Sonic Adventure AutoDemo/Comparisons/Speed Highway

Back to: Sonic Adventure AutoDemo/Comparisons.

This article needs cleanup. This article needs to be edited to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Specifically, issues with this article are: Should use Template:Comparison, along with screenshots After the article has been cleaned up, you may remove this message. See How to Edit a Page for help.

Sonic's Speed Highway (Act 1)

• This level is one of the ones demonstrated in the autodemo loop. The lighting system seems to be functional in this stage, though in practice is a little different from the final. The contrast is toned down in this version (bright spots look less bright, dark areas less dark).
• The opening camera angle is different from the final - it is far closer to the ground. The opening section also has a much lower ceiling, perhaps being why this camera angle is used.
• The walls in the opening section also have a different texture.
• The platform to the right of the opening section is a 1-Up in this version. In the final, it is a magnetic shield box instead.
• Two of the large buildings at the beginning have three rings on them. In the final, these are 1-UPs instead.
• The three item boxes in the middle of the buildings at the beginning of the stage are two 1-UPs and a wild card ring box. In the final, they are two 5 ring boxes and a 1-UP.
• There are extra hint orbs throughout the level.
• When Sonic pushes on the barriers, a metal-scraping sound effect plays. In the final, no sound is played.
• Sonic isn't propelled off the ground after the first set of freeways, and instead is running directly on the glass afterwards. In the final, he is propelled quite high before landing on the glass.
• The object layout before the first checkpoint is different: there are more rings before the row of rings leading up to the spring and an extra hint orb.
• The moving platform section before the first checkpoint is missing rings entirely.
• The speed shoes box on the platforms in the lower area is also missing.
• To the right in the lower path, there is an empty building that has a Cop Speeder, rings, and a 1-Up in the final.
• The slope on the lower path before the bell tower has six rings instead of eight.
• The bell seen in this act and in At Dawn (at the end of the level) is using a completely different model and textures, and is placed lower than in the final. It also has no animation when hit.
• Below the bell area, there are two 10 ring boxes. In the final, there is instead one 10 ring box and one shield box.
• The dash panels leading out of the bell area are missing the rings in front of them.
• The end of the tunnel in the lower path has two rings that aren't present in the final.
• Sonic "sticks" more to the walls of tunnels, and moves more slowly going up stairs.
• The sound when Sonic takes the flingers going up is very loud, with a lot of clipping. Don't watch video of this act with headphones on!
• The double line of rings before the moving platforms section has six total rings here. In the final, it is four instead.
• The upper path of the moving platforms area lacks the speed shoes box found here in the final.
• The camera angle when getting to the extra life under the first set of moving platforms is slightly different.
• Prior to the springs that sends you to the helicopter area, there are arrow signs that are not present in the final.
• The hint orb near the helicopter does not having rings surrounding it like it does in the final.
• When Sonic hits the spring taking him to the helicopter, he is facing the camera with his back towards the helicopter. In the final, he is facing towards the helicopter with his back towards the camera.
• The camera angles when Sonic rides the helicopter are different.
• If Sonic rides a helicopter when a hint is playing, the caption will flicker.
• The speed shoes box after the helicopter sequence is missing.
• The secret platform you have to homing attack to has two extra lives, instead of one like in the final.
• The bottom of the large circular building in the lower path to the end of the stage is lacking the circle of rings.
• The slope leading out of the building has a line of four rings instead of a square.
• The line of six rings at the dash pads after the moving platform is instead a line of four in the final.
• The large building on the lower path has a different object layout. Here, it has two squares of four rings, three Cop Speeders, and a 10 ring box with a semicircle of rings around it. In the final, the 10 ring box is instead a shield box surrounded by a square of rings, and the layout has an additional two more squares of rings, three 5 ring boxes, and two Uniduses.
• The second moving platform in this section has no rings.
• The end of the middle path where it meets with the lower path is missing its line of four rings.
• The area preceding the place with the rocket at the end of the stage has two lines of three rings here. In the final, it is three lines of four rings.
• The area where the rocket is is lacking the Spinner and the bomb item box.
• A line of two rings next to the rocket is instead a line of four rings in the final.
• The Tikal hints for this act are as follows:
  • ジャンプ中にもう一度ジャンプボタン！？ それで簡単に敵を倒せるはずよ。 ([Press the] Jump button once more while jumping!? Then you should be able to defeat enemies easily.)
  • 落ちないように気をつけてね！ (Be careful so you don't fall!)
  • Speed Highway is Sonic's 6th level in the final game, so as such, these hints about how his gameplay works are not present in the final.

Sonic's Speed Highway (Act 2)

• A hint plays (with no captions) when the skyscraper run starts if the level is played normally; it doesn't appear if the level is shown as part of the autodemo.
• There are no item boxes between the pillars at the end of the run. In the final, there is a ring capsule and a magnetic shield capsule.
• The level has a capsule at the end of it, indicating that it is the end of the stage.
• The circle of rings at the end of the act are missing.
• The lobby Sonic lands in is missing most of its decorative objects - there are no posters/illustrations on the walls and the red-and-yellow chairs are missing, though the plants have spaces between them to accommodate those objects.
• There are more plants on the ledges on the upper walls than there are in the final, and there is an extra potted tree object next to where the red and yellow chair would be.
• The hallway that leads to At Dawn is blocked off with tile objects, but the trigger to load act 3 is still present, provided you glitch through the barrier via hacking. If the player accesses Act 3 in this fashion, the textures will not load properly.

Sonic's Speed Highway (Act 3)

• This level can only be loaded through hacking. Alongside Windy Valley, this is one of the stages in this build that has some of the most drastic changes from the final, and also appeared in early screencaps of the game.
• In the early screenshots of the game, the draw distance was longer and the game's skybox lacked buildings in the background.
• This act uses Act 1's lighting file; Act 3's own file is missing.
• The beginning area has several changes. The two Cop Speeders are missing, there is a checkpoint, the hallway Sonic exits to enter the stage is longer, and the road itself is wider.
  • The checkpoint would be redundant in the final game, given that act transitions themselves act as checkpoints. It could be that this wasn't the case earlier in development, thus the checkpoint at the beginning of this act.
• The building to the left as the player enters the level has a searchlight on it that is not in the final. The speed shoes box here is in a different spot and is lacking both the rings surrounding it and the containers near it.
• This building also has a jump panel that leads the player all over the level. At 9 panels, it is longer than any set of jump panels used in the final game.
• The sloped path going up a wall directly at the beginning of the level has a different, stripey texture that abruptly starts from the sidewalk. In the final, it continues to use the sidewalk texture for the entire path.
• The signs hanging off the wall above the sloped path have different textures and are physically smaller.
• There is a flat area to the right of the sloped path that has a speed shoes box. In the final, this area is entirely replaced with building geometry.
• The area after the level curves to the left at the beginning has a recessed courtyard (the "hole in the ground" seen in pre-release screenshots) with a small clock tower. In the final, it is a straightforward road and has Spinner enemies.
• The building to the left of the courtyard has awnings and a platform with a ring on it - neither of them are present in the final.
• The small ledge at the corner near the courtyard has three rings that are not evenly spaced. In the final, they are four rings and their spacing was fixed.
• The sidewalk has more decorations, including plants and newspaper stands.
• The path leading to the main street, like the path at the beginning of the level, is wider than in the final. Because of this, the glass panels Sonic can run across near the end of the path number 12 rather than 9.
• This path also has four Spinners instead of the lone one the final has.
• The area around the glass panels has more plants.
• The first set of roofs you can run on have fewer decorative objects on top of them.
• In the first stretch of road, theere are a lot more springs as well as some of the jump panels mentioned in the path above.
• The entrance to the small tunnel Sonic can enter lacks a shield box. The ledge itself is narrower and does not connect directly to the tunnel.
• A set of two rings on the ledge to the right of the panels were changed to three in the final.
• The cars often float off the ground or clip through it - their mappings are likely for an older version the stage or the final version of the stage.
• The side of the building leading up to the first tunnel the road goes through has a booster pad floating on nothing.
• The side of the building Sonic can run along is missing its line of rings.
• The building the player can run on of near the start of the road section around has a steeper roof with two Spinners on it, as well as arrow signs. While on this building, the camera goes to an overhead shot. In the final, there are no enemies, and there are instead containers, rings, and a 5 ring box, with the arrow signs being replaced by posters. The camera angle also stays behind the player.
• An area that the player can access by jumping over to the right of the building's roof is missing its line of three rings.
• The area that the player can jump across to to get an extra life has a different structure: the extra life is in a smaller spot and the ledge is much larger, and there is a spring that the player can use to jump onto the building in front of them to quickly get to the end. In the final, this is instead a small passage with a wall between it and the extra life.
• The sides of the buildings after the tunnel have a bright orange brick texture. In the final they use dark brown textures.
• The clock at the loop in the road has a different base, and there are two Cop Speeders near it that are not present in the final.
• The cars stop when they see the player at a much farther distance than in the final, and also cannot harm the player in this build.
• The sidewalk is lined with rings, dash panels, and springs, along with these items on ledges attached to the side of buildings. In the final, there is only one of springs - the player needs to break the Spinner enemy in front of it and the springs will send the player into a small tunnel.
• This entire level goes downhill. In the final, it goes uphill instead.
• The two points where the cars go through tunnels over buildings is entirely different. In this build, they are small, squat buildings with a brick texture, and the player can walk on top of them. In the final, they are large buildings that the player has to go through to progress. There is also only one point where this is necessary in the final - in this build, there are two sections like this.
• The path where Sonic can run along a wall has a different object layout.
• The final tunnel is a ramp and has arrow signs and a speed shoes box on top of it.
• The fountain at the end of the area is completely different from the final - it is a raised structure with a bridge leading from a ramp on the top of the last tunnel structure in the level, and has chairs under it at ground level. In the final, it's just a fountain at ground level surrounded by plants and chairs.
• The buildings in the center of the road area are different from the final. They only have two containers and their heights are different, and the tunnel with steps is also missing.
• The Cop Speeders near the end of the stage are in different locations.
• The spring to enter the small tunnel in the building near the fountain does not launch the player high enough.
• The fountain has four rings that are not present in the final.
• City Hall has many rings around it. The final version has a greatly reduced number of them.
• There are three springs to the left of city hall and one spring to the right of it. In the final, there is one spring on the left and two on the right.
• There are also dash panels in front of city hall that lead to the spring to the right of the building. The area is also missing its 1-up box.
• The fire hydrants the player can break make no sound in this build.

Knuckles' Speed Highway

• Knuckles' version of the stage has the same object and layout differences as above, except that his stage has an object list that matches the final version of the game (save for a few items added onto the end), and thus doesn't correspond to the objects in this build - loading Knuckles' level via hacking has incorrect objects placed everywhere, such as fountains where the breakable glass panes should be.
• One of the extra objects used in this stage is a trash can that goes unused in the final. In this build, it is properly textured as well.
• There's a spring on a roof near the beginning of the level (where Sonic starts) that allows Knuckles to just skip through to the other end of the level.
• The player can still hunt for Master Emerald shards, but occasionally the third one will not appear, making the level impossible to complete. This is likely due to the shard spawning in non-existent enemies and objects.
• The Cop Speeders use incorrect sounds, though they work properly in all other respects.

Tails' Speed Highway

• Tails cannot be controlled by the player at all. Instead, he moves along a set path in mid-air, clipping through scenery and objects, eventually to his death later in the level.
• Eggman is not present, and the mission card is the standard "Break the capsule before Sonic does".
• One of the buildings exclusive to Tails' version of the level has a piece of geometry missing.