Sonic Adventure 2/Beta elements

This article pertains to the beta elements of of Sonic Adventure 2.

Knuckles/Rouge Radar
There appears to be graphics for the Emerald Radar in the game files that would have most likely been used as a part of the mechanic, but were ultimately unused.

Random Rings
There is a Item Box image of a Ring with a question mark on it in the game files. According to the original file name, this would have given the player a random amount of Rings.

Early menu graphics
There are a variety of unused texts related to various aspects of the game, such as Chao Races or the scrapped World Ranking from the Dreamcast version which uses Japanese texts.

TV setting title graphics
There are two sets of TV settings graphics that go unused in the final version. They would have been placed in the upper-left hand corner of the menu like all other graphic mechanics.

Stage maps
In the game files for the demo and the final game, there are maps of several stages which were not used in the final version.

Unused multiplayer screen
There are two graphics in the rom of the Dreamcast disk. It is implied via their file name in the game that they were meant to be used in the multiplayer.

Unused tutorial screens
There are videos for explaining Level Up Items and special attacks that do not appear in the gameplay, though they can still be found inside the characters files.

Unused objects
There are some unused objects in the Stages on the Dreamcast version of the Stage, often in inaccessible places. Others can still be interacted with, but are simply invisible.

Iron Gate
After the first locked door, there is a room with an elevator that leads to a tight tunnel. Before the room that the tunnel leads into, there is a Dash Panel inside the wall on the right.

White Jungle
Near the start of the Stage, there is a misplaced Dash Panel right below the starting tunnel. Additionally, there are two additional Dash Panels slightly below the one Shadow uses at the beginning of the starting tunnel, rendering them useless. These are both present in the GameCube version.

There are more objects out of view that suggest this Stage went through significant changes during development. These objects include floating platforms, a couple of Ring trails, more Dash Panels, two Invincibility Item Box, a weird spinning object, and numerous Beetle Series enemies. These objects do not seem to have much connection to anything and outside the player's reach without cheat codes.

These objects are rearranged on the GameCube version. They contain the same kind of format, but the Item Boxes and the odd spinning object are gone, and the Beetle Series enemies perform different actions. After Shadow touches the Stage's Goal Ring, four rings appear off-screen. These Rings are in an uneven layout for some reason, and cannot be collected before the game ends.

Meteor Herd
If one uses hacks to play as Sonic or Shadow in Meteor Herd, a hidden Grind Rail can be found. One end begins at the central tower, leads sharply downwards through two successive loops, and ands near the starting point.

Final Chase
If the player makes Shadow turns around and grinds backwards on the starting Grind Rail, he will eventually encounter an off-screen Spring that bounces him into a bottomless pit.

Hidden Rings
There are hidden Rings that can be found in bizarre locations in certain stages, usually below the starting point. It is technically impossible to obtain them normally without dying or a Thunder Shield to draw them in.

Black Market
The market was going to appear in the Dreamcast version of the game before it was scrapped and ported to Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.

Playground
Game files in the game show that a playground was going to be included in the Chao Garden.

Library
There was at one point going to be a Library, which the player have been able to access from the Kindergarden. In the library, the player could have downloaded or create new stories for Chao Adventure 2. While this was never fully implemented, Chao Adventure 2 still has the modular design needed to support multiple stories. The disc has one file (OSAMPO2S) representing a blank Chao Adventure 2 VMU program with no Chao or stories loaded, which is combined with the Chao data and story files. It is possible to run the blank program on a VMU without crashing, and it displays a message that no Chao is available. The disc has ten story files, with two files for each language.

Unused models
There are several unused models for the Chao and some models for Chao Garden-related objects remaining in the game files.

World Rankings
As mentioned above in the Unused Graphics section, there was World Ranking system functionality that was going to be ported into the Dreamcast version, but remained unused in the game itself. Instead, it remains in the hold inside the game CD. There are also flags from several countries in the real world that still exist in the game's files.

Unused lines

 * "Those robots are a total pain in the-" - Sonic, just before Shadow appears and uses the Chaos Control for the first time.
 * "There's a dead end up ahead. Spread out and find them." -This dialogue is used in the Japanese audio track for the scene where Tails decides to intercept the President's limo to figure out where Eggman is, but is mysteriously removed from the English version.
 * "What?! A ghost?."- A more frightened version of Knuckles' speech before fighting the King Boom Boo.
 * "We may be partners, but this doesn't mean I trust you."- Eggman would have said this right at the end of his first encounter with Rouge.
 * "Bad day or what?"-Replying at Eggman's.

Omochao
Some major lines said by Omochao were made for the game, but were left unused. These include:

Unused Chao Doctor lines
In Sonic Adventure 2 the Chao Doctor in the Kindergarten would describe the player's Chao with a variety of lines were removed in subsequent ports. Among the lines the Chao Doctor uses are those that describe the player character's relationship with the Chao. Surprisingly, when viewing the game's files, it can be seen that the Chao Doctor also contains lines for Amy:
 * "Looks like this Chao likes Amy a lot."
 * "Looks like this Chao likes Amy."
 * "Looks like this Chao wants to be friends with Amy."
 * "Looks like this Chao does not like Amy."
 * "Looks like this Chao hates Amy."

Continue music
The Continue music for Sonic Adventure was carried over to Sonic Adventure 2. However, due to the latter game not having the "Continue" system, the music was unused.

Unused missions texts
Originally, there were three test levels known as "BASIC TEST", "KNUCKLES TEST" and "SONIC TEST." Although "BASIC TEST" would later be included in the GameCube version, all three levels are absent from the Dreamcast version, while the other two are absent from the GameCube version. However, the mission text and some textures for the levels are still found in the game files:

Level 0 (Basic Test)

 * 1st Mission: Make sure we debug this!
 * 2nd Mission: Find 100 bugs!
 * 3rd Mission: Find bugs that you could not find!
 * 4th Mission: Debugged in 2 minutes!
 * Last Mission: Try bug 0!

Level 2 (Sonic Test)

 * 1st Mission: This stage is cool!

Knuckles Test
A Japanese hint for "KNUCKLES TEST" can be found in the game files. It contains the following string repeated five times:
 * "このメッセージはテストナリよ. " (Kono messēji wa tesutonari yo.) which when translated means "This message is for a test".

Super Sonic and Super Shadow
Within the game's text, there are lines indicating that Super Sonic and Super Shadow were meant to be unlockable characters in the game's 2P Vs. mode which could be accessed through the same method as the alternate costumes:
 * "Congratulations! You've cleared Green Hill with Rank A. Strongest characters are now available to use in Sonic and Shadow 2P versus mode."

They also had profiles that read "SUPER SONIC/SUPER SHADOW Powered by the 7 Chaos Emeralds. Amazing speed and moves, but dies if rings are lost." However, these costumes are incomplete and will display both the regular Sonic and Shadow in the race should they be selected.

Cosmic Wall
For whatever reason, most of the objects and some of the geometry for Cosmic Wall are loaded in the Stage's two-player version in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, which ordinarily consists of one platform with three tiers. It is ordinarily never seen, but can be reached using moon-jump codes.

City Escape
City Escape has an unused object layout for the multiplayer mode that is very different from both the normal version of the level and the version that appears in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Since City Escape is never used in two-Player mode normally, this layout is never seen. This layout resembles the version of City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial more than the one in the final game.

Unused menu themes
Character menu themes for the game were originally meant to be downloaded online. However, the Shadow, Amy, Omochao, Maria, and Secretary themes were never made available, therefore making their audio and graphics unused. The themes are still available in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, with the Amy, Omochao, Maria, and Secretary themes being unlockable in the game.

GUN Military Truck sequence

 * In early screenshots, the GUN Military Truck had a design different from the final version.

Misc.

 * In the first screenshots of the game, Sonic was going to be playable in Sky Rail.
 * In the trailers of the game, Sonic is seen breathing heavily in Green Forest. For some reason his torso is heavily darkened
 * Sonic is talking in an unknown cutscene. It is the first to show off that Sonic has separate fingers, but also shows his new mouth position, which looks strangely odd in this cutscene. It also looks quite blurred and like a texture, unlike the final version.
 * There is a second cutscene where Sonic points at something. This camera is different on the final version where he uses a similar animation to call out Shadow. The area where it is shot in is different from the boss battle area.
 * Sand Ocean music is changed between the alpha version and the final version.

VMU

 * Early pictures showing that Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was going to work without a VMU were distributed a short while after the game was announced. From this version to the final there are a lot of cosmetic changes.
 * Firstly, the GBA in the prototype is red, and has the 'GAMEBOY ADVANCE' bootup screen plastered on the front. In the final game, the GBA is white, and has a parody of the bootup screen with "CHAO ADVENTURE" written instead.
 * Another cosmetic change was the color of the booth. The prototype is yellow with green, but the final is blue with orange.

Early level and boss list
In the game files, specifically located under "TEXT_E.prs", is an early level and boss list which lacks several stages from in the final game and features different boss names:
 * The list contains several test stages for several characters.
 * An unknown level/boss listed as "No Name".
 * The Egg Golem is just named "Golem", and the Biolizard is named "The Biohazard".

Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial
A demo/prototype of Sonic Adventure 2 which was released with Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast as a bonus disc. The only playable stage is City Escape with a slightly different instrumental version of the song playing as BGM. In this version Sonic wears his traditional shoes instead of his Hi-Speed Shoes and his shade of blue is less darker than in the final version of the game, the cutscenes' subtitles and also some of the sound effects are different as well. Some of the posters in City Escape are different and are promoting PSO. After finishing City Escape a trailer is played which lacks Miles "Tails" Prower and Rouge the Bat leading to the belief that they were added later in development.

Other characters icons
During the early stages of Sonic Adventure 2, it was rumored that only Sonic, Knuckles, and Eggman would be playable characters. This is supported by the video that plays in the demo if the title screen is left idle for long enough, which only features the gameplay of Sonic, Knuckles, and Eggman. Whether the rumor is true or not, the others characters were implemented into the game at the time of the demo's release, because they have icons for 1-Up Item Boxes.

Unused Power-Ups
The Bomb and the Health power-ups were unused in this version. However, the Random Super Rings are still unused in both versions.

Multiplayer

 * A stripped-down version of Multiplayer Mode is present in the demo, but it cannot be activated through normal means and will crash after completing the stage due to the other stages not being present in this version.
 * The demo version of the multiplayer lacks certain features, such as a functioning split-screen.
 * In the final version of the game, the player has the option of playing a best of three matches or a best of one match. In the demo version, the best of three matches is the only mode that exists.
 * Sonic is missing his Light Speed Shoes in this version.
 * Sonic Wind has a different name and animation in the demo version. In the demo, the attack is called "Long Range Homing" and contains a swirl of bright colors in comparison to the rough blue swirl of the final version of the game.

Two-player win indicator
The graphics displayed on the bottom of each player's screen during multiplayer are on the ROM. The demo does not have two-player at all. The second version was slightly transparent, so a black background was added for visibility.

Other unused graphics
There are more textures used on objects outside City Escape, including the Mystic Melody door, textures for Sonic's Level Up Items, the Hint Box for Knuckles'/Rouge's Stages, and the textures for an uncollectable Level Up Item, despite the other Stages not being available yet.

Cutscenes differences

 * Sonic never wears his Hi-Speed Shoes in the cutscene. In the final version, Sonic starts out with his regular shoes, but are swapped midway through.
 * In the first cutscene in the Hero Story in the final version, music plays lightly in the background while the GUN pilot communicates. The music changes to a more exciting song once Sonic busts out of the helicopter. In the demo, no music plays until Sonic busts out.
 * A notable difference in the first cutscene in the Hero Story for the demo is that the GUN pilot says, "What?!" in the final. In the demo, this was translated as, "What the hell?".

Graphics

 * The font used in the demo for the subtitles is the same as the font used for the Sonic Adventure subtitles. This same font is used in the mission statements, button prompts, and the pause menu. In the final, the font used for all the text is Comic Sans.
 * The pause menu has a slightly different design.
 * The Light Speed Shoes are fully functional, but Sonic only wears them in the gameplay demo. Like his regular shoes, these also have a different design compared to the final version of the game.

Audio

 * The City Escape track does not include vocals in this version, so an instrumental is featured instead.
 * The whistle used to call out Animals, as well as the sound an Animal makes when the player get it, is erroneously played at a lower sample rate and are as a result significantly shorter in length and higher in pitch.
 * There is a small click noise when Sonic gets on a Grind Rail in the demo.
 * When the player's performance grade hits the screen, it makes the emblem jingle as opposed to the metallic thud sound in the final version.

Animations

 * When Sonic pulls off a "Nice!" trick in City Escape, he does a front flip as opposed to a regular turn of the board seen in the final version.
 * When Sonic pulls off an "Awesome!" trick in City Escape, he essentially does a version of the "Cool!" trick that includes more turns. In the final version, this became a rotating, high-speed turning trick.

Gameplay

 * The best item the player can get from a Point Marker is a regular Shield, not the Lightning Shield. Because of this, it is possible to get a Lightning Shield in the stage, and then have it replaced with a regular shield at a Point Marker.
 * The Bounce Bracelet has very dodgy collision in this version. Using the Bounce Attack can cause Sonic to clip through objects such as steel Containers.

Stage differences

 * Shortly after the boarding segment, there is an area where Sonic is led straight up a ramp and onto a platform. From this platform, a 10-ring Super Ring Item Box can be hit with Sonic's Homing Attack, and from there he can home forward onto the ledge and out onto a street. On the demo, this Item Box is a bit further away than it is on the final. While the capsule can still be reached either way, the capsule was moved closer so that it was slightly easier to get. There are also more platforms underneath this capsule, and they were all reorganized so that it is much easier for newer players.
 * When Sonic is being chased by the GUN Military Truck, there is a 20-Ring Super Ring Item Box at the end of the first ramp, like it was supposed to be obtained by Sonic doing a trick off the ramp. There are no Item Box in the final version.
 * The total number of Rings in City Escape is set at 467 in the demo, but in the final version this was lowered to 436.
 * In Metal Harbor, if one were to play Metal Harbor in Sonic Adventure 2 with a second controller plugged in and press on that second controller, Sonic will start using his boarding mechanics, even though he does not have a board. This is most likely a debug function that was not properly disabled before release, seeing as having this left in does not give any advantage to completing the level. This was fixed in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
 * If the player attempts to load other levels in the demo, they will be presented with a placeholder title card displaying the name of the level. In the final version, attempting to load a level that does not exist will just cause the game to freeze.

Sonic Adventure 2 [Preview]
The preview version of the game was sent to the press as a sneak preview. One of the most notable differences from the final version in this preview is the menu screen which allows the player to choose between the Hero or Dark side. Upon selecting a side, the player can choose to play with any of the side's corresponding characters.

There is also a 2P vs. mode in this release. Here, the player can choose between three battles: Sonic vs. Shadow, Tails vs. Eggman and Rouge vs. Knuckles. There are some other differences in this version from the final version, such as different sound effects, music tracks and voices.

This version seems to lack proper sound programming since the musics and voice clips are played almost completely randomly.

General differences

 * The title screen is very close to the one used in the final version of the game. Under the game's logo, [PREVIEW] is added, there is a glow effect behind the logo not present in the final version and the text in the bottom left corner is slightly different.
 * The most significant difference from the final version was the Menu screen. The menu is basic and allows the player to choose a "side" to play as, Good or Bad. A 2 Player Versus option was also available.
 * The Good side (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) have four Stages available. Sonic has two Stages selectable, City Escape and Green Forest. Tails plays in Prison Lane, and Knuckles plays in Wild Canyon. The Bad side (Shadow, Rouge, and Eggman) have three Stages available. Shadow plays in Radical Highway, Eggman plays in Sand Ocean, and Rouge plays in Dry Lagoon.
 * Another option on the Menu screen "2P V.S." gives the player three Stages to play in. The player can play as Shadow or Sonic in Green Forest, Knuckles or Rouge in Wild Canyon, or Tails and Eggman on Prison Island.
 * Big the Cat does not make any cameos here as opposed to the final version.
 * The Voices and music are mishmashed randomly together during cutscenes. Various sounds and voice clips from both English and Japanese tracks would sporadically play in random order, overlapping each other. Sound had not been programmed to go with the cutscenes at this point in time.
 * The attacks' names do not show up in vs. mode. The player can still use them, but the only way to tell is if the character grunts.
 * The flashback scenes with Maria and everything before it are cut for the preview in Shadow's Radical Highway cutscene, leaving the scene much shorter than it is in the final version.
 * Sonic's Light Speed Shoes use the earlier model from The Trial in his cutscene.
 * Knuckles' upgrades cannot be seen normally in the game, but his Sunglasses have a different cutscene model. His Hammer Gloves were also removed from cutscenes in the final version.

Stages

 * When the player grabs the Flame Ring Level Up Item in Radical Highway, it did not lock the player into place and describe the item. Instead, gameplay continued as normal, while the text explaining the item was displayed on the bottom of the screen.
 * The Hint Boxes for Rouge and Knuckles are functional, but no text is programmed in them at this point.
 * Different sounds are played for the metal board sliding down road in City Escape, GUN robots activating and being deployed, connecting with Grind Rails, Tails and Eggman aiming their Lock-on modules, whistling sound, swinging on Green Forest vines and getting Animals.
 * When jumping off a ramp at the beginning of City Escape at slow speed, Sonic does a backflip instead of a 180 rotation.
 * Springs are almost colored in a more bright pink than a red.
 * All in-action voices are English, except Sonic's jumping noise which are in Japanese.
 * Knuckles and Rouge's climbing noises are very loud and incredibly different.
 * The music played while using Speed Up has some different notes.
 * Shadow's aura when jumping is quite different.
 * City Escape has no vocals, and while the general tune remains pretty much the same, many of the notes and riffs are completely different. Overall, it is quite different sounding than its final counterpart.
 * There is no Pipes at the end of City Escape.
 * Dry Lagoon's music is muted, and there are crickets prominently chirping during gameplay (different sounding and louder than in the final).
 * When getting a rank at the end of a Stage, it plays the same sound from when getting an emblem.
 * There are no icons displayed on the VMU.
 * Like The Trial version, the font from Sonic Adventure is used for text rather than the final's Comic Sans.
 * Objects such as Containers are lit differently.
 * The posters in City Escape use the same textures as in the final version of the game with the exception of the Chao in Space and Pizza posters, which use the textures from The Trial version.
 * The Warp Wall in the hunting stages looks slightly different in this version.


 * The City Escape track uses the same instrumental featured in The Trial  version.
 * The option for Japanese text and voices is in the game, but not used normally, as English is the default in this version.
 * Every Level Up Item is in this version, but only a handful of them are actually used.
 * The Bounce Bracelet has a buggy collision with objects. For example, without the Flame Ring, it can clip through steel containers.
 * The Mystic Melody is called "Ancient Melody" in this version.
 * The Rocket on the rocket platforms is too high and can be seen even when the platform is inactive.
 * The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th missions are in the game, but the 5th mission (Hard mode) does not have a unique layout.
 * There are no 1-Ups in the lost Chao locations.
 * The platforms before the first Point Marker in City Escape are the same as those in The Trial version.
 * After completing any stage, the player will go back to the title screen. The only exception to this is City Escape, which will send the player to Green Forest.
 * The area where Sonic obtains the Ancient Light is completely empty, but the path to it still exists.
 * The indoor section of Wild Canyon does not have the correct lighting in this version.
 * The Warp Walls are mostly not present in this version. The only one that can be found is located behind the steel containers in Dry Lagoon.
 * The rooms accessed by the Warp Warp in Wild Canyon are completely empty. The objects for these rooms are actually floating out of bounds near the start of the stage.
 * Hint Boxes in Dry Lagoon have blank textboxes in this version.
 * Some enemies are in different positions compared to the final version of the game.
 * The area with the second and third pillars in Sand Ocean has a different object layout compared to that of the final version if the game. This includes an extra fence, a wooden container, and Springs.
 * In the area just after the fourth pillar, there are even more changes.

Sonic Adventure 2: Trial Version
The Sonic Adventure 2: Trial Version demo was given to certain stores in Japan. The build date of this demo was May 3, 2001, less than a month before the release of the final version of the game. It includes the same levels as Sonic Adventure 2: Preview, except the only playable characters in the main stages are Sonic and Shadow, and a multiplayer option.

Due to its build date, there are fewer differences from the final version of the game in this demo compared to previous ones, as well as several changes made specifically for this version. These differences give some insight into the last month of the game's development. The Trial Version included the Puru Puru Pack support, and a full motion video clip of Sonic Adventure 2.

Differences from the final version

 * Sonic and Shadow's Level Up Items have been replaced with life Item boxes in this version.
 * The dialogue at the start of City Escape is missing in this version.
 * Like in previous demos, the area where Sonic obtains the Magic Hands is different compared to the final game. This version also includes a wooden container.
 * The trail of Rings in Radical Highway that lead to the area where Shadow obtains the Flame Ring is missing in this version.
 * The Rocket in the Flame Ring area has already been activated in this version, unlike in the other versions where the player must first break a steel container and press a switch.
 * The area with the third collapsing pillar in Sand Ocean is similar to the layout seen in Sonic Adventure 2: Preview, except it has three single Springs instead of one large one.