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I'm collecting LCD Sonic Games for preservation

A topic by Phlimbob84 created Apr 16, 2025 Views: 1,109 Replies: 27

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Phlimbob84258 days ago (1 edit)

Heyo! So turns out there are a lot of Sonic LCD games out there, so I've decided to try and collect as many as I can! Instead of making a new topic for each game individually, I figured it would probably be easier to pool all the resources I am able to contribute into this one. I'm especially trying to gather resources that I currently cannot find anywhere else on the internet. Hoping this helps!

So far I own...

Sonic 3 (Tiger) (The 2020 Hasbro re-release)

https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3_(LCD_game)

Sonic 3D Blast (Tiger 1997) (The original and not the pocket arcade version)

https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_3D_Blast_(LCD_game)

Sonic R (Tiger 1998)

https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_R_(LCD_game)

SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA 1992)

https://info.sonicretro.org/SegaSonic_the_Hedgehog_(LCD_game)

I'm currently working on capturing gameplay footage for these four. Manuals already exist on sonicretro.org, except for 3D Blast, but unfortunately I don't own the manual for that one. Hoping to track one down.

I'm also having trouble getting good enough quality scans of the background art, since there are imperfections in the clear plastic window that get in the way. Would you recommend taking the handheld apart, taking the art out and scanning that individually? If I can't find a better way, that's the next thing I will probably try.

At any rate, here's where I will post my resources. So far, I only have things I've found elsewhere on the internet.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AjNdy9dd9TB8NZv0jnRKL4PTdZ73C550?usp=dri...

Itizso258 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks! It would be great to preserve these games digitally on RetroFab. I wouldn't recommend taking the handhelds apart until we've exhausted all other options. Usually it's possible to find something online that will do. I've started working on Sonic the Hedgehog (thanks again for the scans of the instructions) and I have everything I need for that one.

Itizso258 days ago

There is a 1994 LCD game from Tiger Electronics called Sonic Spinball which I did some initial work on, but I need to get better gameplay videos than the ones currently available online. You can preview the initial build here. If you ever add this game to your collection let me know.

nostalgiaholic254 days ago

I found a scan of the Sonic 3 background at
https://www.reddit.com/r/SonicTheHedgehog/comments/12g0kdw/i_recently_bought_a_used_sonic_the_hedgehog_3/

Phlimbob84246 days ago

Heyo again! Just a couple updates:

I have a new YouTube channel now for LCD gameplay footage! So far I have footage for Sonic 3, 3D Blast, and R.

I also have a manual for 3D Blast now, courtesy of RinShiro on Reddit ("Rin-Dev" on the Internet Archive).

In other news, I'm having some technical difficulties with two other LCD's... First, I got a hold of the Tiger Sonic Spinball one you were looking for. It turns on just fine, however, there are some errors with the lcd display --- when certain elements are lit, it will also light other unrelated elements. So I can still playtest the game for you and capture footage, but it will have these occasional errors. Good news is at least every one of these graphical errors is consistent and therefore predictable. If this already-existing video isn't enough footage, I can playtest any additional scenarios you might need --- just let me know.

Second, I have two new-condition LCDs of SegaSonic the Hedgehog, both of which don't work, and I'm looking for advice on what to do to see if they're repairable. They're very rare, so I'd love to capture footage of them if possible. I replaced the batteries in both, but neither will turn on aside from some beeping sounds to indicate that at least something is working. I took one to a guy who knew a guy who was willing to look at the circuit board, and he said he could get it working just fine except the lcd screen wouldn't display anything. So I don't think it's screen rot since I can't get anything to light up in the first place, right? Is this a known issue with LCDs? If you have any advice, please let me know. Thanks!

Itizso245 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks for posting your playthroughs of these games. I'll let you know when I start work on each game if I require any additional info. And thanks for sourcing a scan of the instructions for 3D Blast. That's awesome!

Great news on getting hold of Sonic Spinball. Despite the display issues , it's really helpful to know you could still use it as a reference to playtest my builds of the game to ensure the gameplay is accurate. I'm not sure when I'll start working on it, but I'll let you know when I have something you could test. In the meantime, it would be really useful if you could provide some gameplay footage so I can capture the audio. The videos online do not have the best sound quality. Also, not sure how easy it would be, but if you could also try to include in the playthrough a few runs with as little actions as possible so I can create a loop of the background music without the sound effects?

It's unfortunate your SegaSonic games don't work. Regrettably I don't have experience repairing LCDs, but hopefully others in the community who do can help.

Phlimbob84242 days ago

Good to know! In that case, I just uploaded a video of Sonic Spinball gameplay, and made sure to record the music loop at least twice on its own with no other sound effects at the beginning.

As far as my current Sonic LCD collection, then, that's all the resources I have to share right now. If you ever need any specific extra footage / playtesting / sound samples for any of these in the future, just let me know.

In the meantime, thanks for all your hard work on this super cool project. Happy I've been able to contribute in my own little way so far.

Itizso242 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks so much! The sound quality is perfect. And watching your video I wonder if you wouldn't be able to get a better photo of the screen background than the one I have. If you can let me know. Thanks again for your contributions to this project. It's very much appreciated.

Phlimbob84237 days ago

These are the best pics I could get with my current setup

Itizso237 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks! These are great. I've updated the build using this one. I've left the RetroFab version as the old one for comparison. Just press TAB to switch between the two. Thanks again for your contribution.

Itizso228 days ago (2 edits)

Hey there! I've put together an initial build of Sonic R here. I need a good quality screenshot with all the lcd segments on screen at once to recreate the graphics. Do you think you could provide that? Thanks in advance.

Phlimbob84225 days ago (1 edit)

Whoah, looks great! Here is a video of me turning the LCD segments on a couple times at different angles. My Sonic R game has a decent number of scratches, so hopefully one of these comes out cleanly enough. (Maybe the page in the manual can help provide reference for areas that are obscured by scratches on mine...?) At any rate, if these aren't sufficient, let me know and I'll see if I can get anything better.

Also, for additional reference I am planning to make another video where I playtest the game and describe some of the details that might be hard to notice just by watching. I can let you know when I have that uploaded if you'd like.

Itizso225 days ago

Thanks! I'll try to work around the scratches as best as I can. Additional gameplay footage with commentary would be great! Let me know when its uploaded.

Itizso223 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks again for the Sonic R screenshots. Unfortunately I'm struggling to extract the segments. Next time you have your camera out could you maybe try taking a few more. Try to get the camera as close to the screen as possible. And I know lighting is a challenge but the best is to try to get the background as light possible. Thank you for all your efforts.

Phlimbob84222 days ago

Sure thing, I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I just uploaded some more gameplay with commentary here.

Itizso222 days ago

Thanks! This is super helpful. And I saw you got one of the SEGA Sonic handhelds working. That's awesome!

Phlimbob84221 days ago

Yeah!! I was so excited when I finally got it working! I even found a way to get a picture of all the lcd segments lit! Good pics of the packaging are here on SonicRetro, and there is no separate manual that comes with this game - the instructions are on the back of the packaging. So I guess that's everything for this game, too, whenever you have time to get around to it. I was going to wait to mention it because I didn't want to overwhelm you with requests since you're doing this all non-profit (and mostly on your own I'm guessing...?).

On that note, let me know if you ever need to get a patreon or something like that; I'd love to support you in more ways than just putting more work in your lap if possible. Thanks for all you do. I have more rare LCD games still to record that I'd love to be preserved, but I can wait if you need some time for other things first. Just let me know.

Itizso221 days ago

Thanks for providing all these great resources. I'm so excited to be able to preserve these games here on RetroFab with your help. I've still got a few games backed up in the queue to finish before I can start tackling the coding on these Sonic games so I appreciate your patience. It may be a good few weeks before I can start working on them. Although I might take some time out to take a stab at SegaSonic since it looks like the gameplay is very similar to Tiger's Snowboarding, in which case it should be relatively easy to put together :) As for additional support, if you're interested I have a new RetroFab related project in early development you might want to get involved with. If you rate RetroFab and leave your email address in the rating comments I can provide more details via email so you can decide if you want to help out.

Phlimbob84222 days ago

These are the best I could get without taking mine apart (which I would be willing to try if it comes to that).

Itizso222 days ago

You did it! These are great! Thanks so much.

Phlimbob84201 days ago (6 edits)

Heyo! Just wanted to get an update out there on the collection and what I have available, and I figure I'd just make a comprehensive list that I can periodically edit as needed (for organization's sake + it just makes me happy to see a big list like this tbh).

All Sonic LCD Games:

Sonic the Hedgehog LCD Wrist Game - Tiger (1991) - I own this one!

- Manual: Available

- Background & LCD Art: Done

- Gameplay: Done

Sonic the Hedgehog - Tiger (1992) - COMPLETE!

- It's here on RetroFab :)

SegaSonic the Hedgehog Mini LCD Game - SEGA (1991, 1992) - COMPLETE!

- It's here on RetroFab :)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Tiger (1993)

- All resources already available elsewhere online

Sonic Spinball - Tiger (1994)

- Manual: Available

- Background Art: Done

- LCD Art & Gameplay: Done

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Tiger (1994, 2020)

- Manual: Available

- Background Art: Available

- LCD Art: Available

- Gameplay: Done

Amazing Sonic - Tiger / Tomy (1994) - I own this one!

- Manual: Available

- Background & LCD Art: Done

- Gameplay: Pending

Sonic Blast - Tiger / Tomy (1994)

- Manual: Available

- Background/LCD Art: STILL NEEDED

- Gameplay: STILL NEEDED

- This is probably the rarest one out of the bunch. The only recorded evidence of anyone even owning this game that I could find online is this YouTube video by RollingWithKevin, an electronic handheld collector.

Sonic 3D Blast - Tiger (1997)

- Manual: Provided here and here courtesy of RinShiro AKA Rin-Dev

- Background Art: Done

- LCD Art: Done

- Gameplay: Done

Sonic LCD Keychain - Tiger (1998)

- Manual: Available

- Background/LCD Art: STILL NEEDED

- Gameplay: STILL NEEDED

- I currently do not own this one

Sonic R - Tiger (1998)

- Manual: Available

- Background Art: Done

- LCD Art: Done

- Gameplay: Done

Sonic Underground - Tiger (2000) - I own this one!

- Manual: Available

- Background & LCD Art: Done

- Gameplay: Pending

Sonic Adventure - Tiger (2000)

- Manual: STILL NEEDED

- Sr101 owns this one and has offered to contribute toward its inclusion in RetroFab.

McDonalds LCD Games (2003 - 2005)

- All resources already available elsewhere online

And that is every single existing Sonic LCD game. It's really cool to see that all of them, with the exception of only two (Sonic Blast, Sonic Keychain) are accounted for in one way or another and could be available at some point in the future if everything goes according to plan.

If I have any major updates on any of this info, I will make a brief new post in this thread so that Itizso can be notified, but otherwise I'll just edit this post as needed.

I've also gotten a hold of a couple other LCD games that aren't Sonic related --- some of which are pretty rare in their own right :) But I'll make a new thread for those when the time is right, I'm thinking.

Itizso197 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks for the Big Beautiful List ;) Great idea! And nice to see you've got the wrist watch game. For your next edit, I can confirm I have the LCD artwork for Sonic 3. I'm still working on recreating the artwork for Sonic R from your last scan. And I do not have the artwork for Sonic 3D Blast -- the one in the manual is low quality.

Phlimbob84155 days ago

Just a small update: Got the rest of the Background/LCD pics that I was missing for ones I owned (Sonic Wrist Game, Sonic 3D Blast, Amazing Sonic, Sonic Underground). Still need to record footage for those last two. Also, could potentially have found someone who can get me a scanned copy of the Sonic Adventure manual, so that's exciting! Anywho, that's all from me for now.

Continue to enjoy your break, Itizso!

100207b@10027b.com195 days ago (3 edits)

you do realize that in most of these manuals there is a part of the acl button which shows the lcd art

Phlimbob84194 days ago

Yep! But sometimes, something cleaner or higher resolution is necessary for an accurate re-creation, I believe. It's pretty easy to do when I own the game, too, so I just plan to take pics of the LCD art just in case they end up being useful.

ELECTRONIKA193 days ago

I have the LCD art of Sonic the Hedgehog 3!

Deleted post187 days ago

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Phlimbob84187 days ago

I appreciate the support and the eagerness to contribute! However, for everything that says "Pending" in my list, I am already working on getting good quality pictures/videos myself because I know I am able to. For the wrist game in particular, I'm planning to take the battery out to get a good picture of the artwork, since there's no way to shut it off on its own. I'm worried that a simple screenshot from one of my videos wouldn't be a clear enough picture for use in a virtual simulation, so I try to get pics separate from the videos.

That said, there are still quite a few things I'm not able to provide, like the Sonic Adventure Tiger Manual, or literally anything on Sonic Blast that isn't the manual lol.

I'll update my list and add the word "STILL NEEDED" to anything that I can't already provide myself. If you ever find a resource for something "STILL NEEDED," let me know! Thanks! :)

GarrettGilchrist148 days ago

There is a good simulator of the Sonic McDonald's games by Difegue, called LCDonald's or Sonic McOrigins Plus.

The graphics have been used for RetroFab versions.
https://difegue.itch.io/sonic-mcorigins-plus