Submitted by: Megacosm

Spring Yard zone was originally called Sparkling Zone. You can see a fair few different things here that were taken out in the complete version. Noticeably there are rays of light going Horizontally across the screen, and the background behind it being completely black. You can also see a prototype sign in the level saying "Good Luck" behind the HUD.

Submitted by: Gaming-Age.com

You can see a lot of the emptyness of the background in this shot, which had some pink stars.

Submitted by: Megacosm

Just a small screenshot of the same area, but different. You can see the difference between the lines [basic buildings?] and the backdrop here.

Submitted by: Unknown

Still in the "Sparkling Zone" stage, with the liney backdrops. Not that all of these screenshots mention "Ring" instead of "Rings" in the HUD.

Submitted by: Unknown

This area exists in the final, but it's filled with different objects. The Roller does not appear here and is purple instead of blue, the Motobug doesn't even exist in the Spring Yards, and both the block and the spikes don't appear there in the final. Everything is replaced by Two Crabmeats.

Submitted by: Unknown

While there were signs like "COPE" in the fiinal game, there were other signs like "Good Luck" back with Sonic 1 prototype.

Submitted by: Unknown

Here's a sign which is telling you "Goodbye", for whatever reason.

Submitted by: Galvatron

Heres an image similar to the one above, but is quite different as well. For starters, the circling spikes seem to have made a home around a bumper, not in the 'underground' areas in the final. The Good Luck sign is there, as well as other backgrounds bits and pieces.

Click the image for a larger version

Submitted by: Thomas Pitt

Another image found inside the ROM, being yet another sign which never made it to the final version. It says "Let's go!"