As some of you may know, there are several unused animations of Phoenix, Edgeworth and Butz. And since all the sprites were extracted directly from the game files you might wonder: "how could anyone miss another unused animations"? Well, the aforementioned animations were discovered because they had unique look. But the sprites bellow look pretty similar to the regular sprites.

Old Man



First he moves from side to side, as usual, but suddenly he stops and becomes serious. The animation is actually composed of two sequences, and you can clearly see where the second one starts - where the bottom part cuts off. It also points to the fact that this animation was meant to be used only during court proceedings. The same goes for Edgeworth's and Butz's unused animations - they both lack the bottom part, because it would be covered by the witness stand.

In Gyakuten Saiban Jiten it's called ダメージ (Damage) and it is listed as "not used in the game".

Jake Marshall



This animation is similar to the one used in the game. The only difference is in the unused animation Jake actually bites the piece of dried meat off.

In Gyakuten Saiban Jiten it's called 噛み切る (biting off, gnawing through) and it is listed as "not used in the game".

Mike Meekins



He just stares and moves his head in a funny way while standing still.

For some reason in Gyakuten Saiban Jiten it's not even listed as a separate animation. I guess, it's supposed to be his idle animation, like that of Yogi, but it's never used in Case 5.

I thought that maybe it was used in Ace Attorney 4, but judging from the sprite sheet
it is not even present in that game.

Here I will describe some small but interesting tidbits that have no place elsewhere.


In the English version recollection scenes in the first four cases lack the usual black-and-white filter, but it is present in the Japanese version of the game. Strangely enough, the English version does feature the black-and-white filter in Case 5.


Even though the Japanese version has the black-and-white filter, it is not used during every recollection scenes early in the game.


In Case 2 when you meet Gumshoe for the second time (when you get Maya's Cellphone) you can show him the glass shards:



During the conversation the background changes to the background of the office with Mia's dead body. At the same time Gumshoe is present on screen and he continues the conversation.

It's actually a bug, because this is a reminiscence scene and Gumshoe is not supposed to be there (his sprite covers the glass stand, rendering the whole scene pointless).


The US version contains the Japanese version of the game, excluding the Japanese scripts which are replaced with dummy files (although AA2 and AA3 do contain them). It's not surprising, since the Japanese version includes the English localization, which you can activate through the main menu (just like in Ace Attorney Trilogy for 3DS).


The sound of the gun shot in Case 4 intro is actually a reused sound of Berretta M92 from Resident Evil (PS1).


At the end of the last investigation day in Case 5, after Gant spots Phoenix, Ema and Gumshoe in his office, the game automatically moves you to the Detention Center and precludes you from leaving it. Judging from control codes in the script, originally the player weren't forced into that location - instead they could explore all the available places. The developers probably did it to avoid unnecessary wandering.


There is Maya's profile in Case 1 files - a remnant from the time when Case 2 was the first episode in the game.


There's also Mia's profile in Case 5 files - maybe originally she had a more prominent role in this case?


Case 5 has at least five unused evidence slots. There is a way to activate them - they contain dummy icons, but reuse the description from Mia's profile.

Dialog #1

Place: Mia's office.
Time: The beginning of the game, when Phoenix examines Mia's body and the crime scene.




Commentary: In the final game there is no safe to be found at that location, but, surprisingly, the 3DS re-release contains an image that looks like a safe:


Internal file name: ITA004.

I cannot say for sure that this is the very same safe Phoenix is talking about, but there are certain facts that point to it.

First, this image is found among other scene-related images...


...like that of Mia's body...


...or the glass stand.

Some of them are used in the game, while others are not.

Second, it's internal file name is "ITA004". The two images above have "ITA003" and "ITA005" as their internal file names respectively.

Third, if you place the safe on the background, it fits perfectly to the scene, although it is hard to pinpoint the exact location: the background was probably edited after the safe had been removed from the scene.

Finally, it looks somewhat similar to the safe from Case 4:



Quite why it is present in the 3DS version but absent in the DS version is a huge mystery.
The 3DS version has all unused content from the DS version, but it also has some unique unused images.

This scene has another unused image, but I will mention it in the "Unused Graphics" section later.

---

Dialog #2

Place: Outside Mia's office, where the player meets Gumshoe for the first time.
Time: The day after Mia had been murdered.




Commentary: It seems that originally, during the day when police investigated Fey & Co Law Offices, the player had access to the location outside Mia's office - the one that we see during the episode intro and the one where we meet Gumshoe for the first time. And judging from the text, Mia's office was not a playable location - perhaps the whole conversation with Gumshoe occurred at that place. Kinda makes sense that Phoenix was not allowed to go in there: you know, murder scene and all...

---

Dialog #3

Place: Fey & Co Law Offices.
Time: The conversation with Gumshoe, after he gives the player "Maya's Cellphone".

Commentary: When you receive "Maya's Cellphone" you can present it to Gumshoe. Doing so will trigger the following text:


Basically, Phoenix repeats the last words he, em, "thought" after he received the cellphone. And that's it - the game switches back to the four-buttons-menu, without a word from Gumshoe. Obviously, something is no right.

It seems the developers simply forgot to change the game logic to the following dialog, because
there is no reason whatsoever to cut it:

---

Dialog #4

Place: Detention center.
Time: Before receiving Maya's Cellphone.





Commentary: This dialog probably occurred when you showed Maya her memo. The final game has this dialog instead:


Actually, it creates a contradiction. This dialog can occur before meeting Gumshoe at the office. When the player runs across him there, his name box has "???" instead of "Gumshoe", and after this the player is asked to choose the detective's name.

Dialog #1

Place: District Court, Courtroom No. 1.
Time: When the player presses April May during her second cross-examination.

Commentary: The following unused dialog was supposed to occur during the second cross-examination of April May. It would engage after the player pressed her at this statement:







In the final version the game uses this dialog instead:



Note that in the unused dialog the fact that Mia runs to the right is pointed out by Edgeworth.

In the final version of the game this contradiction is mentioned by Wright, and it is now part of the objection dialog that occurs during White's cross-examination on the following day, when you present the "May Testimony" evidence to him (the dialog is long, so below is just a relevant snippet):


I've managed to restore this dialog, here is the video of it.

Dialog #1

Place: Grossberg Law Offices
Time: When the player returns to Grossberg Law Offices after obtaining White's photo.




Dialog #2

Place: Grossberg Law Offices
Time: When the player returns to Grossberg Law Offices after obtaining White's photo.



Commentary: In the final game the player sees only this commentary:

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: When you talk to Gumshoe at that location.

Commentary: This one has been mentioned in Rubia's blog, but she, obviously, couldn't know that it was unused (but she was right about the tape dialog). Anyway, this dialog occurred when you met Gumshoe outside Studio One, and supposedly it was a separate question (those appear when you press the "Talk" button on the bottom screen).



I guess the developers just didn't like the jokes or the way the whole exchange sounded. And, as Rubia sad in her blog, the dialog breaks the 4th wall, so maybe they cut it because of that.

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: When you talk to Gumshoe at that location.

Commentary: Judging from the text, it was the answer to the question "The investigation", just like in the final game:




Note how Gumshoe says to Phoenix "Yessir!".
In the final game the question remained the same, but the dialog itself changed a lot:



In the retail game Gumshoe mentions the photo in another dialog, "Decisive evidence":

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: When you talk to Gumshoe at that location.

Commentary: This one was also a question to Gumshoe:




The omission of this dialog is pretty strange. Either they forgot to add it back to the new script block or they didn't want to reveal who was going to be the player's opponent in that case.

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: When you talk to Gumshoe at that location.

Commentary: It's not clear whether this dialog was a separate question or it occurred when the player investigated the location. In the script file the cut dialog is placed between the other two deleted questions, so it's likely that originally it was a question:




Note the "see" in Gumshoe's speech. In the final game a similar dialog flows like this (it engages when the player examines the road that leads to Studio Two):


It seems that in the early version that road led to some place other than Studio Two.

Place: Studio One Entrance (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: Upon examining an old signpost (in the final game it would be replaced by the Monkey mascot).




Commentary: It seems that in the early version there was no mascot, at least at that location. Instead there was just "an old signpost". In the final game this dialog was replaced by a longer one:


And if there was no Monkey mascot, its head couldn't block the path between Studio Two and Studio One... which means the whole story in this episode might have been much different than in the final game - the fact that the road is blocked affects the whole case.

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: When the player examines something behind Gumshoe.



Commentary: As far as I know, in the Ace Attorney series characters cannot physically block the player from examining a location. Funny that Gumshoe indeed blocks the crime scene, albeit in Case 2 (see the Trivia section, although it's just a bug... but still).

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: Upon examining an infrared sensor that would be replaced by a security camera in the final game.

Commentary: Ever wondered how the security camera was able to snap the photos of those who passed through the gates at Global Studios? Well, originally the security camera was meant to be an infrared sensor:




It appears the infrared sensor had the "ST1-CNT" number. Compare it to the final dialog:

Place: Global Studios - Main Gate
Time: After the player uses the guard station computer.




Commentary: This text would kick in upon examining the computer at the studio entrance. It suggests that originally the chapter continued after the main characters had obtained some "data" - in the final game it ends right after they get the security camera photo with Steel Samurai. Note the word "data": most definitely, it wasn't the photo Gumshoe was talking about in Dialog #2, since the security camera is never mentioned in the deleted dialogs. Exactly what it was remains unknown.

Place: Outside Studio One (the road with the "Welcome" sign).
Time: When you present Gumshoe any non-relevant evidence.




Commentary: In the final version his reaction is different:

Place: Studio - Main Gate.
Time: When the player examines the guard post after the rattle in the trailer.


Commentary: The game contains two instances of the dialog above - one is used and another is not; the only difference between them is the addition of this last line:

This dialog occurred when the player examined the guard station after the main characters had heard commotion in the trailer. As you can see, the last line reflects that event, yet in the final game this dialog is not used. The most surprising thing is it was specifically added for the DS re-release, yet the English version doesn't use it. So, this is another oversight from the developers, I guess (I wonder if the Japanese version uses it. Can anyone check?).

Place: Employee area.
Time: When the player examines the drain with channeled Mia.



Commentary: Once again it's probably another instance of oversight. In the final game we get this observation from Phoenix that he does when he is with Maya:

It seems like a trend at this point - I mean, so many legitimate dialogs were omitted, either due to bugs or developers' oversight.

Place: Caretaker's Shack.
Time: When the player presented the "Safe" evidence, that was later cut, to the Old Man.


Commentary: Originally the Old Man's safe was an obtainable evidence, and this conversation occurred when the player showed it to him. The "Safe" evidence is mentioned the "Unused Evidence" section.

Place: District Court, Courtroom No. 3.
Time: When the player objects to Larry's statement during his first cross-examination.

Commentary: Originally, the following statement...



...could engage the following "fake" objection dialog, supposedly triggered by the "Lake Photo" evidence (I've depicted it in this video):




As you can see, it was sort of a red herring. If I recall correctly, this trick is rarely used in the main series. Most likely the developers decided to ditch it because they didn't want to confuse the player. Or it is just another bug/oversight...

Place: The Evidence Room.
Time: When the player sprays Marshall's locker with luminol.

Place: The Evidence Room.
Time: When the player sprays the area near the broken vase shards.

Place: Gant's Office.
Time: When the player examines a piece of paper found inside Gant's table.



Commentary: This is an early version of the dialog that appears in the final game:


Note that in the unused dialog Gumshoe had a line, while in the final version he was replaced by Ema, but the line itself remained the same.

Commentary: This dialog was meant to occur when the player examined Gumshoe's ID card without Ema. In the final game the player has his card for a short period of time, and since Ema never leaves Phoenix while he has the card, it is not possible to activate this dialog.

Commentary: Originally the player could examine the tape with the security footage of the Evidence Room in 3D - it's model and texture can be found in the game files (see the "Unused 3D Models" section). In the final game the developers either forgot to activate it, or they intentionally disabled it.

Commentary: This description of the tape occurred when Ema was not with Phoenix.

Commentary: This dialog occurred when the player examined Lana's muffler (scarf) in 3D, which was later removed from the game (see the "Unused 3D Models" section).

Caption, ENG/JAP:


Description, ENG/JAP:

Holds the fortunes of the
boat shop caretaker? The
number is "1228."

Commentary: Originally the Old Man's safe was an obtainable item. Judging from this description, by that point in the story the main characters had already known the code of the safe. Although the evidence has been cut, its icon remained in use:


The icon of the safe was left in the game.

The game script contains an unused dialog related to this evidence. It is described in "Unused Dialogs: Case 4, Day 2, Investigation" section under "Dialog #1".

Caption, ENG/JAP:


Note: In the DS version all evidence have two captions: for the upper and bottom screens respectively. The English "Contradiction Award" title is only found among the upper screen captions.

Commentary: Most likely it is the original name of the "King of Prosecutors" trophy. In the Japanese version it is called "Kenji of the Year" (kenji - prosecutor). In the English version they localized it as "King of Prosecutors" in order to explain the "K" letter on the trophy. Later in the story Edgeworth explains why the trophy consists of a shield and a halberd (actually it is a spear, don't know why they mistranslated it as halberd). It is revealed that it symbolizes a "contradiction". A fitting name for this trophy.

Caption, ENG/JAP:


Description, ENG/JAP:

Evidence transferal request.
Submitted by Detective Goodman.
Touch the Check Button for deta[ils.]

Note: The description graphics is already misaligned, it is not due to incorrect extraction.

Commentary: It seems this evidence was originally used instead of "Goodman's Lost Item Report".
In addition, it was also viewable by the player.

Note: for some reason the DS version contains two instances of the muffler texture.
Note 2: this evidence has no caption graphics, but in the game it is referred to as Lana's muffler or simply muffler/scarf.


Initial position, front side.


Left side.


Backside.


Texture.

Commentary: The game contains an unused 3D model of Lana's muffler. It has three additional images: two icons for the top and bottom screens (they are the same) and a thumb image for the Court Record menu - only the top screen icon is used in the final game.


Big icon is used in the game...


... but the thumb image is not.

The thumb icon suggests that Lana's muffler was once an actual evidence, because otherwise there was no need for it. It also has a corresponding dialog, which can be found in the "Unused Dialogs during 3D Evidence examination" section under "Dialog #4".

The muffler has a bloody spot on its inner side that probably activated the above mentioned dialog.

I guess, the player received this evidence alongside the Switchblade Knife brought by Gant, and since it served no purpose further in the story the devs decided to cut it.

Initial position.


Top side.


Bottom side.


Backside.


English texture.


Japanese texture.

Commentary: Originally it was possible to examine the tape with the security camera footage in 3D mode. It had two related dialogs (see the "Unused Dialogs during 3D Evidence examination" section under "Dialog #2" and "Dialog #3"). In the final game it is only possible to view the corresponding video.

Initial position.


The top side contains some sort of package.


Front side.


Bottom side.


Backside.


Left side.

Note: the following 3D objects are from two separate files, but they are part of the main 3D model since they all share the same set of textures.


Paper 1, top. Was presumably inside the topmost package.


Paper 1, bottom. The aforementioned package.


Paper 2, bottom. It is hard to tell where it was situated.


Paper 2, top.


Texture 1.


Texture 2.


Texture 3.


Texture 4.

Commentary: It seems the "SL-9 Incident Files" evidence had its own 3D model. In the final version the player can only read the summary of the SL-9 incident. It must be noted that the overall look of the 3D model varies from the evidence icon used in the final game:


SL-9 Incident Files icon.

As you can see, the icon depicts a stack of documents with Paper 1 on top of it, while the 3D model has some sort of package at the top. The screenshot above shows that Paper 1 is actually part of the package. It's quite possible that Paper 1 in the icon covers the package seen in the 3D model. Maybe the player had to examine the package to reveal Paper 1 below it?

There is also Paper 2, but it is not clear were it was placed in the stack of documents and whether it was used at all - it could just be a prop object.

"Your Name"

This is the only unused question. There are two instances of it in the game resources - the first one appears at the beginning of the Questions graphics section, right before the "What happened" and "You and the chief" questions. They appear during the first encounter with Maya, and that means that originally the player could ask Maya three questions, instead of two. Looks like it was removed to streamline the game: in the end she mentions her name right before the player is able to talk to her.

Its second instance can be found between the "The director, at al." and "The producer" questions from Case 3. Some of the preceding questions are from the conversation with Penny Nicols and the following questions appear when you meet Sal Manella. "Your Name" could fit both events, but most likely, it is the remnant of the early version of the encounter with Gumshoe (see the "Unused Dialogs: Case 3, Day 1, Investigation" section under "Dialog #1"): one of the dialogs begins with the words "Um, Detective? What was your name again? Bobby, was it?".

Answers mostly appear on the bottom screen during court proceedings and affect the course of actions.




Seemingly has no corresponding Japanese graphics.



Might be related to the previous graphics, although the Japanese text does not mention any prints. It could possibly be used by the game, but I'm not sure.



Has no corresponding Japanese graphics (can't say for sure since there are more then 300 files in the Japanese section and I haven't checked them all - I am simply not that good at Japanese).



It seems they were used during Mike Meekins' cross examination. I guess those answers appeared around the time when Edgeworth asked Wright whether there was something wrong with the security video. "Prove with evidence" could have been a red herring.



At the end of the game, during the last trial day, Gant appears in the court and informs everyone that Lana has something important to say. She then goes to the stand and asks the court to allow her to make a statement and the judge agrees. Those answers suggest that it was up to the player to allow her to speak or not to.

Examine blood traces (do not confuse with "Connect the blood traces" used in the game)


Examine fingerprint (do not confuse with "Select which finger to examine" used in the game)


Select fragment (vase fragment)


Angle vase as shown


Submit Lana Skye's picture

A dummy image for an age box (used for evidence description in the Japanese version). Literally says "Dummy".



Japanese bubbles from the GBA version. Stored as a single image rather then separate sprites. Since it lacks any palette, I had to use the GBA bubbles palette. This image also appears in the 3DS version.



GBA button icons and GBA UI "Press" and "Present" buttons. Those images are from the 3DS version - they are in the DS version too, I just cannot find them.



Those buttons are used only in the Japanese version: they allows you to switch the language of the game just like in Ace Attorney Trilogy for 3DS.



Some unknown tape icon.



This is supposedly an unused court door that is shown after the player loses a trial. Also appears in the 3DS version.




Dummy icons from Case 5 (see Trivia below).

Note: The following images do not appear in the DS version.

Note 2: Many regular images/sprites have multiple duplicates - they are not mentioned here since they look the same and are basically garbage files.



The demo version logo (it's almost a tradition now).



The ending screen of the demo version.



Another image from the demo version that explains the bottom screen controls.



The notice screen from the demo version.



"[You] lost the case!". Internal file name: "haiso".

Phoenix is sitting under a spotlight, with his back to the viewer, embracing his knees. Note the low resolution nature of the image. This picture is directly related to the next one.



"Sabaiban". Internal file name: "haiso2".

Sabaiban (or Surviban) was the original title of the game, it is a portmanteau of "Survival" and "Saiban" (trial).

This could be the original logo from that time, but even so, it's not clear what it's doing in the 3DS re-release. This image certainly does not appear in the DS and GBA versions. Maybe it's some kind of in-house joke?



Internal file name: "glass". Some rather strange image...




The first image has already been mentioned in the "Unused Dialogs: Case 2, Day 1, Investigation" section - it is an unused image of the portable safe that was supposedly present at the crime scene in Mia's office. The second item was also at that location - it appears to be some sort of clock.

There is an early draft of the undamaged office that for the most part resembles the office from the final game:

There is an item on the table on the left that looks somewhat similar to the item in question. Also note the item near the light stand - it is hard to tell what it is, but it could be the aforementioned portable safe. Of course, it could also be an aquarium.



This looks like an early version of the Parking Lot Floor Plans from Case 5.


The following images feature transparent silhouettes of defense attorneys and prosecutors:















Lower part of the safe from Case 5, but without a keypad.



Unused flash animation frame from AA2-3.



"Placeholder". This placeholder is based on the image from the DS version of the game.



This placeholder is basically a screenshot from the DS version. For some reason the hint features bigger font and blue background. It was probably used for test purposes.



Unknown graphics from AA3.




Unused quit graphics.



Unused English font table from .bch file. In the final game all fonts use BCFNT format.


Sprites from the DS version that were probably used for test purposes:






The following images are dummy files:


"Dummy Logo. The yellow and blue logo is bg044. Please, replace it." - not sure if I got it right, correct me if I'm wrong.






Miscellaneous images:



"daleted (sic)". There are three instances of this image - the third one doesn't have this mistake.

The US version contains the Japanese version of the game, excluding the Japanese scripts which are replaced with dummy files (although AA2 and AA3 do contain them). It's not surprising, since the Japanese version includes the English localization, which you can activate through the main menu (just like in Ace Attorney Trilogy for 3DS).


The sound of the gun shot in Case 4 intro is actually a reused sound of Berretta M92 from Resident Evil (PS1).


At the end of the last investigation day in Case 5, after Gant spots Phoenix, Ema and Gumshoe in his office, the game automatically moves you to the Detention Center and precludes you from leaving it. Judging from control codes in the script, originally the player weren't forced into that location - instead they could explore all the available places. The developers probably did it to avoid unnecessary wandering.


There is Maya's profile in Case 1 files - a remnant from the time when Case 2 was the first episode in the game.


There's also Mia's profile in Case 5 files - maybe originally she had a more prominent role in this case?


Case 5 has at least five unused evidence slots. There is a way to activate them - they contain dummy icons, but reuse the description from Mia's profile.