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Sonic Wiki Zone

The prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has a build date of November 3, 1993. Much of the progress had already been made for this game, but a significant amount of content was initially changed before the final release. Most (if not all Zones) contain an altered layout, mainly for Sonic and Tails' route.

Differences[]

Intro and main menu[]

The Sega intro is reused from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (though somewhat glitched in appearance), the title logo is altered, and Sonic and Tails use their Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sprites. The Sound Test Menu is identical to the one used in the final version of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 alone.

In this pre-release prototype version of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, a lot of progress had already been made, but a huge amount of content was initially changed before the final release. The Sega intro is reused from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (though somewhat glitched in appearance), the title logo is altered, and Sonic and Tails use their Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sprites. The Sound Test Menu is identical to the one used in the final version of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 alone.

Angel Island Zone[]

A huge waterfall with lots of falling logs are a recurring gimmick for both Acts. This was eventually removed and simplified in the final release.

Act 1[]

Sonic starts on a surfboard, surfing onto the island. Upon running further, he encounters Knuckles, standing and blocking the hedgehog. After taunting Sonic, Knuckles quickly runs away to the right, allowing the player control over Sonic. The final intro still exists in this beta but the game soft locks when Knuckles punches the player. The mini-boss during the burning of the island takes longer to leave.

Hydrocity Zone[]

Act 1[]

Has a much different background, containing leaves coming out from the walls (similar to Marble Garden, which is the next Zone after this one).

Marble Garden[]

Act 1[]

The slope Sonic starts off will have a different layout near the end. The Spinning Tops hover in midair when jumped off of.

Carnival Night Zone[]

The white spinning cylinder of lights create a different sound effect.

Act 1[]

Knuckles' area before the boss contains two rising platforms instead of one, as well as two spike pits below them. The Bowling Spin's background area is not moving, but still hovers over a bottomless pit. The area is not fully connected to the walls, so the player will fall through the sides if not careful. The boss itself has a slightly different behavior than in the final version. When hit by Sonic, the core opens for a set amount of time and no longer closes after being hit with its spinning top (allowing for consecutive hits).

Act 2[]

A few Barrels are either alternately placed or not present. The water remains at its low point throughout the entire Act, meaning Knuckles does not appear to raise the water and darken the Act. Also, the Switch to relight the Act is not present. Knuckles also does not appear to affect the tunnels near the end, and of course, his teleporter is inactive.

Flying Battery Zone[]

This Zone is quite intact, albeit heavily unfinished. The background is slightly altered when compared to the final release (the prototype background more closely represents the unused icon found in later builds). There are no objects to be found at all, save for the end of the Acts and Debug Mode which, aside from the usual objects found in other Zones, only contains Blasters and the three Technosqueeks (the wall moving one looks a bit glitched when placed).

Act 1[]

One of the backgrounds contains a few containers with the words "EGG" on the side. Gapsule is fully loaded and defeatable.

Act 2[]

There is no laser boss fight, so Sonic may end up running straight into the Egg Hanger (who is already loaded upon entering the area and fully defeatable as well). The rising floor section does not appear to be implemented yet, though the closing wall for it is still present. The end Capsule is present as well, but the exit door afterwards appears to be blocked and unavailable.

IceCap Zone[]

Act 1[]

There is no snowboard yet, but the area for it appears functional (meaning Rings are placed and the avalanche at the end will still appear). Knuckles' areas differ. The first one does not have any objects loaded at all (save for the blocking column of ice at the entrance). The second one interestingly has a stack of four ice blocks instead of a one-way column of ice seen in the final builds.

Act 2[]

It is possible to break out of the ice without assistance. On one of the lower bridges in the underground path beneath said bridge lies two ice blocks with two upside-down Snowblowers firing upward through the Bridge. The Egg Froster seems to fire a bit slower than in the final.

Launch Base Zone[]

Act 1[]

The elevators are a bit wide, meaning to activate them Sonic will need to position himself in the center. The boss room for Sonic and Tails' route contains two unique transport tunnels that when entered, will transport them directly above one of the yellow boxes that contain the mini-boss (left tunnel for left box, and right tunnel for right). Why this was removed remains unclear. The scripts for the mini-boss to appear do not seem to function normally, making the mini-boss somewhat impossible to encounter. If Robotnik was "destroyed" (by using Tails) in the room where Knuckles destroys the building, the Mini-Boss box may appear outside the building and trigger the activation of said mini-boss. Overall behaves the same as in the final, albeit slower vertical speed and does not rise when hit. Defeating the mini-boss clears the stage but warps the player halfway across Act 2, likely due to glitched stage transitioning.

Act 2[]

A slope-tunnel is present at the bottom of the starting area. Horizontally retractable spikes are placed before the first drop containing three flamethrowers, making this section much harder than in the final. There are no spikes present in the following tunnel containing the switch for the next drop. Egg Cannon requires only one hit to defeat, and past this, Knuckles stand on a circular, vertical bridge, instead of a vertical beam in the final. Sonic appears stuck when riding the Egg Mobile.

Other Zones[]

Mushroom Valley and Sandopolis are inaccessible, but the data for their respective mid-boss fights remain. Some data for the rest of the inaccessible Zones still exists within this build.

While Lava Reef Zone is normally inaccessible and very glitchy, restoring the color palettes and graphics can make it become somewhat playable. Interestingly, the crashed Death Egg in the background is upside-down, instead of face-downward seen in the final.

The multiplayer Zones are all playable. Interestingly, some of the item icons are different (such as Speed Up/Down).

The three Bonus Stages are only partially completed. They are all accessible, but none of them function properly yet.

The Special Stages do not exist yet, though the music for it does. Accessing either of them will load up some test screen with the manipulative red spheres from the Debug Menu of Angel Island Zone (they can still be controlled within these screens).

Music[]

It seems the stages were already planned out from the start of development as the Sound Test reveals that all stages seen within the final version have their tracks already created within the prototype (including a few extra tracks, such as the credits and multiplayer menu). Some tracks, however, have received minor to major development changes over time as development continued.

Alternate tracks[]

Before Michael Jackson and Brad Buxer came in to record the music for Carnival Night Zone, IceCap Zone and Launch Base Zone, these Zones originally had entirely different music, as heard upon entering said respective Zone(s) or played from within the Sound Test. Contrary to popular belief and despite their similarities, the music tracks in this build are not the source for the music tracks used in Sonic & Knuckles Collection and in the 2022 remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles in Sonic Origins, which actually comes from an earlier beta build. The mini-boss music heard from Sonic & Knuckles is used in this prototype. Knuckles' theme is the only prototype track to be completely omitted from the final version of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles or Sonic 3 & Knuckles while also not being used at all in Origins and Origins Plus, respectively.

Name Artist(s) Length Music track
Carnival Night Zone (Act 1) Sega 1:04
Carnival Night Zone (Act 2) Sega 0:55
IceCap Zone (Act 1) Sega 1:06
IceCap Zone (Act 2) Sega 1:15
Launch Base Zone (Act 1) Sega 1:16
Launch Base Zone (Act 2) Sega 1:12
Competition menu Sega 0:54
Knuckles Sega 0:08

Other Zone music were slightly altered in sound or quality. Besides the Zones, some other soundtracks are completely different when compared to the final release and/or Sonic & Knuckles:

Name Artist(s) Length Music track Description
Angel Island Zone (Act 1) Sega 1:07 Slightly slower than the final. Uses a synth guitar lead on various sections, unlike the final. Channel balancing and volumes are different than the final.
Angel Island Zone (Act 2) Sega 2:25 Like Act 1, it is slightly slower than the final. The brass notes in the intro are much quieter and have way less sustain, which make them difficult to hear. The intro also features a unique distressing square wave flourish that was removed in the final version. Many instruments are different, and it sounds less tropical than the final. There are some melodic differences here and there as well. The PSG is also more basic sounding. Channel balancing and volumes are different than the final.
Flying Battery Zone (Act 1) Sega 1:30 The intro synth is different, sounding less like a square wave. Channel balancing and volumes are different than the final.
Flying Battery Zone (Act 2) Sega 1:32 The bell synth is different. Channel balancing and volumes are different than the final.
Mushroom Valley Zone (Act 1) Sega 1:32 Much different bass and lacks the intro from the final.
Mushroom Valley Zone (Act 2) Sega 1:26 Much different bass. A drum fill was added to the intro for the final. Channel balancing and volumes are different than the final.
Sky Sanctuary Zone Sega 2:15 Very different from the final version. Has a much heavier bass that occupies two channels, heavier brass, different percussion, and more basic PSG. Channel balancing and volumes are different than the final. The rendition included in the Sonic & Knuckles • Sonic the Hedgehog 3 album is more similar to the prototype track than the final track.
The Doomsday Zone Sega 2:15 Has a loud synth instrument instead of a star sound.
Credits Sega 3:25 Completely absent in the final versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. In the Sonic Origins remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, this track is used in the ending if the player finishes the game with at least all seven Chaos Emeralds instead of reusing Sky Sanctuary Zone's music from the original versions of Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
Unused Theme Sega 1:58 Listed as Number 2E in Sound Test menu. In the Sonic Origins remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, this track is used in the difficulty rating screen of New Blue Spheres. It is believed by some to be the original planned music for the Super Transformation.

External links[]


Main article (Sonic 3 & Knuckles) · Staff · Manuals · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery · Pre-releases (November 3, 1993)
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