Browsing Tag

Prototype

Game News

High-Res Photo of Sonic Boom Prototype Pops Up

SonicBoomprototypeleak Like the photo showing various concept art from last month, we’re not quite sure where it came from, but a photo of an early version of Sonic Boom running on a Wii U CAT-DEV dev kit has popped up online. Of course, unless the final game will miss a lot of textures and run at 15fps and, this isn’t an indication of what the final game will look like. Be sure to click the image for a larger version.
Apparently Nintendo doesn’t want photos of the Wii U dev kit flying around, so to prevent us from getting our door kicked in we’ll just show the cropped version provided by The Sonic Stadium. Nothing is stopping us from putting a link to the full image posted by Spindash.de forum member Finn here though, which also shows us that the photo was taken in January 2014. So there’s your timeframe for when this build was made.  A lower res version of the image was originally posted at AP, but has since been removed.
[Source: The Sonic Stadium]

Game News

Sonic 4 Prototype Captured on PS3

First the 360 PartnerNet leak, then the Japanese Wii Shopping Channel leak. Now, we have video of the QA Network’s version of Sonic 4: Episode 1.

While there’s no leak of the game itself, and from the looks of it, the game won’t run unless the PS3 in question is a debug unit, the video shows enough of the gameplay to satiate curiosity on the game.

Content wise, if you’ve seen or played the Wii and 360 leaks, you’ll already know what to expect here. However, the PS3 version has its very own little oddities that make the game almost unplayable.

Forum member sonic4dude describes that the game has a poor implementation of the SIXAXIS tilt control APIs that make them extremely sensitive, to the point that levels like the special stages and the Lost Labyrinth mine cart stage are barely playable. On top of that, being a Japanese prototype, the game will only boot in Japanese.

As for the timestamp on the build, it’s roughly December 2009 – January 2010. The QA Network is Sony’s equivalent to Microsoft’s PartnerNet.

Screenshots of the build will be coming soon and can be found in this topic on the forums. Information will also be added to the game’s wiki page as it rolls out.

Game Secrets, Miscellaneous

SegaAge Releases First Prototype: Swamp Thing

SegaAge is a new Sega fansite from the people behind NintendoAge, which normally wouldn’t be that big a deal–sites come and go, and while having a new Sega site is always exciting, it’s not exactly something to make any real noise over. What is noteworthy, though, is that the site has released its first Mega Drive prototype: a canceled 1991 game called Swamp Thing.

The game was produced by Nuvision, perhaps best known for the prototype Bean Ball Benny, as well as one published title: Bimini Run, a boat racing game. And honestly, when it comes to that title?

That about says it all. Swamp Thing is pretty legitimately horrible as well; you control the titular character from the Swamp Thing comic book series. I’m not too familiar with the original property, so I can’t say how much is accurate to that world, but if turning into a log and rolling around is part of the action, I’m skeptical. It’s interesting in that this is the first I’ve heard of it, but it’s likely nothing more than a historical footnote in the world of Nuvision. You can grab a copy of the ROM here and try it out yourself.

Check the image gallery past the jump.

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Game News, Site News

1up chats about Sonic prototypes.

The popular gaming news site 1up recently decided to take a dive into Sonic projects that never came to be. Of course, they just HAD to make mention of Retro within the same article and I thought it would be suiting to return the favor. This article, written by Frank Cifaldi, takes a look at some of the most interesting projects to come up over the years. These include Sonic Crackers, Sonic Edusoft, and of course Sonic X-Treme among other things. So what are you doing reading our blog! Get over to 1up and read that article! Then follow the link back here.