More levels in Sonic 2 Beta
When I tried to access 01 palette in Sonic 2 beta, I discovered a new level (level 01) which looks just like Genocide City, but oddly you can't access it via the stage select screen! It seems that this used to be a real Zone but turned into a load of crap. How come it is not in the stage select, while GCZ is? Emm...I used to know, but I forgot... :)
A load of crap. Just like Genocide City and Death Egg, you just fall and fall until you die! The music is from Emerald Hill, and those sprites in the background seem a bit familiar...
Palette 06 is Sky Fortress Zone. Most people think that SF is not in beta of Sonic 2; well it is.Download save state for Genecyst - you need Sonic 2 Beta
Like "Dust Hill", Genocide City, Death Egg, Sky Chase and Wood act 2, it has no floors. The background is 100% black, and the music is 2 player Emerald Hill.
Sky Fortress. You get it with hexediting Genecyst save state. No comment.
Worst yet: Sky Chase. Palette 10, as I recall. This is probably the biggest pile of garbage I have ever seen. Take a look at it yourself.
Same as the above, except that there is no music (in fact, the whole Z80 sound processing unit goes to hell after you die once), and the background is blue.
I used to think that palette 09 is Genocide City. However, I was wrong. Download save state for Genecyst - you need Sonic 2 Beta
A brand new level. Sky chase music, Death Egg background. I got it when entering 09 at address 12280. I wanted to get Genocide City to examine it, and I got this one.
The level below is number 03 (no, not Metropolis!). It is dark and plays Oil Ocean Zone music, giving it a frightening feel. Download save state for Genecyst - you need Sonic 2 Beta
Is this the hangover of the original Dust Hill Zone?
A mysterous screenshot
Megacosm screenshot. Normal Sonic 2 beta picture? Ya think??? Take a look at this.
Clearly the same location. The bottom one is from beta, the top one from...somwhere. Compare the background. Casino Night act 2 in beta has no background except for those pinball machines. The top one has a strange, nowhere-to-be-seen Stardust Speedway background. It is from beta. That big spring like thing is missing. And the patterns are different. Sonic is also spindashing inside a pipe. A thing like that is only possible in beta. So, it is from beta, right? Wrong!!! The bottom picture is missing a heart-like block, that, by the way, also appears in Stardust Speedway good future from Sonic CD. And Sonic looks different, Sonic 2 final style.
So, only two things are possible. Megacosm screenshot is from Sonic 2 beta and the game we have is Sonic 2 alpha!!! Another possibility is that Megacosm screenshot is from different beta release (ex. Megacosm Sonic 2 beta is v0.4, Sonic 2 beta ROM is v0.2). Both of them are controversal and unlikely.
Well whaddya know, I have another one...
This is the screenshot I got here. Hidden Palace Zone? Yup. Unfinished one? Yup. Beta screenshot? Nope. What? Ahem. Explanation is needed. Take a GOOD look at it. Look right above the 'Sonic' lives counter. Haaa? Got ya there, didn't I?
For those who don't know yet: there is no emerald in the background of Sonic 2 Hidden Palace as we know it.
It appears that this is a screenshot from Sonic 2 Gamma, or even Final right before they removed HPZ. The background has some arcades, and there is an emerald statue carved in wall! Apart from that, it looks pretty normal...except for the fact that Sonic's sprites are actualy Final...but that's another story. Well, it seems that in Gamma, right before it was removed, SonicTeam added some things to HPZ to make it look more like a palace (or at least an emerald sanctuary). Hum. It makes you wonder...
Another one which doesn't fit anywhere
This one is from a Japanese Sonic 2 commercial (found here). Yes, that is Sonic 2 Beta Title screen. What it puzzles me, though, is that there is Final Sonic 2 Special Stage in the back! Soo...I presume that the 'Beta Title Screen' was not meant to be a title screen at all! It was a promotion pic used for Sonic 2 advertisement and Sonic Team used it in a Sonic 2 Pre-release! How can I be so sure? Well, download the movie. You'll see that Sonic on that stupid title screen is actually animated, and the Beta one isn't. It was made before the Beta Title Screen, and they used only the (unanimated) part of it in the game, lacking better title screens.
Really Hidden Palace
One of the strangest Sonic 2 Beta Hidden Palace Zone certanly that impassable slope near the end of the level. You could get past it - if only there was an elevator there... But let's forget about all the theories about HPZ and the slope mystery and focus on a real fact. Throw your eyes (weird expression, I know) on a not so huge HPZ map below.
Well...at least the last part of HPZ...
The blue area is actually the underwater part of the slope, located on the very bottom of the zone. As you will soon see, it is located beyond the top of it too, but let's start at the beginning. Using Debug, I have placed one of those crumbling platforms just below of where the slide starts.
Like this:
Then I jumped on it. The platform itself collapsed, but Sonic could walk up the slope!
Pressing Right, Sonic soon reached the top of zone.
I was still holding Right. Sonic went of the screen and the screen scrolled horizontally, but not vertically. Then I ran into a solid object. The pic below shows the exact location where it happened:
(Keep your eyes on the location display!) Wanting to get around it somehow, I pressed B and turned into a platform. Although Sonic or platform didn't move one bit, the screen started to scroll vertically. And the platform Sonic turned into has been warped here:
Seems familiar? This is the thing that stopped Sonic (right next to him):
The top position, which displays the horizontal position of Sonic in the playfield (X) didn't change. That means that there is another water-conveyor-belt-top-of-slope construction above the play area, but it isn't accessible! Well, it is, if you go DOWN. Looks like the programmers first set the X and Y size of Hidden Palace which allowed that kind of tall slopes, but when they later cut the top parts out due to memory lacks, but they didn't count on that the whole top construction, which CAN'T be placed in an area that doesn't exist, was moved DOWN. This thing was discovered with the help of 'items can't be placed outside' rule. If the item can't be placed outside, Debug mode can't be activated outside too, so it moves to where it SHOULD be. Remember, you can't go into debug and ouside the play area. No Sonic game would allow you to do that. Sonic itself, though, does not have that kind of programming. There have to be chasms, right? So, by examining the way Sonic acts up there, I'd say that the construction is what is left in memory - nothing else.
So, all what we need to do is to change the Y size of HPZ, and the top of the slope, complete with the 'water-conveyor-belt' will appear. I have done some more tests, and I can assure you, it is there. Try it out! Do what I did, and when you bump into an obstacle, try jumping. You'll sooner or later reach the end of it and fall down.
Remains of Sonic 2 ALPHA!?
*sob* To think these sprites actually saw Dust Hill... *pointing a gun at monitor* "Talk!!!"
The first two seem to be Sonic's dying animation, the next two his 'turning around' or perhaps 'victory!' sprites. The last three are the most interesting as they show Sonic pulling something...perhaps an object in Dust Hill or Genocide City, ore in one of the nameless zones that were cut out...
As usual, thanks to Scott Prower for finding these.
MORE remains of Sonic 2 ALPHA!?
Remember how I said earlier about a Sonic sprite seeing Dust Hill? Well, now we seem to have a sprite that WAS Dust Hill! Or perhaps Genocide City...anyway, I don't remember seeing...
...this in ANY version of Sonic 2! Part of DHZ's underground section or GCZ's overall 'spooky layout'? Or perhaps some other zone? Heck, there are MANY to choose from...
Thanks to Dr. Ivo for submitting this find to me.
Another find by Dr. Ivo, and this time it's animated as well!
What is this thing anyway? It might show slight resemblance to parts of Metropolis Zone, but it undoubtedly ISN'T from a lost level, since these drills are found Metropoils' pattern tables... Anyway, it's a mighty cool find! Too bad SV doesn't give the ACTUAL palette, though...
UPDATE: Well, thanks to Robert Flory, we can get a glimpse of what these things looked like:
The first one has been given Dust Hill palette, and the second one...was not. :) But it looks damn good anyway...
These things are found in Metropolis (one of them, at least...to get the rest you must go into SpriteView). Again, they were colored to look better.
These are like UFOs to me... O_O The second one seems like a rock...falling into a patch of water...or sand...and the first one could be...uhh...no idea.
A Sonic 2 preview
This is strange. Apparently, these are Late Sonic 2 Beta screenshots. All of them use Sonic 2 Beta sprites, but...something's just not right, like this Chemical Plant Zone screen.
I really don't know about the following, tho'.
Not only that the article mentiones Sonic 2 for Mega CD, if you look at that Oil Ocean pic you might notice that there is something wrong with Sonic's sprites. But that's a Sonic 2 Beta sun...
And the score counter say 0, so they must have gotten there with Level Select, which was (still) implented as default back then. Wait, though...Chemical Plant counter, on the other hand, says 200...so the zone had badniks, and they couldn't get there by playing normally since Green Hill alone would have given them 500+ points. So what we have there is another step forward in Sonic 2 evolution.
Many, many thanks to Collie for submitting this article to me.
Versions of Sonic games
My version of Sonic 3D Blast (for Megadrive) is called Sonic 3D Flickes' Island (therefore it is European version - I live in Europe), but the box says Sonic 3D Blast (American version)! So I have American version of the game! The title screen should say "Sonic 3D Blast", then. But no. The title screen says "Sonic 3D Flickies Island". How come?
The screenshots of two title screens of the same game (demo PC version - I have Sonic 3D for Megadrive). When I set my international setting to USA, it displays me the top one. When it is set to Europe, it shows the one on the on the bottom...strange, isn' t it?
Using Genecyst, I have set the console version to USA and then loaded Sonic 3D. It was BLAST. Then I set the version to Europe. The game was FLICKIES' ISLAND.
Same, but Megadrive/Genesis version
Basicaly, the mystery is very simple. The game checks for console version. If it is USA, it calls itself BLAST. If it is Europe, it calls itself FLICKIES' ISLAND.
This is the cover of Sonic 3D...something...I have. It is not USA version. USA version cover has 'Genesis' written on the front. It is also not European version, because European version is entirely different. And, BTW, the game does not display the 'Sega' message. From 'PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE OF SEGA ENETRPRISES LTD.' screen it goes straight to Travellers' Tales logo! Weiiird...
This is the actual cart. I was trying to take a screenshot of the weird stage select screen (The BARACUDA cheat), but it wasn't good. I'll keep trying, though...
UPDATE: Sephiroth told me that carts like these are quite frequent in Brazil...it appears to be a pirated MegaDrive cart! Due to the fact that I bought it before the actual game was released, it must have been pirated straight from Sega HQ...
As for Sonic the hedgehog, there are three versions. Mine - Europe, remember? - has a different title screen. Sonic is positioned differently. His elbow is hidden under the game title. USA title screen' s Sonic has the elbow out and so has the Japanese one. Thanks to A.J. Freda for correcting me. The Japanese version has a great "ripple" effect in Labyrinth Zone and moving clouds in Green Hill Zone. The USA and Europe versions are basicaly the same except for the title screen.
What the hell is SEGA doing to these games???
This just in:
I didn't know where to stick it, so it ended up here. Basically, it's a Sonic Spinball intro screenshot that I *cough cough* ripped *cough* from EGM's website. In my opinion, it looks FAR better than the one in final version...
Notice the Veg-O-Fortress' shots on the right side of Mt Mobius?
#3:
Sonic 2, Sonic Chaos
Both GameGear Sonic games have some realy wacky things to post here.
OK, let' s start with Sonic 2. Look at page 25 of the manual. You can clearly see a picture of Turbo Shoes, but they don' t appear anywhere in the game. Also, Turbo Shoes (Power Sneakers here) are set on a background which I don't recall seeing anywhere either.
The manual says:Power Sneakers - Burn up the ground with an extra burst of speed!
UPDATE: Ruubster emailed me and told me that he found the Power Sneakers in Sonic 2 MS. They are in Aqua Lake Zone act 2, and when you activate them, a couple of stars start to circle around Sonic and a fast, fast music starts playing. They make Sonic go really fast - even underwater! Strangely, they are replaced by a Super Ring in GameGear version.
Power Sneakers! They are in Aqua Lake act 2!
But not in GameGear version...
The music PowerSneakers play has never been heard before...it is similar to Mega CD Sonic Turbo Shoes music.
If you hit an enemy or break a box more than ten times in a row (without touching the ground), Sonic will suddenly be bounced a LOT higher. This is easiest to preform in Crystall Egg Zone.
Next case is Sonic Chaos. Using Sound Test, you can play some tunes that are not in the game. For example, one is from Gigalopolis from Master System version of the game, and the second seems to be a remix of Sunset Park act 3 from Sonic Triple Trouble...missing levels???
Also, when Sonic Chaos was about to come out, I saw a screenshot of Sonic riding in the railcart in Under Ground Zone with backgrounds changed. And Tails was flying behind him!
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This leads to another theory:
Was Tails supposed to be a playable character in Sonic 2 (GG)???
Take a look at the above pictures. They are Zone opening screenshots, featuring a short 'thumbnail' scene. Tails is shown in EACH and EVERY ONE of them. Also, Sonic himself is made of Sonic CD sprites, but that's not the point. The point is - Tails follows Sonic around. Hard to do this when he was supposed to be captured by Robotnik! 
In 'Ending', Tails has all of his sprites made. Heck, he even has 'looking up' animations implented! Why do this, when you don't need them.
I think player was supposed to be given an option of selecting either Sonic or Tails - just like in Sonic Chaos. This option was removed due to lack of story, and because the game looked too much like the Genesis version. |
Sonic 2 again. In Sky High Zone act 1, there is an extra life. If you run in it from the left side of it, birds come out from the trees!
Here we can clearly see some weird birds coming from the trees. This thing also happens on Master System version of the game.
There is a weird object at the end of Crystall Egg Zone act 2. It acts like monitor, it looks like monitor, but when you destroy it, you will hear a sound effect just like you destroyed a Badnik!
This thing is covered by large "Robotnik" crystal blocks (Second column from the left, third row from the ceiling) , so you realy can't see what it is...you are given a continue, but nothing else happens when you destroy it.
Using MEKA I have grabbed the sprites of it. This is what it turned out to be.
Examination of Under Ground Zone's sprites shows some things that are not in final version. Seen above.
Box scan. Under Ground and Aqua Lake zones have strange backgrounds. Nuff Said.
Sonic Chaos features a couple of objects like that too; here's one from Gigalopolis Zone.
Speaking of Sonic Chaos, here is a picture of Tails in Special Stage. He cannot be there! Even if he could, there is no place like that in any Special Stage! Plus, there is no grass on the top of the platform Tails came from. And the big rings are different. Thanks to Rlan for donating it.
Videogames.com had a 'History About Sonic' feature a while ago...so I was able to go and rip this weird Sonic 2 screenshot from them. Har har. :)
#11:
Sonic 3D Blast beta pics, weird things et cetera
I know these scans are too bad to see anything, but they are stranger than you may think. One on the left features Rusty Ruin boss. The palette looks...umm...different. The one on the right is Gene Gadged screenshot. You can see Sonic just lost his Rings. But, the counter says he still has 6 Rings!
MY GOD WHAT A HUGE PIC! Anyway, it appears to be a beta Sonic 3D Blast (Green Grove) screenshot. Look at the grass. Its color is different. The location featured does not appear in the final version. 'Flicky', 'Lives' and 'Rings' counters are missing. Look at Sonic's shadow. It is round, while the finished one is 'sonic-shaped'. And, for a strawberry at the top of a cake, Sonic is VASTLY offcentered.
This is a screenshot Rlan found. It's better than mine! ARRRGH!!! Anyway, there are no Rings, Lives and Flicky info. Sonic's shadow is rounded. He appears to be running under a bridge, which is impossible to do in final version. The most interesting thing is that 'Crabmeat 3D' badnik; it seems extremley familiar to me...and his shadow is crab-shaped, not rounded! And, finaly, he appears to be the sixth badnik! Count the Flickies. Five. It's a maximum amount Sonic can get in a zone. Plus the one inside badnik, that adds a total of six Flickies!
<blink>UPDATE: Hey, I just realised, that badnik is not Crabmeat, it's Shellcracker! Look at it closely and you'll see that his right claw is bigger than the left one, and has spikes on one side of it! The badnik was then removed because it wasn't original...</blink>
Searching for more of the above stuff, I found a 'Sonic 3D Blast development' pic.
Go through sound test. You'll hear some samples not in the final version:
BOING - The water sheild from Sonic 3. Looks like Sega decided to remove it from Sonic 3D because there is no water in the game.
TERAW - Electricity sheild from Sonic 3. Perhaps the 'ring magnet' gimmick was too buggy.
Now try the music test. It plays BGMs in the following order:
Green Grove Zone act 1
Green Grove Zone act 2
Rusty Ruin Zone act 1
Rusty Ruin Zone act 2
Volcano Valley Zone act 2
Volcano Valley Zone act 1
Spring Stadium Zone act 1
Spring Stadium Zone act 2
Diamond Dust Zone act 1
Diamond Dust Zone act 2
Gene Gadget Zone act 1
Gene Gadget Zone act 2
Panic Puppet Zone act 2
Final Fight Zone
It shows the beta version order of levels. It makes sense; since Diamond Dust is one of the longest levels in the game, it could easily be one of the 'conclusion' zones.
Beta Badniks & obstacles
Sonic the hedgehog
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Green Hill Zone
Description: A big ball that carries Sonic along. Cut out in final version, used as Robotnik' s vrecking ball. Similar to Oil Ocean' s Spring Ball.
Function: badnik
Location: Marble Zone
Description: Badnik with spikes on top. In final version moved to Spring Yard Zone.
Function: badnik
Location: Sparkling Zone
Description: Catakiller, located in Sparkling Zone. Removed from Spring Yard Zone.
Function: obstacle
Location: Labyrinth Zone
Description: Push the block and it will act like the one in Marble Zone.
Function: vehicle
Location: Labyrinth Zone
Description: Jump on the platform and it will fly to the right until it hits the wall. Then it'll drop down.
Function: obstacle
Location: Labyrinth Zone
Description: Run into the block FROM THE SIDE and it will slowly fall down.
Function: badnik
Location: Clock (W)ork Zone
Description: Same as the one in Labyrinth Zone. Releases spikes when Sonic comes close to him.
Function: monitor
Location: End Panel (debug)
Description: Take a GOOD look at this picture of end panel. It features powerups. The one on the far right has not be seen in Sonic 1; it is Supersonic powerup!
Function: obstacle
Location: Ending sequence
Description: Rosebud. When Sonic touches it, he is bounced back.
Function: ???
Location: Special Stage
Description: Does "W" stand for "weird"?
Sonic 2
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Mystic Cave Zone / Dust Hill Zone
Description: Looks like a row of rings Sonic can stand on.
Function: obstacle
Location: Wing Fortress Zone
Description: When the platform turns, a ray comes out from nowhere and kills Sonic.
Function: badnik
Location: Green Hill Zone
Description: Enemy found in Sonic 2 beta. Attacks when Sonic approaches him.
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Metropolis Zone
Description: Obstacle found in Sonic 2 beta. It follows Sonic and it can crush him.
Function: conveyor belt
Location: Wood Zone
Description: Conveyor belt from Wood Zone (Sonic 2 beta). It has no effect on Sonic.
Function: badnik
Location: Dust Hill Zone
Description: Badnik from Dust Hill Zone.
Function: badnik
Location: Hidden Palace Zone
Description: Dinosaur robot that walks left and right.
Function: badnik
Location: Hidden Palace Zone
Description: Batbot. When Sonic approaches, he flies down to attack.
Function: badnik
Location: Hidden Palace Zone
Description: Similar to Rhinobot. Too similar.
Function: obstacle
Location: Hidden Palace Zone
Description: Blocks the tube. Perhaps only Chaos Emeralds can remove it.
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Oil Ocean Zone
Description: Split into Button, Spring and Ball. When you press the Button, you toggle the Spring to release the Ball. Sonic can ride the Ball.
Function: badnik
Location: Wing Fortress Zone
Description: Sits there...and does nothing?
Sonic 3 / Sonic & Knuckles
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Carnival Night Zone
Description: A button.
Function: uhh...you know it
Location: Carnival Night Zone, Angel Island Zone
Description: WHAT is this thing doing here?! I mean, there IS water in the zone, but still...
Function: ???
Location: Carnival Night Zone
Description: Uhmn...a big red ring that does nothing.
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Lava Reef Zone act 2
Description: It goes down when your character steps on it.
Sonic CD
Function: obstacle / vehicle
Location: Tidal Tempest Zone
Description: A variety of objects that act as deadly ancient traps and crush, trap or just plain kill Sonic. Some are used in the game, and some are not. This is a sample: the left part goes right and the right part goes left.
Function: ???
Location: Quartz Quadrant Zone
Description: Empty slot in debug mode.
Function: Vehicle
Location: Quartz Quadrant Zone Present
Description: A platform in Quartz Quadrant Present. Moves up and down.
Sonic X-Treme
Function: Badnik
Location: ???
Description: Could it be? A Sonic X-Treme badnik? Looks a lot like Nebula from Sonic 2.
