SONIC TV ADVERTS

Since the release of Sonic Jam, (which contained loads of Japanese Sonic adverts), it's become apparent that there may be even more hints to the Sonic lost levels!

CASE 1: DESERT SCENERY

These screenshots are from a Japanese advert for Sonic 1 - they clearly show Sonic going through a desert landscape, spinning through cacti. Sega must have been intending to include a desert level in Sonic 1, (otherwise they wouldn't have made that short bit of anime), and the idea was then pushed aside for Sonic 2. However, it was scrapped in Sonic 2 as well - and didn't surface until Sonic & Knuckles (as Sandopolis)!
Still, one does have to wonder about this 3 seconds of film - and in my opinion the background style looks a bit like the AoStH cartoon... (although it's highly unlikely that DiC copied this)

CASE 2: 3D STAGES

In an interview with Yuji Naka, prior to Sonic 2's release, he said that Sonic 2 would be coming out on both Genesis and Sega-CD, and would feature 'a hidden level which you'll have to work hard to find', 'new special stages which you'll have to go through to find the Emeralds', and '3D roller coaster rides'! We all know that infamous 'hidden' level called Hidden Palace, which was taken out of the game. Now about those 3D roller coaster rides...

These pictures are from a Japanese TV advert for Sonic 2, which was broadcast shortly before the release of Sonic 2. In it, we can clearly see first-person perspective views of Emerald Hill zone and Chemical Plant. Could it be that Sonic 2 was originally intended to feature bonus rounds like this?
Of course, graphics of this quality could not possibly be done on a normal Genesis, but it does make you wonder what Sega originally had in mind for Sonic 2...

Another theory is that these shots depict what Sonic and Tails would see when going through the levels. In the game you view the action from the side, so you can't tell what the shape of the landscape is. It's quite possible that the zones are made up of strips like this, which Sonic and Tails run along.

Maybe the speech in the adverts would hold some clues as to what Sega originally had in mind. But I don't speak Japanese, so it's meaningless to me! For all I know, they could be saying 'Sonic 2 will feature 3D bonus rounds like this, first-person roller coaster rides through the levels...'.
If any Japanese-speakers are willing to offer to translate these adverts, please e-mail me!

The 'mystery' Sonic CD intro:
I seem to remember seeing a TV documentary on computer/console games, and one of the games they featured was Sonic CD. This program was broadcast shortly before the release of Sonic CD in the UK, but there were still some things I couldn't identify!

Firstly, they showed a brief bit of Sonic CD's Collision Chaos zone, but it had a different background and Wacky Workbench music!

Secondly, they also showed what appeared to be a rendered introduction to a Sonic game. Basically the camera started in a big room filled with swinging spike-balls, spike pits, and a checkered floor. On the far wall was a screen showing the Sonic 1 (GG) title screen, and the camera basically chased Robotnik (in his egg-o-matic) through the big room, dodging the spikes, and into a tunnel. It then sped down the tunnel at high speed until it entered a big white area, which then faded to the Sonic CD title screen.

I finally managed to track down a copy of the programme in my college library! Click here to download an AVI file of the rendered intro. You might need the DivX 4 codec for it to work.

There's no sound on the clip (the only sound on the tape was a voice-over about how cool video games are) but the picture is what you want! Also, it seems to have some cuts compared to the one I remember. I distinctly remember a pan-down from the Sonic 1 title screen to the tunnel, and the camera speeding down the tunnel to emerge into a white light...