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Dr. Robotnik's Pinball Revenge

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Black Squirrel, Dec 10, 2015.

  1. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    They say Sonic Spinball was inspired by Casino Night Zone of Sonic 2. I figured that was just a bloated way of saying "they both have bumpers and flippers".




    From issue #33 of Player One, July/August 1993:

    [​IMG]

    (current magazine scan is missing pages so I've not bothered to upload it to Retro CDN)


    Early concept art? Sonic 2-styled Eggpod?
     
  2. Sparks

    Sparks

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    I would've loved a Sonic pinball game that took influence from the Japanese artwork instead of SatAM. :v:
     
  3. DSE

    DSE

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    You will probably found the missing pages there.

    Hum, Sonic Pinball Party ?
     
  4. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    That's where it's from ;)
     
  5. Is it possible for someone to translate this? I've taken French classes, so I can barely translate this.
     
  6. Kat

    Kat

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    Ehh, this should give you at least an idea:

    ----------------------------------------

    JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF GENESIS!

    A dream week with Sega of America development studios and publishers as famous as Virgin Games and Interplay ... this is the fabulous trip that we organized with Sega France to prepare for the Mega CD release. So, we can not resist the pleasure of taking you with us!

    We started the visit with the biggest piece, namely Sega of America! Located south of San Francisco, brand new offices spread languorously along an artificial lake. Sega is spread over several buildings. Our first meeting was with Paul Rioux, Vice President of Sega. He explains Sega's objectives and future. Three areas stand out in their strategy: in the short-term, the Mega CD; the medium-term future: a 32 bit console; and virtual reality in the very long-term (see box on the Sega VR in Chicago, this issue).

    SEGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

    Under this name hides Sega's most secretive development studio. It is from within these walls that Sonic 2 emerged. Note that the new policy of the Japanese manufacturer is to develop more than 80% of games home in the United States. The teams that make up the Sega Insitute are << mixed >>, Americans and Japanese alongside each other. Skills are well-mixed between the two cultures to make the most of it. Right now, Sega Institute is in the full commotion of combat. It must be said that they are working on Sonic 3, which is about to be completed (release scheduled for Christmas), and another Sonic specially dedicated to the Game Gear. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Sega France officials who accompanied us and our repeated assaults, it was impossible to see even a pixel ... The shadow of industrial espionage weighs decidedly very heavily in this kind of place! In contrast, Sonic Spinball, a pinball simulation inspired by the Casino Zone in Sonic 2, was perfectly visible and almost completed. This is not a revolution, but a nice little game that should be fun. Finally, we have seen the beginnings of Jester, a promising platform game. Interestingly, the Sega Institute programmers are already developing the first games on the Saturn ... QED!


    (Inset picture, top right) Sonic Pinball: the layout of the first table?
     
  7. Thank you. for the translation, Kat. What's QED?
     
  8. Kat

    Kat

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    It's the closest I could come to the original "CQFD" (Ce Qu'il Fallait Démontrer).

    QED (quod erat demonstrandum - "which is what had to be proven") is similar and more recognizable to English speakers. It's usually used at the end of mathematical proofs.
     
  9. Ah. I never learned math proofs in HS (I'm just graduating now). Thank you.

    But back on topic. I wonder if this was a scrapped version of an actual Sonic pinball game.
     
  10. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    No it's definitely Sonic Spinball - you wouldn't have two separate "Sonic + pinball" projects on the go at STI at the same time. The brief genuinely seems to be "take Casino Night Zone and make it into a full game", except unlike the final Sonic Spinball, this piece of concept art actually looks a bit like Casino Night Zone.

    The next step was this. And then we start seeing something that looks like the final game.
     
  11. Wow, I've never saw that before. Very interesting. Thank you.
     
  12. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    I wonder if those designs are from before it became apparent that Sonic 3 wouldn't be ready by Christmas and they had to remodel the project into their holiday blockbuster.

    The title and initial concepts make it look more of a side game, almost on par with Mean Bean Machine... Maybe there was a whole "Dr. Robotnik's" spinoff series planned?
     
  13. roymcgeeters

    roymcgeeters

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    Sonic's Picnic Table Pinball: now with more checkered patterns than you can fill a hill with.
     
  14. Meat Miracle

    Meat Miracle

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    Yeah, this is definitely Spinball, but I wonder what's up with that art in the magazine? Concept art for the game used internally? Or just some mockup drawn by the magazine?
     
  15. Azookara

    Azookara

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    Dear lord that looks so much better than the final product.

    Ugh. SatAM..
     
  16. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Player One does have a history of drawing its own art for front covers and bits and bobs here and there, etc.

    Though this looks like it's been resized to fit - it would be unusual for that to happen to art drawn specifically for the magazine - it would have been easier just to redraw it as a smaller scale in 1992/1993.
     
  17. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    Also, doesn't that Sonic there look suspiciously similar to the one in the Metropolis Zone concept art?
     
  18. Meat Miracle

    Meat Miracle

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    Not sure what you mean, but it's possible that it was lifted from that, partially because Metropolis Zone / Cyber City / Genocide City art was what they based one of the Spinball levels on (The Machine).
    And also, Toxic Caves recycled their work on Hidden Palace.