Games - Sonic Crackers

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	Games - Sonic Crackers

Sonic Crackers, also known by the name in the ROM header, Sonic Studium, is an early Sonic the Hedgehog prototype game for the Sega Genesis.

Rumors

The game was rumored to have been Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Many say this is false as the Sonic 3 sprites were not used in the prototype, instead Sonic 1's were used as the base.

Some have suggested that the game is actually a homebrewed hoax, created by combining code from Sonic 2 and Knuckles' Chaotix. The fact that the compile date is given as "19940401" (April 1, 1994) on the title screen is seen by many to support this. It has also been pointed out that such a code-combine would probably not work, and that "19940401" could actually mean January 4, 1994 (Knuckles' Chaotix was released in 1995). The copyright date given in the ROM header is 1994.JUL - later than either of the two assumed compile dates.

Some also believe that the ROM was an April Fool's Day joke by Sega, citing the above mentioned compile date as evidence. Another theory is that when Sega announced Sonic the Hedgehog 4, they noted that the game would feature Lock On Technology. At the time, no one knew what Lock On Technology was, so Sega's hope was that people would believe that it was the link binding Sonic and Tails.

The dumped Sonic Crackers ROM is believed to have been a proof-of-concept demo, which is used to test new ideas to see if management likes the game or not.

What seems to be the definitive evidence (to many) that the ROM is of a real game is that the European Teletext Game Review Page (Called "Digitiser") claimed that they were shown Crackers, and said it was awful.

===The Chaotix Prototype/Beta Theory=== ---- There are many who believe this game to be a prototype for Knuckles' Chaotix.

The first and most obvious point is that the game designs and concepts are so similar. Both games feature two characters bound together by rings with a "rubber band" mechanic.

Another point is the music. Listening to the Chaotix and Crackers music, one can hear that they are similar, but not identical. The Chaotix music is noted as having a lighter drum beat, or an improvisational layer of piano music. In either case, both had full bodied music. Believers that Crackers is a legitimate game cite that had this been a fake, the editors would have simply removed layers of music to make it appear simpler.

Some people point out the missing character as evidence that Crackers was a prototype for Chaotix. In the Chaotix stage select menu, there is a character simply labeled as "**********". When selected, the character appears as a garbled, and tilted Knuckles sprite. Some believe this to have originally been Tails. To support this, people point out that the Sonic sprites from Crackers match up perfectly with the Mighty the Armadillo sprites from Chaotix. SEGA of America confirmed they did not have anything to do with Sonic Crackers.

Gameplay

The game has Sonic and Tails joined together by a band of rings. This would later become the idea for Knuckles' Chaotix for the Sega 32X.

Knuckles' Chaotix teams up Knuckles or another member of the Chaotix crew in pairs, joined together by a band of rings. The gameplay is somewhat similar to the later game, Sonic Heroes, in that you have control over both of the characters (unlike Sonic 2 or Sonic 3, in which player 2 or the computer controlled the optional second player).

The ROM has three levels. One is a level that swaps palletes and different iterations of the same song. After 3 minutes, or if the player reaches the end of the stage, that level ends and the player is brought to an adventure field. If the player pauses and hits a button, the game goes to a carnival-like level that goes around in an infinite loop. When 1 minute elapses, the circus level ends and another adventure field begins. After the player pauses and hits another button, he or she is brought back to the pallete swapping level with another pallete.

Current Incarnation

There are two flavors of Sonic Crackers - the 1MB dump and the 2MB overdump. The overdump contains about half of a prototype Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. The game that it belongs to has not been determined.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Sonic Crackers ]

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