Proto:Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)/Preview
This is a sub-page of Proto:Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast).
 | To do: There's more object layout differences in the stages. There's also a few screenshots needed, particularly for showcasing the main menu and early timestamps. |
This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.
Sonic Adventure 2: Preview is a demo of Sonic Adventure 2 that was sent to the press in order to gain publicity for the game. The demo includes a level for each character, as well as 2-Player Mode for each type of gameplay.
This version is dated March 18, 2001 - 3 months before the game's release. It was dumped by drx in 2008.
Contents
Sub-Pages
 | Early and Unused Audio So Sonic and Shadow were Biolizard all along?! |
General Differences
Title Screen
| Demo | Final |
|---|---|
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The title screen is very close to the one used in the final game. Under the game's logo, [PREVIEW] is added, there is a glow effect behind the logo not present in the final and the text in the bottom left corner is slightly different.
Similar to how its predecessor contains an unused "β version" title screen, the file ALPHATITLE.PRS contains an alternate "α+ Version" title screen that was presumably used for other early builds of the game.
Cutscenes
 | Early English Script Those guys are so annoying... |
Every character (Except Tails) has one cutscene play before their stage. The scenes themselves differ from the final game's in many small ways:
- Each cutscene uses the wrong voice clips, as the English voice tracks were not fully implemented yet. This does not happen with the Japanese voices.
- Like The Trial, texture files for cutscenes are in one uncompressed PVM rather than set of two PRS files. A likely reason for the change is that cutscenes fail to load if the texture file is too big.
- The music that plays in Sonic's cutscene starts as he jumps out of the helicopter, much like in The Trial. In the final, it gradually picks up throughout the scene.
- The flashback scenes with Maria and everything before it are cut for the preview in Shadow's Radical Highway cutscene, leaving the scene much shorter than it is in the final.
- Knuckles and Shadow's scenes have no music. They're supposed to play the tracks T1_KNUCK.ADX and T1_SHADO.ADX, but they aren't on the disc.
- All voice clips that have echo/radio effects added to them in the final are clean in this build, both Japanese and English.
- Sonic's Light Shoes use the earlier model from The Trial in his cutscene.
- None of the cutscenes have timestamps. Though it goes unused, SA2:Preview's timestamps are larger and make a different sound to the ones in the final game.
- Knuckles' upgrades can't be seen in-game normally, but his sunglasses also have a different cutscene model. His Hammer Gloves were also removed from cutscenes in the final:
| Proto | Final |
|---|---|
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Debug Features
Debug Mode
There is a debug mode in the demo that includes a variety of features.
Debug functions available in this version:
- Camera Editor
- Event Test
- Free Movement
- Sound Test
See this page for information about how these work.
Debug Menu
The Debug Menu from the final can be found here, you access it the same way, by swapping ADVERTISE.PRS with TITLE.PRS.
Aside from the missing background graphic, it functions identically to the final.
Event Test Pause
(Event test can be accessed either through the Debug menu or by changing 8C0C534C to 6.)
Unlike other versions, events in this build can be paused by pressing Start on the second controller.
Graphical Differences
- There are no icons displayed on the VMU.
- As with The Trial, Impress is used for English text. In the final game, Impress is only used for Japanese text - English uses Comic Sans (The French/German/Spanish font) instead.
- Objects such as containers are lit differently.
- The posters in City Escape use the same textures as the final with the exception of the Chao in Space and Pizza posters, which use the textures from The Trial.
| Demo | Final |
|---|---|
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The wall that can be dug into to access different areas in the hunting stages has a different center.
Unused/Early Cutscene Subtitle Text
This conversation is from the cutscene where Sonic first meets Shadow. It has no voice clips recorded for it or any English equivalents, and can be found in EVMESD0.PRS. None of this exists in the final, but Shadow's first line and Sonic's response do make it into the Green Forest confrontation scene. Bizarrely enough, Shadow's second and last comments are also partially reused in episode 34 of the 2003 anime Sonic X.
| Japanese | Translation |
|---|---|
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で、そのエメラルド！ |
So, what are you planning |
Gameplay Differences
- Every character has their first upgrade available from the start.
- Every upgrade is in this version, but only a handful of them are actually used.
- The Bounce Bracelet has buggy collision with objects, such as clipping through steel containers without the Flame Ring equipped.
- Mystic Melody is called "Ancient Melody".
- There is no special scene for a character obtaining an upgrade - you can still move around with the text on-screen.
- The rocket on the rocket platforms is too high and can be seen even when the platform is inactive.
- The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th missions are in the game, but the 5th mission (Hard mode) doesn't have a unique layout.
- The game contains demo files for Iron Gate, Pumpkin Hill, Sky Rail and Weapons Bed that can't be found in the final game. Iron Gate and Weapons Bed in particular were made using an earlier version of the stage, as Eggman ignores many objects blocking his way. They can be seen (imported to the final game) here.
Stage Differences
- Life boxes do not appear at the lost Chao locations, though the lost Chao itself will still spawn if the game is forced to its mission.
- The platforms before the first checkpoint in City Escape are the same as they are in The Trial.
| Demo | Final |
|---|---|
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- The Magic Hands area is different to the final. It has the same steel container layout as The Trial, but actually has the upgrade this time.
- After completing any level, the player will go back to the title screen. The only exception to this is City Escape, which will send the player to Green Forest.
- The area where Sonic obtains the ancient light is completely empty, but the path to it still exists.
- The indoor section of Wild Canyon doesn't have the correct lighting.
- Most digging walls have been removed. The only one still there is behind steel containers in Dry Lagoon, so it can't be seen normally.
- The rooms accessed by digging through walls in Wild Canyon are completely empty. The objects for these rooms are actually floating out of bounds near the start of the stage:
- Hint Monitors display blank textboxes in Dry Lagoon.
- Some enemies are in different positions to the final.
| Demo | Final |
|---|---|
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- The area with the second and third pillars in Sand Ocean has a different object layout to that of the final, with an extra fence, a wooden container (not shown), and springs present.
| Demo | Final |
|---|---|
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- This is the same for the area just after the fourth pillar, which shows even more changes.
Other Stages
Despite most stages being deleted, some of Weapon Bed's files are still present.
Also unlike the final, loading a level that doesn't exist will spawn you in an abyss.
