Sonic Robo Blast 2

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Sonic Robo Blast 2.

To do: There's a lot of 2.2 prerelease stuff out there that hasn't been covered here yet. This page is long, it would probably be wise to split into subpages. Add the rest of the differences seen in the 20th Anniversary trailer. There's a lot more 2.2 preview media out there. Cover it here. Cover the indev 2.2 tracks from Dr. Tapeworm's YouTube channel

Sonic Robo Blast 2 has seen numerous changes over its 28 years of existence, with the game effectively evolving and morphing through the generations as more advanced technology became available to the Doom modding scene.

In this time, several changes were made which either did not survive the sands of time or are currently unavailable outside of screenshots.

Timeline#

• 1993
  • December 10th - Doom is released by id Software.
• 1994
  • September 29th - Doom II is released by id Software.
• 1996
  • October 3rd - Jeff Read releases a mod for Doom called Sonic the Hedgehog Doom.
• 1997
  • March - A.J. Freda (SSNTails) comes across Jeff Read's mod and decides to make his own version of it.¹
  • May - Johnny Wallbank (Sonikku) decides to make a Sonic fangame using Klik & Play.²
  • July 4th - Sonikku sends out a message to the alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog newsgroup, which mentions Sonic Robo-Blast. At this point, the game is only a three-zone demo.³
  • September 7th - Sonikku releases a new version (via e-mail) with approximately 7 zones and at about 40% completion.⁴
  • September 23rd - Sonikku posts a message to the aforementioned newsgroup about some Mecha Sonic SFX, so it's likely that Mecha Sonic was implemented into the game at this point.⁵
  • October - After getting The Games Factory as a birthday present, Sonikku begins to transition development to TGF. SSNTails also begins development of Sonic Doom 2 at this time.
• 1998
  • February 1st, 6:17pm GMT - Sonikku completes Sonic Robo-Blast.
  • February 11th - Sonic Robo Blast 1.3f (also known as 1.3h) releases and an announcement is made on the newsgroup. The game is published on the Sonic Zone fansite.⁶
  • Between February and March - SSNTails stumbles across Sonic Robo-Blast (being a frequent user on the Sonic Zone). He e-mails Sonikku about making better art for the game. Sonikku accepts the proposal, but decides that it would be for SRB2 later on. SSNTails joins the no-name team.⁷
  • March 9th - Development on Sonic Robo Blast 2 begins.
  • May 17th - The first ever STJr. website is launched.⁸
  • May 17th/18th - Sonic Robo Blast 1.3l is released.⁹
  • Unknown - Due to the The Games Factory not being able to handle big scrolling levels the way that Sonikku expected, the engine is scrapped.
  • July - Stealth creates a custom engine for the game, made in C.
  • September - Due to Stealth moving house, Stealth goes AWOL for a month.
  • September - The idea of using the Doom engine is brought up by SSNTails. Due to Stealth's absence, he's dropped as programmer, putting SSNTails in charge.
  • October - The game starts development using the Doom engine, and a few levels are sketchily made. Initial work is done on the BOOM source port.¹⁰
  • December 24th - SRB1 Xmas is released, using leftover assets from SRB2's TGF build.¹¹
• 1999
  • March - An extremely early version is produced, with only two levels and one badnik.¹²
  • April 15th - Doom Legacy v1.28 is released. At some point around here, the switch from BOOM to Doom Legacy was made.
  • July 15th - Very early sprites for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are created.
  • September 13th - SSNTails starts modifying Doom Legacy's source code.
  • October 31st - SRB2 Halloween Test is released, being SRB2's first release.
  • December 18th - SRB2: Christmas Test v0.90 is released by SSNTails, with numerous massive bugs and several crashes. SSNTails is temporarily demoted from programmer, with Stealth once again in charge.¹³
• 2000
  • February 22nd - SRB2: Christmas Test is quickly updated to v0.92, fixing many crashes and improving gameplay. Stealth leaves the project around the same time, with SSNTails once again taking over as programmer.¹⁴
  • February 23rd - Development on Sonic Doom 2 is halted until Sonic Robo Blast 2 is finished.
  • March 5th - SRB2's source code and WADs at the time are sent to Saxman.
  • March 22nd - SRB2: Christmas Test is updated to v0.93, revamping the HUD to look more like Sonic 2, and adding Greenflower Zone as a secret level.¹⁵
  • April 22nd - SRB2: Christmas Test v0.94 is released, further improving the gameplay and changing the font used in the console.¹⁶
  • Unknown - Greenflower Zone Acts 1 and 2 are merged into a single level.
  • September 9th - SRB2: Christmas Test's last release, 0.96, is released on a special CD for 5$ ($10 outside of the US). ¹⁷
  • September 9th - A trailer for SRB2 is created for the first ever Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE), showing off an in-development build of SRB2.
  • October 28th - A newer version of SRB2's Halloween Tech Demo is released, version 1.32, containing a second level and adding support for 32-bit Windows in a separate executable.¹⁸
  • November 8th - Due to the high demand for a new release, SRB2 Demo 1 is quickly released, featuring only an early version of Greenflower Zone Act 1.¹⁹
  • December 25th - A trailer for Demo 2 is uploaded several months before its official release.
• 2001
  • March 9th - Demo 2 and the new www.srb2.org website are released, adding the rest of Greenflower Zone as well as the first act of Techno Hill Zone. SRB2 also appears at SAGE 2.
  • March 10th - Thanks to a prolonged outage on SSNTails's end, www.srb2.org is temporarily offline and would only come back the next day.²⁰
  • June 23rd - Demo 3 is released, adding lots of multiplayer content, introducing game modes, and adding the extremely incomplete Knuckles.
  • September 9th - SRB2 appears at SAGE 3 (with no new demo since Demo 4 was going the showcase but that build would only be released 3 months later).
  • December 25th - Demo 4 is released, adding Castle Eggman Zone as a secret unlockable, along with the special stages.
• 2002
  • January 6th - Demo 4 is updated to Demo 4.1, adding placeholder sprites for Knuckles using a 3D model created by a community member, later colloquially referred to as "Ugly Knux".
  • March 28th-April - Demo 4.1 is updated to Demo 4.32, 4.33, 4.34, and 4.35, updating the Doom Legacy engine to v1.32 and adding a character selection screen. SRB2 also appears at SAGE 4.
  • April 4th - Sonikku leaves Sonic Team Jr. as Director. He would still assist with level design for Deep Sea Zone.
  • September 16th - SRB2 appears at SAGE 5.²¹
• 2003
  • March 9th - SRB2 2k3 (Tournament 2003) is released as part of SAGE 6, a Final Demo beta containing mainly multiplayer levels and the new Chaos multiplayer mode.²²
  • March 12th - A Windows patch is released (now presumed to be lost).²³
  • June 19th - Final Demo 1.01 is released, adding all of Techno Hill Zone, making Castle Eggman Zone part of the main zone lineup, and updates to the "Ringslinger" modes.
  • June 19th - Final Demo 1.01 is updated three separate times to v1.04, fixing several bugs.
  • Unknown Date - Version 1.1 development starts, with SSNTails intending to leave development upon its release, as he was getting married.
• 2004
  • January 1st - Final Demo v1.08 is released, fixing various bugs and making Sonic only able to do one thok per jump.
• 2005
  • September 11th - Final Demo 1.09 is released, fixing several bugs and adjusting the gameplay, as well as adding a secret early version of Red Volcano Zone.
  • December 26th-January 5th - Betas of v1.09.2 are released on the Message Board, labelled as "Final Demo 1.09.1".
• 2006
  • January 7th - Final Demo v1.09.2 is released at the beginning of the year, fixing issues with Knuckles' gliding, removing Chaos mode and finishing Super Sonic's sprites.
  • April 19th - Like Final Demo 1.09.2, Final Demo 1.09.4 gets betas labelled as "Final Demo 1.09.3" publicly released.
  • August 19th - Final Demo is updated to v1.09.4, being the last version of the Final Demo development cycle.
• 2008
  • February 21st - A beta of Version 1.1 is released to the #SRB2Fun IRC channel to test the new Ringslinger gamemode. This build is soon after leaked to the Message Board and Youtube.
  • Unknown Date - A contest is held by SSNTails and Mystic for textures to be featured in the new and upcoming Arid Canyon Zone.
  • November 26 - A teaser trailer of Version 1.1 is posted on YouTube, with the intended release being May 2009.
• 2009
  • Unknown Date - A video of Arid Canyon Zone is posted on YouTube.
  • May - Version 1.1 is delayed to SAGE of that year, in July, in order to finish polishing the game.
  • July - Version 1.1 is renamed to Version 2.0.
  • July 24th - Version 2.0 releases, effectively completing the campaign's zone lineup, adding a new ringslinger mode, completing Knuckles' sprites, adding extra levels and removing date-exclusive secrets.
  • July 24th - SSNTails leaves Sonic Team Jr. following 2.0's release, leading it to gain the nickname "SRB2ME" or "Marriage Edition". Mystic takes over as lead developer.
  • August 6th - Version 2.0 is updated to Version 2.0.4, fixing bugs and improving the level design.
• 2011
  • June 26th - Previews of Version 2.1 begin to be published.
• 2013
  • September 10th - Version 2.0 is updated to v2.0.7 to fix some critical issues.
• 2014
  • March 15th - Version 2.1 is released, expanding the campaign, changing Knuckles' sprites to a more fitting set, adding support for Lua scripting, new emblems, and more extra levels.
  • Unknown Date - Work starts on Version 2.2.
  • December 31st - Version 2.1 is updated 13 times to v2.1.14, fixing lots of bugs and adding various options.
• 2016
  • February 12th - Lots of v2.2 previews are released.
  • May 19th - v2.1.15 releases, bringing support for slopes with it. No stages are updated yet in favor of planned remakes for 2.2.
• 2018
  • March 9th - A trailer is uploaded to Sonic Team Jr's channel for SRB2's 20th anniversary, featuring gameplay of an in-dev version of Version 2.2.
• 2019
  • August 17th - Version 2.1 has its final update in August, with v2.1.25.
  • December 7th - Version 2.2 releases, overhauling the entire campaign, many textures, finishing Arid Canyon Zone, and adding Fang, Amy, and Metal Sonic as playable characters.
• 2022
  • March 6th - v2.2.9 is updated to v2.2.10, fixing several bugs, improving sprites, and revamping the tutorial.
• 2023
  • May 19th - v2.2.10 is updated to v2.2.11, adding support for the Universal Doom Mapping Format (UDMF) and allowing characters with larger hitboxes to clear Egg Rock Zone.
  • September 7th - v2.2.11 is updated to v2.2.12, allowing saving the game with addons loaded and adding a color grid.
  • September 9th - v2.2.12 is updated to v2.2.13.
• 2025
  • January 17th - v2.2.13 is updated to v2.2.14, overhauling Capture the Flag and Match map rotations. However, an incredibly severe glitch that outright broke nearly every at-the-time-currently existing mod necessitated urgently reverting this patch.
  • January 26th - v2.2.14 is patched to 2.2.15 in light of the aforementioned events.

Pre-Halloween Test Screenshots#

These screenshots were uploaded by SSNTails to an SRB2MB thread in 2018. They depict a much more Doom-like version of SRB2.

Greenflower Zone#

SAGE 2000#

To do: Elaborate on all of this, there's no detail here.

SAGE 2000 Trailer#

Watch on YouTube

This trailer from September 2000 is a "missing link" between SRB2 Christmas and "Demo 1", the first released main SRB2 version.

General#

• Only three zones total are featured in this trailer: GFZ1, GFZ2, and DSZ1.

• Sonic and Tails' sprites haven't been fully completed yet.
  • Sonic still uses graphics from the asset leak of Sonic X-Treme.
  • Tails uses sprites taken from Sonic 3&K for flying.

• Various textures use placeholder versions that would later be replaced.

Greenflower Zone#

• Greenflower Zone's walls use a different texture in this version.

Prerelease	Demo 1 - v2.1

• The bridge in Greenflower Zone Act 1 is not present in this version, instead there are three blocks that the player is intended to platform across.

Prerelease	Demo 1

Deep Sea Zone#

• Deep Sea Zone Act 1 is completely different to its earlier development iteration, appearing to start in an area later seen in the very middle of Act 1 in version 2.2.
  • Given the time in which the trailer was produced, it's not easy to make out small details, but from what is visible, the layout seems familiar, yet a lot more basic.

SAGE 2000-Era Screenshots#

To do: Add comparison screenshots.

On the old Sonic Team Junior webpage, several screenshots can be found that match up closely with the SAGE 2000 Trailer.

Demo 2 Preview#

Watch on YouTube

To do: Elaboration on changes from final Demo 2 aside from fullscreen.

A preview of Demo 2 created 45 days before its release.

• True floating platforms are properly featured for the first time in the first scene.
  • Vertically moving platforms as well.

• Greenflower Zone Acts 2 and 3 are shown off for the first time here.

• Techno Hill Zone Act 1 are also shown off for the first time.

• This version uses Doom Legacy's fullscreen mode, identically to Demo 1's implementation.

1.1/2.0 Beta Trailer#

Watch on YouTube

A trailer made a year and 3 months before the release of 2.0, back when it was still called version 1.1.

The most notable differences are:

• The HUD is identical to that which is seen in Final Demo 1.09.4.

• The Crawla Commander is still present at the beginning of Techno Hill Zone Act 2.

• Deep Sea Zone Act 2's starting stone textures are different, using the brittle brick textures instead.

• The Deep Sea Zone boss is more difficult and different with smaller platforms and a deeper pit. The electric shock sound is replaced by the loud lightning heard in Castle Eggman Zone.

• There are no Robo-Hoods in the trees in Castle Eggman Zone Act 1, either because they simply hadn't been placed yet, or because were not in a finished enough state to be shown.

• Red Volcano Zone seems to be identical to its Final Demo 1.09.4 iteration.

• Arid Canyon Zone, suspiciously enough, isn't shown in this trailer at all.

• Egg Rock Zone Act 1 has a very different texturing and decoration style, looking more like Techno Hill Zone.
  • This trailer also demonstrates "2D Mode" for the first time.

Arid Canyon Zone 2.0 Preview#

Watch on YouTube

A trailer made 3 months before v2.0's release.

While nearly identical to the final version's layout, there are still a few notable differences.

• The Eggman monitor at the beginning is not there yet.

• The sky texture hadn't been set yet.

• This has no way of being confirmed as of current, but visually, the oil spills appear to be less slippery.

2.1 Preview Screenshots#

While 2.1 never had a trailer, many screenshots of its development have been posted:

• The HUD used in 2.0 persists into this early version.

• Knuckles still uses his 2.0 sprite set.

General#

Earlier Prerelease	Later Prerelease

• Both screenshots have fewer emblems than the final release of 2.1, which contains 160 emblems.

• In the earlier screenshot, all emblems have the same emblazoned design using different colors.

• In the later screenshot, the emblems now had their unique designs but used different colors.

• In the later screenshot, Dusty Wasteland is listed as "Parched Sands".

Prerelease	2.1

Techno Hill Zone#

Prerelease	2.1

• The toxic water still uses its old texture.

• Several parts of the map have not yet been updated.

• The structure below Tails had not yet been replaced with natural-looking formations.

Prerelease	2.1

• The underground route was completely redone thanks to the new buoyant slime.

Techno Hill Zone Act 2 was originally going to be updated to be easier, though it was instead entirely redone for 2.1 and 2.2 due to the new slime's mechanics. The old layout was later made into an unlockable stage in v2.2 called Techno Legacy Zone until its removal in version 2.2.14.

2.0	Prerelease

• A route was added to avoid unfairly dying in the toxic water.

2.2 Preview Media#

Throughout its 5 years of development, many previews were shown to the public.

February 2015 Screenshots#

Arid Canyon Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• Since slopes weren't implemented yet, three springs were used instead.
• The cacti to the right are missing.
• The tint given to the area is missing.
• There is a roof above the area.
• The "3" on the lives counter is less rounded.

Deep Sea Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The room is darker.
• The texture used for the holes in the bridge is a rocky texture.
• Tails is using his sprites from v2.1.
• Most of the textures in the room are different in some way.
• The rings use their v2.1 sprites.

Frozen Hillside Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• Knuckles uses his v2.1 sprite set.
• The Christmas trees here are less geometric, looking a lot more like real ones.
• The skybox is mirrored.

February 2016 Screenshots#

Greenflower Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The standard GFZROCK texture is used for all of the walls here.
• GFZROCK is the same as in v2.1.
• The grass is the same as in v2.1.
• Sonic uses different sprites here, with these sprites later being released as part of a public addon called "FSonic".
• All of the flowers and trees are gone.

Prerelease	2.2

• There is a ring monitor on top of the platform on the left.
• The standard GFZROCK texture is used for all of the walls here.
• The flowers, Crawlas, and fences use their v2.1 sprites.
• The skybox uses a deeper blue color and does not feature any mountains.
• The line of three rings has a fourth one.
• There are less bushes and no trees.

Castle Eggman Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The version of Castle Eggman Zone act 1 seen here is completely different. While it was completely redone, this version was made playable in the final 2.2 as Forest Fortress Zone.
• The flowers use their v2.1 appearance.
• The castle is farther away from the skybox viewpoint.
• The slope on the right is missing.
• More of the stage is able to be seen.

Arid Canyon Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• This section is very different, now being outdoors and not using any of the new textures or gimmicks added in v2.2.
• The cactus sprites still use graphics from Sonic 2.
• There is a rope leading to another pathway not seen in the final game.
• Instead of some platforms with springs that have spikes on them, this version uses a simple bridge.

September 2016 Screenshots#

Greenflower Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The Crawlas now use their v2.2 appearance.
• The bridge rails' texture has flowers on it.

Castle Eggman Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The Forest Fortress version of Castle Eggman act 1 is still being used.
• The bridge texture has no nails on it.
• There are slopes on top of the dirt wall.

November 2016 Screenshots#

Greenflower Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The skybox features a lighter shade of blue.
• Sonic's spawn position is slightly moved.
• The title cards still use their v2.1 appearance.

Prerelease	2.2

• The sunflower to the left is missing.
• GFZROCK now uses its final version.
• There are no trees.

Prerelease	2.2

• The positions of the pillars are all different.
• The room is darker.
• The vine texture still uses its v2.1 appearance.
• The tree is missing.

Techno Hill Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The entrance to the room was moved to the right.

Prerelease	2.2

• Parts of the room were flipped.
• The floor uses a brown texture instead of a metal one.
• Parts of the walls use dirt instead of bricks.
• The roof and floor textures are slightly different.

Prerelease	2.2

• The arch leading to the room is lowered.
• There is 1 box in front of tails.
• The pipe and box textures use their v2.1 appearance.
• Tails now uses his final sprites.

Deep Sea Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• A platform after the waterfall was removed.
• The waterfall itself is thinner.

Prerelease	2.2

• The skybox uses a slightly different, more simplistic texture with less depth.
• Most of the Deep Sea textures have been changed to their final versions.

Castle Eggman Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• Turns out that Castle Eggman act 1 used the Forest Fortress version for quite some time.
• The fence texture is less detailed and resembles the those seen in the Halloween Test demo.
• The chains are thinner and less detailed.

Flooded Cove Zone#

Prerelease	2.2

• The stage and assets are all the same as Version 2.1.

November 2017 Screenshots#

Main Menu#

Prerelease	2.2

• The title screen persists from v2.1.
• The "Control Setup" graphic uses a different font and says "Setup Controls" instead.
• Reset Camera is mapped to the equals key, though this could have been a custom bind instead of the default.
• Look Up, Look Down, Look Left, and Look Right all say "Camera" instead of "Look".

Prerelease	2.2

• The addon selection menu uses forward slashes instead of backslashes.

Prerelease	2.2

• Techno Hill Act 1's level preview picture uses its Version 2.1 skybox.
• Trees are now present in Greenflower Zone.
• All of the level preview icons are slightly different.
• All of the character icons are different.

20th Anniversary Trailer#

To do: Finish all of the zones besides Greenflower Zone.

Watch on YouTubeA trailer uploaded to YouTube on March 2nd, 2018 showing off an in-dev version of v2.2, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SRB2.

General#

• Sonic's sprites are different in this version.
• Knuckles still uses his v2.1 sprite set.

Greenflower Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

• The fence midtextures on the sides of the bridge have pink flowers on them.
• There is a set of 3 rings underwater not present in 2.2.
• The 3 rings on the bridge are missing.

Prerelease	v2.2

• There are less trees on the left.
• Many of the walls use a different texture in this version

Prerelease	v2.2

• There are fewer trees and flowers in this version.

Prerelease	v2.2

• The rings of rings are missing.

Prerelease	v2.2

• The skybox is less detailed.
• The piece of ground on the left goes on for longer and has fewer trees and flowers.
• There are fewer trees in the middle.

Techno Hill Zone#

• The button to raise the slime at the end of Act 2 is in the shape of a square and not a circle.

Deep Sea Zone#

Castle Eggman Zone#

• The spike area in a tower was completely redone.

Frozen Hillside Zone#

Egg Rock Zone#

Egg Rock Zone in this trailer is completely different to the version we got in 2.2, which was just an edited version of the same level from 2.0. A full remake of Egg Rock was planned, but due to time constraints, the level was delayed until a later release.

Version 2.2 Beta 6#

To do: These screenshots have been salvaged from a year-old attempt by me to document this version, so there's a lot to do. The surviving screenshots I took of the Beta 6 video have Lach's face cut out, which violates TCRF's image guidelines. The rest weren't uploaded to TCRF, so we're gonna need to go through the video and find the closest frame to their surviving 2.2 versions. Finally, add text that compares the screenshots.

Version 2.2 Beta 6 is a build of 2.2 dated September 14, 2019, a few months before its final release. This version was not made publicly available, however a video recording of a full playthrough is available on YouTube. Despite being close to 2.2's release, there are many changes in this build.

General#

The early title screen (seen on the main page) is used in this build. By this point, the intro text has been updated to reflect the story changes (Greenflower City changed to Greenflower Mountain), but none of the new art has been implemented, still using the old intro art.

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Tutorial Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Greenflower Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

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Techno Hill Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

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Deep Sea Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

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Prerelease	v2.2

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Castle Eggman Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Arid Canyon Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

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Prerelease	v2.2

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Black Core Zone#

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Prerelease	v2.2

Sources#