The Supreme Topic of 'Other' Knowledge.

I ripped Dreamcast Express 1-7 today. There's a ton of trailers, trials and VMU downloads on them, including a few Sonic things:

Vol 6 and 7 have a save for Sonic Adventure International (and according to the files there might be a '98 one too, but I haven't seen a way to download that one). It's the same as a blank file, but File 1 has all 6 characters unlocked from the start rather than just Sonic. Don't know much about VMU stuff, so I just downloaded the save and exported it with VMU Explorer. You can get that here.

Spoiler

Vol 7 has E3 2000 for SA2, which you can get the SFD for here. Windii put up a video earlier with it in too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CakYdSbUW0s

and Vol 5 has a few trailers for SA1, including those Toy ones. You can get the SFD with those here (Along with a few Hidekazu Yukawa videos that happen to be in the same file). It's everything after 4:00 in this video.

 

You mind updating the Dreamcast Express page on Sega Retro since you have Vol. 1-7?

 

Sure, once I figure out what's on there in total.

 

I know that Yeow already saved it, but I decided to upload my copy of the GameTap retrospective to YouTube so others could have easy access.

I honestly forgot I had it.

I'll be adding English and Spanish subtitles at a later date, but here's the video:

http://youtu.be/f-ij_RcEzcI

 

I'm not sure if this was already posted somewhere in this thread, but some of the character select screen artwork from Sonic the Fighters was based on Sonic Drift 2 artworks, specifically Sonic, Fang, Amy and Knuckles, I'm not sure about the other characters though:

 

I guess I'll post this here too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11sQUywrnUw[/youtube]

A while back I mentioned that the original Japanese version released on the Dreamcast included an exclusive cutscene that goes unused (EV0134). This file was removed from every other version of the game. I managed to load it up by locating the table/struct that is responsible for the cutscene sequence after the title screen.

As I mentioned before, I think this was meant to take place after Amy completes the Hedgehog Hammer and before she enters Hot Shelter, somehow. This doesn't make sense in the context of the scene I don't think. So this might've been originally the cutscene that plays when Amy completes the Hot Shelter (meaning there might've been no Tikal flash back at some point). Why they removed it is anyone's guess.

 

One of the rather defining bits of Sonic 3 is the many moments where Knuckles comes around to throw a curveball into your path through a stage, with a distinctive giggle animation. This happens in every encounter in Sonic 3, with it sometimes happening before he does whatever he's going to do during fully-automated bits (AIZ1 intro, AIZ2 outro) and in the CNZ2 power-cutting cutscene as you approach him, and after any one of these cutscenes -- even the one in Hydrocity 2, which you generally won't be able to see because you fall too quickly. Outside of that one in CNZ2, the rule generally is that he'll only do the giggle before he does the thing if the clock isn't ticking (the LBZ2 bit before the boss kept the timer counting in Sonic 3 alone), or perhaps more precisely if he isn't already on-screen when the cutscene starts.

In Sonic & Knuckles, he shows up in a few areas. Mushroom Hill 1 near the start if Sonic 3 is attached, Mushroom Hill 2 near the start of the level, and Lava Reef 2 right before the boss. In Mushroom Hill 1, he sneaks out of a door after checking that the coast is clear -- no giggle because he's not a spectator to your inconvenience. In Mushroom Hill 2 he powers up a giant updraft with his switch. No giggle, but there's no way to stay around to see it anyway so we can at least treat it like it's consistent. Lava Reef, however? He punches the boulder as soon as you see him -- he's not giggling as you approach, mind you. Not quite consistent with the rule established in CNZ2 since he's already on screen, but certainly not an issue.

After he punches the boulder?



He just stands there, like a schmuck. No giggle there.

In none of the S&K cutscenes does he giggle, despite it being such a distinctive animation in Sonic 3.

 

Yeah, Tails's doesn't seem to be, oddly. Also Fang's gloves are miscoloured in the STF portrait, never noticed that before. Obviously Bark and Bean's would have been created especially for the game, but I'm not sure about Espio - it doesn't seem to be based on any existing artwork from what I can tell.

 

That's because he'd rather flex his muscles.



Incidentally Knuckles doesn't turn up much at all in S&K. If you were oblivious to Sonic 3 it could be a bit jarring when the game suddenly decides you have to fight him for some reason. Just one of the unintended consequences of splitting the game in two I guess.

 

I've somehow only just noticed that Sonic 2's Grounder has the "EG" emblem on its shoulder in the manual illustration.

The emblem can also be found on the Wing Fortress, the seat of the Egg Typhoon in Eggman's Sonic Drift 1 art work, on Eggman's trap in Sonic Jam's "Sonic Ride" video and on the popcorn machine in Sonic Mania's Studiopolis Zone.

Has anyone spotted any other appearances?

It's weird how it showed up so infrequently and in such unlikely places. It was probably part of the series style guide in Sega of Japan headquarters back in the 1990s.

 

I don't know, man. His actions in Mushroom Hill and Lava Reef are pretty clear indications that he's an enemy of some sort, even without the Sonic 3 cutscenes.

 

All of Knuckles' appearances in Sonic 3 run from a single set of art and mappings, which include the giggles. This art isn't included in S&K at all, and each of Knuckles' appearances uses either a separate set of art specifically for that appearance, or player Knuckles' sprites and mappings - none of which include the laugh.

That doesn't explain why they didn't include it, of course.

 

Are these triggered by the same object? In that case, it would be a good place where to look for early S&K cutscene leftovers.

 

Can someone explain please, why Super Nintendo could process transparency, additive blending and sprite rotation but Genesis was apparently not powerful enough for all these effects?
I mean what the inherent difference between these two systems that made it impossible for the latter?

 

Because the Mega Drive's VDP wasn't designed to produce those effects, and the SNES' graphics processor was.

 

There was an interview with the guy that designed the Mega Drive, and he said that the console was planned to have sprite rotation hardware and the like, but they had to cut it to reduce production costs. Apparently they couldn't fit all the circuitry required into one chip, so they'd have had to divide it into two.

https://www.polygon.com/features/2015/2/3/7952705/sega-genesis-masami-ishikawa

 

Thanks Clownacy, I was suspecting that'd be due to cost.

 

Those features would have given them the edge later on against the SNES, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

Would be really cool to see the original specs restored in emulation somehow. Maybe they could even be retrofit into real systems if they give no compatibility issues (doubtful, but hey).

 

That's about what you'd figure for a console whose launch titles were Super Thunder Blade and Space Harrier II.