Proto:Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)/825 Prototype

This is a sub-page of Proto:Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis).

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

Download Sonic 3D Blast (825 Prototype) File: Sonic 3D Blast (825 Prototype).bin (4 MB) (info)

Prototype 825 of Sonic 3D Blast, dated August 26, 1996, was released by drx during the February 23, 2008 proto release.

General Differences

• This is the first build to use the final's "Sega" scream during the intro.
• The opening FMV is present, albeit without music. (The intro video that plays when starting the game is also active and is identical to the final.)
• Level Select is still activated upon starting a game.
• The main menu has finally been put in.
• Pressing A while the game is paused will skip levels.
• Final Fight is still called "The Final Boss".
• When the Panic Puppet boss or the final boss is defeated, the game displays the message "GAME COMPLETED WITH(OUT) ALL CHAOS EMERALDS SEQUENCE WILL GO HERE".
• All bosses use Track 13 (the first boss music), leaving Track 12 unused.
• The player still gets bonus points for Knuckles, Tails, and the Flickies, even if the player just finished a boss stage.
• If you home in on a monitor with the gold shield, you'll fly up in the air briefly before falling back down. This small bug was fixed in the next prototype.
• In Spring Stadium Zone, the shadows under the balloons are glitched up.

Prototype 825	Prototype 831 - Final

Aesthetic Differences

Prototype 825	Prototype 831 - Final

• Title screen is similar to the previous prototypes, and is the latest known build to have the E3 demo title screen. The "PRESS START" font has been changed.
• The Chaos Emeralds do not yet have any rotation animations on the Special Stage tally screen.

Prototype 825 - 830	Prototype 831 - Final

• "Press Start" flashes on the demos instead of "Demo Mode".
• Only Green Grove 1, Rusty Ruin 2, and Diamond Dust 1 have their demos implemented.

Opening FMV

The opening FMV doesn't update its palette once Sonic is in focus, and it has a slightly smaller resolution. Technically speaking, this build has a 256*160 resolution while the final is 256*200. That is because the developers used horizontal interrupts to repeat lines, effectively stretching the image two and a half times (two in this build) its original resolution of 256*80. It also cuts out a little earlier than the final.

Prototype 825 - 830	Prototype 94 - Final

Main Menu

This version and the Saturn Tech Demo have a very strange version of Sonic in the main menu. According to Jon Burton, this is actually a raw render of Sonic (Sonic's model has his eyes turned downwards in a uniform manner, as shown in other examples of model renderings). The angle of Sonic's head, combined with the modelled pupils, gave the unfortunate illusion of a wall-eyed expression. Sonic's visage and body were redrawn manually to make them more correct, as the icy, glacial nature of producing new renders proved too cumbersome.

Prototype 825	Prototype 830, 94 - Final

Ending Cutscene

The prerendered Good Ending's first image was rerendered with a different angle and palette, mainly to make it fit in line with the next image (and to cover up Sonic's model having a weird circle-neck).

Prototype 825	Prototype 830 - Final

Unused Music

Original Boss Music

An unused boss track from this build is listed as Track 12 in the Sound Test. Fourteen years later, this music was used as a boss theme in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I.

According to Jon Burton - the game's lead programmer, it was scrapped very early in development because he wasn't really satisfied with this boss music.

To do: I thought there was a save state for the final version that would allow access to this; Apparently, the data is still there.

(Source: Sonic Retro)

Gumball Machine

The Gumball Machine and Slot Machine from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles respectively are listed as Tracks 1D and 1E. However, they cannot be accessed through normal means as they go past the limit of the Sound Test. The Gumball Machine music still remains in the final game, unreferenced.

(Source: GameHut for discovering the tracks and 8SomaCruzes for track IDs.)