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Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Wii/PS3/360; downloadable episodic release - [Update: $15?]

R

remz

Member
Ten-Song said:
Don't really have much problem with the art style, and I like the shading on Sonic... but damn the super shiny ground annoys me. What the hell is with that?
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Yeah, I agree completely. that plastic glass is shite.
 
A

AwakenedCloud

Member
remz said:
still3.png
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Do you guys see green eyes?! I don't see green eyes.
 
B

BlazeHedgehog

Member
Sciz said:
A good chunk of the work was already done by the time Sonic 3 came out. It's more accurate to say that they were planning to just finish up and release the complete Sonic 3 as a special edition before someone came up with lock-on.
Click to expand...

There's evidence that supports this claim.

A Sonic game was planned for the 32X called "Sonic Mars". The name "Sonic Mars" was derived from the development codename for the 32X. Sega was naming them after planets - Mars was the 32X, Neptune was an (unreleased) all-in-one unit that could play 32X, Sega CD, and Genesis games, and the Saturn was their official contender against the likes of the Playstation and N64.

Anyway, design documents for "Sonic Mars" exist out there, and at one point, the documents mention the existence of something called "Sonic 3+" to be released later in 1994. As if that wasn't enough, a big batch of prototype Sega Genesis games were discovered a couple years ago, and in them were two special builds of Sonic 3 - dated after Sonic 3's retail release, containing all of the content from S3&K on a single, unified cartridge.

There are also a few overseas magazine articles touting the existence of a "Sonic 3: Limited Edition" game that was apparently just that: a cart containing all of S3&K together as the "complete game", minus the ability to lock-on.

There is no hard evidence linking Sonic 3+, the prototype cartridge, or Sonic 3 LE, but I think it's pretty easy to connect the dots. If I had to guess, "Sonic 3+" was before they decided S&K could also lock on to Sonic 2 and Sonic 1. When it was decided S&K would act as more than just an expansion pack for Sonic 3, "Sonic 3+" was nixed.
 
R

remz

Member
AwakenedCloud said:
Do you guys see green eyes?! I don't see green eyes.
Click to expand...
Just for the record, that's a fan photoshop from Sonic retro and what their ideal Sonic 4 would look like.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
^ I don't think all that sleuth work is necessarily needed to confirm this.. I remember game magazines (probably EGM) straight up announcing that the PAL version of Sonic 3 would come on a larger cartridge with all the extra cut content that later became S&K... I was bummed as an NTSC owner of Sonic 3 for a few months after I heard this.... then they canceled those plans for the PAL version and S&K came out.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Jet Grind Radio! said:
Wasn't S&K supposed to be S3, but they needed something for that holiday so they broke it up? Or am I thinking of Sonic Spinball?
Click to expand...
That's right on the first count... but it wasn't that they just cut it down the middle into two games (like the movie Kill Bill).. it probably wasn't just for some second holiday release, although I could be wrong. Sonic 3 was rushed to release and content was cut out... later they decided to finish up that content and release it somehow (either in the PAL release of Sonic 3/an NTSC re-release... or a standalone game which is what eventually happened.) It wasn't that they had two levels worth of games that they decided to bundle as two... it did take extra development time to pick those Sonic 3 levels out of the trash and complete them as a new game.
 
E

Eric C

Member
Sega1991 said:
The name "Sonic Mars" was derived from the development codename for the 32X. Sega was naming them after planets - Mars was the 32X, Neptune was an (unreleased) all-in-one unit that could play 32X, Sega CD, and Genesis games, and the Saturn was their official contender against the likes of the Playstation and N64.
Click to expand...

I basically agree with everything you've said about Sonic 3. But the Neptune was only a Genesis and 32X combo. The Sega CD was left out.

mrec1f.jpg
 
T

Ten-Song

Member
Sega1991 said:
There's evidence that supports this claim.

A Sonic game was planned for the 32X called "Sonic Mars". The name "Sonic Mars" was derived from the development codename for the 32X. Sega was naming them after planets - Mars was the 32X, Neptune was an (unreleased) all-in-one unit that could play 32X, Sega CD, and Genesis games, and the Saturn was their official contender against the likes of the Playstation and N64.

Anyway, design documents for "Sonic Mars" exist out there, and at one point, the documents mention the existence of something called "Sonic 3+" to be released later in 1994. As if that wasn't enough, a big batch of prototype Sega Genesis games were discovered a couple years ago, and in them were two special builds of Sonic 3 - dated after Sonic 3's retail release, containing all of the content from S3&K on a single, unified cartridge.

There are also a few overseas magazine articles touting the existence of a "Sonic 3: Limited Edition" game that was apparently just that: a cart containing all of S3&K together as the "complete game", minus the ability to lock-on.

There is no hard evidence linking Sonic 3+, the prototype cartridge, or Sonic 3 LE, but I think it's pretty easy to connect the dots. If I had to guess, "Sonic 3+" was before they decided S&K could also lock on to Sonic 2 and Sonic 1. When it was decided S&K would act as more than just an expansion pack for Sonic 3, "Sonic 3+" was nixed.
Click to expand...

That seems unreasonable and unfair to fans of the series at the time... yet now it's common practice with DLC, and something like an "all in one" package just has "Game of the Year Edition" stamped on it, even if it was never awarded such. :/

Which still kind of makes me weary on this game being episodic. But I suppose price is the bigger issue there rather than content.
 
HUELEN10

HUELEN10

Member
AwakenedCloud said:
Do you guys see green eyes?! I don't see green eyes.
Click to expand...
1. That is a doctored screen.
2. Here is a real framegrab which you can get from my "pak" a few pages back. Let's zoom in 2000%...

You can download the pak, or look at the trailer in Sega's FTP for the proof. Also, a quick reminder, I did not get these grabs for this or the smile, I am just still trying to find proof for the model/sprite thing. People from various places are still curious about this, and I want to help, that's it.

Edit: Seriously guys, grow up. I don't remember Graphics Horse getting this shit when he did the things a graphics horse does. I know it's not the same, but even so man, even so.
 
J

Jet Grind Radio!

Banned
BocoDragon said:
That's right on the first count... but it wasn't that they just cut it down the middle into two games (like the movie Kill Bill).. it probably wasn't just for some second holiday release, although I could be wrong. Sonic 3 was rushed to release and content was cut out... later they decided to finish up that content and release it somehow (either in the PAL release of Sonic 3/an NTSC re-release... or a standalone game which is what eventually happened.) It wasn't that they had two levels worth of games that they decided to bundle as two... it did take extra development time to pick those Sonic 3 levels out of the trash and complete them as a new game.
Click to expand...
Yea, I figured they didn't have enough levels to split in equally in two.

Also, :lol @ Huelen.
 
E

EmCeeGramr

Member
HUELEN10 said:
1. That is a doctored screen.
2. Here is a real framegrab which you can get from my "pak" a few pages back. Let's zoom in 2000%...
juu2o1.png


You can download the pak, or look at the trailer in Sega's FTP for the proof. Also, a quick reminder, I did not get these grabs for this or the smile, I am just still trying to find proof for the model/sprite thing. People from various places are still curious about this, and I want to help, that's it.
Click to expand...

nc030l.jpg
 
T

Ten-Song

Member
E

Eric C

Member
HUELEN10 said:
I am just still trying to find proof for the model/sprite thing. People from various places are still curious about this, and I want to help, that's it.
Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards Sonic being an actual model. The Wii is certainly powerful enough to handle it. Why would Sonic be a Donkey Kong style sprite?
 
J

jman2050

Member
Andrex said:
Guys stop picking on Huelen jeez, this isn't the craziest he's acted. >_>
Click to expand...

Remember those old bugs bunny cartoons where he would stack a bunch of random shit on top of the character of the episode extending several stories into the air and it all came crashing down only when he dropped a tiny light feather on top of everything at the end?

We're not at the feather yet, but it's getting damn close.
 
T

Ten-Song

Member
jman2050 said:
Remember those old bugs bunny cartoons where he would stack a bunch of random shit on top of the character of the episode extending several stories into the air and it all came crashing down only when he dropped a tiny light feather on top of everything at the end?

We're not at the feather yet, but it's getting damn close.
Click to expand...

Or maybe that episode where Elmer Fudd is chasing after Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, and Bugs and Daffy keep doing the back and forth on what hunting season it is, and eventually after getting shot so many times, Daffy just looses it, proclaiming he's every animal under the sun, and that each of them is fair game to shoot.
 
J

jman2050

Member
Ten-Song said:
Or maybe that episode where Elmer Fudd is chasing after Daffy Duck and Bugs bunny, and Bugs and Daffy keep doing the back and forth on what hunting season it is, and eventually after getting shot so many times, Daffy just looses it, proclaiming he's every animal under the sun, and that each of them is fair game to shoot.
Click to expand...

I like that one, let's go with that.
 
HUELEN10

HUELEN10

Member
The_Technomancer did essentially the same thing I did for the color-thing, why do I get flamed? Regardless, ~9.33 hours to go until the character update. I'm still hoping for Eggman. A nice animation of him would be cool IMO.
 
R

remz

Member
HUELEN10 said:
The_Technomancer did essentially the same thing I did for the color-thing, why do I get flamed? Regardless, ~9.33 hours to go until the character update. I'm still hoping for Eggman. A nice animation of him would be cool IMO.
Click to expand...
Because I didn't see his post :mad:
 
J

Jet Grind Radio!

Banned
HUELEN10 said:
The_Technomancer did essentially the same thing I did for the color-thing, why do I get flamed? Regardless, 9.33 hours to go until the character update. I'm still hoping for Eggman. A nice animation of him would be cool IMO.
Click to expand...
I think it's because you are a little too enthusiastic about Sonic stuff. And I wouldn't say you got flamed, per say.
 
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