After an earlier hint with the numbers ’32’ and ‘8’ from Christian Whitehead aka The Taxman, fans have discovered an hidden image in the newly released Sonic CD port that reveals an unused stage called Desert Dazzle. In response to the find, Whitehead has explained at the Sonic Retro forums that this re-release was originally going to feature two new levels: Desert Dazzle and a boss fight called Final Fever. The levels were cut because Sonic Team “felt the game should not deviate too far from it’s original form”.
Oh boy…
So what is this image doing in Sonic CD?
Basically, earlier on in the remake’s development there were 2 new levels: Desert Dazzle & Final Fever (another boss)
Neither level was fully complete, and we had to make the call whether or not to go ahead and finalize them. Sonic Team felt the game should not deviate too far from it’s original form, and in retrospect it was for the best since we had a lot of other work to do anyway.
I left this image in since it’s quite a groovy looking Zone, and it also serves as a way for you to get to the stage select as Tails.
Source: Sonic Retro
Thanks to Christmas Doggy at the SSMB for the heads up!
Curious as to what that boss looks like, probably the Drill machine that was in the developer dairy.
God, SEGA hates desert levels, doesn’t it? The one in Sonic 2, now this?
Hopefully it (and if god loves us, Playable Metal Sonic) could be DLC. I’d buy it.
Dusty Desert, but then again, that wasn’t too fun of a stage…
Same for Sandopolis UGH…..
Yeah agreed on both
Frontier Canyon wasn’t so bad I suppose…
yeah, i would pay like $2 for a new stage and boss.
Yeah, a DLC could be the solution, because only those who agreed with a new stage would get it, the boring fans who want the game 100% identical would just ignore it
Do you think this was R2 from the original?
Why is it that these desert stages keep getting cut out?
“felt the game should not deviate too far from it’s original form”.
You put tails in the game SEGA..
If you change the things, change it all.
Bring the stages as DLC
Yeah as an unlockable character that you have to beat the game in order to get in which playing as him negates a lot of the games original features.
So lets not slag off sega when it’s not in the same legue as all as adding a totally new level and boss with development deadlines to meet.
SEGA changed things up? How so? They enhanced the visuals and music, and they added an extra character with who replaces one of Sonic’s moves with one of his own. There’s a huge difference between the environments and the characters. Think of it this way. If you had a game with all of Sonic’s moves from Sonic CD, but all of the levels were completely different, would you say you were playing Sonic CD with different levels? If you were playing a game with an all new character, but all of the levels were from Sonic CD, down to the pixel, would you say you were playing Sonic CD with a different character?
hmmmm….you know….it looks alot like an image from the lost desert stage in sonic 2….coincidence?
Interesting…I wonder what the boss “Final Fever” would of been like it’s a good name for a boss 😛
Yeesh, what’s with Sega’s little issue with Desert stages, ESPECIALLY Western Desert stages? The only Western Deserts we’ve actually gotten were I believe Frontier Canyon from Rivals 2 & Free Riders Rocky Ridge.
Western Desert stages are pretty dag rare in Sonic.
Course, if those 2 levels sucked, then fans would complain…
I wonder what the past (or if this is the past, the present) and futures for this stage would’ve looked 😮
Looks really similar to that scrapped desert level that’s seen in the World Map of the PC version.
Maybe SEGA tried to finish that level, but didn’t?
The Present version of the World Map showed a desert area with cactus on the bottom-right section, the Bad Future of the World Map turned the cactus into a giant Metal Tower.
Wouldn’t mind to see this in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 though.
Sandopolis (Sonic 3), Marge road (sonic Rush), Sand hill (sonic adventure), sand ocean(Sonic adventure 2), hidden base (also sonic adventure 2), dusty desert (sonic 2006) *like it or not it’s STILL a sonic game*, arid sands (Sonic unleashed), How are these not desert stages?
Are you guys Blind?!
I think they were talking about Western Desert stages.
Has everyone forgotten Sandopolis? 😛
SEGA, I wouldn’t mind paying an extra few dollars to play Desert Dazzle and Final Fever as DLC. Sonic CD is one of my favorite games of all time and I would love to try out some new twists like these. 🙂
Has it occurred to anyone that this may be the episode 2 hint that Sega was going to tease?
I was thinking it was a teaser image for Episode 2, at least I hope so!
Gasp! Isn’t that the desert level that was supposedly cut from Sonic 2!? Also, I wish they did include Final Fever! I hope it’ll be in a future update.
Guys, you know it’s Dust Hill Zone right? 😀
8 and 32?! What’s that mean?!
Really thinking this stage might be in episode 2 instead. Lol, if it is people will probably just be like “ITS A SANDOPOLIS REHASH.”
Hmm I wonder how this level would of been like and the boss Final Fever that sounds like a good name for a boss I wish it was included back then…
Anyone else suspect “Final Fever” may have been intended as a bonus “reward” final stage for getting all the Time Stones?
This is obviously based on Dust Hill.
That zone may never see the light of day.
I would’ve loved to hear new music for this stage though.
Here’s hoping for something like it in the next episode of Sonic 4.
Im confused, in the game can you go back to previous stages to access the special stage? Otherwise how are you supposed to get the stones
You can’t go back to the previous stages but in Time Attack mode you can replay special stages however you don’t get Time stones for this. In order to get all time stones you will be forced to get them on your first try.
the game really could do with an extra final boss. that x machine is way too easy and anticlimactic
That was a boneheaded choice, SEGA.
I would pay an extra 2 dollars if they saddled a re-release of a Mario title with a new boss and stage.
I’m wondering….. Does Sonic CD have a save feature so you can save your progress?
Yes.
Cuts new levels to make it as close to the original as possible.
Makes Tails playable.
🙁
So…taxman was going to make the incomplete Sonic CD a complete game, and sega said no?
*sad*
Sonic CD was never “incomplete”. These would have been new levels that were never planned to be in the original.
R2 was always planned to be in the original. See: Ending sequence for CD, level select which has R2 unselectable, the fact there’s nothing corresponding to Marble Zone in CD which has every other Sonic 1 level remixed in it.
Excuse for DLC.
OMG… It will be R2?!
“not deviate too far from it’s original form”
Said the guys who introduced a giant load of ridiculous characters, placed the universe in the human world, created the Werehog, made a Princess kiss a dead hedgehog and made Classic Sonic’s confident self look like a child in Sonic Generations. But put a new level and a boss for Sonic CD? Oh, no, that’s blasfemy, let the game be like it was!!!
I hate it when they do things like this, Sonic CD, something I really like always felt so incomplete. To hear something like this after the game came out just makes me even more sad.
To think there was a chance at finally truly completing this game, that’s one more dream that will remain a dream for me forever 🙁
Sweet Jesus, that is a fresh Dust Hill Zone remix.
Include this in a DLC with Knuckles/Mighty/Vector/someotherobscurecharacter as a playable character and you can have all my money Sega.