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I found this thread incredibly fascinating and it got me into looking more closely at all of the concept art shown in the MTV video. I had never even noticed the strange space dragon looking creature in the one concept art before and it got me all excited and interested. In the Japanese manual of Sonic 3 an ancient dragon is mentioned by Knuckles as the sky dragon or some kind of sky dragon God. This could mean that this concept art is showing the ancient creature mentioned by Knuckles in the manual. I always found it kind of odd that they mentioned the God in the manuals but never in the actual game. Judging by the concept art, it appears that perhaps in earlier development the dragon was going to be one of the final bosses in Sonic 3 / Doomsday Zone.

Excerpts from the Sonic 3 Manual

"Time passed, and a God descended from the sky to the newly created "mystery island". The sky God restored part of the civilization to the island, and threw the "Mighty Stone" into the open sky..."

"Does that huge egg belong to the legendary dragon..?"

Seeing your attempt at redrawing what you could make out of the blurry and pixelated images inspired me to try and do it myself with all of the concept art images shown in the video. It wasn't easy and I know I'm not going to be 100% accurate because the images are in such terrible quality it is really hard to decipher what is what at times but at least it can help give us a general idea of what the concept art shown in the video is. I also did enhancements in Photoshop to the blurry and pixelated concept arts to help see them better. I was able to make out and find a lot of details I hadn't noticed before that was really interesting and I wanted to show everyone and see what their thoughts are.

Sonic 3 Concept Art 01 - Knuckles Sees the Death Egg Crashing Into the Island

In the Japanese Manual's of Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles they mention how Knuckles sees or notices the Death Egg crashing into Angel Island. When I was doing enhancements on this piece of concept art I began noticing what looks like the Death Egg over the water and in the lower right hand corner I was able to make out Knuckles' face. To me, this looks like concept art for the games storyline which is pretty interesting. It looks like maybe Mushroom Hill Zone. You can see a large rock formation with a cave inside and a waterfall with water flowing into a lake. The image has soft blueish green colors reminiscent to Azure Lake Zone. Maybe that was the original color scheme for Mushroom Hill, who knows? You can make out what looks like a mushroom with possibly an entrance on the far right and on the far left of the image you can make out a pathway and in the distance you can see a small mushroom and a very tall one with a pathway carved into it which is pretty neat.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 02 - Sonic Swimming In Hydro City Zone

Now this concept art I always found to be really cool. I knew even from seeing it from far away that it looked like Hydro City Zone but I didn't truly see all the unique and interesting things in this piece of art until I started messing with it in Photoshop. If you look really closely, you'll notice a shark in the water on the bottom center of the image. You can see what looks like caverns with waterfalls and you can see an underwater plant on the bottom right hand side. On the upper left hand side you can see a pipe with water flowing out of it and if you look real closely you can make out what looks like Sonic swimming up for air just above where the shark's tail is on the upper right hand side of the image. It's hard to make out Sonic, but if you zoom in with certain enhancements like higher contrast or levels, you can make out his form. You can see his shoes, his quills and ears, so it's definitely Sonic even if it is a little hard to see. I find this concept art interesting because its very different than the Hydro City Zone we know in the final game. It looks more like a cavernous sewer with pipes and sea creatures swimming in the water. I like the idea that there's a shark in the water with Sonic. XD



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 03 - Sonic Standing On A Ruin Like Pillar In Sky Sanctuary Zone

Now this is probably my most favorite of the concept arts that I attempted to restore. This one has a lot of atmosphere to it and a lot of detail that you couldn't really see or make out from far away in the video. When I really looked closely at it I was able to make out floating trees in the background, mountains, and Sonic, standing on a ruin like pillar standing tall into the clouds. I looked at the other more visible and obvious Sky Sanctuary Zone concept arts shown in the video and the ruin like pillars match the one shown in this concept art as well as the floating trees. The original designs for Sky Sanctuary I really like a lot. If you look closely to the far left of the image you can see a tall mountain with what looks like snow on it. In the center of the image you can see Sonic standing on a ruin like pillar facing the mountain with his quills facing us at an angle. There's a noticeable bridge on the far left hand side and on the far right hand side in the distance you can see a land mass with a tall tree on it with what looks like either a spiral staircase or thick vines wrapping around the tree. Beside it to the left, you can see three smaller floating trees among some clouds. You are also able to faintly make out clouds beneath the bridge and ruin like pillar and what looks to be either a small piece of land or a small mountain on the lower right.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. I drew this one a while back and now looking at it again after I made an animated gif of the enhancements, I noticed a couple of errors in the tracing. What I previously thought was some type of bridge leading to the tree was actually just a trick of the eye and is just a piece of land mass where the tallest tree stands with what looks like a smaller mountain beside it.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 04 - Knuckles Standing In Mushroom Hill Zone

This was one of the hardest images to try and restore. It was the farthest away in the video at an angle and also had a phone antenna blocking part of it. From first glance far away in the video I had assumed this was concept art for Marble Garden for some strange reason but when I started enhancing it to the best of my ability I noticed it had mushrooms in it, trees, Knuckles standing in the lower left hand side and quickly realized it was concept art for Mushroom Hill Zone. It's hard to see, but on the far right hand side of the image you can see a tree with tall branches that go upward and are flat at the top, beneath the tree is a small hill of land with an entrance leading to somewhere. On the upper right hand side of the image you can faintly make out a mushroom and even the freckles on it and on the bottom far left you can see Knuckles standing and possibly crossing his arms. In the center of the image you can see what looks like woods and mountainous terrain in the far distance.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. I also drew this one a while back and upon looking at it again notice some issues with it. Like I said, I know my tracing isn't going to be 100% accurate, but I tried to make it as accurate as possible.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 05 - Knuckles Standing At The Bottom Of A Waterfall

When I first saw this concept art from far away I originally thought it was Knuckles standing in Lava Reef Zone or Hidden Palace Zone and reaching for a switch of some sort but when I started really looking at it and enhancing it I realized it wasn't what I initially thought it was. If you look real closely you'll notice Knuckles in the center of the image standing on a small pathway surrounded by a tall waterfall on the far right hand side and small narrow waterways with small waterfalls behind him. On the far bottom left hand side you can see three small waterfalls coming from the pathway Knuckles is standing on. The pathway's coloring reminds me of Angel Island Act 2 after it is set ablaze so I think that's what this might possibly be but I'm not 100% sure on that.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 06 - The Death Egg In Lava Reef Zone

This was another very difficult concept art to attempt restoring. It was one of the farthest away at an angle and it was initially difficult to make out what it is. From far away I was able to make out it was definitely the Death Egg but at first I thought it was in space but when I started attempting to enhance it I noticed small details that are telling me otherwise. If you look real closely in the background it looks like two waterfalls. In the center is the Death Egg and off to the bottom far right hand side it looks like either the ground or water.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. This was probably my poorest tracings out of all the concept images but I tried the best I could.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 07 - Cut Down Trees In Mushroom Hill Zone

This was another difficult one to restore because it was one of the farthest away and at an angle. At first I had thought they were tall mushroom trees but then when I started enhancing the image it looks like tree stumps where their tops had been cut down like at the end of Mushroom Hill Act 1 with the mini boss. In the far distance you can see green vegetation but closer towards the lower right hand side the vegetation is a red color like the color scheme seen in Mushroom Hill Act 2.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 08 - Sonic Slipping On Ice In An Early Ice Cap / Winter Zone

This is one of the most easiest of the concept art images to see clearly and it is one of my personal favorites. This was most likely recycled concept art from Sonic 2. In the MTV video you can see at least three recycled Sonic 2 concept art images which are Metropolis Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, and this unused Winter stage. There's another Sonic 3 concept art from the MTV video featuring Ice Cap and it is clearly different than what we see here which gives me even more further reassurance that this concept art in particular is most likely from Sonic 2. We can clearly see Sonic falling from an icy slope and have a good visual of the background snowy mountain peaks. In the far distance is an icy lake and you can see the reflection of the aurora borealis on the surface. To the left is a Christmas tree which was mentioned in an interview about Sonic 2 mentioning that the unused winter stage was going to feature Christmas trees. To the far right we see an icy wall which Sonic most likely would have been able to spin dash through revealing an alternate route / pathway. You can also see small snow flakes falling.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 09 - Sonic And Tails In Sky Sanctuary Zone

I really like this concept art a lot. The original design of Sky Sanctuary I think looks really nice although I love the final version very much as well. This concept art gives us a pretty good look at how the ruin like pillars and columns looked with arched pathways and stairways leading to other areas with small masses of land with trees on them which are floating in the sky. You can also see pillars, arch pathways, and columns standing tall in the sky through the clouds in the distance of the background. And lastly, you can see Sonic and Tails bouncing on the clouds. Because I enhanced the closest and nicest shot of this image the bottom right hand corner was cropped due to being blocked by unwanted text. When you zoom farther out you can see something trying to shoot at Sonic and to me it appears to be a very small early version of Egg Robo.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. For some reason, tracing this one was difficult for me. Since it was one of the nicer and more clear concept arts we can see in the video I figured it would be easy but it wasn't.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 10 - Sonic In Hydro City Or Sky Sanctuary Zone

This concept art was tough to decipher what was what. I'm still not 100% sure honestly. The background art and tiles match what final Hydro City looks like yet the background is white and doesn't look like water but kind of like clouds. The enemies seen in the upper left and lower right look sort of like Egg Robo but I can't be sure because they are too small and blurry to make out. You can see Sonic in the center of the image falling downwards and behind him it looks to be an alternate pathway in the distance. Directly beneath him it looks like a small fan that would make him float upwards but I honestly can't really tell that well. I just find it interesting how the tiles match Hydro City's but the background doesn't seem to match Hydro City at all.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 11 - Eggman's Blimp / Zeppelin Flying Through Ice Cap Zone

This is one of the coolest discoveries I made when attempting to enhance this particular concept art. I never knew or noticed what was exactly in this picture until I really looked at it and realized what I was looking at. You can clearly see Eggman's blimp / zeppelin flying in the upper right hand side of the screen and on the bottom you can see snow and ice caps which are seen in the final version of Ice Cap Zone. Remember earlier I mentioned how the Winter stage concept art from Sonic 2 was clearly different. In this image on the lower left hand side you can see an ice cap and in the bottom center you can see a frozen crystal or stalagmite on the ground just below the tail of the blimp / zeppelin. The background tiles match final Ice Cap as well. You can faintly see snowy ice caps or mountains in the far distance on the bottom left hand side. I find it interesting that we see the zeppelin / blimp here in Ice Cap because if I recall Yuji Naka had mentioned that originally Flying Battery Zone was going to come before Ice Cap Zone and when Sonic jumped out of the zeppelin / blimp he would use the door as a snowboard in Ice Cap Zone. This concept art seems to be illustrating and supporting that idea which is really neat.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. At the time that I drew this, I failed to notice the crystal / stalagmite in the bottom center of the image so it wasn't drawn.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 12 - Super Sonic In Space With The Ancient Sky Dragon

This is the concept art in particular that got me really looking and paying more attention to all the other concept art images in the MTV video. I think this looks so cool and I'm so curious how this would have played out had it been included in the final game. Because the closest and nicest shot of the concept art had text blocking Super Sonic, I had to use another shot zoomed out where the text was no longer blocking him to try to enhance Super Sonic. The top and upper left is the sky dragon that Knuckles mentions in the manuals and to the far right beneath him is Super Sonic who is obscured by red text. On the bottom of the image is what looks like the earth.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. I decided to try and attempt tracing this image even though it's been done by someone else already. I think their attempt was much better but I like mine too. What I did notice is what looks to be teeth on the dragon in the enhancements and I tried to trace some of them.



Sonic 3 Concept Art 13 - Aquatic Ruin From Sonic 2

This concept art is actually concept art of Aquatic Ruin from Sonic 2. This concept art was released in good quality and is on the Wiki but the version shown in the MTV video is slightly different which is why I traced it and enhanced it. In the MTV version you can see a pathway under the water in the center of the image and in the Sonic 2 version we have that pathway is not there. Another thing the MTV version has that the Sonic 2 version lacks is a small ruin column at the upper right hand side of the screen on the top ledge. The column ruin on the far left hand side is also slightly taller in the MTV version. It's just subtle differences but I thought it was worthy to note and show everyone.



This is my attempt at tracing what I could make out from the concept art. I really didn't have to do much here. I just drew the subtle differences such as the new pathway and ruins. I took the Sonic 2 version and overlayed it and matched it up with the MTV version.

At the time a lot of people had Sonic 1 and 2 and not 3. Sonic 2 was packaged with the Sega Genesis and it's actually how I got the game as a kid. I think a lot of people remember and have a soft spot for Sonic 2 because it was their first Sonic game. You got to remember that in the early 90's Sega Games were 50 bucks each. So when Sonic 3 came out it was an expensive game and then you had to get Sonic and Knuckles to complete it. Not a lot of people were able to go out and buy it readily and especially both games to play the complete package. People also felt they needed to go back and play Sonic 1 and 2 first before playing 3. When I was little I used to rent Sonic 3 every week from my local Blockbuster store since we couldn't buy it and later on eventually I was able to get Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles. A lot of people felt as though Sonic 3 wasn't as good as 2 because of how short it was until Sonic and Knuckles came out. I honestly think it's wrong to compare the different classic games because they all have their own different feeling and style. Sonic 2 always gave me a special feeling I didn't get from 3 and then Sonic CD for example gave me a different feeling than the Megadrive games. They all had their own artistic style level design and graphically, their own individual music styles, and feel that differ from one another. It's obvious Sonic 3 and Knuckles is superior to Sonic 2 for a lot of reasons. When Sonic 3 came out they were able to make longer and bigger levels. They made it so when you get 50 rings you don't become Super Sonic automatically when you jump and they have a lot more boss fights and fun gimmicks to throw at you. I think people have a soft spot for 2 mainly because of it possibly being their first Sonic game like it was for me and maybe they have a fondness towards it's music, style, and gameplay which differs greatly from Sonic 3. I honestly love all the classic games equally and they all hold a special place in my heart.

I'm extremely happy and relieved to hear this site is coming back and being restored. I was greatly saddened to hear that it was hacked and was shut down. I seem to have a bad habit of waiting until the very last minute to do things and I never had the chance to download the Sonic music on there. It was one of my favorite old Sonic websites to go to besides "Secrets of Sonic Team" (SoST).

I absolutely LOVE how this was so sneakily implemented in the Nike Commercial / video. This game is actually really fun and well done. I think the custom made sprites look absolutely adorable and now I really want a pair of these shoes lol. XD Nothing makes me feel more happy than to see Sonic appearing in Commercial's again and becoming popular again. I'm actually pretty addicted to this little flash game. I think it's pretty fun for as simple it is and I've received a lot of enjoyment out of it. ^.^ Here's my score so far. 47400. XD I'm such a nerd lol.