When throwing a brick at a coin block, the coins do not explode out in the prototype, but in the final they do

-There is no intro text screen in the prototype

-There is no end of stage screen in the prototype

-When Mickey jumps off an enemy and lands on the ground, he slides for a second in the prototype

-Mickey starts with all the costumes and 999 time in the prototype

Stage 1-1

prototype	final

-Mickey's sprite has been updated slightly in the final

prototype	final

-In the prototype at the start of stage 1, Mickey walks down to stage 2 (Dark Forest) on the map, in the final Mickey stays at stage 1 on the map (Treetops)

prototype	final

-In the prototype at the start of stage 1, Mickey walks on screen from the left, in the final at the start of stage 1 Mickey drops down

prototype	final

-Bird's face is different when flying

-When Mickey throws the bird it drops a coin in the final, but does not in the prototype

prototype	final

-The flying apple graphic is different when flying, and when it reaches the top it drops back to the ground in the prototype, whereas in the final it does not drop down

prototype	final

-There is no door on the log cabin in the prototype

prototype	final

-Mickey's text color is orange in the prototype, blue in the final

-The text is not well formatted in the prototype (there is no more dialog text in the rom after this block, but there is in the final)

-Mickey does not have a mouth animation in the prototype while talking, but he does in the final

-The talking old man has wings in the prototype, but does not in the final

-Enemies can walk into the house in the prototype, but cannot in the final

prototype	final

-There is an extra block after the log cabin to make it easier to climb up in the prototype

-The gap to jump out of the log cabin is bigger in final than the prototype

prototype	final

-There are no birds or cloud in the first bonus room and different music playing in the prototype

prototype	final

-When Mickey leaves the bonus room, the exit door is not on the ground in the prototype, making him drop a bit

prototype	final

-There is no knight enemy or red brick here in the prototype

prototype	final

-There is a row of bricks in the prototype, a coin block in the final

prototype	final

-There is no cloud to jump on in the prototype

-When throwing the enemy, it disappears after a few seconds in the final, but in the prototype the enemy keeps rolling indefinitely

prototype	final

-There are bricks in the prototype, a cloud in the final

prototype	final

-There are smaller cloud graphics and no bee in the prototype

prototype	final

-The block gives coins in the prototype, gives an extra heart capsule in the final

prototype	final

-There is a cloud in the prototype instead of a brick platform

Stage 1-2

prototype	final

-The prototype has a clouds walkway to a coin block here, the final does not

-The rolling tomato has no sound effect while moving or when it hits another tomato in the prototype

prototype	final

-The tomato moves slower in the prototype at this point, making it harder than the final

prototype	final

-There is no door to the general store before the boss in the prototype

prototype	final

-The ground is slightly different in the prototype and final

-Mickey can repeatedly jump on the boss to kill him in the prototype. In the final there is a 2 second delay period when Mickey jumps on him until he can do it again, so can only hurt the boss 1 time per jump

-After a while the boss will fly to the top and hang upside down in the final, but does not do this in the prototype

-When the boss is defeated in the prototype he just disappears, whereas he has a boss animation and sound effect in the final

prototype	final

-In the prototype Mickey is not fully hidden behind the exit graphic when walking through

Stage 1-3

prototype	final

-Mickey walks out further at the start each stage in the prototype than the final

prototype	final

-There is no seaweed at the bottom of the water and no bee in the prototype

prototype	final

-There is no coin block in the prototype, and Mickey has infinite time underwater in the prototype, but in the final Mickey will loose a heart if he stays underwater for too long

prototype	final

-The frog graphics are different

-If Mickey jumps on a frog in the final, he gets 100 points, but he gets no points in the prototype

prototype	final

-There is no heart capsule in the block before the dam in the prototype

prototype	final

-If Mickey goes through the dam, he gets nothing in the prototype, but gets 2 lives in the final

prototype	final

-There is only 1 brick at end of the level in the prototype, but 8 bricks in the final

Stage 1-4

prototype	final

-When the boss is going to move to the other side of the screen, it turns red in the final, but does not change color in the prototype

-When Mickey throws a brick at the boss in the prototype, the sound effect used is for pulling the coin block, different from the final

Stage 2-1

prototype	final

-There is no dialog scene before the start of this stage in the prototype talking to the old man where Mickey receives the magician costume

-The brick is in a different position at the start of the stage

prototype	final

-The coin block is pullable in the prototype and in a different position than the final which is not a pullable block

prototype	final

-The bricks are 1 row higher in the prototype

prototype	final

-The bonus room block cannot be opened by magic in the prototype, but in the final the block is breakable by magic

-In the prototype Mickey can also pull the block while wearing the magician costume which he can't do in the final

-It plays the stage 1 music when you go into the bonus room for the prototype, but does not change the music in the final

prototype	final

-When pulling the coin block, it's a bit sticky in the prototype until you walk far enough away for it to open

-Mickey does not grab the coin block by his hand in the prototype, which he does in the final

prototype	final

-The bonus room block contains apples in the prototype (which do give points), but in the final the block contains a heart capsule

prototype	final

-There is an archer enemy here in the prototype, but not in the final

prototype	final

-There is no fish in the pool in the prototype, but there is in the final

prototype	final

-A leaf enemy here in the prototype, but a coin block, a fish in the pool and an extra platform on the right in the final

prototype	final

-A spring platform on the right in the prototype, in the final the platform on the right has a magic refill

prototype	final

-There are 2 moonfaces in the prototype, 3 in the final

prototype	final

-There is no archer here in the prototype

prototype	final

-Jump across a gap with a berry block at the top in prototype, bricks to jump up and no berry block in the final

prototype	final

-Jumping onto the first leaf is harder and the leaf timing seems not as easy to jump on in the prototype, 2 bricks are added in the final to make it easier to jump onto the first leaf

Stage 2-2

prototype	final

-There is no magic refill in the prototype before the entrance

-Mickey won't get hurt in the water whatever costume he wears and does not get a bubble around him while wearing the magician costume in the prototype, but in the final he must wear the magician costume otherwise he will keep losing hearts

prototype	final

-No worms here in the prototype, but worms come out of the walls in the final

prototype	final

-There is no door here in the prototype, but Mickey has to use magic to open the door in the final

prototype	final

-The corner graphics are missing and no bonus room outside in the prototype

prototype	final

-Small platforms in the prototype, worms in the final

prototype	final

-The branch platform at the top is slightly different

prototype	final

-There is no boss in the prototype, just a long branch to walk across

Stage 2-3

prototype	final

-There are no falling leaf enemies at the start of the stage in the prototype

prototype	final

-Line of bricks here in the prototype

prototype	final

-If Mickey jumps on the spring platform, he reaches an apple block in the prototype, but nothing there in the final

prototype	final

-Tower of yellow bricks in the prototype, platform with magic refill in the final

prototype	final

-A starfish in the pool in the prototype, a fish in the pool in the final

-Going through the exit at the end of level 2-3 resets the game in the prototype

//runs after going through each end of level exit
$01/B952 AD 90 02    LDA $0290  [$00:0290]		//load the level flag
$01/B955 C9 07       CMP #$07				//check is this level 2-3
$01/B957 D0 0F       BNE $0F    [$B968]			//if not, then ignore
//goes here if it is the end of level 2-3
$01/B959 A9 80       LDA #$80
$01/B95B 8D 42 19    STA $1942  [$00:1942]		//if it is the exit for level 2-3, reset the game
$01/B95E 9C 90 02    STZ $0290  [$00:0290]		//set the current level to 0 i.e. the starting level
$01/B961 9C 40 03    STZ $0340  [$00:0340]
$01/B964 00 00       BRK #$00

Stage 2-4 (7E0290 07)

-There are no enemies in this level in the prototype

prototype	final

-There is no moon face in the prototype

prototype	final

-There is no magic refill in the prototype

prototype	final

-There are no leaves falling in the prototype

prototype	final

-There is no boss and the bricks are arranged differently in the prototype

Stage 7E0290 09 - Fire Grotto

prototype	final

-Some of the test stages that are for stage 3 load the "Fire Grotto" tileset, as seen in a tile editor

-The prototype Fire Grotto tileset is missing the fireman costume behind the glass, and missing the text "In case of fire"

Stage 7E0290 0C - Pete's Peak

-An early implementation of the level layout in the prototype with no enemies, the palette needs adjusting, and slightly different music from the final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

-The doorway behind the bricks does not work in the prototype, there are no bricks covering the door in the final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

prototype	final

-Pete's Peak stage tileset, as seen in a tile editor

Stage 7E0290 10 - Test Level

prototype	Mickey & Donald's Magical Quest 3

-Mickey's Mystical Quest prototype test tiles on left, Mickey & Donald's Magical Quest 3 test tiles on right for comparison

-The test level tiles have a similar style to the Mickey & Donald 3 test tiles, with both having a basic spiky brick and basic ground tiles

prototype	prototype

prototype	prototype

-Some test stages in the prototype

Mickey Doll

prototype	final

-The Mickey doll does not appear in the prototype but an early version is loaded in vram, so I copied it into vram for the final rom over the final Mickey doll

Please check out the article on The Cutting Room Floor for more.