- Back to: Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Mega Drive prototype; 1993-08)/Comparisons.
While Toxic Caves and Lava Powerhouse could be considered passable, if unpolished versions of their final forms, The Machine is where the unfinished nature of this prototype comes to light. It uses The Showdown's music here, although an early version of its own theme exists unused in the game's code. Many of the level's sound effects are missing, as are messages when events are triggered, meaning if you don't know how the level works, it can be tricky to navigate.
Right flippers do not work correctly, which given you're moved onto one when the level starts, means Sonic is likely to phase through and die just seconds into playing. That is, at least, if you're controlling the flipper with 
; while the animations are correctly mapped to , the collision is mapped to 
. Using both flippers with 
also works.
A palette line is broken, so many objects have the incorrect palette, including this moving platform...
...Buster enemies and this lift...
...and Krondors.
In the final game, pressing 
or 
while standing on the moving platform causes it to stop. The prototype may explain why, as it lacks this feature; looking up or down pans the camera vertically, but it stops horizontal movement, meaning Sonic can be dragged off-screen. Similar behaviour occurs when grabbing onto the edge of a platform.
References
; while the animations are correctly mapped to 
. Using both flippers with 
also works.
or 
while standing on the moving platform causes it to stop. The prototype may explain why, as it lacks this feature; looking up or down pans the camera vertically, but it stops horizontal movement, meaning Sonic can be dragged off-screen. Similar behaviour occurs when grabbing onto the edge of a platform.
