If you'd like to support our preservation efforts (and this wasn't cheap), please consider donating or supporting us on Patreon. Thank you!
Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)/1990 Tokyo Toy Show
This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis).
The debut of Sonic the Hedgehog occurred at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1990, a full year before its eventual release. This demo was publicly unveiled at the Sega booth (confirmed by lead dev Yuji Naka), and wasn't shown privately as (asserted in this book). Unfortunately it cannot be seen in the only known footage of the Sega booth at the show. Only a few screenshots remain of this build, and they're not all particularly exciting. While the pictures documented here are better than nothing, there is a lot of mystery regarding what else may have been present (such as loop-de-loops). What is clear is that none of the surviving screenshots depict any rings, or even a HUD.
An article from Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 26 described the demo as a "self running, one screen demo", confirming that the demo was in fact scripted similar to the later Game Gear autodemo of Sonic 2 and the Sonic Adventure autodemo. This might be disputable as Yuji Naka claimed in a 2011 interview with GamesRadar that pictures from the Tokyo Toy Show build "are authentic and it was something that was playable" and that this build was used as a "playable demo to show what Sonic would be like".
During this same interview with GamesRadar, Yuji Naka claimed that this demo was slated for inclusion in Sonic Mega Collection, but Sega had apparently lost the ROM. This demo, already coveted by Sonic fans, has become a holy grail ever since.
Title Screen
The demo's title screen. The solid black motif seen here was quickly done away with, although the overall look survived intact in the Master System and Game Gear title screens. In addition, though not obvious, large portions of this graphic were redrawn by the final game's release.
In this version of the title screen, the letters are differently sized, the ring surrounding the title screen shows more at the bottom, and Sonic's facial expression is different. The shading for his spines is also different, making them appear flatter and more "mohawk"-like (a stylistic choice used in Western artwork of the character for most of the early '90s). There is also no trademark symbol or copyright.
Green Hill Zone
The demo begins with Sonic standing in what eventually became Green Hill Zone. Compared to the final game, the level features large mountains, and some odd blue structures in the background. It's possible that the structures might actually be buildings because concept art from Naoto Ōhshima depicting early enemies has what might be an early Green Hill Zone, with palm trees, mountains, and blue structures that strongly resemble buildings. The demo also features seven layers of parallax scrolling, including trees and giant rocks in the foreground. Though the sky seems to be a darker shade of blue, this is possibly due to the capture quality of the photos.
Note the overall blurriness of this shot––particularly the clouds, suggesting they scrolled from right to left. Scrolling clouds were gone from Green Hill Zone in the original US release of Sonic, only to be added back in for the Japanese version, released shortly thereafter.
As Sonic starts moving right, he gets attacked by a hopping blue enemy creature wearing red gloves. Its design was taken directly from Ōhshima's enemy concept art, and was never seen again after this demo.
A few frames later. This image, though seemingly inconspicuous, may actually be quite revealing when compared to the previous screenshot.
First, it contains more evidence of right-to-left scrolling clouds––the camera has hardly moved since the previous screenshot, yet the cloud in the upper corner has shifted to the left.
Second, this image provides further evidence that the demo was automated. This image clearly depicts the same run, by the same player, as the previous screenshot. (The cloud––of all things––confirms this.) However, the previous screenshot was published in Megadrive Fan magazine, whereas this one was published in Beep! Megadrive. It's unlikely two different magazines could obtain different screenshots of the same run if the demo was controlled by the player.
Sonic encounters another hopping blue enemy with red gloves as he climbs the hill. It's unknown whether Sonic is jumping or if he has been knocked backwards by the enemy; however, judging by the accompanying text in the magazine, this is most likely an image of the former.
A close-up of Sonic as he begins to descend the Green Hill.
While running down the hill, Sonic passes by a Las Vegas-Style sign. While it hasn't been confirmed yet, it's possible that the sign that has the words YOU ARE WELCOME ×EVERYONE× on it.
In what is likely the end of the demo, Sonic appears to run beneath large red Japanese text floating in midair, which says デビュー接近 ("debut approaching"). Though it may look like this text was edited in by the magazine, some trees and a cloud can be seen slightly obscuring the first two letters, which seems to suggest that the text was actually part of this demo.
Sprite changes
| Tokyo Toy Show | Final |
|---|---|
 |
|
Compared to the final game, the sprites of Sonic shown at the Tokyo Toy Show went through some changes.
- There's less shading on Sonic, most noticeable around and on his spikes.
- His ears are facing forward in the Tokyo Toy Show demo; they were changed to face the camera at an angle in the final game.
- Sonic's eyes are slightly more slanted in the demo.
- In the demo, the blue bit of fur that goes around Sonic's eye from the side of his head, goes further down, reaching his muzzle.
| Tokyo Toy Show | Final |
|---|---|
 |
|
His title screen sprite also changed, showing off a bit more 'tude at TTS '90, and overall sticking closer to Ōhshima's original concept art.
- His eyes are positioned differently.
- His second back spine has different shading.
- The eyebrow shape and its shadow is also different.
