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Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)/Green Hill Zone
This is a sub-page of Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis).
 | To do: A lot of work on this page, document as many layout differences as possible, dump and add level maps. Describe the rolling ball (and its glitchy behavior) in more detail.
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Green Hill Zone, being the first stage, has been worked on extensively and is very close to its final version, but still has many noticeable differences. It is also the only zone in the prototype with a boss.
General
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- The sunflowers in this build have a magenta disk floret instead of a green one; this color scheme still appears in the ending, suggesting it was altered late in development.
- This build contains the infamous rolling ball seen in various prerelease sources; the listing for this still remains in the final game, but attempting to place it (4F) does nothing.
- The ball has a strange habit of pushing Sonic through the ground, and for some reason defies gravity if the player stands on it. Both of these could explain its removal.
- The background has a different chunk order to the final, meaning the large waterfall appears earlier than it does in the final.
Alternate Palette
- An alternate, night-time palette for Green Hill Zone is present in the ROM, but not normally used. To access it, modify ROM addresses 1AF6 to 1D 9C and 1AFE to 1D BC.
Act 1
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A single Motobug is close to the beginning of the stage, meaning the player can potentially die before they even start moving.
- The invincibility monitor in the tree after the bridge is not present in this build.
- It is possible to duplicate the ball objects without debug mode; it is likely that the ball is intended to despawn at a specific distance away from its spawnpoint, which may be the intention of the jumping action. The ball can be duplicated by riding it (as the ball code does not perform collision detection checks when Sonic is standing on it) past the ramp and then immediately taking it back to the area before the ramp. Another ball will immediately spawn.
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This palm tree near to the bridge didn't have a Spring on its top yet.
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The design of these chunks were changed. Probably because they looked bad.
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There are spikes on the wall just below the spring. This was removed in the final game.
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This area underneath the spiked wall had a spring surrounded with two spikes.
- The final build removes the extra spike and leaves only 1 spike on each side.
| Prototype | Final |
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The platforms on the hill above the two S tunnels are missing, however an Invincibility monitor is present. The nearby flower is also shorter than in the final game and shading on said hill also doesn't go as far up.
Act 2
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| Final |  |
| Prototype | Final |
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One of the rocks near the start was removed, and a yellow spring is placed on top of the other rock in the final. The rings were also moved up.
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A 1-UP Monitor hidden behind the Speed Shoes Monitor is replaced with a Shield Monitor.
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The prototype has an extra row of rings here.
Act 3
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| Final |  |
| Prototype | Final |
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The Shield Monitor was replaced with an Invincibility Monitor, the rock was replaced with a yellow spring and moved to the edge of the starting platform, and a Buzzbomber was removed outright.
| Prototype | Final |
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A checkered ball was removed, and a missing spike was added. A crumbling platform was also added to the ledge above.
| Prototype | Final |
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A set of three spikes were removed, and a green Newtron was added on the wall to the right.
Unused Chunks
There are many unused chunks for Green Hill in this prototype, unlike the final game's total of zero, some even using unused graphics!
28
29
2A
2C
2E
2F
30
3A
3B
