Just jumping off this thread, I was wondering if the version on the Gamecube sonic collection is an emulated rom or if it was reprogrammed/ported to the gamecube?
If its a model 2 rom, then it would be a new revision since it has subtle differences to the original. There could also be implications for running other model 2 games on the gamecube via the emulator.
I've been wondering that myself. I somewhat doubt it, Model 2 emulation is only somewhat consistent now, and there's still definite issues. Top Skater has some glitches that have reared its ugly head a few times in ElSemi's emulator, try to imagine a <500MHz PowerPC chip running Model 2 games... The way the game behaves, as well as what appears to be graphical differences (maybe intentionally desaturating the image or a result of a different renderer) leads me to believe the Gems Collection version might be a port. There's also the 360/PS3 re-release, but that HAS to be emulated. Though, Honey The Cat being playable there makes the question more prevalent then.
This is pretty cool. Would it be possible for this to eventually be used to port the game to other systems?
Unlikely, as there are many processor specific calls in the code, but I wouldn't put it past someone who really set their mind to it.
Disassembly, not a decompilation. This will produce the machine code that a Model 2 board can read, but our biggestsonicfan here would have to pull a plumber-sized Mips out of his cap to then produce source code that could be worked around.
Eventually is the key word. Not now, but not never.