Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)

Sonic Adventure 2
Developer: Sonic Team USA Publisher: Sega Platform: Dreamcast Released internationally: June 23, 2001 This game has unused areas. This game has unused modes / minigames. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has anti-piracy features. This game has hidden bonus content. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article This game has a bugs page

To do: Unused objects

Sonic Adventure 2 is the sequel to Sonic Adventure, as well as the last Sonic game for a Sega console. There are three types of levels: Sonic/Shadow stages, which are similar to Sonic's stages in the first game, Tails/Eggman stages, in which you platform and shoot everything in sight, and Knuckles/Rouge levels, where you hunt for three treasures. It was re-released for the GameCube as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Bugs

Unused Audio Just like the previous game, there are some unused lines that were not given translations. Also, lots more Omochao.

Chao World Kindergarten rooms, Online features and a load of unused text!

Unused Graphics

There are miscellaneous graphics for different purposes in the GD-ROM that were scrapped for unknown reasons.

Egg Quarters Radar

According to an unused line from Omochao, this was a radar for Egg Quarters that was planned to detect the beetle robots patrolling the stage. It would have been located next to the objective's radar and flashed when the robots were nearby. It can be found in STG26_RADER.PRS.

Random Rings

There is a capsule graphic of a ring with a question mark on it as opposed to a 5, 10, or 20. According to the original file name, itemp_randomring, this would have given the player a random amount of rings.

Scene Select Icon

The Dark Story's scene select has the option to start the game at the second Sonic boss. However, the player must complete a stage before they're able to access the equivalent part of the Hero story, as its scene select doesn't include the option to start at the boss. The icon for the option does exist though, and it's slightly different to the icon that was used for the Dark story.

Monitor Screen Texture

Found in E0127TEXTURE.PRS, this screen was meant to appear on Eggman's monitor in the cutscene where Eggman finds that Sonic's group made it to the Space Colony ARK from the pyramid base, but it's never shown. To top it all off, the emerald Tails is holding has the wrong color (white as opposed to yellow).

Alternate Character Icons

All of the unlockable 2 player mode characters (Amy, Metal Sonic, Chao Walker, Big, Tikal and Chaos) have their own life icons, but they aren't ever seen due to 2 player mode not using the lives system.

Two Player Unused Graphics

There are two graphics in the GD-ROM that imply via file name that they would have been used on the two player menu, but they aren't.

Early Menu Graphics

These graphics are very much like the final menu, only less polished. They feature the same options (used and unused), and were likely used before the final graphics were complete. These graphics also have a Japanese counterpart, with exactly the same colors and organization, just in Japanese.

The original file name for this one is mainmenu_button. It would have been used on the main menu somehow, with the text laid on top of the graphic, not having a separate graphic for each option.

Options Menu Icons

The File Select menu uses a different set of icons for buttons that aren't highlighted. The icons in the options menu also have this alternate set, but none of them are used because the buttons there always use the first icon. There's also an icon for the Dreamcast 4x Memory Card, which in the File Select menu replaces the VMU icon when one is plugged in. The button in the options menu is always a regular VMU regardless of what's plugged in though.

The alternate icons were removed in the ports aside from the memory card and the rumble pack, which were given new graphics in each version despite being unused.

Menu Title Graphics

There are three menu title graphics that go unused in the final version. They would have been placed in the upper-left hand corner of the menu like all other graphics like this, yet they are not.

Unused Tutorial Screens

There are a handful of tutorial screens that were not implemented for whatever reason.

For explaining Mystic Melody with Tails. Normally, when an upgrade is obtained, screens in the tutorial are subsequently unlocked. This would have been for after Tails or Eggman gets Mystic Melody, but even when they are collected, this screen does not come up.

For explaining button prompts. A different graphic was used instead.

For testing the tutorial screens probably.

For explaining special attacks during two player. While Omochao brings up the topic on both Knuckles'/Rouge's and Tails'/Eggman's tutorials, these screens don't come up, possibly due to a glitch or an oversight.

Mipmap Test

Two images can be found on the disc that seem to have been used for testing mipmaps, as stated by the text in the background of the two images. Interestingly, these images use the earlier logo seen in Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial rather than the regular one.

Level Maps

There are maps for many of the levels in the game inside the game's files. These are stored as BMP images, compressed into PRS files.

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  CITY_ESCAPE

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  COSMICWALL

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  CRAZY

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  EGG_WEAPON

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  ETERNAL_ENGINE

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  FINALCHASE

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  FINALRUSH

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  GREENFOREST

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  HIGHWAY

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  LOST

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  MISSION

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  SKY

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  TAILS_PRISON

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  WATER

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  WHITE_JUNGLE

Unreleased Menu Themes

In order to get more character menu themes, the themes needed to be downloaded online. However, the Shadow, Amy, Omochao, Maria, and Secretary themes were never made officially available, therefore making their audio and graphics unused. The themes still exist and are unlockable in the GameCube version, but the background used for each theme was changed.

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  Shadow Theme

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  Amy Theme

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  Omochao Theme

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  Maria Theme

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  Secretary Theme

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  Shadow (In-game)

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  Amy (In-game)

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  Omochao (In-game)

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  Maria (In-game)

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  Secretary (In-game)

Unused Afterimage Model

When Sonic performs the Light Dash, an afterimage model can be seen for the duration of the technique. This isn't the case for Shadow, but he does have the appropriate model stored within TERIOSMDL.PRS, along with the rest of his model data.

Demo Leftovers

Sonic Adventure 2: Trial Version (not to be confused with Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial) was released roughly a month before the final release. As can be expected, there are leftovers of this demo still on the final game, unused.

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  Title

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  Main Menu

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  Main Menu (from SA2:Preview)

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  Start message

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  End message.

Unused Stages

Test Levels

There are three test levels that were used during the game's development and removed from the final game that were known as BASIC TEST, KNUCKLES TEST and SONIC TEST respectively. Although one of these (BASIC TEST) would later be included with the GameCube version, all three levels are absent from the Dreamcast version.

Textures

The textures for the test levels can be found in the game's files:

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  LANDTX00.PRS (BASIC TEST)

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  LANDTX01.PRS (KNUCKLES TEST)

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  LANDTX02.PRS (SONIC TEST)

Notably, the textures from LANDTX02 (SONIC TEST) can be seen in the version of City Escape shown off in the E3 2000 trailer.

(Source: DCcatalog (Trailer))

Knuckles Test Layout

SET0001_S.BIN, SET0001_U.BIN, and STG01_CAM.prs contain object layouts and camera information for KNUCKLES TEST. Despite the stage not being there, it seems to follow the same basic blueprint as BASIC TEST and thus, its files can be replaced to create a somewhat playable version of the stage.

There is a single camera angle at the center of the stage that seems to circle around Knuckles, focusing on a nonexistent object in the center of the map. The first two Master Emerald shards can randomly spawn in several enemies, which seem to make incorrect sounds (Knuckles voices, menu sounds, radar beeps, etc.) or in several preset locations in the ground. The third one is always in the same place, but it seems to be completely inaccessible, however.

Mission Text

Mission text for two of the stages can be found inside MISSIONE.PRS:

Stage 0 (BASIC TEST):

1st Mission: Make sure we debug this!
2nd Mission: Find 100 bugs!
3rd Mission: Find bugs that you couldn't find!
4th Mission: Debugged in 2 minutes!
Last Mission: Try bug 0!

Stage 2 (SONIC TEST):

1st Mission: This stage is cool!

Japanese hint text for Stage 1 (KNUCKLES TEST) can be found in the file EH0001J.PRS. It contains the following five strings:

Japanese	Translation
このメッセージはテストナリよ。	This message is a test.
このマッサージはベストナリよ。	This massage is the best.
このソーセージはラストナリよ。	This sausage is the last.
このボンテージはヒットナリよ。	This bondage is a success/hit.
このバンデージはビッグナリよ。	This bandage is big.

Early Green Forest Layout

There are more objects located out of view in White Jungle. They include floating platforms, lines of rings, more dash pads, two invincibility capsules, a weird spinning object, and numerous Beetle robots. These objects don't seem to have much connection and are located in such a way that the player would never see them normally.

The objects were rearranged in the GameCube version. They contain the same kind of format, but the capsules are gone, the odd spinning object is gone, and the Beetles perform different actions (nothing).

These are actually leftovers from a very early version of Green Forest. The attributes of some objects are broken (such as launch panels) but if the object files for Green Forest are replaced with the ones from White Jungle, the out of bounds objects match up to the stage perfectly.

The version of Green Forest seen here is very incomplete, with some objects suggesting it may even be older than the one shown in the E3 2000 trailer.

Two Player City Escape

SET0013_2P_S.BIN and SET0013_2P_U.BIN contain an unused object layout for City Escape in 2-Player mode that is very different from both the normal version of the level and the version that appears in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Since City Escape is never used in 2-Player mode normally, this layout is never seen.

This layout is interesting in that it resembles the version of City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial more than the one in the final game. The posters, along with objects such as the platforms before the first checkpoint all use their layouts from that version.

Two Player Green Hill

The full list of graphics for two-player locations includes Green Hill. This implies Green Hill was going to be playable with two people, but even when it's unlocked, it's only one-player.

Further digging reveals that the stage is actually an option in the game's 2 Player stage select, but it's hidden. According to the game's code, it's unlocked when you get 180 Emblems. However, there's nothing to let the menu go down that far.

Despite using the same object layout as 1 Player mode, the stage works normally in 2 player mode and even includes proper pose and start points for both characters.

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Demo Cameras

Several stages have special cameras reserved for demo playback. Most of them are used, but in some cases they exist in stages outside the demo cycle. The following stages are known to include them (and can be seen in the video):

• Iron Gate
• Sky Rail
• Pumpkin Hill (One camera at the starting point)

This is because these stages were originally in the cycle before being replaced by other stages. All of them are part of the debug menu's cycle - an earlier version of it.

Unused Objects

There are some unused objects in some levels. Some have been jammed inside a wall or another inaccessible place. Others are still interactable, because instead of being deleted, they are simply invisible.

Hidden Dash Pad in Iron Gate

After the first locked door, there's a room with an elevator that leads to a tight tunnel, and after that you drop into a room. Before that room, to the right, there is a dash pad inside the wall.

Hidden Objects in White Jungle

Near the start, there is a dash pad that was misplaced and is right below the starting tunnel of the level.

Additionally, there are two on either side of the one that Shadow falls on to start the level that are slightly below the tunnel - enough to be useless. The pad that Shadow actually uses is right in the middle. These are both present in the GameCube version.

Invisible Rail in Meteor Herd

If one uses cheats to play as Sonic or Shadow on this level, a hidden rail can be found. One end begins on the central tower, leads sharply downwards and features two successive loops, and the other ends near the starting point. Knuckles can't grind in this game, so that is why nobody stumbled upon this invisible rail when playing casually.

(Source: Sonic Retro)

Extended Rail in Final Chase

If Shadow turns around and grinds backwards on the starting rail, he will find that the rail actually starts quite a bit back compared to where he starts. However, it doesn't have any collision until it reaches a nearby spring, which is what the game uses to put Shadow on the rail at the start of the stage in the first place.

Hidden Rings

There are a few hidden rings that can be found in bizarre locations in certain levels, usually below the starting point. It's impossible to obtain them normally without dying or using a lightning shield to draw them in.

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  Radical Highway

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  Pumpkin Hill

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  Mad Space

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  Green Hill

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  Hidden Base

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  Sky Rail

Cutscenes

Unseen

Several interesting things can be found hidden in events, whether offscreen or left in the file.

E0006
When Amy appears, Sonic continues playing animations. These motions repeat onscreen when the camera returns to him.

E0014
Knuckles shows up under the manhole as soon as Tails begins speaking and is fully motion capped under there waiting for his entrance.

E0027/E0130
During Sonic's "I die hard" line, Shadow is walking offscreen, notably in a different position to the previous shot. He disappears entirely for the shot with the Chaos Emerald.

E0028/E0116
A different version of the map is used that includes an early version of the room's control console, albeit offscreen. A variant of this console with a computer screen is present in the Maria flashback on Prison Island and is partially visible.

E0105
Until the camera reaches him, Eggman T-Poses.

E0106
There's a large unseen light effect in the Maria flashback. It was moved into the path of the camera in the GameCube version, creating a brief red flash.

E0116
There's a wall in the last shot that (judging by an identical wall earlier in the event) was intended to hide the black void behind Shadow. It failing to do this suggests the camera was originally at a different angle for the shot.

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  In-game.

E0129
During one of Rouge's shots, Shadow pokes himself in the eye in what's likely an early animation of him answering Eggman's call, left here in a similar way to Sonic's E0006 animation.

E0207
The super transformation was originally part of the event before it but was split. Knuckles, the Master Emerald and the shadow of Sonic's position at the end of E0206 are still around offscreen briefly at the beginning of E0207. Knuckles' early sunglasses and full hammer gloves are in the event's file, but only his right hand can display any upgrades.

Early Cutscenes

Most cutscenes that are seen in the game read their information from a compressed source (e.g. E0000.PRS for the Hero Intro's models and animations). There are two exceptions to this rule: E0203 and E0210, which are the cutscenes where everyone listens to Gerald's diary and the credits sequence in Last Story, respectively. The versions that are used by the game are uncompressed (E0203.BIN and E0210.BIN, respectively), while the compressed versions aren't used at all.

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  E0203. Knuckles sports the old sunglasses model and the full version of his Hammer Gloves.

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  E0203. Rouge's Treasure Scope is complete instead of missing the eyepiece.

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  E0210. Knuckles' glove upgrades are present in the data, but never render in this scene.

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  E0210. While Amy isn't present in the data at all, her drop shadow is still rendered throughout the scene.

Editing them to become readable by the game reveals that they're either incomplete or from an earlier point in development. E0203 has the least issues, though it should be noted that it uses the same upgrade models seen in SA2: Preview and Rouge's wings are her in-game variants instead of the higher-quality models used in the other cutscenes. E0210 is missing some models, specifically parts of Knuckles and all of Amy, but is otherwise identical to the final version.

Unused Event

There is an unused in-level cutscene stored in ME0012.PRS that displays Sonic doing a short animation for his head and hands. It lasts for 20 seconds and has a texture mapping error where the texture for the Flame Ring is used for Sonic's sclera. The error was fixed in the example video and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, even though the cutscene is unused there, as well.

The files E0050-E0054 and E0150-E0154 are used to display timestamps before in-game events or stages (Eg: Most of Knuckles' stages), actually being small events that last only a few frames. These events seem to be built from a partially blanked version of the sequence seen in ME0012, as Sonic hands float behind the camera and perform the same animation. Other than the timestamp events, they can be found behind the Shadow image after Last Story. The lighting is too dark to see the hands in the Dreamcast version, but they're visible in the ports.

Lighting Data

Some events in Sonic Adventure 2 include unused lighting data from earlier versions of the cutscenes. For some reason, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle enables them all at once causing issues.

(Source: SPEEPSHighway (Twitter))

Texture Oddities

E0106 Deleted Shadow Capsule Scene
E0106 (Shadow's first flashback at Radical Highway) contains the textures for the in-game external model of the ARK. There was originally a shot of Shadow being ejected from the ARK in a capsule in the same way as Sonic, but it was removed - the final version only shows Shadow's capsule leaving the room Maria was in.

Though it was removed from the event itself, it wasn't removed entirely: It was used in the trailer for Last Story. It's easily overlooked and mistaken for Sonic's version, as Shadow can only be seen inside the capsule for a single frame as it passes the camera. More visibly, the ARK's "mustache" is closed in this version, the same way it looked briefly during its introduction in the "Day X" FMV.

(Source: Zonic T. Hedgehog (Last Story trailer upload))

miu128_ig004
In E0100 (Dark Story Intro), the texture miu128_ig004 actually has the name of it at the top.

Early Super Shadow
The two scenes in the ARK's core before the super transformation (E0205/E0206) contain an early version of Super Shadow's body texture making him silver rather than gold.

Early	Final

E0017 Cyclone
The Cyclone's model and textures are in the event after Pyramid Cave, but Tails is on foot the entire time.

Chaos Emerald colors
According to texture names, the Chaos Emerald colors were shifted around during development, mainly the ones from Security Hall and the fake emerald. In Security Hall's case, this also applies to the radar textures.

Event	Early	Final
0011/0025/0128	Cyan	Yellow
0021	White	Yellow
0116	Blue	Cyan
0118	Yellow	Purple
0118	Green	Cyan

DANGER console
The ARK's control room display uses an earlier texture when Shadow introduces it to Eggman (E0111). Notably the main font is different and the "DANGER" box for the Dark ending says "ALART" in the earlier version. The redesigned "power ok" icon in the later version is never used.

Early	Final

Subtitle and Voice slots

There are numerous subtitles and voices that are loaded for events but never used due to their placement data being dummied out. It's possible to restore this data and place the unused lines. Most of the unused subtitles are used to describe sound effects that play at a particular point in the event.

Unused voice clips can be found here.

There is a mod to enable all of these lines in their roughly intended positions here.

Other key findings:

• There are event slots designated for FMVs that load subtitles and voices for them but it all goes entirely unused since FMVs don't use these slots, having their own audio and player instead. Notably, the events after the Day X FMV don't leave a gap and have Eggman's entire speech loaded before the regular dialogue.
• The Sonic/Tails dialogue from the end of Eternal Engine is loaded in E0022 (Sonic in the ARK control room), suggesting the event would originally show the same conversation from Sonic's view.
• Gunshots were planned at the end of Gerald's execution video.
• The sound effects associated with the super transformation (E0207) are found in the previous event (E0206), due to the previously mentioned split.
• Every line in the ending has an associated subtitle that goes unused to make way for the credits.
• Several events have timestamps that are never used.

Early Japanese Files

Early versions of the files used to time dialogue, audio and effects in cutscenes are found in EXXXX_0.PRS. The data this file contains was originally used for Japanese cutscenes, but this was later moved to EXXXX_J files. The state the file was in at the time of the switch was preserved in the original file, so early versions of each cutscene can be found. Most scenes are simply missing music, sound effects or timestamps, but some have more considerable differences. As these files are intended for Japanese text and voices, they tend to load incorrect subtitles and voice clips in other languages.

All scenes with differences are listed below.

Scene ID	Notes
E0000 (Hero Intro)	No timestamp.
E0002 (Sonic meets Shadow)	Sonic's unused line ("Those robots are a total pain in the...") is used at the beginning. The second one ("What!") is said later, during the initial shot of Shadow on top of the defeated robot.
E0003 (Knuckles)	NOTE: Dark's version (E0103) is identical to the final game. No timestamp. No music, much like this scene in SA2:Preview. Eggman's scream is missing when Knuckles breaks the Emerald.
E0004 (Tails at Prison Island 1)	No music.
E0005 (Tails at Prison Island 2)	Doesn't sync up correctly with the animation, implying the scene was changed after the switch.
E0011 (After Prison Island)	No music.
E0014 (Tails and Amy meet Knuckles)	Amy and Tails both react to Knuckles coming out of the sewer. In the final version, only Amy does - the line for Tails goes unused and has no English equivalent.
E0016 (Eggman's Base 1)	No music.
E0017 (Eggman's Base 2)	No music or sound effects.
E0021 (Sonic, Tails, Amy on the ARK)	Subtitles desync during the part where Tails explains what the ARK is, though the other elements (Voices, SFX) are fine. This also causes the timestamp to print Amy's last line. No music.
E0022 (Sonic in the ARK's Control room)	No timestamp. No music.
E0024 (Knuckles vs. Rouge)	No sound effects.
E0026 (Knuckles finds Sonic)	No music or sound effects. No timestamp.
E0028 (Hero Ending)	No music.
E0107 (Shadow meets Sonic)	Same differences as the Hero version (E0002).
E0109 (Rouge in Eggman's base)	No music.
E0112 (Prison Island)	No music.
E0113 (Eggman vs. Tails)	No music.
E0116 (Shadow in the jungle)	No grunt from Shadow after Rouge's dialogue.
E0118 (Shadow saves Rouge)	No music. Shadow's last line ("Chaos Control!") is missing.
E0119 (Shadow flashback)	No timestamp. The second song is missing.
E0120 (Rouge tells Eggman about Tails)	No music or sound effects.
E0124 (Rouge accesses the ARK's computer)	No music.
E0126 (Rouge vs. Knuckles)	Same differences as the Hero version (E0024).
E0127 (Eggman in his base)	No music or sound effects. No timestamp.
E0129 (Shadow confronts Rouge)	No music.
E0131 (Dark Ending)	No music.
E0203 (After Gerald's video)	No sound effects.
E0205 (Shadow vs. Biolizard)	Shadow's first line is much later - after he approaches the Biolizard rather than before passing Sonic. Sonic's reaction is also later.
E0208 (Ending 1)	Completely silent other than misplaced voice clips, implying the scene was in an early state. One otherwise unused Amy clip ("Hang in there, Sonic, Shadow!") is played over a part where one of Maria's lines normally does. The last few clips (starting with Sonic's "Now, Shadow!" line) play very fast (almost at the same time) after the ARK disappears. Subtitles appear but aren't synced correctly.
E0210 (Ending 1)	No music or sound effects. Instead of credits, regular subtitles appear. However, they desync for the last two lines.

World Ranking System

There is a "World Ranking" button in the Extras menu that is disabled by default. During the game's development, this button led to the World Ranking Menu, part of Sonic Adventure 2's scrapped online features. Selecting the option now only brings the player to a blank screen with the options menu music playing and softlock the game, as the menu has been almost entirely removed.

The button to enter the menu can be enabled by setting 8C5CCB09 to 0.

Elements from this menu still exist and can seen by enabling various flags in the Emblem Results menu. The menu has various features such as current ranking and last update, as well as the four search modes - "Total Ranking", "Score Attack", "Time Attack" and "Emblem". (Although they can't be selected normally via the Emblem Results menu in this way.) As well as the menu itself, the red "X" from the Download Event menu can be found.

There are many unused elements related to connecting to the system hidden in the game. Setting 8C6224CC to 1 will make the menu visible and 8C6224DC determines the menu shown.

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  The blue wheel spins when 8C62243B is 0.

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• 

After further digging into the disc, the full list of text related to the menu is revealed. There was a login and registration, the rankings could have been searched by country or name and it referred to the world ranking system as "The Sonic Network". This text can be found in every language.

Display or update world ranking

Press Y-button to update data.

Time Attack world ranking

Score Attack world ranking

Emblem world ranking

Total ranking

View stage world ranking

Edit your comments

Network registration is required

to enter world rankings.

Use latest browser to register

on the network.

Connecting to the Internet.

While connected to the network,

you will be charged a telephone

fee and ISP connection fee.

If you are using the ISAO Net

with a phone prefix number starting

with 0990, the telephone fee will be

10 yen for 3 minutes in accordance

with the Dial Q2 system.

Please refer to manual

for more information.

Do you want to connect? <Yes><No>

Connecting to the Internet

While connected to the network,

you will be charged a telephone

fee and ISP connection fee.

Do you want to connect?

Dialing �–�–�–�|�–�–�–�|�–�–�–�– <Cancel>

Enter "ISP" ID and password ID<++> Password<++>

Unable to find modem.

Check modem connection.

The line is busy.

Dialing next phone number.

Please try again later.

Check modem settings.

Unable to dial.

Check modular cable connection,

or modem settings.

Unable to connect. The line is busy.

Please check the modem settings

and try again later.

Unable to connect to server.

Server authentication failed.

Check ID and password.

Disconnected due to no activity.

While connected to the network, you will be charged a telephone

fee.

Do you want to connect?

Now connected to the Sonic Network.

The server is busy.

Please try connecting again later.

Updating the database.

This may take several minutes. <Cancel>

Cancel data connection? <Yes><No>

Are you sure you want to disconnect?

Your rank has increased to

number <++> in total ranking.

Your rank has decreased to

number <++> in total ranking.

Your ranking has increased to

number <++> in <++> score attack.

Your ranking has increased to

number <++> in <++> time attack.

Your rank has increased to

number <++> in emblem ranking.

Your ranking has decreased to

number <++> in <++> score attack.

Your ranking has decreased to

number <++> in <++> time attack.

Your rank has decreased to

number <++> in emblem ranking. <++>

Use this E-mail address

for confirmation?

(You can set E-mail address

for receiving info later.)

No E-mail setting on Dreamcast.

Use latest browser to change

Email settings. Are you <++>?

Enter your password. <Enter><Cancel><Forgot password>

Your password is incorrect.

Enter password again. <Enter><Cancel><Forgot password>

Do you want to receive

your password via E-mail?

Mail was sent to

your E-mail address.

Please check your mail.

Welcome to the Sonic Network.

Enter your user name.

12 characters maximum

length for user name. <Enter> <Cancel>

User name already exists.

Enter password if you

want to use this user name.

Next, enter password.

Passwords must be at least 5

characters, maximum is 12. <Enter><Back>

Set E-mail account.

If you forgot your password,

your password can be mailed to you. <Enter><Cancel>

Do you want to share your E-mail

address with other users?

If you don't, select "No".

Select country and area

where you live. Country:<++> Area:<++>

The Sonic Network is a public area to

exchange information with other users

around the world. Please try to

conduct yourself in a civil manner.

Warnings may be issued to users and

users may be ask not to use our

service, if activities violate the

rules of the Sonic Network.

<++>'s Registration complete.

Display ranking from the top.

List specified ranking.

Search ranking by user name.

List ranking by country or area.

Enter ranking you want to see.

Enter user name you want to search.

Enter country you want to list. Country<++> Area<++>

You can see user information.

Press B-button to go

back to list screen.

The images below are the remnants of the world ranking menu's textures:

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  Header Image.

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  Menu text.

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  Character would be shown next to the ranking.

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  Menu text.

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  Menu text.

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  Flags representing the country the ranking was obtained in.

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  A message relay system, possibly e-mail or a message board.

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  Giant emblem.

(Source: Sonic Retro)

Debug Features

Debug Menu

There is a debug menu in all versions of the game which is accessible by replacing ADVERTISE.PRS with TITLE.PRS.
For the GameCube version, replace advertiseD.rel with titleD.rel or use the NTSC-US Action Replay code:

7V85-EB5E-T1K7W
G1HQ-DBYC-PVZAY
3NV3-R6FU-ZPNDA

In the PC version, you can use a memory editor to go to 434687 and change CC 76 8B 00 to 98 8F 8B 00. The code to display the menu items on-screen was removed in the PC version, but it still functions.

The menu has the following options to choose from:

• GAME:1P ONLY - Play a level with one player.
• GAME:2P 3POINTS MATCH - Play a level with two players until one player wins three times.
• GAME:2P 1POINT MATCH - Play a level with two players.
• TEST:EVENT - View cutscenes.
• DEMO:1P ONLY - Record a demo with one player. Press Start to end the recording.
• DEMO:2P - Record a demo with two players. Press Start to end the recording.
• DEMO:LOOK PREVIOUS TAKEN ONE - Replay the previously recorded demo.
• PLAY:FROM HERO - Play the story mode on the Hero Story.
• PLAY:FROM DARK - Play the story mode on the Dark Story.
• PLAY:FROM LAST - Play the story mode on the Last Story.

The GAME and DEMO options will ask you to choose a character or character set and a level. The list of levels includes all that character's normal stages, Chao World (misspelled as CHAO WARLD) and the test levels (BASIC TEST, SONIC TEST or KNUCKLES TEST), which do not exist and crash if you try to select them.

The Event Test not only lists all the events and allows you to view them, you can also stop cutscenes with the B button, and speed them up or slow them down with the shoulder buttons, even making them run in reverse.

The debug menu uses an older demo cycle which has both a different character order and stages for Eggman, Knuckles and Shadow. As previously mentioned, these stages have reserved cameras for demo playback that are never normally seen due to the changes:

Debug Cycle	Regular Cycle
Sonic (City Escape)	Sonic (City Escape)
Eggman (Iron Gate)	Eggman (Sand Ocean)
Rouge (Dry Lagoon)	Knuckles (Wild Canyon)
Tails (Prison Lane)	Shadow (Radical Highway)
Knuckles (Pumpkin Hill)	Tails (Prison Lane)
Shadow (Sky Rail)	Rouge (Dry Lagoon)

Leftovers

The Trial, Preview and May 7 prototypes all contained an extensive Debug Mode that could be accessed by enabling certain flags. In the final version, this mode has been entirely removed with the exception of a few leftover features:

Free Movement

Sonic Adventure 2 includes the same free movement mode from the previous game that lets the player move a character anywhere on the map.

The controls are as follows:
Analog Stick = Move
Analog Stick + X = Move Up/Down
A = Exit Free Movement mode.
B = Go to the current character's start position.

During development all characters were able to enter this mode, but in the final game this mode no longer exists for the treasure hunting characters (Knuckles, Rouge, Chaos and Tikal). It can be seen by setting their Action ID to 58.

Board in Metal Harbor

In the trial, a flag can be enabled that allows Sonic to gain access to a board by pressing Y on the second controller. This flag is enabled by default in the final game, but its functionality has been removed almost entirely with Metal Harbor being the only level in the game that the feature will still work in. This was fixed in the GameCube release.

Collision Display

While it can't be seen in-game normally, the only remaining part of the debug display left in the game is a mode that when activated will highlight any geometry the character is currently colliding with. This mode is still present in future releases.

(Source: Sonic Retro.)

Unused Text

Early Level and Boss List

Located in TEXT_E.prs is an early level and boss list, missing several stages present in the final game and featuring some interesting boss names.

BASIC TEST
KNUCKLES TEST
SONIC TEST
GREEN FOREST
WHITE JUNGLE
PUMPKIN HILL
SKY RAIL
AQUATIC MINE
SECURITY HALL
PRISON LANE
METAL HARBOR
IRON GATE
WEAPONS BED
CITY ESCAPE
RADICAL HIGHWAY
WEAPONS BED
2P WILD CANYON
MISSION STREET
DRY LAGOON
SONIC VS SHADOW
TAILS VS EGGMAN
SAND OCEAN
CRAZY GADGET
HIDDEN BASE
ETERNAL ENGINE
DEATH CHAMBER
EGG QUARTERS
LOST COLONY
PYRAMID CAVE
TAILS VS EGGMAN return
NO NAME
BIG FOOT
HOT SHOT
FRYING DOG
King Boom Boo
GOLEM(an assumed name)
THE BIOHAZARD(an assumed name)
CART
EXTRA GAME:CART
CHAO GARDEN

Cannon's Core Hint Files

Knuckles and Rouge have hint files for Cannon's Core, but their contents appear to be exact copies of Wild Canyon and Dry Lagoon's Japanese hints.

Placeholder Messages

Each stage contains a number of Japanese placeholder strings. The first message always occupies the default message slot and displays if an Omochao or other text source is created via hacking without a valid message ID. These are the only messages in the game that use colors.

Japanese	Translation
むふふぅ（解説：テキストがないデアル）	Muhuhuu (Explanation: There is no text)
むふふぅ（解説：テキストがないじぇ）	Muhuhuu (Explanation: There's no text)
吹いています（未対応）	Whistling (Unsupported)
吹けません（メッセージもありません）	Can't whistle (No message)
いちどだけです（メッセージもありません）	Only once (No message)
「死」（メッセージ設定が範囲外なのだ）	"Death" (Message setting is out of range)

Regional Differences

The SEGA logo is slightly different in the Japanese version of the game. It's lighter (as it's usually the case although not always) and a few pixels higher than the one used in other versions.

Japanese	International

Anti-Piracy

The game runs a disc check to make sure it is being run from an official GD-ROM rather than a copied disc. If this check fails, Eggman will fall through the floor when he starts his section of Cannon's Core, although the level can still be completed by navigating to the end. This cannot happen on emulators, even when using a pirate copy.

(Source: Dreamcast-talk)

Disc Content

If the game disc is inserted into a PC, a set of wallpapers can be found:

• 

  WALLP_CHAO

• 

  WALLP_SHADOW

• 

  WALLP_SONIC

As well as a short history of Sonic games up until the game's release:

BIBLIOGR.TXT:

SERIES TITLE:

 SONIC the Hedgehog           ,1991
 SONIC the Hedgehog 2         ,1992
 SONIC the Hedgehog 3         ,1994
 SONIC and KNUCKLES           ,1994
 SONIC JAM                    ,1997
 SONIC Adventure (for Japan)  ,1998
 SONIC Adventure              ,1999
 SONIC Adventure International,1999
 SONIC Adventure 2 The Trial  ,2000

Sonic's Classic Shoes

It's well known at this point that Sonic's shoes were changed to Soap Shoes late in development, however the majority of SA2 was done at that point, so there's a bunch of leftovers.

The Hero Story intro has Sonic wearing his classic shoes until he jumps onto the wing, the shuttle launch scene in the Dark Story still shows them (likely due to it being a prerendered cinematic), and one of the screenshots in the credits shows his classic shoes. All three of these were fixed in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, but all of the game's artwork still depicted him in his classic shoes prior to the 2012 Port.

Famously, Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial uses his classic shoes.

Present in all of Sonic's cutscene texture files (E###TEXTURE.PRS) are textures for the shoes, the original Light Speed shoe upgrade, and a number of blank files. Of note is that these textures feature red soles, as opposed to the gray soles seen in The Trial and early screenshots.

The Trial's textures can be found in the scene where Sonic & Shadow turn super.

• 

  Shoes

• 

  Light Speed Dash Upgrade

• 

  Intro (Scene moved to SA2:Preview)

Missing Cannon Core Tracks

In Sonic Adventure 2, each character is represented with a specific musical genre for their theme songs and levels. Sonic's are high-energy rock, grunge rock with a focus on bass and vocals for Shadow, energetic rock/synthesizers for Tails, industrial metal for Eggman, hip-hop and rap for Knuckles, and fusion jazz for Rouge. The final level Cannon's Core implies that it would emphasize this all the more so, if not for two skipped files that follow the game's internal C_CORE_X.ADX music file naming scheme.

Actual		Inferred
File Name	Character	File Name	Character
C_CORE_1.ADX	Tails and Eggman	C_CORE_1.ADX	Tails
C_CORE_2.ADX	Rouge and Knuckles	C_CORE_2.ADX	Eggman
—	—	C_CORE_3.ADX	Rouge
—	—	C_CORE_4.ADX	Knuckles
C_CORE_5.ADX	Sonic	C_CORE_5.ADX	Sonic
C_CORE_6.ADX	Water Slide segment	C_CORE_6.ADX	Water Slide segment

In a filename-skipping situation similarly found in another certain Sonic game, the file order omits two slots in the directory for unknown reasons. If we follow the aforementioned genre scheme, with the segment order and the character featured, we can infer that each segment had a unique individual track for each character (and by proxy, the corresponding represented genre for them). The industrial-theme track "C_CORE_2.ADX" would suit Eggman more than Rouge and Knuckles, for one.