One of our betas... is missing!

[Badnik Mechanic]

Some of you might have seen these beta screens from an early build of the original Sonic 1.

And some of you at some stage might have said "Why don't they ever release these betas?"

Well guess what?

They tried!

At Summer of Sonic this year, Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka were doing interviews more or less all day, well gamesradar also had an interview with them and... they got quite an interesting responce to their questions.

when asked "Where these screens just mock ups or where they ever playable." Yuji Naka replied with...

these are authentic and it was something that was playable. In 1990 the team created a demo for a toy show. There was no TGS, so the major show to go to at the time was this toy show. So they used this as a playable demo to show what Sonic would be like and to show the breakneck speed that Sonic has. This actually has got seven layers of background scrolling – the trees one layer… a lot of effort went into creating it. I am looking for this ROM. It's gone. Nowhere to be found. These photos are very rare – I would like this photo.

He goes on to say...

we worked really hard to find this software. It must exist somewhere, we created the build for it. When we created Sonic Mega Collection, we thought it would be a great addition to have – the original prototype that we used, the first one shown in the world, but it's just nowhere to be found and it's such a great shame that we can't find it. I'm really happy to see it because I haven't seen those pictures at all.

So if you still don't understand. When Mega collection was being made, they wanted to include the original Sonic 1 prototype! The first one ever shown to the general public, but the said build is lost somewhere inside Sega! Yuji Naka sounds more than certain that it's still there somewhere and from the interview he sounds like he desperately wants it to be found and release!

Just one problem... it's lost... somewhere inside Sega, somewhere in Sega is the original Sonic prototype and Yuji Naka wants it to be released.

Source.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Hogfather

[Nepenthe]

Naka actually sounds a bit hopeless to me, what with stating that it's "gone" and "nowhere to be found." But if it is inside of Sega, that's actually a pretty narrow location on this big ol' dirtball, ain't it? It'd be great if someone could happen across it, much less honor his wish to put it in a future collection.

[Tornado]

I'm still amazed that he had the balls to ask Naka about Xtreme in that interview.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Tornado

[Indigo Rush]

Found him!

...oh, was this not the droid you were looking for?

Okay, I'll keep looking.

[Vertekins]

Missing beta's isn't a new thing. Didn't Naka once admit that the Simon Wai Prototype of Sonic 2 stolen from a New York Toy Fair in 1992? It was just incredibly lucky that the ROM was dumped. It's a pity the very early Sonic 1 Beta hasn't been found because those screenshots are absolutely fascinating.

[hypermikey]

Sega aren't very good at protecting their betas at their toy fairs are they? As the same thing happened with sonic 2.

Naka also asks if he can have a copy of the screenshot & I remember a previous interview where he says he wishes he could see hidden palace zone again! Does Naka know how to use the internet? Lol

[TwoTailedFox]

Actually, I kinda think the level in the screen shot looks better than GHZ, tbh. The night time theme looks awesome!

But, if it's lost and he knows it's somewhere inside SEGA, why don't they get some people to look around? (That is, if he knows which SEGA building it's in...) Either way, I hope it's found and it's released sometime on a Sonic collection or something

[Birdie]

Unreleased content and beta prototypes fascinate me, it's the appeal of 'what might've been' I suppose. It is a little frustrating that there will be next to no chance of ever finding this game in any way, shape or form any time soon, or much for Sonic 1 in general. Sonic 2 has been ripped wide open whereas Sonic 1 remains rather mysterious in comparison in terms of actually getting a hold of this content and taking a look inside. ):

[Marcello]

Let's go the mall today SEGA and find it, guys!

Edited June 29, 2011 by MarcelloF

[aaaaaa]

Wow, well that's really something. Kinda disappointing that he has no idea as to its whereabouts, I'd think there would be a backup of it sitting around somewhere, but I guess not? Who knows, maybe one day we'll all be surprised...