Pokémon Black and White beta

Like previous major releases, especially those that set a new generation, Pokémon Black and White went through multiple test, or beta stages, many of which included several elements that were eventually dropped or revised before the games' release. Some of these components can still be found within the games' programming.

Pre-release

Many aspects of Pokémon Black and White were shown in screenshots or videos prior to the games' release. Some of these were not present in the final game in the form(s) shown in the media.

Sprites

Starter selection screen

The starter selection sprite of Tepig was different in some early videos. The beta sprite has a more triangular hind foot, with only one of which shown, and had slightly different shading. Also, while selecting the starter, the other two starters were not as darkened.

The beta screen

VS sprites

Beta sprites for Hilbert and Cheren were shown in an early video shown on Pokémon Sunday. Although the difference for Cheren's sprite is only where his eyes face, Hilbert's sprite received a complete overhaul. A beta sprite for Bianca, lacking her Xtransceiver, was shown in the early video footage that came with an issue of Dengeki Nintendo DS.

Hilbert
Beta Cheren VS sprite.jpg

Cheren
Bianca

Pokémon

Excadrill

In Excadrill's first appearance in a promotional video, it was colored purple instead of brown and its stripes were mirrored. However, this was not long-lived, as it was changed to its current appearance in the next video.

Beta Excadrill

Locations

A few prototype maps were shown in pre-release screenshots.

Castelia City

There were many changes to Castelia City, where at least four different tilesets were shown before the final design. A few of these designs can be seen below.

Image released April 15, 2010 (CoroCoro leak April 10)
Animated view from Pokémon Sunday April 18, 2010
June 27 trailer from Oha Suta
Image from Pokemon.co.jp video
Image released May 14, 2010
Image from Pokemon.co.jp video

Skyarrow Bridge

Beta image of Skyarrow Bridge
Second beta image of Skyarrow Bridge

In addition, two images released of the Skyarrow Bridge showed a slightly different skyline of Castelia City, with one also showing what seems to be a beta sprite, of which's use is unknown, and not including a sprite of an NPC.

Pokémon Center

Beta

When buying at a Pokémon Center, the part of the screen where the player can be seen is shown to rotate a bit.

Items

Due to the way in which the game was programmed, all items from Generation IV, including key items and beta items, are present in Black and White, with the exception of HM07 and HM08, which are now blank-space ?-items. The Park Ball is also not obtainable, as it has been overwritten with the Dream Ball. Most of these items are unobtainable.

There is also an item called the God Stone. The creators probably intended to have the player revive Kyurem too.