Casino Night Zone Beta
We all know about the Sonic 2 Beta, the pre-release version of the 1992 classic that never saw public release, that contains a whole bunch of cancelled or prototype elements and stages. But what if there were some remnants of that prototype within the cartridge that ended up on store shelves? Well, we did some digging using Game Genie codes and found some interesting things…
Using a final release Sonic the Hedgehog 2 cartridge and a Game Genie cheat cart, we trialled a number of codes to see what we could find. We started with a code that was provided to us by SSMB user Ultimate VG: 9CLA – 9TA1. From there, we changed various digits – 0CLA – 9TA1, and so on – and did a painstaking trial-and-error process to see if we could discover anything via the Sound Test screen.
- Despite all that though, it still sounded jungle-y, like VG said. So, a few radical fantasy suggestions this time – either it is Casino Night Beta, or it would have been Wood Zone, but at the last minute it was replaced by Casino Night Zone. That was my radical suggestion.
- Casino Night Zone (Simon Wai Prototype) Chemical Plant Zone (Nick Arcade Prototype) Hidden Palace Zone. Metropolis Zone (Simon Wai Prototype) Oil Ocean Zone (Simon Wai Prototype) Wood Zone. Tilesets 3 Casino Night Zone (Beta) Hidden Palace Zone. Miscellaneous 2 Objects. Title Screen and Stage Select Beta. Enemies 1 Badniks.
- Casino Night Zone Share Download this loop. Sonic 2 Beta music. Rovertarthead 2008-11-25 18:30:12. Hahaha sounds good. This is when Sonic gets high in the casino.
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Seems like we found something, although it’s open to interpretation as to what it actually is. Thanks to the efforts of Roareye Black, it’s possible that what we’re hearing whenever we go into specific tunes on the Sound Test or enter stages like Casino Night Zone are either Beta versions of the level themes or unused tracks for canned stages like Wood Zone.
Using Ultimate VG’s code and playing the Sound Test gave us one strange music track, but using the slightly tweaked code (0CLA – 9TA1) and taking the same steps seemed to play the same strange music track… just with a different arrangement. With VG’s code, there was a loud ‘screwy’ sound before things go quiet, but with the second code that ‘intro’ sounded much cleaner and many of the effects were replaced with a ‘fire’ sound effect.
After altering the code for an hour or so, we found out that the same two types of quality versions of the tune were playing, in a pattern. Use 7 at the start for example, and it would have the same effect as the code VG gave us. Replace it with an 8, and what we experienced was there instead. Replace it with a 9 and it was back to VG’s. Put 0 and it was back to our one. The thing is, with the more refined intro tune, after the fire sound effect, the middle of the tune (the bit after it) had a lower quality than VG’s, but the reverse was true for the intro.
If you’ve not been confused yet, I’ll continue. We decided to mix the best, most finished of the two versions together in two lines of Game Genie code. We ended up using this:
CCLA – 9TA1
DDLA – 9TA1
As I expected, the result was both tunes mixed together, with the better intro and the better middle together. One reason I was led to believe it was Casino Night Beta was merely because it was playing off of Song #9 in Sound Test (a poor excuse, admittedly). I tried doing the Level Select, and going into Casino Night Act 1. Sure enough, the weird music played in the level, which raised my belief even more. Also, if you listen closely, you can hear parts of Casino Night Zone similarities, with the tune even trying to break its way through the weird tune if you listen for long enough.
Despite all that though, it still sounded jungle-y, like VG said. So, a few radical fantasy suggestions this time – either it is Casino Night Beta, or it would have been Wood Zone, but at the last minute it was replaced by Casino Night Zone. That was my radical suggestion.
Another theory we came up with involved the weird ‘fire’ sound effect at the start. Since Hidden Palace was locked away in the cart, and was going to be in Sonic 2, maybe Angel Island was to be included too? As you know, Angel Island had a ton of fire near the end of Act 1, but… this sounds a bit far fetched because even in Angel Island there weren’t any fire sound effects in the actual soundtrack. Unless Sonic Team decided to put it in the soundtrack while making Sonic 2, who knows?
But this does sound a bit likely, as Knuckles’ colour palette happens to be in Sonic 2 (which is why he is playable when you connect Sonic 2 with Sonic & Knuckles). Therefore, Knuckles COULD have been playable as early as Sonic 2, along with Hidden Palace Zone and the Master Emerald’s existence.
All very interesting. Any ideas? Share them with us! In the meantime, if we get any closer to an answer, we’ll update you all.
Online Comments: SSMB ezBoard
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This is a sub-page of Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Simon Wai Prototype.
General Differences
- There are no objects at all in the Simon Wai layout. This includes the objects that make the triangular bumpers, conveyor belts, and loops work.
- The starting positions for Sonic and Tails are taken from Emerald Hill. This leads to the player(s) spawning slightly above the ground in Act 1 and way above the ground in Act 2.
- There are certain 16×16 blocks that call for animated tiles in range 3E8-3F7 in the Simon Wai version, but no animated tiles are loaded to those slots. Those blocks will either be blank (if accessed from the Level Select before any demo plays) or use whatever tiles were loaded in VRAM from the previous Zone (as seen above, where the tiles come from Hill Top).
- The pink diamond blocks and would-be animated blocks aren't solid at the top. Since these are frequently used in floor chunks, this is a bit of a problem.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
- In the Simon Wai version, the loops are very thin. The top of the loops have spotty collision in the prototype that doesn't match the actual art; the final version fixes this by adding a solid flat surface to the top of the loop. This also let the developers add objects like monitors and springs to the loop tops.
- There are odd black squares (Block 84) that are used in certain chunks. While most of these seem to be arbitrarily placed, the ones in chunk 15 mark where the pinball plungers should be.
- There are a number of chunks in both Acts that are a few bits off from what they should be. For instance, blocks 0C and 0D should be placed next to each other to form a half-pipe. In Act 1, the first half-pipe is instead made of two 0C chunks.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
- Though there is a 128×128 chunk that would be used for a slot machine at 60, slot machines have yet to be placed in the Zone proper. The animated tiles are also defined differently:
- In the Simon Wai version all three icons use the same animated tiles, 2F4-2F7. So, if the machines were implemented, all three slots would display the same icons and scroll at the same speed.
- In later versions, icon 1 uses tiles 2EC-2EF, icon 2 uses tiles 2F0-2F3, and icon 3 uses tiles 2F4-2F7.
Graphical Differences
The Zone went through a radical makeover after the Simon Wai build. It would be easier to just write 'everything' here, but a few of the more notable differences are detailed below.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
The background in Act 1 is completely different between versions.
The background in Act 2 is incorrectly defined. It should be using chunks B1-B8, but it uses chunks 8B-92 instead.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
The conveyor belts are thicker in the Simon Wai version. There are strange black lines in the middle of the belt that were removed from the later versions.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
The insides of the triangle bumpers are more detailed in the final design.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
The neon palm trees are 16 pixels higher in the earlier prototype.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
There are more lights at the top of the elevator tubes in the earlier design.
| Beta 4 onward |
|---|
Arrows were added to the large 100 lights that all point to the center. The 100 graphic is centered differently in both versions.
Act 1
| Simon Wai proto (in-game) | Simon Wai proto (fixed) |
|---|
- As mentioned previously, the right part of the half-pipe is incorrectly assigned chunk 0C instead of the correct chunk, 0D.
| Simon Wai proto (in-game) | Simon Wai proto (fixed) |
|---|
- The chunk in the upper-left corner is chunk 5A. It should be chunk 5C instead, an isosceles bumper that fits better with the layout and matches its position in the later versions.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- A big slot table was put in this area in later layouts.
- The chunks that make up the triangular bumper and the ground below extend further to the left in the Simon Wai version.
- The slope underneath those chunks is steeper in the earlier prototype.
| Simon Wai proto | Beta 4 |
|---|
- There's an extra way to get to the upper path in the Simon Wai version. Most of that area was filled in afterwards.
- Three more isosceles bumpers were placed above the elevator tube.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- More solid wall chunks were added above the loop. Walls can be used in conjunction with floors.
- The pinball background pieces were taken out of the later layouts.
- The slope in the upper-left was replaced by another isosceles bumper.
| Simon Wai proto | Beta 4 |
|---|
- Neither of the slot tables are present in the Simon Wai version.
- Another triangular bumper was placed at the bottom-center.
| Simon Wai proto (fixed) |
|---|
- The tube ceiling in this area should use chunk 9D, not chunk 9C.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The flat ground in this area was replaced by more isosceles bumpers.
- A triangular bumper was placed above the first isosceles bumpers.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- In the Simon Wai version, there's one massive pinball table in this area. The later versions split them up into a small table at the top and a larger table at the bottom.
- Another isosceles bumper was added to the lower-right corner.
Act 2
| Simon Wai proto | Beta 4 |
|---|
- Later versions add a slot table on the left and a pinball table on the right.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The ground to the left of the loop is two chunks higher in later builds.
- A quarter-pipe was placed on the right edge of the area.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- Two triangular bumpers were added to the top of this area.
- The big pinball table was changed to a tiny slot machine.
- The sloped ceiling in the bottom-left was flattened in later versions.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The first half of the conveyor belt at the top was changed to a standard solid floor. The second half was deleted entirely.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The floor on the right is at a higher elevation in the Simon Wai version.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The later layouts add a slot table here, and six isoceles bumpers above that table.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The ceiling chunks in the upper-right corner were removed from later versions.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The extra ceiling chunk in the exit on the right was deleted.
| Simon Wai proto (fixed) |
|---|
Casino Night Zone Beta Sitosterol
- The giant pinball tables later in Act 2 have a number of empty spaces in the Simon Wai version. This is not by design: The Simon Wai prototype is trying to use chunks D0 and D1, which aren't defined. It should be using chunks C0 and C1, which are properly defined and fit in those blank spaces perfectly.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- Said pinball table was reduced in size and changed to a slot table after the Simon Wai prototype. More isosceles and triangle bumpers were placed to fill up the empty space.
- The slopes underneath the table are steeper in later versions.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- There's an extra ceiling piece above the second half-pipe in this area. That piece makes actually exiting the half-pipe considerably more difficult. It was removed in later layouts, and an isosceles bumper was added above that half-pipe.
| Simon Wai proto (fixed) |
|---|
Casino Night Zone Beta Alanine
- This is the most noticeable of the misassigned chunks in the Simon Wai prototype: That version tries to use chunks D0-D9 here, when it should be using C0-C9. Changing those chunks leads to a much better-looking pinball table and adds triangle bumpers to the left side.
| Beta 4 |
|---|
- The gigantic pinball table was considerably reduced in size in later versions of the Act, and was changed to a slot table to boot.
- There's an extra path in the middle-right that was removed from later layouts.
- Five isosceles bumpers were placed on the right wall.
- The gently-sloping platforms at the bottom were replaced with steep slopes in later builds, making it more difficult for the player to get back to the top of the table.