Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure

This page details one or more prototype versions of Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.

  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

A prototype dated October 22, 1999 was released by drx in January 2017.

To do: Check if there's any level design differences. Document the Trial version. It has a completely unique unused intro which features PCM audio. Many of Sonic's sprites are different from the final game.

General Differences

• The error screen for when the cart is inserted into a monochrome Neo Geo Pocket is not present yet.
• The debug menu is enabled by default. Simply press Option when the Sega logo appears.
• The intro animation is skipped over.
• The name entry screen is missing when going to the Time Trial screen.
• Pressing B on the puzzle room screen reveals some completed puzzles.
• The music fades out when going into the options screen.
• Some aspects of levels have collision problems (i.e. the springs in Casino/Cosmic Casino, and the rotating platforms in King Relics/Secret Plant).
• The ending is not programmed in this build. Selecting it from the debug menu causes the game to lock up on a black screen.

Graphical Differences

General

• Much of the debug menu text is green.
• The debug menu contains different names for various Zones, but the Zones themselves have the final names in their title cards. The Zone options are also moved 8 pixels to the right; they were moved closer to the asterisk because the final debug menu uses the final names for the Zones, and since they are longer than the earlier names, they had to move the options, so the letters didn't go offscreen.

Proto	Final

• The in-game HUD uses a more generic set of numbers. The final numbers are used in the score counter seen when the player finishes an Act.

• All monitors except 1-UP have yellow borders. This idea may have been scrapped due to the little space given for the item art.

Proto	Final

• Tails' sprites in his plane are wider by 4 pixels and taller by 2, giving more room to make his face look less goofy. The plane also saw some tweaks in its shading.

Proto	Final

• The palette is different on the title screen, mostly to make Sonic stick out more from the sky.

Proto	Final

• This is slightly glitchier in the prototype when the parts for the results screen move in. There are no gradients and the numbers are yellow with a blue shadow.

Proto	Final

• The Zone Select menu is unfinished graphically: the rectangles that show a preview of the level have no art in them, instead being entirely blue. The text on the boxes lack the "ZONE X" text with the stage name taking its place; the "ACT X" text doesn't blink when being selected, instead staying still with the blue color. The grid background was also moved up by 4 pixels.

Proto	Final

Sonic

Proto	Final

Most of Sonic's sprites in-game lack green eyes. The ones that don't lack the green eyes are looking up, balancing backwards, rolling, victory animation, getting hurt, death animation, and the Special Stage win pose.

Many of Sonic's sprites were redrawn in the final build, including...

Proto	Final

The balancing sprites.

Proto	Final

The hurt and death sprites.

Proto	Final

Pushing.

Proto	Final

The victory animation.

Proto	Final

Sonic's Special Stage sprites are also different, with Sonic having a shorter, cuter appearance more reminiscent of his classic design while the final sprites fall more in line with his depiction in Sonic Adventure. Notably, the second Special Stage sprite from this build appears in a prerelease screenshot.

Zones

Proto	Final

Gigantic Angel Zone has much simpler graphics: Act 1 has a solid green color for the background, Act 2 has lines in the background like the foreground tiles instead of the pipes, lines, and stripes seen in the final game. The floor also uses a different, more greenish palette instead of the bluish one seen in the final.

Proto	Final

The gigantic pillars in Aquatic Relics have a different palette, having a blue tint unlike the final's gray color.

Proto	Final

The slot machine in Cosmic Casino features very simple, placeholder graphics for it. It also lacks a lot of the extra sprites like the arrows and 100 circles.

Proto	Final

Aerobase has a different, yellow palette for its walls...

Proto	Final

...and an orange palette for its floating platforms.

Test Stages

Unlike the final version, these are present and don't crash the game. They use South Island's tiles and can be fairly glitchy.

Test Stage 1

This stage is pretty simple, it features a ramp with a line of rings and a platform with shield and invincibility monitors, after that there's a straight line with some buggy tiles which have strange collision, a bridge appears after the glitched tiles that leads to the Mecha Sonic fight, after it's defeated the normal cutscene happens (though it is a bit glitched cause it's not Aerobase's layout) and Sonic is placed in Test Stage 2.

It seems as if originally the Mecha Sonic fight was going to lead the player a capsule like almost all the other bosses in the game, as one can be seen when Sonic runs in the "Mecha Sonic defeated" cutscene right after the Mecha Sonic area.

Test Stage 2

This stage is even simpler than Test Stage 1. It has no tiles or background, instead it has a light blue color throughout the level. It has a vertical line of 5 rings on the spawn area, a Motobug is also there, but it doesn't spawn when the player enters the level. The player has to go away from the beginning area and back into it to spawn the Motobug, and right after the Motobug and rings there is a fan object from Aerobase; right beside it is an invisible platform that lacks collision on the bottom.

There is one of the tubes from Secret Plant in the level which shoots the player up the course, a Clucker can also be seen from Aerobase, and after that it's a straight line to another fight with Mecha Sonic. After it's defeated, the Mecha Sonic defeated cutscene happens and after it ends the game hangs on a black screen.

Unique Graphics

Unlike in the final version, there exists a Motobug in the game. There are two variants in the game - one red, one yellow. They are also the first two objects listed in the game.