[N!NJA]

Scans done so far: https://webmaster1.com/SonicRetro/ please only download one at a time. These images are needing cropping/etc.

With The KKM's post about the Tails Adventure EU Manual being missing, I've decided to use my past research into variations of Sonic cart based games to help find what is needed.

Before I start, I've asked for help for many years but I've had no help, There is next to no information about Taiwan/HK/Asian versions. I would appreciate help on this.. To this day I've only seen two GG versions and one of those is a bootleg and no originals been seen.

Many of these games are now over 20 years old and starting to degrade so we should get this done as soon as humanly possible. I'll update this list over the coming weeks as I've not much free time.

I'm going to put stuff in order by system.


MegaDrive/Genesis


Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)

• Genesis versions need manuals scanning/Covers rescanning.
  
• TecToy version needs rescanning fully. Redbox versions missing fully.
  
• Canadian version is missing back art/manual scans.
  
• Canadian Not For Resale versions missing fully. (https://i.imgur.com/WhMq7KS.jpg only pic I have to prove it's real.)
  
• Korean copy's need redoing, A Gold/Silver and plain copy exist. (https://i.imgur.com/FSK0fct.jpg) http://www.koreanver...ehog-gold-label
  
• Australian versions missing, three manual types seem to exist such as the vertical one. https://i.ebayimg.co...-4n/s-l1600.jpg There's a classics version also (https://i.ebayimg.co...~FU/s-l1600.jpg)
  
• SE rental versions missing all scans.
  
• Portuguese version needs rescanning, two versions exist one with a colour manual and one in monochrome.
  
• Taiwain/HongKong versions missing, It looks just like the PAL/EU box/manual minus having a Japanese cart. (https://imgur.com/a/TQvqi5Y only pics to hand also showing Asian copy of Ecco.)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

• Genesis manuals need scanning.
  
• Australian versions missing, atleast two manual types exist.
  
• An australian version exists that came in a paint can named the "Mega booster pak" (https://i.imgur.com/LSmbmB1.jpg)
  
• Tectoy versions need manuals scanning.
  
• Not sure if this is true, but I heard the korean version manual doesn't exist but I don't see this as being true.
  
• Asian version comes with two manuals.
  
• Taiwan/HongHong version says Asian version but includes a third manual, off hand I think it was written in chinese.
  
• Canadian versions need scanning.
  
• ZA version needs scanning? Never knew of this one :P

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

• All versions minus EU need manuals scanning.
  
• Two korean versions exist, one has the serial on the spine and the artwork cropping differs.
  
• Two Asian versions exist, however the only difference is the sticker on the front, one says PAL the other NTSC. There's also two manuals, one's in colour one isn't.
  
• Asian Cart scan is a bootleg cart. Rescan will be linked on my server.
  
• Genesis Mega Hit Series has two different covers, one says genesis one doesn't.

Sonic & Knuckles

• All need manuals scanning minus one of the EU versions.
  
• 2 EU versions exist, back art is different and manual style.
  
• 2 Korean versions exist, one by Hi-Com one by Samsung. (Cover for Samsung version needs redoing.) (Hi-Com pic https://i.imgur.com/wbzuZmV.jpg)
  
• Asian/Taiwan version needs rescanning.

Sonic Compilation/Classics

• TecToy version needs manual scanning.
  
• An australian version exists named "Sonic 3 in 1" https://i.imgur.com/Nje3Kke.jpg

Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island/Blast

• An australian version exists that has a blue cover. (https://i.imgur.com/yg2omGb.jpg)
  
• All need manuals scanning.
  
• US Cardboard box version is missing. (not sure if this was a mistake in my notes from 2014)

Sonic Spinball

• Australian versions manual needs scanning (https://i.imgur.com/l6ZBflx.jpg)
  
• Korean Samsung version missing. Looks like the japanese version minus korean text.

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

• All minus Genesis version manuals need scanning.
  
• French version seems to have the same manual as EU/PAL so not needed?

Not complete, will add more later.

This post has been edited by N!NJA: 14 October 2018 - 05:56 PM

[Asagoth]

Actually there's four versions of the Portuguese Sonic the Hedgehog manual for Mega Drive... the two you mentioned... two monochrome manuals, one in blue and one in black... and the "Holy Grail" of the Sonic the Hedgehog PT manuals most preciselly this one (the white one in that photo) which is folded like a road map... it's exactly like this one for Super Thunder Blade... as you know Ecofilmes began distributing Sega Products in 1991 ... and for the first titles sold in Portugal Ecofilmes used Brazilian Tectoy manuals as Portuguese ones... the manual for Sonic the Hedgehog is quite rare... one thing to note is that the text used across all four is the pt-br ... I have the colored one that we already have on the wiki and I will make a better scan of it...

[Black Squirrel]

(psst, hey, Mr. Ninja

https://segaretro.or..._to_be_replaced


https://www.youtube....h?v=tOCCvN8YDuc)


It would be exceedingly helpful if, whenever any variant (of anything) is found, it's represented in some form on the wiki, even if it's just an empty template. That is the public, front-facing database of common knowledge - things get lost in these forums.

Every few months, when the auction sites have had a chance to re-stock, I tend to go hunting for missing things to use as placeholders. So it's nice to know what I'm looking for.

[Pengi]

A Brazilian fan site, Power Sonic, has a bunch of Brazilian (Portuguese language) manuals: http://www.powersoni...mes/manuais.htm

This post has been edited by Pengi: 13 October 2018 - 08:53 AM

[Asagoth]

There's lots of them ... thanks for sharing ... they need to be cropped... and the pages split... but that's not a problem...

[HedgeHayes]

If I've understood everything, I can help with the EU Sonic 3D manual, and maybe S&K and MBM EU manuals; I'll know after comparing the ones I've got with those already uploaded.

I've never edited wikis or uploaded anything to them, so I'd like to know two things: first, is it better if I upload them, or just do the scanning and send the pictures to someone else more experienced? If I do everything by myself, which specifications/quality controls/whatever should I take into account? (I think it's the third time I ask for this kind of information, maybe I'll get an answer this time).

[doc eggfan]

N!NJA, on 13 October 2018 - 02:09 AM, said:

• Australian versions missing, three manual types seem to exist such as the vertical one. https://i.ebayimg.co...-4n/s-l1600.jpg There's a classics version also (https://i.ebayimg.co...~FU/s-l1600.jpg)

Just noting that the classics variant is just the same as the original. The classics bit is just a sticker stuck to the front of the case, and the slipcase insert is no different. It's just old stock with a sticker. I guess it still barely qualifies as a variant.

This post has been edited by doc eggfan: 14 October 2018 - 04:45 AM

[saintminya]

I have a US Sonic 3 Manual, I can scan _{as soon as I get the printer/scanner(S) to cooperate.}

[Asagoth]

HedgeHayes, on 13 October 2018 - 03:41 PM, said:

If I've understood everything, I can help with the EU Sonic 3D manual, and maybe S&K and MBM EU manuals; I'll know after comparing the ones I've got with those already uploaded.

I've never edited wikis or uploaded anything to them, so I'd like to know two things: first, is it better if I upload them, or just do the scanning and send the pictures to someone else more experienced? If I do everything by myself, which specifications/quality controls/whatever should I take into account? (I think it's the third time I ask for this kind of information, maybe I'll get an answer this time).

The pages split and correctly cropped... and the highest resolution that your scanner can achieve... to upload just hit the button "upload file" which will send you to the upload page... while there you must not forget to categorize the file before uploading ... an example ... as you can see in this manual in the box "comment" there's this code ''{{manual|game=Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball|system=Mega Drive|region=US}}''... you shall add it in the box "summary" that you will see in the upload page... the best way to learn this is doing like others do... let's say you want to upload a Mega CD manual... just look for one already on the wiki hit the edit button (be careful to not edit the page) and copy the code... the name of the file shall always follow this criteria "name of the game/system/region/type of file (if it's a manual or a book, a leaflet, a toy, whatever )... these two tools are also "great companions" for this "job" JPEGtoPDF (for making pdf files) and Vertical Image Splitter (for spliting pages)...

This post has been edited by Asagoth: 14 October 2018 - 03:36 AM

[N!NJA]

@Asagoth never knew this, thanks for saying.

@Black Squirrel on the case, I found a scanner, 1200DPI good enough?

@Doc Eggfan, Ah wasn't aware of this, That seems to be the case with the Candian one too.

So yeah, I've found a scanner I'm starting scans as we speak. All the rarer stuff I'll do first like Sonic 3D Korean etc.

I'll upload them to my dedi as they're done and will leave any edits to the community as needed. (I'll link them in the first post as done.)


EDIT: Actually not doing 1200dpi sorry, it's almost 500MB per scanned image :P 600dpi is more livable at around 100mb a scan.

This post has been edited by N!NJA: 14 October 2018 - 12:54 PM

[Black Squirrel]

N!NJA, on 14 October 2018 - 12:43 PM, said:

EDIT: Actually not doing 1200dpi sorry, it's almost 500MB per scanned image :P

Shouldn't be - I hope you're not trying to save as PNGs!

1200dpi is usually excessive - there's more samples there than the original print, so you start picking up moire patterns instead of anything we might actually want. But doing edits (rotations/crops) at 1200dpi and then downscaling to 600dpi can create a nice super-sampling effect. 600dpi is usually about the best as you can expect for scans of this nature.


There are no great benefits of saving in a lossless format for scans - most things degrade with age and all scanners are inaccurate, so there's little practical difference between a PNG and a high quality JPEG at those resolutions. Except that the file size of the PNG version will be 10 times bigger.


(spoilers: this is why lossy formats still exist)

[N!NJA]

Black Squirrel, on 14 October 2018 - 02:16 PM, said:

N!NJA, on 14 October 2018 - 12:43 PM, said:

EDIT: Actually not doing 1200dpi sorry, it's almost 500MB per scanned image :P

Shouldn't be - I hope you're not trying to save as PNGs!

1200dpi is usually excessive - there's more samples there than the original print, so you start picking up moire patterns instead of anything we might actually want. But doing edits (rotations/crops) at 1200dpi and then downscaling to 600dpi can create a nice super-sampling effect. 600dpi is usually about the best as you can expect for scans of this nature.


There are no great benefits of saving in a lossless format for scans - most things degrade with age and all scanners are inaccurate, so there's little practical difference between a PNG and a high quality JPEG at those resolutions. Except that the file size of the PNG version will be 10 times bigger.


(spoilers: this is why lossy formats still exist)

Nah, was JPG's haha, I didn't have a PNG option with this scanner weirdly, and I set it to best on JPG's format.

Here's a scan of the cover https://i.imgur.com/XNJpl6z.jpg (more than likely abused by imgur's compression but an example.) I couldn't get it to line up for some reason but I'm sure this can be sorted in photoshop or something. Done about half the manual now, then will work on labyrinth etc.

EDIT: Seeing as the Korean stuff is so uncommon I'm doing 1200dpi on those as 3D blast for instance is normally damaged/faded.

EDIT2: link added into first post with scans done.

This post has been edited by N!NJA: 14 October 2018 - 05:39 PM

[ICEknight]

N!NJA, on 14 October 2018 - 02:34 PM, said:

Here's a scan of the cover https://i.imgur.com/XNJpl6z.jpg (more than likely abused by imgur's compression but an example.) I couldn't get it to line up for some reason but I'm sure this can be sorted in photoshop or something. Done about half the manual now, then will work on labyrinth etc.

Nice resolution, but some parts look blurry due to them not being pressed against the scanner's glass.

[N!NJA]

ICEknight, on 14 October 2018 - 08:02 PM, said:

N!NJA, on 14 October 2018 - 02:34 PM, said:

Here's a scan of the cover https://i.imgur.com/XNJpl6z.jpg (more than likely abused by imgur's compression but an example.) I couldn't get it to line up for some reason but I'm sure this can be sorted in photoshop or something. Done about half the manual now, then will work on labyrinth etc.

Nice resolution, but some parts look blurry due to them not being pressed against the scanner's glass.

Yeah it was a pain to keep some flat and I didn't want to crease them, I could always try with a cd case pressed against them if needs be?

[Black Squirrel]

I'd also recommend putting it closer towards the centre of the scanner bed rather than the edge - there's a bit cropped off.

You might not be able to fit a double-page spread on the scanner, but you could always do two manuals at once />

This post has been edited by Black Squirrel: 15 October 2018 - 11:26 AM