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Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Mega Drive prototype; 1993-08)/Comparisons/Bonus Stage

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Only one Bonus Stage is accessible in this prototype - an unfinished version of Robo Smile (the second Bonus Stage). To access it, Sonic needs to collect every Ring in a level, which is normally the way to access Clucker's Defense in the final game. There are no Bonus Stages between stages like the final game. The other three Bonus Stages have been implemented, and must be accessed using PAR code FF3949:00??[1] to change the Bonus Stage ID:

  • 00 - Robo Smile
  • 01 - Clucker's Defense
  • 02 - Trapped Alive
  • 03 - The March

General

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Prototype
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Final game

Tilting the table must be performed by holding B, C and a directional button, rather than holding A, B and C in the final.

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Prototype
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Final game

Losing a ball will display "LOSER" instead of "YOU LOSE".

Robo Smile

SonicSpinballProto MD Bonus2.png
Prototype
SonicSpinball MD Bonus2.png
Final game

The Bonus Stage works, but there are plenty of problems. The table is grey rather than green, and there are palette issues when fading in and out. The screen at the back is completely broken - while there are some signs of life, the graphics are corrupted and so cannot inform the player about his/her score or the remaining balls. The bonus stage is harder in this prototype as it takes more hits to knock out the teeth.

Many sound effects are either missing or are different to the final game. If a ball lands in Robotnik's mouth, the game will start making a crackling sound, which won't go away until the stage is over. Repeat and the noise gets worse.

Earlier prototypes show this Bonus Stage in a more presentable state, suggesting some of the graphical issues were regressions caused by re-working the stage.

Clucker's Defense

SonicSpinballProto MD Bonus CluckersDefense.png
Prototype
SonicSpinball MD Bonus4.png
Final game
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Prototype
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Final game

It is possible to hit the Crawl while it's exploding, cancelling out the animation as if nothing happened. As this is a multi-ball stage, this glitch is unfortunately very easy to trigger.

Trapped Alive

This is the most incomplete of the Bonus Stages.

SonicSpinballProto MD Bonus TrappedAlive.png
Prototype
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Final game

The table is coloured blue rather than yellow/green. The player has infinite balls here, meaning they cannot lose.

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Prototype
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Final game

Hitting Robotnik can cause various things to happen: the Egg Mobile's sprite may glitch up, a random sound effect or a broken version of the level music will play, and the game will very likely freeze after the animation ends.

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Prototype
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Final game

No win condition has been defined. Therefore, if the player manages to defeat Robotnik without freezing the game, the Bonus Stage will continue forever on an empty table.

The March

SonicSpinballProto MD Bonus March.png
Prototype
SonicSpinball MD Bonus3.png
Final game

The table is coloured magenta rather than purple. The Capsule's button is also miscoloured.

References


Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Mega Drive prototype; 1993-08), prototype version of Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
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