I didn't like it from the first time I saw the reveal stream. WAAAAAY to bright and flashy to the point of being irritating. Haha! I do think the idea could have worked if it had been toned done and maybe had the buildings redesigned to look a bit more detailed with more subtle neon lights, but the final is way better in this case.
I think the Sparkling BG looks nice, but a bit too simplistic and "abstract" for Sonic 1, almost like a NES BG. I can see why they replaced it, I feel it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Come to think of it, Ohshima did state that that Sparkling/Spring Yard was the first level to be drawn and finalized. Going by that, it makes sense that its original BG would be more basic than most zones, just like TTS GHZ. At some point they realized that they could make more detailed BGs, and they eventually remade the GHZ and SYZ BGs to match the rest of the game.
I agree, it reminds me a lot of Casino Night zone, those bright colorful zones take a lot of work and revision to look their best.
I would imagine the background was redone to allow for parallax scrolling... even if the feature didn't turn up until rev 01. It's a bit flashy but you could probably minimise that by making the rotating palettes smoother.
I like Sparkling Zone's BG but I'd definitely agree with it being too simplistic. I do like the aesthetic. It would be great to see it fleshed out more with parallax scrolling incorporated and some graphical adjustments. But, I love Spring Yard's BG as well. Wouldn't it be grand if Spring Yard switched to Sparkling Zone's BG for the third act? An updated Sparkling Zone BG anyway. The music definitely fits with the bright and flashy pachinko parlor theme.
I personally think you'd get the best result if you had the final's city background and the sparkling stuff in chunks, similar to Casino Night's blue/yellow backgrounds around slot machines. Would make more sense than COPE or CPU ever will.
Really random thought but do you think the music for scrap brain fits the clock work theme if you listen to it now and listen for the beat?
I haven't posted since the sonic 3 proto, this is an amazing find and I never thought I'd see Clock Ork Zone! I don't know if this has been brought up, but has anyone noticed the background of Sonic Mania's GHZ mid boss? Right slap in the middle!
WTF, why didn't anyone tell me about this? I'll have to play through after work. Seriously I only found out because of a youtube video.
Retro Gamer issue 216 is out! Support the magazine, a one year digital only subscription is just 12 bucks right now.
Thank you drx, Buckaroo and everyone else involved for sharing this with the world, including those revealing the secrets hidden within the rom. As a proud owner of a sonic crackers proto cart I am very happy to see these prototypes still being unearthed and the roms being shared. I wish I had found out about this release a little sooner! I guess dreams do come true. I never expected this to happen. Time to play this beauty. Thank you so much.
Yeah tbh, I recognized it as soon as I first saw the boss. Mania is full of so many references it's actually unfunny. How many newcomers are even going to understand why they're even there? :p
Does anyone remember the "lets go" art found in the final? I didn't see it in Sparkling Zone if I recall. Was it still loaded into vram?
