WCES Build

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis).

While closer to looking like the final game, this build is called Winter Computer Electronic Show Build (WCES for short) due to being the build that was shown in said show. Sonic's palette has now been updated to match his final colors. The background of Green Hill Zone is still brighter than it appears in the final game - with the foreground mountains using the same array of colors as the background mountains, rather than the foreground being a shade darker - and its background placement order has been updated since last time to now use different orders for each act, unlike most of Pre-WCES. The background on the title screen also now scrolls unlike the previous builds.

Green Hill Zone#

The background design, while closer to the final's, still features brighter tiles and uses the title screen's water palette cycle. Green Hill's water has also been changed to be lighter blue and the RINGS HUD is still lacking its S. Sonic's spawn location is different in this version. [[File:

(Source: Beep! MegaDrive May 1991 Issue)

]] [[File:

(Source: Video Games (Germany) Issue 02)

]] An alternate scan of the previous image. [[File:

(Source: Video Games (Germany) Issue 03)

]] The removed Green Hill Zone boulder appears here for the first time. [[File:

(Source: Beep! MegaDrive June 1991 Issue)

]] An extra Motobug is visible to the right of the platform; it would be moved even further to the right of the map in the final game. A common pre-release image of the Act 1 loop containing an invincibility monitor on the top instead of a shield. [[File:

(Source: Beep! MegaDrive April 1991 Issue)

]] This picture of the end of Act 1 indicates that the background was set lower in at least one build. A strip of lighter blue can be seen above the rightmost palm tree as a result of this. [[File:

(Source: Beep! MegaDrive April 1991 Issue)

]] The lower section of Act 3 has now been updated to have the final platform to the right, but there's extra rings where Sonic is and spikes on the leftmost part of the platform. <div style="text-align:right;font-size:smaller;">''(Source: Joystick Issue 15 and Mega Force Issue 1)''</div> A picture of Sonic going through the first breakable walls of Act 3. [[File:

(Source: Joystick Issue 15)

]] An alternate scan of the previous frame. [[File:

(Source: Video-Ace Dendy Issue 17)

]] [[File:

(Source: Joystick Issue 15)

]] Green Hill Zone's first palette line went through a change of pink to green, which as a result altered the colors of the flowers and Newtrons. [[File:

(Source: Joystick Issue 15)

]] Dr. Robotnik's first appearance. We can see that there is no waterfall in the background due to the different chunk order. [[File:

(Source: Mega Drive Fan April 1991 Issue)

]] [[File:

(Source: Joystick Issue 15)

]]

Labyrinth Zone#

A picture of an empty Act 2. Some of the layout design is different, including the crystals that look similar to the 8-bit version of the game, and there doesn't seem to be any actual background at this point.

[[File:

(Source: Video Games (Germany) Issue 02)

]]

Marble Zone#

The green UFOs that were removed from the final game were originally red as seen here. <div style="text-align:right;font-size:smaller;">''(Source: Mega Force Issue 1)''</div> Alternative scan. [[File:

(Source: Joystick Issue 15)

]] The debug mode has been updated to now affect the score like it does in the final game. [[File:

(Source: Video Games (Germany) Issue 02)

]] The lava in Marble Zone is still using different graphics in this build. The piece of ground on the right is positioned higher than in the final game. [[File:

(Source: Attack Issue 07)

]] A better look at the red UFOs. [[File:

(Source: Mega Drive Fan April 1991 Issue)

]] A closer look at the lava. [[File:

(Source: Attack Issue 07)

]] This picture of Act 3 has a layout that's positioned one chunk lower in the final game and there doesn't seem to be any objects. [[File:

(Source: Video Games (Germany) Issue 02)

]]

Spring Yard/Sparkling Zone#

Looks pretty identical to Sparkling Zone from the pre-WCES builds. The recently dumped prototype has an unused object layout for Act 1 that's very similar to this version of Sparkling Zone Act 1, which has a completely different layout from the final game.

This picture shows chunks that never made it into the final game.