prior to the game's release, a japanese demo was packaged with an issue of "dengeki playstation" magazine in january 2003. the game was released in japan in both a regular edition and a limited edition. a variety of weapons, enemies, and boss battles have been added to the game. the "special edition" pal and ntsc-j versions of the game featured a variety of additions and extras to the game, including new vr training options, added scenarios, more difficulties, a music video featuring a remixed "beyond the bounds" theme, improved anti-aliasing and graphical optimizations, and new orbital frames for versus mode, among other improvements to the game. this version was released in japan as "anubis zone of enders special edition" on january 15, 2004 alongside a cd soundtrack.