Sonic Crackers is not a Beta, it's a joke

Clackers.

Clackers.

Clackers.

Fucking Clackers man, why didn't I see that before? :v:

 

Oh my godnik.

No hurry but we need this. =O

 

Is a godnik a god that has been invented by Robotnik?

 

Well, color me surprised! I'll be definitely interested on how you almost managed to find a Chaotix tech demo for the Saturn, considering how the game might have worked better on that system despite price concerns.

 

This has made me want to dig out Knuckles Clackers and see if I can get through it without throwing my controller out the window

 

By the way, isn't there a hazard in Chaotix that temporarily holds the rubber band from the mid point and makes the whole thing look like some crazed set of clackers?

It's the other way around.

 

Darn, I always thought a Saturn version near launch would have been a much better idea, especially if it meant the game got more polish, but to think that they actually moved it from the Saturn to the 32X is crazy. Everything about the 32X was a mistake and they really should have put all that energy towards the Saturn IMO :/

All this chatter about C(l)rackers made me wanna patch the rom so I can play it on my Everdrive. Broken wonky prototype on actual hardware haha!

 

You may or may not be serious here, but thank you for letting us have a discussion about Clackers. (seriously, that name makes sense.)

Also, because I feel like refuting some of your points (for some reason)...

> the isometric level is awful

They were testing things out, seeing what stuck. It was a prototype. They're allowed to do that.

> the title is done in ascii hash tags lol

Did you think, that early in development, they were going to have an artist draw up a logo? They didn't even know what the game's name was going to be, considering the ROM header said "Sonic Studium." It's a lot easier to run "Sonic Crackers" through FIGlet and have the menu code write that to the screen.

> What kind of tech demo is this supposed to represent?

It's a prototype of Chaotix. It's meant to test the mechanics of the Combi-Ring and how it works in gameplay.

> Who would you show this to or even let them play

Nobody. It was a leaked prototype.

Usually, the easiest answer is the correct answer. Which would have been eaiser: some German dudes making a new alias on the internet and releasing a prototype ROM they bought from some disgruntled SEGA employee, or some sceners recreating an entire Sonic game with hard to acquire development tools with accurate physics and mostly-working code and also have SEGA put a reference to it in later prototypes as a joke.

EDIT: Typo and phrasing

 

I disassembled this game quite some time ago.

There are several reserved slots for all the other characters, of which only two are used (Sonic & Tails). The two characters can swap places in real-time (this includes VRAM), even Sonic has an object and VRAM space for a tail, should a character with a tail need to use it. The engine is too well optimised with speed in mind, and it's too well planned out, structured, and arranged, including the most up to date, and fastest level rendering routines, and object processing methods available, complete with complex linked lists, VDP register storage lists, and VRAM handling system.

This is not the type of game that was programmed as a joke...

 

Mm, I'm not sure about that, but there is a boss that has your partner spinning around while you're suspended, sort of like clackers.



EDIT: Also, doesn't the reoccuring robotnik.... miniboss? in Amazing Arena have hands that act like clackers sorta?

 

If this was on the wiki, this topic wouldn't need to exist.

Especially that "Sonic Chaotic" thing - Game Players were throwing that name around back in the day, but you could never be entirely sure they weren't making it up.


Do we have scans of these Sega of America hint sheets somewhere - Sega Retro has a bunch of Master System ones, but none for the Mega Drive.

 

Just checked a playthrough I did of Chaotix. I'm pretty sure there isn't a hazard or enemy which holds the rubber band from the middle. The Botanic Base boss is probably the closest to the clackers theory. It's such a weird design.

Both the recurring mini-boss in Amazing Arena and the AA Eggman boss are similar in that a "hand" tries to attack you and then retracts, but it's not the clackers effect.



That said, actually, there might be a gimmick in the later acts of Techno Tower (low down in the level) which has a similar affect to clackers where both characters can move round but the rubber band gets caught.

Damn it, I curious now. Think I'll do a quick playthrough to see if I can find it, haha.


Edit: What I was think of is just another gimmick which temporarily holds one of the characters in place.

 

Isn't there a pole of some kind in one of the Isolated Island acts that makes your characters flail around erratically on it for a couple of seconds when you pass by it?

 

I do believe it's a beta for chaotix but the way it was found, dumped and such could be against the norm, could have been planned knowing resale value? no idea.

Not allowing sonic and tails in a saturn port of crackers makes a lot of sense after thinking about how the saturn was going to have a new mascot, sega was in a year of dumb at that time I swear.

 

This must be what I was thinking of.

 

Are you are referring to this green vertical pole like object in Isolated Island Act1?

 

I guess my memory mixed up that hazard with the previously posted boss, oops.

 

Ha, well found!

Can't believe I forgot about this, it's literally one of the first hazards you encounter in the game!