One of Sonic Mania's most unique gameplay features was the addition of a 'drop dash' move which allows characters to roll into a wrecking ball the moment they hit the ground – but it turns out we almost had this move in Sonic 3, which was released decades earlier.
A prototype version of the third Sonic game has appeared online and appears to come from a time just before the title was split in two to create Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.
Originally planned to be a much grander 3D title that used the same chip that powered the Mega Drive / Genesis port of Virtua Racing, Sonic 3 would endure a difficult development before eventually making it to market. Back in the day, very little was shown off of the game before release; it is believed this prototype was a preview copy sent out to the official Sega magazine in the UK.
Let us know what you think of this discovery by posting a comment below.
[source tcrf.net]
Comments 9
The fact that the drop dash was conceived all the way back then is mind blowing. This prototype ROM of Sonic 3 has been a goldmine of interesting nuggets.
Like that all of the music in the PC version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles are in this prototype, in their original Mega Drive renditions. These tracks would later be replaced by tracks done by Michael Jackson, or by other tracks introduced in Sonic & Knuckles.
Nice! That would’ve been fun to use in that game back then. It’s my fav move of Sonic’s in Mania.
So thats where they got the idea of the drop dash
Boy this beta has been going around. It's pretty cool they thought of the idea long before anyone spoke the words "drop dash," however, the soundtrack impresses me more.
What was once thought of as a replaced soundtrack on the old Windows 95 PC version, is actually the original soundtrack. Sonic 3 is on Steam, but that's more of an officially emulated version, rather than the original PC release.
Another interesting piece of Sonic's history! I wonder what other secrets we will know a year from now?
I've just been seeing videos of the Sonic 3 prototype! I wonder if the Sonic Mania dev team somehow got a hold of it.
@MarioLover92 This particular prototype was believed lost and only surfaced a couple of days ago. It's likely they had access to a lot of Sonic Team's development files though.
Cybershell is probably feeling ecstatic right now where ever he is.
The abandoned ring attack also in this build is somehow even more of an amazing discovery than this.
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