There are many out there who look to find and archive pieces of lost media, with the Sonic the Hedgehog magazine prototype build being a famous one. After finally being found by Twitch user HiddenPalace, the streamer began to stream live footage of this prototype for all to see. The livestream can be found here.
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While many of the mechanics found in the original Sonic the Hedgehog are available and implemented in this prototype, the build is far rougher than the completed game. HiddenPalace’s stream show multiple instances of Sonic being stuck in 360-degree spins, objects being trapped stuck in walls, and various unfinished art assets meant as placeholder graphics.
As the build is a prototype, various debugging tools are available to HiddenPalace, which they use to experiment with the levels in the previously lost piece of media. This has revealed a number of possibly cut mechanics such as Sonic being able to push spheres through tunnels that he can spin dash through. These spheres will gain velocity similar to how Sonic gains velocity in these tunnels.
In addition to game mechanics not being completely finalized, there are also artistic differences compared to the retail release of Sonic the Hedgehog. One of the most obvious of these changes can be seen at the start of Marble Zone, where the sky is filled with UFOs that are absent in the final game.
The stream shows what seems to be an alternate night mode of Green Hills Zone where the sky is dark and the level itself has a dark overlay. Many have speculated this to mean that the game was to originally have a day-night cycle of some kind that was later removed.
As more of this prototype is explored, there will likely be more to be found involving the development of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. This includes more cut assets, enemies, and parts of the development that seemed to cause more trouble for the team earlier on in development. Either way, this recovery of this piece of lost media means a lot for video game historians and Sonic fans alike.
The livestream of the Sonic the Hedgehog prototype can be found on HiddenPalace’s channel on Twitch.
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