The Video Game History Foundation revealed yesterday in a blog post on its website that it had managed to find and preserve Argonaut's legendary Game Boy demo Eclipse, which is credited with selling 3D to Nintendo and ultimately led to the creation of the 1992 Japan-exclusive X (and Star Fox for the SNES).
This is a demo that has been talked about for years in various interviews with former Star Fox developers, but that most people haven't had the chance to see or experience until now.
The blog post on the site (which was written by Star Fox super fan John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report) details how Argonaut's Dylan Cuthbert came to develop the Game Boy demo shortly after arriving at Argonaut, and how the game was initially picked up, not by Nintendo, but by the video game developer/publisher Mindscape.
It then goes into how Nintendo came to acquire the rights from Mindscape and how the demo has managed to miraculously resurface again after more than 30 years.
According to The Video Game Foundation, the existence of the demo first came to their attention thanks to Michelle Flitman, the daughter of former Mindscape producer Mark Flitman. Intent on preserving her father's work, Michelle emailed The Video Game History Foundation with a few images of pieces of documentation, tapes, and prototype cartridges. And wasting no time, the Video Game History Foundation's founder Frank Cifaldi, and former co-director Kelsey Lewin hopped on a plane to see the collection in person, which is where they made the remarkable discovery.
You can read the full feature from Rairdin here or watch the video above. The ROM is also available to download and experience for yourself on the Internet Archive. If you enjoy the piece, please be sure to donate to the Video Game History Foundation's Winter fundraiser, which is currently underway.