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General
In the 510 prototype of Sonic CD, the Special Stage is little more than a tech demo. It appears as part of the game's rolling demo, but is not playable in any form without hacking. The demo lacks any UFOs, but does come equipped with two lines of flashing text: "The programmer has a nap. Hold out! Programmer!". The demo shows what became stage 2 in the final, but there are 2 extra special stages hidden in this prototype for stages 3 and 4.
Sonic can bounce of walls, is affected by the floor fans and seems to slow down in rough areas, but avoids other objects.
The design of the 510 Special Stage is similar to that of the second stage in the final game. Sonic isn't shown standing still - he immediately begins walking and quickly steps up to a run. He also doesn't have a shadow yet, and there is no title card or heads-up display.
It's still early days for the Special Stage so the differences are numerous. The key one is that in the final, the stage is flipped.
Oil is a major feature of this prototype layout. While the graphics exist on the disc, oil was removed from all special stages later on in development.
Stage 3
Stage 3 has a slightly different background, with rock formations and coral towards the front instead of mountainous terrain.
Stage 4
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