I... Don't know if this is new or not but... 6 min of newly discovered Sonic 1 Beta footage was uploaded back in January. The footage is from a promotional Sega VHS tape, the build looks very similar (if not the same) as the Nick Arcade prototype.
Was it common knowledge already that Sonic's unused victory pose is activated by player input? I feel robbed.
So for the record, this is volume 7 from the Sega Shinsaku Soft Video (セガ新作ソフトビデオ) series, most of which haven't been documented or archived (it was later replaced with Sega Video Magazine, which has). It was a dead end last time I looked - guess things have progressed a little. And if it's anything like Sega Video Magazine, my guess is earlier volumes show earlier builds. Because that was the case with Sonic CD at the very least.
Jfc that footage is great, bugs and all. I definitely wasn't aware that the victory pose replaced the normal jump animation.
I'm going to cry. I'm so happy This gives me TREMENDOUS hope that we'll find a beta build of Sonic 1 eventually; if there's one build we're likely going to find, it's gonna be this one! Seeing as it was clearly right at the end of development due to that many things that ended up removed were actually used here (meaning that the UFOs, the Jump Pose and the Wrecking Ball and more were just cut at the last minute) and with the INCREDIBLE amount of footage we have, it's more than likely that this build has the highest chance of survival and discoverability as I theorise that this was given to possibly a few people/groups to test and record footage, we just need to find a place to start or wait for it to come to us. I really do think the search for Sonic 1 Beta is coming closer to an end! Let's just hope that it's still working...
The way I see it, if it's not on our wikis, it's not known. And if a bazillion identical forum topics turn up... incentive to update our wikis I guess!
Holy crap: Just some things I noticed from my watch: GHZ: -rolling balls in GHZ -End of level sonic victory animation -They call Sonic "Sky blue" despite him being cobalt -lamp posts missing -Shield a top first loop is a muteki monitor instead Marble Zone: -UFOs in sky -Looks like side-ways spikes after pushing the block are missing Spring Yard Zone: -Rotating spikes in pit -Flashing lights before moving platforms are different -there is a bit with 3 bumpers overlapping -Two rollers instead of one Labyrinth Zone: -No drowning music -Invincibility Box replaced with ring box before rotating spike Special Stage: -Entirely different design -Goal blocks don't work
What an exciting find! @Sonic_Hedgeblog has done a GIF thread of some of the major differences, here: https://twitter.com/Sonic_Hedgeblog/status/1259444488574865408?s=20
And Streets of Rage 1 too!! Wolf and Hawk instead of Adam and Axel, early Y.Signal, different background details, Stage 2 music slightly different.....Holy crap!! EDIT: Difficult to hear, but the Player Select music is different too. Sounds like the same drum rhythm from Keep the Groovin' (Round 4)
Some of the poles in Spring Yard Zone are colored unlike the final game. In the final, they're solid blue, or solid purple, or occasionally blue with purple tips. At the end of the SYZ footage, they show two that are a mix of purple and blue, in a way not seen in the final game.
Filling in the blanks - Eggman music is faster - There's a shield monitor at the start of Labyrinth Zone 1 - a section blocked off in the final game - Sonic drowns quicker - Missing air bubble sound effect? - No giant rings - Extra lives after 50 rings
Non-sonic stuff here: First glance, the monster World II game gear title screen is different from the final version, and the coin sprite is missing (the enemies are dropping garbled sprites).
As far as the boss music being faster, I believe it's moreso a bug with speedup shoes effect on the music not wearing off as it should. The music immediately before (level) and after (end of act jingle) the boss is sped up, too.
I'm like 99% sure the background to GHZ is different, and not just regarding starting positions. The clusters of mountains are outright different. for one, I don't see the spires used that have the bit of sky showing through them anywhere, which in mania, they redrew to be small waterfalls. This bit: I don't see it anywhere in the BG. But more than that, I've never seen this cluster of mountain tiles: Obviously it's a pattern flipped back to back, but I'm saying I don't recognize that appearing anywhere in the GHZ background.
Very interesting! I assume this is the same/similar build as the US commercials use, seeing the Ring is already called RingS and the 50 rings = 1 life thing is still intact. At least that verifies that no matter which S1 proto we ever will find it will always be interesting in one way or another.
