This is a sub-page of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
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Common#
Edge Grab#
Referred to as the "common_edge" state in the game's code, every character except for Tails and Sonic with Elise has the states to grab and jump up a ledge like Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, but it was disabled in the final release. The coding for this maneuver isn't finished, however, and will only work properly the first time, as it will always send you back to the first hanging position, no matter where in the stage the state is activated.
It has been restored with modding, though it is somewhat unwieldly in practice due to the way the game detects edges.
Push#
Referred to as the "push" state in the game's code, every character except for Tails and Sonic with Elise has the state to push against a wall, similar to Sonic Adventure and, unlike the edge grab, was left active in the game, though cannot call the animation for it (called "standup", which calls an animation in Sonic's pkg that does not exist, but replacing the animation with one that does still does not call it, even though it will make Sonic's eyes squint.)
It is somewhat difficult to activate in-game, as the player needs to be directly parallel to a wall to activate it. The easiest way to do so is to slide into it with Sonic, where then character will be stuck against the wall and will slide alongside it, but the state can end by simply releasing the analog stick.
Rail Switch#
A hint from Sonic reveals that the game was originally supposed to have a rail switching system similar to Shadow the Hedgehog. It's likely the move was cut for time constraints, as the only levels where rail switching would be beneficial are Crisis City and Tropical Jungle. It's also likely that the inverse happened instead; with rail switching cut, the level designers didn't design stages with it in mind.
"Gear" Shift System#
An early version of Sonic's character lua can be found in the stage folders for Tropical Jungle and Dusty Desert makes reference to a scrapped acceleration system using "c_run_algorithm" and "c_run_gear_1_spd* and *c_run_gear_1_acc* (going up to 3 on both). Based on this, it's likely that this was some sort of system akin to the one that was later implemented into Sonic Frontiers 4-G, though it was scrapped too early to be for sure.
Sonic#
Homing Attack Changes#
Sonic's Jump Dash has a downward curve applied in the Tokyo Game Show, E3, and Xbox Live Arcade demos of the game, but in the final version, his jump dash is straight instead. Changing Sonic's homing module to use Blaze's will restore this curve to it, but in turn will make him unable to destroy physics-based objects most of the time, as well as make level design intended for the longer, straight Jump Dash more difficult to clear. This quirk similarly affects Knuckles.
Additionally, Sonic originally had three post-Homing Attack flip animations, as seen in pre-release footage, compared to the single flip animation that is usually seen in-game. The other flips are used, however, when using the White Gem's Homing Smash. Given that the Gems were ostensibly a late addition to the game, this discrepancy may have occurred due to an oversight when implementing them.
Custom Actions#
Sonic's Gems contain a lot of unused, unimplemented, or changed things to go along with the broken Action Gauge.
Gem Maturity and Levels#
Ever wondered what the small gauge under the Action Gauge is? The manual for the game says it will display the "maturity" of Sonic's Custom Action's Level. What this means is unknown, and the gauge ultimately does nothing in the final, even if the visual for it is restored. Sonic's Custom Actions were also supposed to level up, but it is unknown to what extent or how they would beyond becoming stronger and/or more efficient.
Curiously, in the Xbox Live Arcade demo, the Maturity and Level meters are shown to be slightly filled and at Level 1 respectively. The latter is only ever seen as Shadow in the final game, and the former is never seen. This could be a leftover from the Gem's intended functionality.
Blue Gem Hitbox?#
The Prima Guide for the game states that the Blue Gem's ability, Mach Speed, will destroy "most enemies that get in Sonic’s way, except for monsters." In the final game, using the Blue Gem doesn't deal any damage to enemies at all.
It should be noted that the blue wind visual behind Sonic as he smashes into Eggman's robots in the intro cutscene is similar to the Blue Gem's particle effect, and the next mainline Sonic game has the Boost move do this effect. Additionally, this game contains an unused sound effect seemingly intended for the Blue Gem that was actually reused for the Boost.
Moving Tornado#
The Prima Guide for the game states that the Tornado generated by the Green Gem was supposed to rush forward, but in the final release, the Tornado and Sonic are stationary while using it. Sound cues exist for Tornado's movement states, though the audio files seem to have been dummied out.
Homing Smash and the White Gem#
The Homing Smash was not originally the ability assigned to the White Gem, it seems, but instead would've been incorporated into Sonic's standard moveset as a Level-Up item move. In the game, some global flags exist that unlock an otherwise unseen upgrade bracelet representing the Homing Smash, and unused dialogue exists stating that you would originally hold the same button for the Homing Attack to charge the Homing Smash, as opposed to the Right Trigger. Sonic even uses the Homing Smash during his boss fight in Silver's story. What the White Gem was intended to unlock if not the Homing Smash is unknown.
Additionally, there are also unused particles and sounds intended for charging and releasing the Homing Smash, but the final game uses the regular Homing Attack particles and sounds instead.
Rainbow Gem#
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Using the Rainbow Gem, Sonic would have been able to transform into Super Sonic in regular gameplay and not just for the final boss. Presumably, Super Sonic would've played like he did in Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. Super Sonic's remnants can be acquired by editing the Rainbow Gem into a save file, or pressing Left Bumper (L2) with Debug Mode enabled and saving.
With the upgrade, Sonic will perform a transformation animation when the right trigger is pressed which is the same one used for switching to him in the Solaris boss fight. Occasionally, Sonic will get stuck in this animation and continue moving at a constant speed. This is all that the state is coded to do, indicating this did not get too far into development. However there are unused sounds and particles that are in the game files that would've been used for the transformation.
Super Speed Sonic#
Dramatic Jump#
This ability works identically to the normal jump besides playing the dramatic jump animations. These animations are the same ones as Sonic's rainbow ring animations, including the unused ground transition and landing animations. The looping animation seems to be incorrectly assigned, however, creating a jarring transition.
Homing Attack#
Like his regular counterpart, Mach Speed Sonic was intended to be able to use the homing attack. The move itself would have been faster and the jumpdash would have covered a longer range. Due to the high-speed nature of these sections, the enemy placement, and the player's inability to aim or move after the dash, this was probably deemed impractical and scrapped extremely early on. The only remnants are parameters in the lua file, an unused reference in the pkg to the TGS homing animation, and an animation slot to play it, the latter of which lacks any sounds or particles.
Sonic and Elise#
Homing Smash#
While this move is used by Sonic alone via the White Gem, the state module for Sonic and Elise together loads the state despite not being able to use the gems. Most likely, this is a leftover from the Homing Smash's intended presence as a Level-Up item move. The state itself is exactly the same as Sonic's, just seemingly disabled.
Knuckles#
Punch Charge#
An unused animation of Knuckles shows him charging a punch attack, similar to his Screwdriver attack.
Shadow#
Chaos Smash#
A leftover from the Xbox Live Arcade and Tokyo Game Show 2006 demos, this move is Shadow's counterpart to the Homing Smash. Unlike the aforementioned XBLA demo, the move is fully functional and effectively behaves identically to Sonic's, knocking enemies into each other and stunning shielded Egg Rounders/Commanders.
The move even uses the original input for the Homing Smash (holding A), though differs from the it in a few ways. While Sonic's charging and attack states are unified, Shadow's version of the move is split across two states: one for charging the move, and the other for performing it, though both moves will revert to the standard homing state if they aren't fully charged. The speed for charging Shadow's is also faster, being only 0.2 seconds compared to Sonic's 0.5.
Although this move was cut, its existence is still erroneously alluded to in-game, with the Shop description for the Chaos Snap upgrade stating that it is "an upgrade to the Chaos Attack and Chaos Smash".
Pathless Gliders#
Normally Shadow's gliders are always set on spline paths in the final game, but they technically function without a defined path as well. A pathless glider has separate parameters from one attached to a spline, but the camera will not follow him. This can be mitigated by using camera volumes to follow him.
Rouge#
Bat Cracker#
The Bat Cracker from Sonic Battle was seemingly intended to be Rouge's original aerial attack, as an unused hint mentions it. It can also be seen on the loading graphic for Rouge's Tropical Jungle, and the model is leftover in the game.
The code for the attack is also leftover in the game, but is unused and somewhat unfinished. When used, the move works as intended normally, being a mine that stays in place and explodes after a set period of time or when approached. Interestingly, the Bat Cracker has an odd property of aggressively targeting physics objects over enemies, which is almost certainly not the intended behavior.
Silver#
Speed Upgrade#
In the shop, there's an unused upgrade for Silver known as the Speed Up, which would have increased Silver's slow running speed. However, activating the global flag for the move does nothing.
Blaze#
Claw Attack#
An unused animation of Blaze swiping at an enemy with her claws exists in the game's files. The coding for this doesn't appear to exist, but the animation data is present and the effect module even loads particle and sound effects for the same slot as Sonic and Shadow's spinkick attacks, implying that the devs intended to but never got around to implementing it. It probably would have behaved similarly to other characters' melee attacks.
Combo Moves#
Animations and voice clips for Blaze suggest that she and Silver were originally planned to have combo moves in the battles against Iblis 1 and 3. They state that Silver would be able to pick up Blaze with his Psychokinesis and throw her at Iblis to damage him, but this was never implemented. Interestingly, Blaze's homing attack animation is called "bl_esp_attack_l", implying that this was its original intended use.
In the final game, Silver cannot stun or pick up amigo followers without modding the game.
Fire Claw Particles#
Blaze's homing ability, the Fire Claw, was originally supposed to have a delayed flame particle, much like her Accelerator Tornado, but it is never called by the final game. It can be added back in by loading Sonic's particle module and adding the particle into her plc file.
Amy#
Hammer Particles#
Amy's hammer attack was supposed to have an impact particle, similar to Sonic Adventure, but it was left unimplemented in the final game. When restored, the particle has no delay, making it play too early, nor does it spawn under Amy's hammer (instead spawning under her).
Boss Sonic#
Chain Jump#
Sonic was supposed to be able to perform chain jumps in his pinch phase. The move doesn't function as intended, making him get locked in place, though he's still vulnerable to attacks and can be knocked out of the state. This could be due to missing chainjump objects, but the cause is unknown.
Boss Silver#
Uplift#
This attack damages everything in its radius, including the player. While it shares its name with the Silver's PSI Marker state and is performed from the ground, it's functionally more similar to Silver's Psycho Shock. It's identical to the one that is used in the Xbox Live Arcade demo, and the particles are still missing.
Jump On PSI#
Silver will hover in the direction of his target until he gets close enough. This is a leftover from the Xbox Live Arcade demo, where Silver would hover onto objects before lifting them up. Silver's states are still coded to use this, but it's impossible to trigger it.
Ride Smash#
Another leftover from the Xbox Live Arcade demo, this move allows Silver to lift up objects that he's standing on. Like the Psycho Shock, it hasn't changed at all.
Homing Catch#
Silver stands in place, waiting for the player to approach. If Sonic or Shadow enters the move's radius before Silver releases the attack, he'll be stunned and Silver will throw them. Unlike the Grab All (Object Throw) attack, which is used, Silver can't grab objects or damage players; players will be flung away in their spring state instead.
Unused Shield#
In the "POWER-UP ITEMS" section of the game's manual, the Shield is listed as an available powerup that can be obtained from Item Boxes, yet no Shield powerup boxes are seen anywhere in-game. Despite this, the Shield exists in the game's code and is fully functional, allowing the player to take a hit without losing their Rings, though it doesn't play the activation sound like it should and it doesn't cause the player to enter their "hit" animation, which would be somewhat disorienting. The Shield can be placed in a level by changing an Item Box's parameter to 8.
Note that the Speed Shoes (referred to in the manual as "High Speed") are in fact used, in a 2-player layout and one of Shadow's town missions. They're fully functional, playing the invincibility theme and causing the player's top speed to increase temporarily.
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