Every gamer has at some point waited for a highly-anticipated game to come to market. For one reason or another, the release date is postponed for a few months. This process can get ugly at times, very ugly. The delays sometimes lead to a final delay---the game is permanently put on hold, canned, and left totally unreleased. Fortunately for us, there is prototypes and emulation.

Several months ago, an eBay seller located in Spain began unloading a rather large collection of pre-production prototype games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Interested in these games, Frank Cifaldi, a Nintendo emulation freak, decided to email the seller about his games. Frank obtained a list of the games for sale and he noticed that there were a few unreleased titles in the mix: Hit the Ice, Sunman, and Secret Ties. Frank raised some money to buy these games; rom dumps were later made available. More recently Frank released a rom for the game Secret Ties. This game turned out to be a real gem.

Secret Ties is a game based of a little known comic titled Master Sugar Thief, a comic book written by the author of the Golgo 13 comic series. The game itself was developed by Vic Tokai, the company which was responsible for producing the Golgo 13 game series on the Nintendo. It is still unclear why this game did not make the cut on the Nintendo or the Famicom.

The game opens with the main character Silk. Silk is a treasure-hunter thief of sorts, along the lines of Locke from Final Fantasy VI. Silk is in conversation with Vince Brazen, a member of the World-Con Security Agency. Vince asks Silk to steal a few ancient artifacts from an Inca temple. Silk agrees, as his girlfriend Reiko steps on screen. Reiko wants to go with Silk on his adventure but Silk would rather her stay at home---this adventure could be dangerous, and she would be a burden. Silk leaves Reiko and Vince as he heads off to the Inca temple.

Game play wise, Secret Ties is very similar to the Nintendo games Ninja Gaiden and Vice: Project Doom. Silk can climb on walls, as he runs around punching and kicking his enemies into submission. Power ups and items are spread throughout the game quite sparingly.

Secret Ties is made up of six stages, each containing a boss. The bosses are all fairly simple to conquer.sometimes they are much easier than the actual stages. Among the stages that you have to visit are South America, Japan, and Vince's underwater hideouts. The stages all share the same enemies---the graphics are changed, though the enemies act exactly the same as the ones in the previous level. This tactic was a bit cheap, I thought, though it doesn't change the game play too much.

From a difficulty standpoint, I found Secret Ties to be fairly easy. The game has a few tough spots, though the majority of the material thrown at you is easily conquerable. I completed the game easily in a few hours. Also, if you need an added boost, you can always access the stage select by pressing select at the title screen.

Graphically speaking, Secret Ties looks decent. I mean, this game does not look super in the graphics department (does any NES game?), but the graphics certainly get the job done. The music is also average. A few of the tunes remind me of something that would appear in Castlevania II. A lack of originality, perhaps, but the music is very decent to listen to.

Overall, I enjoyed playing Secret Ties. Had the game been released, it would have been an overlooked hit. The hardcore Nintendo fans would have enjoyed the game, but most people would probably overlook it due to its similarities to other major titles, such as the Ninja Gaiden series. If you want to give this game a whirl, you can download the rom at the following website: (http://www.lostlevels.org/200408). I recommend trying this game; everyone who I have talked to seemed to enjoy it.