Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Windows, 1996)

Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Developer: H.I.C. Publisher: Sega Platform: Windows Released in JP: August 9, 1996 Released in US: September 26, 1996 Released in EU: October 3, 1996 This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has hidden bonus content.

This page covers the 1996 Windows 95 port of the game, not the (different) 1995 Windows 95 port of the game, and not the 2011 multiplatform remake. You can find the 2011 version's page here.

Sonic CD is a Windows 95 port of the Sega CD game of the same name. This version would later be ported for Sonic Gems Collection.

Unused Graphics

Sprite	Name	Description
	Sonic rolling at an angle	Two different angles of Sonic rolling, intended for the 3D loop in Palmtree Panic 1. These are not present in the Sega CD version, except for some leftover mappings data in Tidal Tempest, but are present in its v0.02 prototype.
	Sonic falling	An animation of Sonic falling into the distance. Purpose unknown. These are not in the Sega CD version, not even in any known prototypes, except for some leftover mappings data in Tidal Tempest.
	Black & white death sprite	A black-and-white death sprite, whose purpose is unknown. This is also present (and unused) in the original Sonic the Hedgehog, in the v0.02 prototype of the Sega CD version, and in Tidal Tempest in the final Sega CD version.

Different Title Screen Sprites

The Sega CD version of the game uses anamorphic resolution for the title screen, rendering the title screen at a 8:7 aspect ratio, which is stretched into 4:3 on analog tube televisions. As this trick would be impractical on PC (for example, if the user runs the game in a window, the game would need to stretch the image in software resulting in noticeable artifacts) the title screen is rendered at 4:3 instead and the art was adjusted accordingly. Curiously, the title screen art used for Sonic strongly resembles that seen in the EGM #50 build of the Sega CD version.

EGM #50	Ver0.51 to Final	Windows 95

Final	Windows 95

Secret Menu

To do: Test the untested options.

Open the SONICCD.INI file, and add the following lines to it:

[Secret]
User=Debugger

This menu contains two additional menus: Stage and FUNC.

Stage

This menu contains the following options:

R1
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
Special

RX refers to a set zone, though like the other versions of Sonic CD, R2 is skipped. After picking a Stage, another menu appears prompting you to pick the Past, Present, Good Future, or Bad Future version of the stage.

SPECIAL leads to a equally sized sub menu containing:

R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8(EGGMAN)

Unsurprisingly, selecting one takes you to the designated Special Stage. Clearing it returns you to the title screen.

FUNC

Here's where the debugging stuff is. The menu contains the following options:

SpriteCmp
mapinit()
 
DEBUGFLAG
SPECIALDEBUG
TIMEWARP
GO_SPECIAL
 
GOODEND
Flags
 
FRAME
 
Timer (STAT)
TimerInit (STAT)
AVE_300Frame (STAT)
 
MMTimer
 
SndMemFree
 
RecStart (Demo)
RecEnd
RecPlay
RecRead
RecWrite
 
Demo
 
WAVEOPEN
WAVE CLOSE
 
CD Reset

• SpriteCmp - After disabling this no new sprites will load (causing to fatal errors).

• mapinit() - Sends you right to the beginning of the stage you are in.

• DEBUGFLAG - Enables item placement mode.

• SPECIALDEBUG - Stops the Special Stage timer.

• TIMEWARP - Disables the time travel.

• GO_SPECIAL - Takes you to your next Special Stage.

• GOODEND - Displays a dialog containing your obtained Time Stones, the zones where you have gotten a Good Future, and what your next Special Stage is.

• Flags - Displays a dialog containing:

generate_flag=00
time_flag==X

X will differ depending on the time frame you are in.

• FRAME - Displays a sub menu containing two options: 60 and 30, though clicking on either does not seem to affect anything.

• TIMER (STAT) - Appears to do nothing.

• TimerInit (STAT) - Appears to do nothing.

• AVE_300Frame (STAT) - Appears to do nothing.

• MMTimer - Appears to do nothing.

• SndMemFree - Appears to do nothing.

• RecStart (Demo) - Not tested.

• RecEnd - Not tested.

• RecPlay - Appears to do nothing.

• RecRead - Not tested.

• RecWrite - Not tested.

Demo - Leads to a sub menu containing:

AVI
11A
SPE1
43C
SPE5
82A

None of these appear to do anything when clicked on; they correspond to the game demos seen after waiting on the title screen.

• WAVEOPEN - Appears to only very briefly pause the game before resuming and disables all sound effects.

• WAVECLOSE - Disables all sound effects.

• CDReset - Appears to only mute the game music until the game is restarted.

Sega CD Cheats

The debug menu from the Sega CD version, among all the other similar codes, is still present, but with A/B/C replaced with Space.

(Source: Sonic Retro)

OMAKE

Found in the OMAKE folder on the disc are BMP images of various icons, higher-res versions of some game sprites, and the title screen. OMAKE in Japanese means “extra” or “bonus,” so it’s likely that this was probably just a folder for curious players.

However, the images with “ICON/SNC_ICO” in the title are actually images for the program on the desktop. These are likely here for anybody who wants to customize their game to how they desire.

• 

  TITLE256.BMP

• 

  EGG/EGESCAPE.BMP

• 

  EGG/EGSTAND.BMP

• 

  ENEMY/BATT.BMP

• 

  ENEMY/CHO.BMP

• 

  ENEMY/HACHI.BMP

• 

  ENEMY/KAMA.BMP

• 

  ENEMY/KUMO.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO1.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO2.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO3.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO4.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO5.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO6.BMP

• 

  ICON/SNC_ICO7.BMP

• 

  MTL&EMY/EMY1.BMP

• 

  MTL&EMY/EMY2.BMP

• 

  MTL&EMY/METAL1.BMP

• 

  MTL&EMY/METAL2.BMP

• 

  SONIC/SONICDIE.BMP

• 

  SONIC/SONICPOS.BMP

• 

  SONIC/SONICRUN.BMP

• 

  SONIC/SONICSTA.BMP