Great work Trunks! A lot of the Japanese manual scans were made before broadband and HD monitors were widespread, so they were very small. It's great to get some higher quality ones.
Oh, it occurs to me that the JP manuals to Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles weren't actually scanned and posted on Retro before? Image rips from Sonic Jam are all that's available on the Wiki. I don't really like Jam's pictures all that much--too dark and small. Pretty 300 dpi scans are always good.
I think Sonic was originally intended to be the ultimate life form, but no one gave a shit after Sega's restructuring, so after Sonic Heroes, the official story became "it was aliens and they're the bad guys for this next game"
Weird bump and weird place to put it, but here's some 300dpi scans of the JP Sonic Jam packaging. I even got the registration card, spine card, and brochure. Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/tgtcjyvo8ly1of0/Sonic%20Jam%20JP%20Scans%20300DPI.zip Imgur Upload for quick browsing: https://imgur.com/a/KzZSn I'd be happy to do a bunch of disassembly and scanning for other JP releases if anyone wants to pitch in for buying 'em. I'll be going to Japan again in January, and it won't be too expensive to pick them up. Sonic Drift looks like it'd be like $10 or so to get a complete in box copy, and I can disassemble the box with a light heat gun, disassemble the manual, and get some really nice scans of each.
I actually got into a fight with some people over this theory and they wouldn't take my evidence so I asked the writer of sa2 himself https://mobile.twitter.com/mizuhano/status/931341136655822848 I said. hi there I'm an American. I have a question. in sa2 was Sonic the real roject shadow. was shadow born on Earth after Maria died. was Sonic the one that Gerald created on the space ark? these things are implied but never said in the story. he responded hello! Hello! Thank you for imagining various things. I am frequently asked about SA2s story but I answer like this. "Believe that you want to believe." I wrote that story so that it could be thought of as anything. There is no definite answer.
I've got nothing particularly unique to say than a special thanks, Windii! Would you be interested in some Sonic 3D Blast Saturn material from a Japanese magazine from 1999 that appears to feature an interview with one of the Japanese developers behind the game?
Please share. Sonic Team had a big involvement in Sonic 3D Saturn as they did the special stages, so it would be nice to learn more.
That's awesome. I tried asking him about Sonic being the ultimate life form in SA2 a few years ago but couldn't bring myself to do it. It's good that he is still willing to answer Sonic stuff. Sure. As long as the scans are big enough for me to see the kanji, of course. :]
Good job with the video uploads Windii, watching the Shadow the hedgehog vids it's surprising how much the tone changes between the English and Japan versions.
You're all in luck then. I've found the original scans and they're in this thread on Retro: http://forums.sonicr...showtopic=32052
I took a look at the scans. That person seems to be Tadashi Takezaki, the SEGA executive. His blurb is not very interesting though, just that the poly Sonic that appears in the Special Stages was apparently made at the same time as the Christmas Nights's Sonic, apparently? He's not one of the devs, unfortunately.