The Cover Project

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: tylerbgood on November 25, 2017, 11:35:00 PM

Title: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: tylerbgood on November 25, 2017, 11:35:00 PM
I just watched a "Did You Know Gaming" video on YouTube about Sonic the Hedgehog. One of the pieces of trivia was that the initial US release of Sonic Spinball had unlicensed music included in the soundtrack. Sega caught the mistake early and modified the game by replacing the offending songs. But they had already released a number of copies with the original soundtrack to retailers and they were sold to the general public. I don't think there's any distinguishing visual indicators on the box, you have to listen to the music on the cart. The audio differences are featured at the bottom of this Cutting Room Floor page: https://tcrf.net/Sonic_Spinball_(Genesis) (https://tcrf.net/Sonic_Spinball_(Genesis)).

Does anyone here in the forums have the first version of the cartridge with the rare musical score? I checked mine and it's a later copy. There is always something new to collect!
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: SegaNomadman on November 26, 2017, 08:01:17 PM
I've never been able to find one of the first runs. Since there's no physical difference between the two versions other than playing them, I've basically resorted to buying any copies I find. I really don't know how many were produced though.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: Bear78 on November 27, 2017, 01:04:01 PM
There's 3 different versions of Revenge of Shinobi due to licensing issues (Batman, Spider-man, Godzilla).  Again, you have to play the game to know what version you have.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revenge_of_Shinobi
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: tylerbgood on November 27, 2017, 03:08:21 PM
There's 3 different versions of Revenge of Shinobi


That's wild. I wonder how often games were patched back in the time before the internet. These days it seems like every game that is released gets patched to fix bugs and exploits. I know the game code was a lot smaller back then, but there still had to have been game-breaking bugs in some old releases that had to be fixed.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: wiggy on November 27, 2017, 06:15:25 PM
There's 3 different versions of Revenge of Shinobi


That's wild. I wonder how often games were patched back in the time before the internet. These days it seems like every game that is released gets patched to fix bugs and exploits. I know the game code was a lot smaller back then, but there still had to have been game-breaking bugs in some old releases that had to be fixed.

And there occasionally were, but most often it just meant you (the customer) were stuck with a busted game.


Turok Rage Wars comes to mind as an exception.  Had a massive game-breaking glitch, and since it was a high profile game, Acclaim offered a fixed version for anyone who owned the game.  Trouble is, back then the web isn't what it is today, so reaching those customers was tricky.  But that's where the gray cart variant of Rage Wars came from; it's the corrected version.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: TDIRunner on November 28, 2017, 09:10:27 AM
There's 3 different versions of Revenge of Shinobi


That's wild. I wonder how often games were patched back in the time before the internet. These days it seems like every game that is released gets patched to fix bugs and exploits. I know the game code was a lot smaller back then, but there still had to have been game-breaking bugs in some old releases that had to be fixed.

And there occasionally were, but most often it just meant you (the customer) were stuck with a busted game.


Turok Rage Wars comes to mind as an exception.  Had a massive game-breaking glitch, and since it was a high profile game, Acclaim offered a fixed version for anyone who owned the game.  Trouble is, back then the web isn't what it is today, so reaching those customers was tricky.  But that's where the gray cart variant of Rage Wars came from; it's the corrected version.

As an accountant, I can't help but think about the difference in cost in producing a replacement cart (especially an expensive N64 cart) to fix a bug compared to a downloadable patch for a modern game.  Wow.  :-\
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: Bear78 on November 28, 2017, 12:15:38 PM
There's 3 different versions of Revenge of Shinobi


That's wild. I wonder how often games were patched back in the time before the internet. These days it seems like every game that is released gets patched to fix bugs and exploits. I know the game code was a lot smaller back then, but there still had to have been game-breaking bugs in some old releases that had to be fixed.

And there occasionally were, but most often it just meant you (the customer) were stuck with a busted game.


Turok Rage Wars comes to mind as an exception.  Had a massive game-breaking glitch, and since it was a high profile game, Acclaim offered a fixed version for anyone who owned the game.  Trouble is, back then the web isn't what it is today, so reaching those customers was tricky.  But that's where the gray cart variant of Rage Wars came from; it's the corrected version.


A good amount of PS1 Greatest Hits got patched also.  I know one of the Spyro's has a game breaking glitch that got patched in the GH version.   A lot of the time, at least for PS1, the GH version is the better version of the game... just has that ugly green bar...
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: TDIRunner on November 28, 2017, 12:20:06 PM
Gran Turismo 2 also has a glitch that makes it impossible to 100% the game.  If you win and complete every race, the highest percentage you can achieve is somewhere around 98.5%.  I believe it was fixed for later releases. 
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: tylerbgood on November 28, 2017, 11:24:46 PM
Gran Turismo 2 also has a glitch that makes it impossible to 100% the game.  If you win and complete every race, the highest percentage you can achieve is somewhere around 98.5%.  I believe it was fixed for later releases. 

This reminds me of Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Both games are so incredibly glitchy on consoles. There are achievements in both that I was unable to get because of game bugs. I love those games dearly, but they're so much better on PC after installing the unofficial patches that fix the mountain of issues present in both. Oblivion also suffers from the same problem.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: marioxb on November 29, 2017, 04:17:40 AM
A good amount of PS1 Greatest Hits got patched also.  I know one of the Spyro's has a game breaking glitch that got patched in the GH version.   A lot of the time, at least for PS1, the GH version is the better version of the game... just has that ugly green bar...

Silent Hill 2 GH on PS2 adds the extra stuff from the Xbox version. Someone told me some F1 game on PS1 has more stuff in GH. Even Nintendo did this with the Nintendo Selects Animal Crossing on 3DS adding Amiibo stuff.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: e_brugal on November 29, 2017, 06:38:41 AM
There's 3 different versions of Revenge of Shinobi


That's wild. I wonder how often games were patched back in the time before the internet. These days it seems like every game that is released gets patched to fix bugs and exploits. I know the game code was a lot smaller back then, but there still had to have been game-breaking bugs in some old releases that had to be fixed.

And there occasionally were, but most often it just meant you (the customer) were stuck with a busted game.


Turok Rage Wars comes to mind as an exception.  Had a massive game-breaking glitch, and since it was a high profile game, Acclaim offered a fixed version for anyone who owned the game.  Trouble is, back then the web isn't what it is today, so reaching those customers was tricky.  But that's where the gray cart variant of Rage Wars came from; it's the corrected version.


A good amount of PS1 Greatest Hits got patched also.  I know one of the Spyro's has a game breaking glitch that got patched in the GH version.   A lot of the time, at least for PS1, the GH version is the better version of the game... just has that ugly green bar...

I hate GH  for the aame reason, the ugly green bar. I always try not to buy  them, but now with all the thing you are saying I think I will change my mind in the future.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: marioxb on November 29, 2017, 09:04:35 AM
That's what this site is for. Replace that ugly green with a printout of a normal version! That's what I do. Who cares if it's not the "correct" cover?
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: TDIRunner on November 29, 2017, 09:52:35 AM
Some of the PS1 GH titles also added analog support for games that were released before the analog controller was a thing.  For some reason, Resident Evil 2 comes to mind, but I might not be remembering correctly. 

The funny thing too is that the GH title is also very often less common than the black label version due to the number of copies that had to be sold before it would qualify as GH.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: marioxb on November 29, 2017, 10:37:00 AM
I think it was Resident Evil 1. Probably the most re-released PS1 game in the US:

Original long box
Probably a long "Saturn style" case version
Jewel case of above
Directors Cut with RE2 demo
Directors Cut without demo
Directors Cut, Dual shock, GH version

Funny thing, the Directors Cut never uncensored the intro in the US, like it was supposed to.



Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: e_brugal on November 29, 2017, 02:46:34 PM
That's what this site is for. Replace that ugly green with a printout of a normal version! That's what I do. Who cares if it's not the "correct" cover?

In my case, I do  :P.

Ps1, ps2, ps3, ps4, GC, Wii, Wii U, switch, everything that didn't came on carton box I prefer the original cover (by original I refer buying a CIB game. In the few GH games that I have, I make my own spine (just the spine), that way on a shelf it looks like is not a GH .  :P

http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=15757.msg146458#msg146458
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: TDIRunner on November 29, 2017, 03:12:16 PM
The green spine doesn't bother me.  However, I keep my GH titles separate from my black label.  Same goes for PS2 and PS3 (PSP too I guess).  Ultimately, PS1 is the one system I would love to have a full set for, which includes having both black label and GH versions of each game.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: e_brugal on November 29, 2017, 05:49:46 PM
The green spine doesn't bother me.  However, I keep my GH titles separate from my black label.  Same goes for PS2 and PS3 (PSP too I guess).  Ultimately, PS1 is the one system I would love to have a full set for, which includes having both black label and GH versions of each game.

This is what I was thinking on doing
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: BadChad on November 29, 2017, 06:48:41 PM
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker also has a variant similar to Sonic Spinball where in the original REV00 release of the game, "Thriller" would play in the graveyard stages when you used the special (hold A) dance attack. This was later replaced in REV01 with "Another Part of Me" because Thriller was written by Rod Temperton for Michael Jackson and not Michael Jackson himself.

I actually have a copy of REV00 myself. Years ago when I was at a thrift store, for whatever reason there happened to be a JAP Mega Drive version of the game in a rental case. Picked it up, and sure enough it was the original REV00 release with Thriller!

I'd love to have an original REV00 copy of Revenge of Shinobi, but people who know they have one, generally like to overcharge for it.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: tylerbgood on November 30, 2017, 01:33:36 AM
I have always preferred Xbox platinum hits because sometimes they include patches and updates on the disc. The day will come when Microsoft shuts down the servers that handle game updates and DLC, and having a physical copy will become critical. I absolutely hate the box art though.
Title: Re: I never realized there were two versions of Sonic Spinball!
Post by: SegaNomadman on November 30, 2017, 09:23:51 AM
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker also has a variant similar to Sonic Spinball where in the original REV00 release of the game, "Thriller" would play in the graveyard stages when you used the special (hold A) dance attack. This was later replaced in REV01 with "Another Part of Me" because Thriller was written by Rod Temperton for Michael Jackson and not Michael Jackson himself.

I always wondered why that song wasn't in the game! Are there any physical differences for this revision?