Seeing these new unused sprites is amazing, it's incredible to see something like this being showcased decades later. I love the designs of the enemies and the Robotnik boss looks very interesting. At first thought I imagined that vehicle was originally designed for Robotnik to participate in the race with Metal Sonic (perhaps he could have stayed behind or ahead of the race). However, knowing that this is from the R2 level just makes it more intriguing. Thanks for the great post Taxman. If Sega could somehow get the original development team for Sonic CD and Sonic 2 back together to make deluxe versions with all the scrapped ideas added in, it would be incredible (although it will never happen, a fan can dream).
As a Liverpool lad I can safely say I'd rather have this than the 3 dead Beatles resurrected and back together. I'm serious!
What's interesting about the Antlion badnik is that in the credits animation, it seems to appear out of sinkholes or whirlpools rather than tubes or at the bottom of bowl-shaped sections of floor, making me think it belonged in Tidal Tempest rather than Metallic Madness.
Even if we have no proof, It makes so much sense to have it where those spikes are in Metalic Madness... Either way, THIS IS AMAZING :D
First off, thank you so much Taxman. This really blew my mind in such a way I haven't felt since the last big Sonic prototype related discovery. Like everyone said, if you got any other secrets you could possibly share, by all means share it Now then. It wouldn't be far fetch to say that the R8 Antlion would have been just a re-used badnik when you consider how many badniks are re-used in Metallic Madness Zone (Poh-Bee, Dango, and Hotaru) using either the same or different mechanics. Dango uses a different palette and so does Antlion. Taking the whole re-used badniks in MMZ into consideration, the fact that Mecha-Bu is only in MMZ has been bugging me for years. Because in the ending credits of Sonic CD, you see them doing something slightly different (running around the place non-stop) in what's got to be Wacky Workbench Zone because of what Sonic is riding on. It would make sense for it to be WWZ because every single cutscene in the ending credits represents each level. It couldn't be two different cutscenes of Metallic Madness Zone in the ending credits could it? I'm going to stick my neck out now and say this. Now that we're certain what R2 really was; In the original (extended) ending credits of Sonic CD (like the one found in Sonic Jam), notice that each cutscene shown with Sonic is going in the order of which the levels would have appeared. All except for two. Scene 1 - Palmtree Panic Zone Scene 2 - R2 Scene 3 - Collision Chaos Zone Scene 4 - Quartz Quadrant Zone Scene 5 - Wacky Workbench Zone Scene 6 - Metallic Madness Zone Scene 7 - Stardust Speedway Zone It's peculiar really because at the beginning of the ending credits you see Sonic holding Amy and running away from what's clearly Stardust Speedway Zone. In Stardust Speedway Zone, Sonic only just saves Amy. Could it be that Stardust Speedway Zone was originally going to be the final level? The fact that Metallic Madness Zone is R8 makes it unlikely and the order of the cutscenes in the ending credits were done like that for whatever reason.
Or, they've changed the zone order because it would look better? More 'epic'..? edit: Hey! This is not COS, it's CDS! CD Sonic! :O
You know, after seeing this image in a member's sig and being reminded of the R2 section of the cutscene: I'm even more inclined to believe this is how this badnik was supposed to work.
Wow, thats really awesome you got access to the original files Taxman! And thank you for sharing! I never expected to see anything more from R2, really cool!
Has there ever been any concrete proof that R2 was meant to be a Desert? It seems all there is to support that theory is the cactus in the Little Planet image. I've always thought that it would have been a ruins stage (As we see in that ending animation). Given that the majority of SCD stages are based on those from S1, the only one missing is a Marble Zone style stage. I can sorta imagine that boss skimming across a lava bed or something.
Hey, guess what? Sonic CD nominated for Best Windows Phone game of the year. If it wins, can we get R2 and Desert Dazzle as DLC?
Is this even really a theory? This was always my presumption, and I think most other people drew the same conclusion using the same logic.
Why does it take Sega so long to release updates to their iOS games? It should've taken less than an hour to add support for the iPhone 5 screen, assuming the code was already there for it due it being available for Android. It's literally a matter of dropping a widescreen startup splash into the project and hitting build, if the code already queried UIScreen for it's resolution.
So, I apologize if this is the wrong place to put this. I'm having a weird issue with my Steam copy. The opening logos and a couple of the options screens are quite off-center. The game itself runs fine, but I have NO idea why it's doing this. Thoughts?
Read the R2 article for info on what it was to look like. Concept art for it has been found and Taxman believes the footage from the extended ending is R2.
Oops never seen that! Not on top of things like that like I used to be :D I remember many many moons ago the only "proof" that anyone could come up with that R2 was a Desert (not counting the Little Planet image) was that a section of Quartz Quadrant Past very vaguely resembled the S2 mockup! (Which I think got heightened when Yarharhar used the QQ Present track for Dust Hill Zone in his aborted fangame Robotnik's Revenge).
So erm why couldn't this be Metallic Madness Future. There's a level with overgrown machinery and would have had antlions had they not been scrapped. Same colour scheme and everything
You'll notice in the R2 footage that the ground is made of stone. Metallic Madness is metal, there's even metal in the title. You can see vines, moss, and rocks scattered around. Also there's sections where the ground collapses, which probably don't happen in Metallic Madness. Also, the badnik is orange in the R8 version of the sprite. You can see the color in the cutscene more closely resembles the R2 sprite. Also, the R2 footage takes place immediately after the 1st level. You'd have to assume Metallic Madness (R8) was originally the second level.
