SegaSonic the Hedgehog

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SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Screenshot of SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Developer(s)	Sega AM3
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	M. Kusunoki, K. Miyagi, M. Hoshino, S. Yamagata
Release date(s)	June 1993 September 1993 September 1993
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Up to 3 players simultaneously
Platform(s)	Arcade
Input	Trackball, 1 button
Arcade system(s)	Sega System 32
Arcade display	Raster, 416 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 16384 colors

SegaSonic the Hedgehog, known by various names including Sonic Arcade, Sonic the Arcade and SEGASONIC Arcade was officially released into the Japanese arcades in June 1993. Versions of the arcade game appeared in limited quantities in arcades in anglophone countries, such as London's Sega World.

The game was Sonic the Hedgehog's first major arcade outing, and featured Sega's mascot alongside two new characters: Ray The Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo. The latter would later feature in the low-profile Knuckles' Chaotix for the Sega 32X. The characters have the same gameplay that Sonic has.

In the game, Sonic, Ray and Mighty have been kidnapped by the evil Doctor Eggman and must run for their lives to escape Eggman Island, an island littered with tricks and traps that can be activated with the push of a button.

1 The game
2 Levels
3 Prototype
4 Trivia
5 Playable characters
6 External links

[edit] The game

The premise of the game is to get to the end of an isometric course without dying. This objective is similar to other Sonic games, yet different in the sense that, instead of a typical platforming game, the game is entirely centered around running as fast as possible on a linear course from a never-ending barrage of threats, ranging from giant boulders, lava flows, rogue gears, falling stalactites, and others. Players who get harmed by any of the above will lose health from a health bar - this game is one of the few entries in the series to have such a thing - which can be refilled with various rings lying around the arena. Upon completing the level, the game tallies up how many rings were grabbed, and gives extra points if the percentage is over 50%. The game only has one boss, who appears midway through the game.

The characters were controlled by one action button, allowing you to perform a jumping spin attack, and a trackball, similar to Marble Madness. The inclusion of the latter has subsequently lead to great difficulty in emulation by both unofficial and official programmers; in a recent interview, Yuji Naka stated that the reason it was not included on the recent Sonic Gems Collection was because of this. [1]

This game is notable for being the first to feature voices for the characters. The voices were provided by T.Kusao (Sonic), H.Kanamaru (Ray), Y.Numata (Mighty), and M.Satoh (Eggman).

[edit] Levels

The game is made up of seven stages:

Volcanic Vault: You're chased by a flood of lava as you run through a rocky dungeon with closed grates and pits of magma. Unlike most of the levels, which are typically surrounded by bottomless pits, this level is walled-in, making it easier.
Icy Isle: Slip across ice paths, dodging spears and giant ice-cubes, in order to escape walls of falling stalactites. This level introduces pits; a bottomless pit is on at least one side at all times.
Desert Dodge: Large tornadoes chase you down a fragile path of sand that is rapidly growing large holes on the sides - right as you run by them. Avoid quicksand and large robotic worms to reach victory.
Trap Tower: A giant rolling cog has broken free and is giving chase to our heroes. It isn't the only thing that can crush you, however; large spiked walls act like giant flyswats. Toward the end of the level, you have to escape a rising wall of fire by climbing a ladder set on wall laden with mines.
Landslide Limbo: Raised rock platforms crumble away behind you. You'll have to catch vines and use various catapults to cross the many gaps in the path. This level features the game's only boss, a machine with buzz saws and flame throwers.
Wild Water Way: The moat to Eggman Tower. A giant propellor follows you through the submerged areas of the level, which feature some enemies (seasnakes and clam-like traps). Also, you will have to climb walls which are rapidly giving way to the water pressure behind them, and navigate rafts coasting on a river, as the waterfall of the river rapidly moves toward you (literally), threatening to toss you over into the abyss below.
Eggman's Tower: The final level. Guillotines, buzz saws and weak bridges abound as you make your way to Eggman - who, upon confrontation, will just decide to blow up the island, forcing you to escape in 20 seconds or else not see the ending.

Between stages, the game shows Eggman panicking and plotting your demise as he tracks your progress on a map of Eggman Island.

[edit] Prototype

Up until very recently the only ROM, and thus the only version of the game most could play, was a beta (Revision A, specifically). There were only five levels:

Unnamed
Ice World
Trap Tower
Landslide Zone
Desert Zone

which correlate to:

Volcanic Vault
Icy Isle
Trap Tower
Landslide Limbo
Desert Dodge

placing all of the levels bar the first two in the wrong order.

The levels become less complete as the game continues, lacking most of the little touches such as rings, which are all missing. Despite this, it is entirely possible to play the game right up until Desert Dodge (albeit this is difficult), where, after exiting the quicksand section of the level, you'll be rewarded with a game over sign and Eggman laughing at you. Hackers subsequently revealed that the final two levels, both originally missing, were included in the game data.

Also of note, the beta title screen features only Sonic, although Mighty and Ray are fully selectable. Some emulators will not allow you to make the characters run, most probably because of improper emulation the trackball controls of the original.

[edit] Trivia

Mighty is one of the oldest characters in the Sonic franchise; he was a prototype for Sonic and thus bears an uncanny resemblance to him.
Each of the trackballs and their corresponding action buttons were color-coded (blue for Sonic, red for Mighty and yellow for Ray).
This was the first Sonic game to feature an ice level, which would later become a recurring theme in the series starting with Sonic 3's Ice Cap Zone.
This is the first Sonic game to feature character dialogue and more so, voices for the characters.