A render of CGI Silver during development.
Sonic the Hedgehog was intended to celebrate the series' fifthteen birthday by being the largest Sonic game in terms of content, only to get Christmas Rushed into the state it was upon release.
Thanks to this, there is an absolute treasure trove of unused voice clips, features, abilities, and stuff that doesn't work correctly, as well as stuff that was conceptualized but never implemented, showcased but removed before the final, et al. Due to the gargantuan amount of content cut or changed, this page will be divided into several folders.
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Folders
Unrealized Ideas
Ideas that were conceptualized (and even advertised), but are nowhere to be found within the final game:
- Additional releases for the game were planned for PC and the Nintendo Wii:
- The Wii port was scrapped around October 2005 when Sonic Team received development kits for the system, finding how underpowered it was in comparison to the HD consoles (despite a port being possible with enough time). Due to Sega still wanting a Sonic game to released for the Wii's launch, director Yojiro Ogawa left the project with some devs to create a unique game for the system, ultimately evolving into Sonic and the Secret Rings in 2007.
- The PC port got far enough in development to be advertised in the Sonic Riders manual as well as the E3 2006 flyer
◊, although how it would've differed from the console versions is unknown. It was scrapped around mid-2006 due to similar time constraints.
- Present in the original Tokyo Game Show 2005 gameplay reveal was a day-night feature, being fully functional, although it's possible it was simply intended to showcase the lighting capabilities of the engine and was never actually intended for the final game. Sonic Unleashed would add a similar mechanic, but only after completing stages or hitting hourglasses in the hub world.
- Originally, Silver was going to have a purchasable "Light Chip" item that would allow him to run as fast as Sonic and Shadow. Due to the game being rushed out the door before being completed, the powerup was scrapped, and with nothing to replace it, he remained slow.
- The manual also mentions features not present in the final game:
- Sonic's Gem abilities were meant to have three levels and actually drain, refilling when Chaos Drives from defeated enemies are absorbed; not only does Sonic's Gem have no leveling up, a bugnote causes it to not drain at all, allowing infinite uses.
- Tails and Omega were also meant to have gauges showing how much flight they have left.
- The game's "Tag" multiplayer was meant to be split between Tag Story (much like the final game, but players could save their progress) and Tag Trial (completed stages played individually).
Unused Ideas
Stuff that is in the game, but unused for one reason or another:
- Present within the game's data is a Rainbow Gem that would've allowed players to transform into Super Sonic at will, just like the Genesis games; hacking it into their inventory allows them to activate the transformation sequence, but otherwise has no effect.
- Shields are mentioned in the manual, but are actually fully functional (barring not playing the activation sound, nor playing the "hit" animation when hurt) and can be placed into any stage with a stage editor.
- Unused text indicates the player was meant to purchase music from previous games; Sonic Generations would revisit the concept 5 years later. Silver was also meant to get a Speed Chip to increase his maximum speed.
- Further unused text suggests that much more Downloadable Content was planned for the game, including additional missions for all the playable characters (including Metal Sonic, who doesn't appear in the final game at all), Super Hard and Extra layouts (Very Hard mode was distributed), and Xbox Live functionality.
- Many, many, many unused hints and voice clips.
Misc
- Silver was originally conceived as a Mink named Venice, going through at least 5 different designs, one of them having a headband, and another with a yellow tuft of hair rather than the white-on-silver he has in the final game.
- Developmental character profiles for the game say that Blaze wears a cape and is troubled by her chest size. These elements were scrapped by release.
- The resume on former Silver the Hedgehog actor Pete Capella's website lists Sonic the Hedgehog: Awakening on it. Not much is known about the project, but given that the list is in chronological order and Pete was replaced by Quinton Flynn 2010 onwards, it seems fair to assume this is a project that was ultimately scrapped. Judging from its placement in the list, it's possible that it was a planned DLC expansion or sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
