Match beta

SRB2: 10th Anniversary Test (commonly known as the 1.1 Match beta, or simply Match beta) is an outdated version of SRB2. It was released to the #srb2fun IRC channel on February 21st, 2008, for the purpose of testing the new Match and CTF weapon system that would eventually be released to the public in v2.0. This release also commemorated SRB2's upcoming 10th anniversary, as development had begun in March of 1998. Because a public release would have required the developers to release the source code, which would have spoiled a lot of new features, the release was restricted to #srb2fun, and SRB2 Message Board members who tried to leak it were temporarily banned. The ability to add WAD files was disabled in this release.

At the time of the Match beta's release, what would eventually become v2.0 was still referred to as "Version 1.1" – the beta had a version number of v1.10; the last revision that was given out was v1.10.4.

Multiplayer

The Match beta contained two CTF and three Match stages, all of which stemmed from previous versions of SRB2 and had been redesigned with the new weapon system in mind. Of these, only Dual Fortress Zone would not be included in v2.0. All other stages except Jade Valley Zone would later receive a visual overhaul for v2.0. The weapon system was mostly identical to v2.0 aside from minor differences such as ammunition amounts. The Scatter Ring still displayed regular red ring sprites when shot, although the purple cross sprites were already used for the weapon panel and the ammunition pickups. The Infinity Ring was still included in the game at that point. It was the only time-based power-up and it gave the player 15 seconds of infinite firepower upon being collected, during which time no rings or ammunition would be subtracted for shots. It was removed for v2.0 but later re-added in v2.1 as an ammunition-based power-up.

Match emeralds and the associated super forms were already implemented and worked the same as they would eventually in v2.0. The character attributes were already changed; Tails and Knuckles had a faster top speed and Knuckles had a lower jump height. However, Knuckles did not yet have his new sprite set and did not yet fire rings twice as fast. The new system for weighted random monitors was not yet added; instead, the unweighted Random Monitor was still used. Team rings and monitors for CTF were also not yet implemented.

Single Player

Although the purpose of the beta was to test the changes made to multiplayer, it nevertheless included a functional Single Player campaign. The old Castle Eggman Zone had already been removed, but no new levels had been added, restricting the Single Player campaign to six levels. Some of the changes that would be made to these levels for v2.0 were already present, while others were not. Greenflower Zone already had translucent water, but the minor layout changes in act 1 were not yet made. Techno Hill Zone Act 2 had not yet received the changes to the beginning of the level. The new sprites for the Crawlas, the Crawla Commander and both bosses were included, while the Egg Mobile already showcased its new behavior.

The new save menu was already implemented. Difficulty modes had not yet been removed. The unlockable levels were still the same as in v1.09.4, but Red Volcano Zone and SA Example Zone (along with Adventure mode) had been removed, although the latter was still listed in the secrets menu. Although there were still nominally 20 emblems, the removal of Castle Eggman Zone lowered that number to de facto 14 emblems, making it impossible to unlock certain secrets.

Other changes

• The new shield system was already implemented.
• The messages that are displayed when quitting the game were replaced with various community-related jokes.
• The Final Demo ending screen was still there but included an easter egg. Sonic's usual line "Did you get all those Chaos Emeralds?" was cut short and followed by an angry "Shut the hell up! Just shut up!".
• If the player's name was changed to "Spazzo", the name of one of the developers at the time, the music would be switched to a remaster of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up (infamously known as part of the "Rickrolling" Internet meme). However, even if the player's name was changed again to something different, the music would persist even after loading up SRB2 again – the only way to revert to the normal music again was to delete the gamedata.dat file.

Levels

Single Player levels

• MAP01: Greenflower Zone Act 1
• MAP02: Greenflower Zone Act 2
• MAP03: Greenflower Zone Act 3
• MAP04: Techno Hill Zone Act 1
• MAP05: Techno Hill Zone Act 2
• MAP06: Techno Hill Zone Act 3

Secret levels

• MAP29: Spring Hill Zone
• MAP30: Mario Koopa Blast Zone Act 1
• MAP31: Mario Koopa Blast Zone Act 2
• MAP32: Mario Koopa Blast Zone Act 3
• MAP40: Christmas Hunt Zone

Special Stages

• MAP50–MAP56: v1.09.4 Special Stages

Capture the Flag stages

• MAP80: Dual Fortress Zone
• MAP81: Lime Forest Zone

Match stages

• MAP90: Thunder Citadel Zone
• MAP91: Desolate Twilight Zone
• MAP92: Jade Valley Zone

External links

• Archived Versions – srb2.org – Information and download