The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas - Dreamcast Prototype
0Most people would certainly be familiar with the PS2 game that was released exclusively in Europe, but did you know that it was supposed to be released on a different platform altogether?
What we are dealing with here is the prototype build of the unreleased SEGA Dreamcast version of Viva Rock Vegas. For one thing, this one has a different look (and feel contol-wise) compared to the PlayStation 2 version that we eventually did get. Perhaps the most interesting bit for me is not only we know who would have been the game's US publisher (Conspiracy Entertainment), but the Dreamcast version was developed by a different studio as a whole.
You see, the PS2 version we got was developed from scratch by Toka. The developer responsible for the cancelled Dreamcast version was Full Fat, a studio who is normally specialised in making licensed games for handheld devices, as well as handheld ports of popular games. And for Evercade fans, this is the same studio behind Punch King, which was included in the Piko Interactive Collection 3 cartridge.
I don't know the exact reason why Swing! cancelled this version, but I imagine this has something to do with how poor the sales were for the Dreamcast. After all, the Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001, whereas in Europe it was discontinued in 2002. That was the time where SEGA was essentially calling it quits on making consoles and began its new life as a third party publisher. Swing! could have at least released it as a PAL exclusive, but they decided the Dreamcast was a lost cause either way.
As a result, Swing! cancelled the Dreamcast version and switched to the PlayStation 2 instead. This time around, Toka was in charge of the game's development, thus having to make the game from scratch. I don't know why Swing! chose to switch from Full Fat to Toka, but what I "yabba-dabba-do" know is that Toka's PS2 version was VERY different from Full Fat's cancelled Dreamcast version. Even if the Dreamcast version WAS released, it would still be a PAL exclusive game anyway.
With that said, feel free to have a look at the gameplay of the prototype build. If you want, you can share your opinions in the comments section on if you prefer Toka's PS2 version or Full Fat's Dreamcast prototype.
The Flintstones (C) Warner Bros. Discovery
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (C) Universal
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