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

Back to: Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Mega Drive prototype; 1993-08).

General comparisons

Prototype

Final game

The prototype goes straight into the introduction, rather than the title screen. Mount Mobius is red.

Prototype

Final game

The ™ symbol is missing in this prototype.

Prototype

Final game

Sonic frowns when he gets an emerald.

Bonus Stage

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 - there are no bonus rounds between stages like the final game.

Prototype

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.