Undercover Cops SFC was actually intended to be released in late 1993 by irem themselves, without any involvement from Varie (the eventual publisher). You can still find old promo material from irem promoting the game's intended original release.
For whatever reason, they shelved the title and it didn't see a retail release until 1995, after Varie picked it up and slapped their name on it, and maybe finished up whatever irem hadn't.
Note that no parts on this PCB are dated after 1993.