Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)/Beta elements

This article pertains to the beta elements from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

Characters
Originally, every character was going to have their own episodes, but the idea was scrapped from the final version. Metal Sonic was going to be an extra playable character as well, but was scrapped as well.

Night and Day
A day and night feature was originally planned for the game, but was cut due to time constraints. This feature was shown during the demo for the game, and is evident during the cutscenes where Sonic travels through Soleanna at night.

Super Hard
There was originally going to be a mode named "Super Hard" for Sonic, Shadow and Silver which was extra difficult missions for each character. It is unknown if it is the same as the game's Very Hard mode for its DLC contents or not.

Chaos Smash
Chaos Smash was supposed to be a less advanced version of the Chaos Snap. It is only mentioned by the Shop assistant who says that the Chaos Snap is a more advanced version of the former. However, it cannot be used in gameplay.

Blaze's Pyrokinesis moves
It was planned to be combos between Silver and Blaze. By pressing /, the player could use Blaze's pyrokinesis to wrap her in flames. There was also another combo where Silver could pick up Blaze and throw her to launch a powerful attack.

Unused missions
There are a number of unused lines in the game indicating there was a number of different missions that did not make the cut, as neither Chao, ghosts, or mode selections appear in the final game:
 * "Get to the goal within minutes!"
 * "Collect rings!"
 * "Defeat all enemies!"
 * "Wipe out all enemies!"
 * "Get to the goal within minutes!"
 * "Collect rings!"
 * "Get to the goal before your rival!"
 * "Get to the goal before the ghost!"
 * "Find Chao!"
 * "Find the Goal Ring!"
 * "Get to the new Goal Ring!"
 * "Clear the minigame!"
 * "Clear hard mode!"

Music selection
In the game files, there are plenty of music tracks from previous Sonic the Hedgehog games like:
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 2
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 3
 * Sonic 3D Blast
 * Sonic & Knuckles
 * Sonic Adventure
 * Sonic Adventure 2
 * Sonic Heroes
 * Sonic R
 * Sonic Riders
 * Shadow the Hedgehog

Crisis City
Crisis City varies greatly between its prototype pictures and its finalized version. The Action Stage originally held Eggman's mechs (similar to that of the DLC version) instead of Iblis's minions and included sections that was cut from the final version. There were also Springs which Sonic used to bounce between walls instead of using the Wall Jump mechanic. In Silver's version of the Action Stage, the prominent tornado is still included, but is made of dust instead of flames.

Tropical Jungle
While not to the same degree as Crisis City, Tropical Jungle is quite different from its finalized version. Here, Sonic's eyes are darker and some unknown sections were included. The Vine gimmick is also used to travel to an unknown area, whereas in the final version, they are just used to swing upward. Most noticeably however, is that Sonic does not carry Elise during his gameplay (like in the Very Hard mode for the DLC content).

Super Gem/Rainbow Gem
The Super Gem is a Level Up Item that was in the Demo/final version of the game, but was not finished and scrapped. This gem was presumably meant to let Sonic the Hedgehog transform into Super Sonic in normal gameplay. By hacking through the game's files, the player can make use of it, but it will only make Sonic use a "Transformation pose" with no special capabilities.

Speed Up
There was going to be a Level Up Item in the game that Silver could buy in the Shop to increase his speed.

HUD items
Along with the Custom Actions, Key, Medal, gift and Disks, there are heads-up-display icons for various other items like the Rainbow Gem in game data, but did not make it into the final version.

Unused Mirrors of Soleanna
Every Action Stage except Crisis City, Flame Core and the End of the World have their own Mirror of Soleanna. However, there is an image in the game-files that shows an image for the Mirrors for every gate, including the three absent stages.

His World
The game files hold the song "His World" without lyrics. This song can be heard at various points in the game, such as in the main settings, multiplayer, TV ads, and Solaris phase 2, but none of them have the complete track.

Dreams of Absolution
The game files hold the song "Dreams of an Absolution" without lyrics which is different from the final version of the track.

Unused Shield
The Shield was presumably a power-up that was meant to appear in the game and was even listed in the game's finalized manual. If the player uses a special mod to swap E-123 Omega with Silver the Hedgehog in Crisis City and grab an Item Box, the Shield's icon will appear on the bottom of the screen, although it will not change the contents of the Item Box.

Unused lines
In many of Sonic and Shadow's unused lines, several plot points can be heard which was removed from the game. These include absent parts of the stories and scenarios like where both Sonic and Shadow worked together to find all the Chaos Emeralds before Eggman. These differences also apply to some of the supporting characters.

There are also lines that hints of moves absent from the game or Eggman talking about many subjects, like the Eye of Solaris and some hidden stories.

Eggman without Sunglasses
In the game files, there is a yet-completed picture of Eggman without his glasses before he makes Team Sonic travel to the future.

Soleanna and Egg Carrier's maps
In the game files, there are a lot of pictures that are presumably used by Eggman on the Egg Carrier to locate the Chaos Emeralds. The maps included the errors that occurred onboard the Egg Carrier before it crashed.

The pictures also include renders of the Soleanna newspapers that Sonic read upon his return to the present from Flame Core.

Left over E3 Demo
Two loading screens from the E3 demo for the game were left in its data. Note that both of them state "Head for a Goal Ring!"

Early New City
Using a glitch, Shadow can access New City before Dusty Desert. Doing so reveals an early version of New City with several prototype elements that were left out of the final version:
 * Vehicles that drive through the city. However, their AI is unfinished as they often drive into buildings.
 * A Town Mission that is not available anywhere else in the game.
 * Mirrors of Sloeanna for Crisis City and Flame Core. However, they can not be entered.
 * An unused pigeon NPC called "Hatsu"n that the player can speak to. This brooding little creature only say "Coo..."

Multiplayer
Several graphics related to the multiplayer mode of the game still exist in its data, but was not used.

Early Soleanna Forest
Using a glitch, Sonic can access the blocked portion of Castle Town and enter the Forest before Wave Ocean. Doing so reveals several oddities:
 * Double sets of doors in several locations, including the entrance to the Forest that can only be seen by clipping through the walls.
 * The Forest itself holds a multitude of signs, including signs with the "no" symbol, checkered strips, stop signs, and speed limit designations. The latter two can be destroyed with the Homing Attack. On top of that, they are unused remnant of the cars planned for New City.
 * No NPCs are included in the Forest.
 * The bridge to the gates are not present.