-=Secrets of Sonic Team=-

Windy Valley

Submitted by: Rlan The infamous missing level of Sonic Adventure, Windy Valley prototype. Although the level appears in the final, it's so radically different that it stands out on it's own. Much more ground was covered by foot, unlike the final where a lot is through thin tracks or by swirling walkways. In this small scene from the big Sonic Adventure video, Sonic coms falling down from high above. a Caterpiller enemy is twirling to the left, and the ground is covered in allsorts of little stones, unlike anything in Windy Valley.
Submitted by: Rlan Similar to the final game, there is a section where Sonic gets whipped up in a gust of wind, but here he's running on air, not swept off his feet.
Submitted by: Rlan The same scene, a bit further on.
Submitted by: Rlan To finally be flipped up onto this section of grey land.
Submitted by: Rlan Sonic gets whisked off into winds of a large Tornado! The same situation occurs in Windy Valley in the final, but this looks a whole lot different. Sonic is taken from the right side to the left, while in the final you're taken from the right of screen.
Submitted by: Rlan A much better picture of the Tornado, looking nothing like the final. The final Tornado is much wider and is more clear, but this one looks very thick and dirty.
Submitted by: Big Smile Again, a clearer version of the shot. Click the image for a larger version
Submitted by: Big Smile Here's a shot from inside the Tornado, an early version of Windy Valley - The Air. The swirling Tornado is all brown unlike the final, and has some of the chekred blue/grey tiles, similar to the ones seen in the E-102 Gamma images. Click the image for a larger version.
Submitted by: Big Smile Sonic bounced up via a trampoline, seen in the final, but he falls upon an unrecognisable area, which also includes floatiing BLUE bouncers, similar to the ones seen in 'The Air'.
Submitted by: Rlan Sonic begins to spindash to jump over a gap in the land.
Submitted by: Rlan Sonic makes the leap, and heads towards another bridge. Not many are found in the final game, and like the rest of these shots these areas are completely unrocognisable to anything in the final game. Sonic's jumping animation is also very different, with a white stripe surrounding him. In the final Sonics image is planted onto the side of him as a texture.
Submitted by: Rlan Also part of the video is some early Chao Garden bits and pieces. Heres the Garden, but it looks exactly like some of the bits from the pre-release Windy Valley.
Like the final, Tails was also able to enter this area. In one of the very early images, Tails was seen flying through an unknown area of Windy Valley. Although later on in the development cycle, as seen by the different background and similar textures, it's still an area not seen in the final game. Click the image for the full size image.
Submitted by: Scott Prower Tails strolls through an early shot of the game. Not much is viewable, but the same textures can be seen at the top right.
Submitted by: Rlan In the Prototype video, Tails strolls around the pre-release level for a few seconds. The pillars surround the area, and look like the ones from the Chao Garden a few images back.
Submitted by: Rlan Tails begins to try and attack the Chameleon enemy. In the deep background you can see a set of arrow signs, seen in a few E-102 images below. In the final game the only section Tails is involved with in Windy Valley is 'The Air'. There is nothing like this for him in the final, and Sonic doesn't seem to be anywhere for Tails to race against.
Submitted by: Rlan In the small cutscene of this zoom in on Tails' face, you can see that it is part of the Windy Valley prototype level.
Submitted by: Rlan E-102 Gamma also invades this level in the final game, but it's still very different. These large arrow textures surround the area, telling E-102 where to go.
Submitted by: Rlan Also part of the video is some early Chao Garden bits and pieces. Heres the Garden, but it looks exactly like some of the bits from the pre-release Windy Valley.
Submitted by: Rlan Gamma takes on a Rhino enemy, and continues to walk along.
Submitted by: Rlan Gamma gets to this area, a high ramp. Those red points are prototype speed boosters.
Submitted by: Rlan A horrible picture, but in the video Gamma does his little dance ontop of Windy Valley, in an area probably from this pre-release version.
Submitted by: Rlan Big the cat has entered Windy Valley, but he never appears here in the final game. This area is on a huge scope compared to his minimal sections of level found in the final game.
Submitted by: Rlan A Boa-Boa Caterpiller can be seen in the distance. No levels involving Big have this enemy, since he simply cannot attack it well enough with his fishing pole.
Submitted by: Rlan A good picture of the wide scope the Windy Valley level had, making it look a lot like Green Hills from previous Sonic games.
Submitted by: Rlan Big had quite the way to go to get up here, and this area looks nothing like anything from the final game.
Submitted by: Rlan Who could this be but Froggy! Froggy bounces around Big through this level, making you wonder exactly what was the point of Bigs game at the time. Unless you had to follow Froggy, as a becon for bigger fish, other than that, nothing is known for why he's hopping around here.
Submitted by: Rlan Here Big is wading around in a shallow pool, the same one seen in the second to top Sonic image on this page.
Submitted by: Big Smile Amy is Windy Valley? Originally so, says a Sonic adventure TV Advert. It shows Amy swinging her hammer around a bit in the early revision of the zone. The floating platform at the back of the shot levitates up and down a bit. Click the image for the full size.