Remember when the SegaSonic Popcorn Shop ROM was dumped and playable on MAME? Well that same person who did that is now teasing something else Sonic arcade related! Originally shared on Tumblr is what appears to be a working prototype of SegaSonic The Hedgehog the arcade game. The user tagged the Tumblr post with “#unreleased” and added the caption “…it’s the megaton…”. The megaton indeed. For those not in the know, SegaSonic the Hedgehog was a trackball controlled arcade game released exclusively to Japan and North America in 1993. Given the control scheme, the game has not released outside of arcades as Sonic Team has claimed it is too tricky to make the game playable with standard control pads. The game featured the debut of Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Squirrel, but as this supposed prototype dated 1992 reveals the game was initially known as SegaSonic Bros. and featured blue hedgehog Sonic and a yellow and orange version of our hero (or perhaps two new hedgehogs?). Let’s just hope this hedgehog trio don’t form a band and look for their long lost mother.
We hope to hear more details on this soon, so in the meantime consider this a rumor. Fingers crossed this game gets dumped as well.
Discuss multi-colored Sonics and more in the SEGAbits forums, and after the break check out a small update on this story!
Update: Thanks to Michael in the comments below, we have a scan from Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 32, March 1992. In the Quartermann rumor column, there is mention of an upcoming System 32 Sonic the Hedgehog game that “invites multiple players to assume the role of different colored Sonics”! Before the uncovering of SegaSonic Bros., fans looking back on the article would likely think Quartermann simply thought Mighty and Ray were differently colored Sonics, but after the reveal of this supposed prototype the Quartermann article fits with the timeline of events. Could it be that EGM had the inside scoop on SegaSonic Bros in 1992, the same year the screenshot is dated, and by 1993 SEGA changed the red and yellow Sonics to Mighty and Ray?
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I have an old EGM where the Quartermann rumor column mentions a Sonic arcade game in development with three player simultaneous play and “different colored Sonics.” Later when Sonic Arcade was featured in EGM I assumed that whoever the source was on the rumor just didn’t actually take that good of a look at it, but I guess that wasn’t the case after all! I never thought I’d see a call back to that.
Interesting! Do you recall the issue number?
I was digging through the ol’ magazine box as soon as I finished that post! It’s EGM issue 32, March 1992. I scanned it, while I was at it. 🙂
http://starquail.com/michael/quartmannEGM32_march1992p38.png
Thank you for sharing the article. It’s curious to see that the source of that information was accurate after all. Because when I take a look to some old magazines, I usually find information that is not precise enough.
I hope capcom fighting all stars would be rip sometime
Sonic Bros = Sonic The Hedgehog Arcade (with mighty and ray)
sick prototype!