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As one of the largest 16 bit games created by Sega, Phantasy Star IV was developed through a long, extensive process. Characters and features were added, changed, and removed as the developers made decisions to create the best experience possible. In the end, the final version of Phantasy Star IV was a successful hit game for Sega. Sometimes however, the early versions of a game are just as interesting as the final product.
During early development, Phantasy Star IV was intended to be released in two versions for MegaCD and MegaDrive. MegaCD discs featured a larger capacity than MegaDrive cartridges, so the MegaCD version was expected to have extra content and features throughout the game. Called Phantasy Star IV: The Return of Alis, the story would have been a sequel to Phantasy Star III featuring Alis Landale returning to Algo. First person dungeons similar to those in Phantasy Star would have been used, as well. Eventually, development of these projects was abandoned and refocused into work on Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium, but not before North American gaming magazines caught wind of it and announced Return of Alis.
Exactly how far Return of Alis progressed into development is unknown. Phantasy Star: Official Production Compendium contains a screenshot of a battle sequence in the first person dungeons.
An early development version of the game appeared at the 1992 Tokyo Toy Show. The subtitle "The End of the Millennium" was not present in this version; it was simply named Phantasy Star IV. Screens from this version appeared in magazines covering the announcement of the game. The first preview in Electronic Gaming Monthly was based on this prototype. Unfortunately, according to Phantasy Star: Official Production Compendium, this prototype no longer exists. The promotional screens can also be seen in that book.
During the localization process of converting Phantasy Star IV from Japanese to English, Sega of America created at least five prototypes. Each of these prototypes have different game scripts, with subsequent prototypes reflecting further progression of the localization. None of these prototypes were ever officially released, but they have been acquired and released to the internet as ROMs.
To cash in on the popularity of the game, an Asian pirate game company decided created a Famicom remake. It appears they also created several prototypes, as four different Pirate Versions have been released to the internet as ROMs.
At one point, Sega announced a planned remake of Phantasy Star IV, as part of their Ages line for PlayStation 2. This game would have been similar to Phantasy Star generation:1 and Phantasy Star generation:2. However, the plans for Phantasy Star IV were canceled in favor of retooling the Ages line to collections of classic games, such as Phantasy Star Complete Collection.