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End of the road
Unfortunately, I do not have time to update the site anymore, so I guess this is the end of the road. The site should hopefully stay up so anyone can view it.
New Information can be seen at: http://www.sonicretro.org/. Thanks for the support
Update: Oct 30, 2011: "Wowtribes" malware infection has been cleaned.
Welcome
to The Secrets of Sonic Team! SoST is deticated to bring you
the latest about about levels, artwork and other information
which never found it's way into the final games. We also stand
as a hub for magazine scans about Sonic, Samba De Amigo, Burning
Rangers, Phantasy Star Online, and any other game, past and
present, which Sonic Team had their hand in creating. Enjoy!
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Update: May 2, 2022: This is not the original owner of this website. Read more below
Hello! This is an archived version of a website I stumbled across while browing the web a bit ago. It was very charming, and I decided to archive it in the case that it gets shut down.
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 Sorry for the severe lack of updates!
By:Rlan
I'm currently in my 3rd year of University, and MAN I've been busy. I just had two weeks of holidays, and all I did was assignments :(
On top of that, the emulationzone.org e-mail service went down for alittle while, but when it came back, corrupted my inbox, not letting me get into it. So basically any e-mail you've sent me never got through since the beginning of March!
Deeply sorry, if you could please send them again, it would be a great help.
As for what else has been going on? Chris Senn has gone crazy, making his page at Sonic-Xtreme.com bloat out to be an awesome collection on everything he can find of his days on Sonic X-Treme. Keep a look out on it because it's updated every now and then. check his forums for main updates.
Until I find time to update [probably during E3], keep sending stuff :\
Late Feb update
By:Rlan
Still haven't added any new X-Treme stuff, but I've added plenty of other bits and pieces.
- Added some missing tiles found by Sik to the Sonic 1 section. They're very similar to the Underground areas of Sonic MS! [Sonic 1 MD: Missing Sprites]
- Lost Eggman Sprite and Lost Pen-Pen sprites added to the Sonic 3 section [Sonic 3 - Missing sprites]
- Added finished missing sprite to the S&K section, a full animation of a rotating mini-Death-Egg! [Sonic & Knuckles - Missing sprites]
- Fixed up the information in the "Prototype Menu System 1" area of the Sonic Adventure 2 section, thanks to Neo Chaotikal! [SA2 - Prototype Menu System 1]
- Added a Sonic Rush Advert scan to the Sonic Rush Section.
- Added a Sonic Riders advert to the Sonic Riders section.
- Added 3 new NiGHTs scans to the NiGHTS section.
- Added new "Sonic NextGen" section to the prototypes section, under Xbox 360. I've added scans and all officially released images of the game.
- Added an "alterations" section to the Shadow the Hedgehog page!
New Sonic X-Treme stuff trickling in..
By:Rlan
Some former creators of Sonic X-Treme are happily digging up boxes in their garage, and trickling in new info, including prototype bits and pieces. To keep up to date, check this post:
http://sost.emulationzone.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=3310#3310
Update: Sonic R demo section, Sonic 2 versions documented
By:Rlan
Quick update, been working on these for a little bit. Will get to the rest later!
- Added a Sonic R: Trial Version spot to the Prototypes section. Basically a quick rundown of the demo disc that was released in Japan nearing the Saturns death. [Prototypes - Sonic R: Trial version]
- Added a new section to the Sonic 2 page: Revision documentation, With details on the 4 major cart versions of the game: Revision 00, Revision 01, Sonic Compilation Version, and the Megaplay version. Thanks to DRX and the SWS2B forums for the info [hopefully I've got it mostly right :)]. May add the Sonic Jam version later on, and will probably make a documentation of the Sonic 1 versions soon. [Games - Sonic 2]
- Added a missing Sonic sprite to the Sonic 2 Beta page: two different sets of leaning running sprites, thanks to IceKnight.
And check out THIS topic over at the SoST forums. Loads of new Sonic 1 prototype images have been found by member Aimbob!
OMG Update!1
By:Rlan
Again, been a while, so lets get right to it.
- Added a new Sonic 2 scan - an old promotional poster used in Brazil! Thanks to Sik. [Games - Sonic 2]
- An old Sonic 2 commercial not found anywhere else, thanks to Tom. It's quite poor quality, but it has some old footage with Chemical Plant having more rounded loops. [Games - Sonic 2]
- I forgot these from so long ago: Added all the small bits of music that were originally intended from the loading screen, discovered by IceKnight a LONG time ago. Thanks for NO CARRIER for reminding me! [Games - Sonic CD]
- Added a scan of a German Sonic Adventure 2 Battle advertisement, thanks to raikoufighter.
- Added a fantastic scan by Desk. It's an old scan for Sonic 1, but every image within it was one we never saw before! Each of the 5 shots have been scattered to their respective pages in Sonic 1's section, and the scan added [Games - Sonic 1]
- Inf pointed the community to the obvious - The release info for Sonic Crackers! Why didn't we think of this before? Added! [Prototypes - Sonic Crackers]
- New Sonic Rush Scans from two sources - Two types from Neo 2046, both from Japanese Magazines, and one scan thanks to Android 18a, which is from an issue of NOM UK [Games - Sonic Rush]
- Added a whole new section - "Sonic X-Treme 718", with all current images of the technical demo, The CDs, as well as the story behind it's finding. I've named it "718" due to the date on the disc, I'm assuming this was the same way the Sonic CD prototypes were deduced, if it's any different, send me an e-mail. [Prototypes - Sonic X-Treme 718]
- Large Update to the Sonic Rush section. I've added two sections: Prototype Images, which show some of the early renditions of levels and HUDs, and Videos, which has an early video from SEGA Europe's webpage that has different music playing through it, as well as air-dashing. Thanks to SSUK for the tip. [Games - Sonic Rush]
- Added the entire Gamespy Interview with Yuji Naka done by Ex-GHZ Forum Member Zero-Chan, which was mentioned below, to the Sonic 2 section for storage purposes :) [Games - Sonic 2]
- Added the 3 interviews with former STI Director Roger Hector into the Sonic 3 section. These interviews were done and posted via the Simon Wai Sonic 2 BETA Forum by members HXC and LOst. They're all quite interesting, and worth a read. I'm currently searching for other dev interviews which may have been lost inside other forums. If anyone can get me links, I'd greatly appreciate it! [Games - Sonic 3]
Theres plenty more, but I've yet to get to it. Need to get outside! I'll be adding many more scans which I've forgotten now, and all the MTV Rock-the-rock stuff soon. There will not be another 4 month drought [for now].
If that's not enough, go over to Sonic Database for Iceknight. He got drawings of Cyber City, aka Genocide City, the sly bard :)
edit: Some last minute additions too! Aren't you lucky!
- Added 4 different scans to the Sonic 3 section thanks to Hebeallrusty. A 7 page showcase, 2 reviews, and a preview [Games - Sonic 3]
- Added a review of Shadow the Hedgehog from Xbox Magazine UK thanks to Fuzzball Fox [Games - Shadow]
- Added the print advertisement for Shadow, thanks to Wario64 [Games - Shadow]
- A scan for Sonic R added - an unhappy review by Gamepro [Games - Sonic R]
- Added 2 new large scan sets to the Rub Rabbits!! Section , the new name for "Where do babies come from?". [Games - Rub Rabbits!!]
News Time!
By:Rlan
It's been a while. Despite being on holidays, I've been very busy. I've got plenty of stuff to put up, just need the time to do it!
A whole boatload of revelations has popped out recently. Firstly, a few weeks ago I was contacted by a anonymous person who actually had a prototype copy of Sonic X-Treme handy! With a lot of bugging for information, including a video [which I can't show you as of yet, there should be one popping up soon!] and collaborations with TheRedEye over at lostlevels.org, we started an auction. In the end the 1 level, very VERY early demo [it's exactly THIS demo, which we can confirm is Jade Gully] for $2500US. Wish I had that sort of money lying around. You can check out the huge topic about it over at Simon Wai's Sonic 2 Beta Page.
Secondly, An old MTV "Rock the Rock" video has shown up online. This 309meg file, which you can find Here [You'll need a bitorrent client, and signup], was uploaded by CE, or ChaosEmer, or ChaosEmerald, from the GHZ forums.
It's based around a competition MTV held for Sonic & Knuckles. But it includes a LOT of little bits and pieces based on Sonic X-Treme and other games! Here are some snippets:
And a lot more! Thanks to Mr. Unsmiley for taking the images.
Lastly, old GHZ-forumer "Zero-Chan", whose kicked off the shackles of Basement-Nerddom and got herself a job being paid to be a nerd, got the lucky chance of interviewing Yuji Naka for Gamespy. Which you can view over at Gamespy, started as a general interview about Sonic's upcoming games [Rush, Shadow, and the TGS Demo], but was able to sneak in some quick questions about Sonic's "missing" life, aka, Hidden Palace, and Sonic secrets in general! Here are some great snippets from the interview:
GameSpy: Sonic CD is thought of as the most "mysterious" game in the Sonic series, mainly because you can see that many ideas the staff had either weren't fully implemented or were cut altogether (for example, there is an entire stage gone from the stage select). People are very curious about ideas the Sonic Team staff had for the game but weren't able to implement. Can you tell us anything about those?
Naka: Well, it's the same thing as with Sonic the Fighters. I didn't do very much with Sonic CD, since I was working on Sonic 2 during most of that time, so I can't really say too much about it. But the Sonic games are pretty famous for having things left on the cutting room floor. I mean, 1, 2, and 3ALL had stages cut from them! I think the most famous loss was the Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic 2. We simply ran out of time to fully implement that into the game. The same thing happened with Sonic 3. See, we had all kinds of ideas for those games, things above and beyond even the Hidden Palace. But the Hidden Palace is pretty well known because it was all over the media before we eventually had to cut it. All the players were just left wondering where it went! So ... I'm guessing the stuff cut out of Sonic CD was probably done for similar reasons -- either we were running out of time or things just weren't working out. Making games is a business, after all, and sometimes it simply has to be done.
GameSpy: Actually, can I ask a question about the Hidden Palace? It's something a lot of fans have always been very curious about. Have you ever thought about including the stage as some sort of "bonus" on the compilation disks?
Naka: No, we haven't. We looked all over for some sort of source for it, since EVERYONE seems to want to play it, but we just don't have the original code for the stage anymore. It was lost quite some time ago. Seriously, though, the most we ever had finished and playable was the first part of the level. You could run around on floors, maybe even cross a bridge or two! And then you'd wind up in a portion that wasn't complete yet and had nothing there ... and then you'd DIE. Exciting stuff, huh? I'm not sure why people would want to play that.
GameSpy: OK, off topic, but this came to mind when we were talking about the Hidden Palace Zone ... there are entire fansites out there devoted to hacking Sonic games and finding all the things Sonic Team was working on, but never used in the finished product. What do you think of this?
Naka: Wow, people do that? I didn't know. I guess I am pretty surprised at the level of dedication of fans on the Internet. But how do I say this ... there is a bit of a problem. I mean, I am glad that people really, really like the games, but if it gets to the point where they are engaging in activities that can hurt us or Sega in some way, that's not good at all. Like, way back when we had a beta ROM of Sonic 2 that was stolen by someone. That one even had the Hidden Palace in it.
GameSpy: There's actually a beta ROM with the Hidden Palace code that's been floating around the Internet for a while.
Naka: What? You're kidding! Tell me more. I'd really like to get that back. *laugh* I guess we know what happened to that now... You see, back in mid-1992 we had taken a demonstration cartridge to a toy show in New York. It wound up being stolen, and although we searched and searched all over, it was never found. So that's probably where the data comes from. What's the Hidden Palace in this one like?
GameSpy: There's stuff in the stage, but it's impossible to play past a certain point.
Naka: Yep, that sounds exactly like what we lost!
GameSpy: Was the Hidden Palace meant to be "hidden," then?
Naka: Actually, no, the basic idea was about the same as it was in Sonic and Knuckles. You'd encounter the stage through normal play by collecting the emeralds. The idea behind the stage was, "Where do the Chaos Emeralds come from?" That's where Sonic was originally supposed to be granted his Super Sonic powers. We finally were able to use it in S&K, though it wound up being quite different from what we had planned in Sonic 2. But even from Sonic 1 we'd been throwing around those sorts of ideas. Still, when we were running out of time, we looked over things quickly trying to figure out what to dump ... and CHOP went the Hidden Palace. There's simply no way we could have thrown that in by the deadline at the rate we were going.
It's the same deal with Sonic 3... Sonic 3 is literally half a game. Sega management back then wanted the game out at a certain time and we only had half the stages done, so we had to put the leftovers into Sonic and Knuckles. So when you bought S&K and attached it to Sonic 3, you got the whole of what Sonic 3 was planned to have been.
Well, I SUPPOSE the best way to get the information is to simply ask the damn question :P
Big thanks to Zero-Chan, There's a topic from her over at the Moogle Cavern which she started too.
[Pfft. It took a GIRL to do it. Argarar!11!]
Hopefully an update will come when I have some time off Uni :\ But it's been a big month for secrets! :)
Update: September 8th, 2005
By:Rlan
Nothing like a new game announcement to get around to updating :)
I haven't added everything yet, I'm pretty busy with Uni, but I have holidays in about 2 weeks, so I'll be adding the rest then.
- New section, "Sonic Gems Collection", for the recently released game, both a preview and a review.
- New section, "Sonic Rush", with new scans, as well as some prototype screenshots.
- New section, "Sonic Riders", for the new game announced just today! Added the two scans from famitsu!
- New section, "Where do babies come from?", the sequel to Feel the Magic XX/XY, with a few scans!
- Added an unused sprite from Sonic Pocket Adventure to it's section, thanks to NES Boy.
- Added a very old French preview of Sonic for the Master System, thanks to ZikZak [Sonic GG]
- Added a preview of Sonic Pocket Adventure from a French magazine, again thanks to ZikZak.
- Added 4 new scans to the Shadow the Hedgehog section, thanks to Mello.
- Changed some information about the metal plate in the Sonic & Knuckles missing sprites section, thanks to Nall Ruby.
- Added 5 brand new scans to the Phantasy Star Universe section.
Enjoy!
Update: July 10th, 2005
By:Rlan
- Added a new scan to the Sonic Spinball section, a quick preview of the game near completion
- Added a new section, Sonic Spinball, under the Game Gear Section, with 2 new scans, a one page preview, and a 2 page review, from MMS.
- Added a new scan to the Knuckles' Chaotix Section, it's a 4 page preview of Chaotix from an old EGM Magazine. By Goodcow.
- Added a new scan to the Sonic the Fighters section, a small "rumors" column claiming that a "Virtua Sonic" was on the horizon. By Goodcow.
- Added a new scan to the Sonic X-Treme section by Goodcow. It's a small article saying a game IS comic, they just didn't know what.
- Added 2 new sections to the Sonic Advance section: Altered Sprites and Prototype Screenshots. Included are a bunch of images from early press releases which have a variety of differences [ie; HUD position to a black out at Casino Palace], as well as HUD differences from prototype to final. Thanks to KyoSonicFan007 and Streak
- Must of missed these.. Added 2 scans for the Christmas NiGHTS section. must have been sitting there for a while. Sorry :) Thanks to Psxphile and Aso!
More STILL to come!
Update: July 4th, 2005
By:Rlan
- Added 2 new scans to the Sonic 3 page, an advertisement and a 6 page review.
- Added a new scan to the Sonic CD section, a 3 page review from Mean Machines SEGA.
- Added 2 new scans to the Sonic Chaos section, 2 small early previews of the game from MMS.
- Added a new scan to the Sonic Drift Section, an old preview from MMS.
- Added 3 new images from that preview to the Drift section, all prototype shots.
- Added 2 new articles in the Sonic & Knuckles section. One is an announcement for the game, the other is a 5 + cover page preview of it, both from Mean Machines SEGA.
- Added 1 scan to the Sonic Triple Trouble section, just quick announcement from MMS.
- Added 2 new scans to Sonic Spinball's section. One is an advert for it, the other is a cover and small preview of the very first shots of the game from MMS.
- Added 1 new image to the "scenes" section of Spinball, for a different title screen shot.
Update: July 3rd, 2005
By:Rlan
Sorry, I've been very busy with University and exams and have had NO time whatsoever to update. I'll be updating in little pieces over the next few days.
For today:
- Added Lost Enemies page for Sonic Heroes by Knuckles T15.
- Added a new Sonic Advance Pirate Box Art.
- Added a new section, Dr. Robotniks mean Bean Machine Game Gear, with one scan.
- Added a new scan to Dr. RMBM Megadrive, it's a review of Puyo Pop, the game which became Mean Bean Machine.
More to come.
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