Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)/Development
From Sonic Retro
Sonic the Hedgehog has gone through several changes over it's development process. There are several rejected ideas, levels, and other things that were left on the cutting room floor. The following details several of these things.
Rejected Characters
There were several designs created when attempting to create a mascot and a rival before Sonic was finally selected for the game that eventually became Sonic the Hedgehog. Interestingly, the Sonic was originally meant to be a rabbit that could pick up objects with his ears (similar to Ristar) and was worked into the game but as the game got faster the gameplay mechanic and character was dropped. Below are several pieces of these concept art.
- S1concept-WARRIOR.jpg
Warrior Design with two outfits.
- S1concept-CLOWNNWOLFBOY.jpg
Clown and Warrior wearing head of a animal.
- S1concept-Human.jpg
Human character with Bart Simpson like hair.
- S1concept-MRHEDGEHOG.jpg
A hedgehog with more human-like features.
- S1concept-WINDUPROBOTROOK.jpg
Robot character and two other characters.
- S1concept-eggman.jpg
Man with strange outfit. Definately a prototype version of Robotnik.
- S1concept-WEIRDCREATURE.jpg
Possibly a porcupine?
- S1concept-Chick.jpg
Chicken with an attitude.
- S1concept-WOLF.gif
Wolf wearing an American flag t-shirt.
- S1concept-BULLDOG.gif
Bulldog character.
Sound Test Band
The game was originally intended to feature a sound test menu, with animated graphics based around Sonic break-dancing to the music of a "Sonic Band" consisting of Sharps Chicken (guitar), Max Monkey, (guitar), Mach Rabbit (drums), and Vector the Crocodile (keyboard/synth).[1] Vector was later re-designed and re-used for the games Knuckles' Chaotix and Sonic Heroes. The development schedule meant that the feature had to be scrapped, and Yuji Naka decided to replace the test with the "SEGA!" chant used in TV advertisements, which took up 1/8 of the 4-megabit cartridge. A text-only sound test option remained in the final game's level select cheat menu.