R2

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

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Dubious Depths

It has been proposed that R2 be renamed and moved to Dubious Depths. Reason for proposal: This appears to be the intended name for the zone according to the citations.

Dubious Depths
Scrapped round, Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Number of Acts: 3 (planned)
Location: Little Planet
Level theme: underground/cave
Boss: R2 Boss

Dubious Depths, also known as Ridicule Root, is a scrapped Round intended for the Mega-CD version of Sonic the Hedgehog CD. Commonly referred to as R2 (Round 2) due to the internal structure of the game, it was removed at an early stage of development.

Overview

An animated sequence of Sonic running through the removed stage.

Very little is known about Dubious Depths. Designed to take place between Palmtree Panic and Collision Chaos, the Round was intended to at least be partially underground, similar to Marble Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Stone floors, vegetation, and metallic structures would be seen, along with rainbow waterfalls flowing over the architecture.Media:SCDconcept-R2RainbowWaterfalls.jpg The layout of the Round was to focus more on technical platforming than pure speed. Concept art suggests spikes would have been a major obstacle in the Round, along with large fans that would have possibly lifted Sonic into the air.Media:SonicCD MCD Development LittlePlanet.png

An animated sequence of the Round would appear in Sonic Jam, featuring an encounter with an antlion inspired badnik. It would not be added to the credits of Sonic the Hedgehog CD until the 2011 remake.

The "Present" version of the music for this level can still be found in-game. Named "Little Planet," it is the default song that plays in D.A. Garden.

Enemies

Three enemies are known to have been designed for Dubious Depths:

	A badnik with some similarities to the Burrobot.
	An antlion inspired badnik.
	A worm-like badnik.

History

The Time Attack screen from the v0.02 prototype, with eight rounds listed.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD was first playable in demo form to the public during the Yuusei Sega World event on December 6, 1992. While an early version of Palmtree Panic, then called "Salad Plain," was the only playable stage at the event, the Time Attack screen revealed that eight Rounds were planned for the final version. Between this v0.02 prototype and the "510" prototype, work on "R2" ceased. Production on the level halted early enough that not all the graphical work for the stage was completed.

Speculation on a potentially missing stage began soon after the game's commercial release. When accessing the game's secret level select code, each stage was listed not by name, but by number and letter; 1-1-A would take the player to Palmtree Panic Zone 1 Present, 1-1-B to Palmtree Panic Zone 1 Past, and so on. Missing was any level starting with 2, 3-1-A instead pointing to the second Round in the game, Collision Chaos. This numbering matched the file structure on the 1996 Windows PC port of the game, each Round given a unique folder: "R1" holding the data for Palmtree Panic, "R3" for Collision Chaos, and so on. Missing from this structure was "R2."

The Little Planet as seen in the design document for Sonic the Hedgehog CD, including an area called "2R".

This speculation furthered with the release of Sonic Jam, which contained the animation sequences from Sonic CD. During the ending credits animation vignettes, a previously unseen sequence took place between that of Palmtree Panic and Collision Chaos. In it, Sonic runs through what looks to be a ruined area, with bluish-gray metallic structures along with areas of overgrown vegetation. Jumping off collapsing stone tiles revealing quicksand, the sequence ends with Sonic being attacked by an antlion badnik. This sequence did not seem to match any of the levels in the final version of the game. It would later be confirmed by Landscape Designer Masato Nishimura this sequence was meant to represent "R2."

Confirmation of the level's existence came with the "Sonic CD Developer Diary," meant to advertise the 2011 remake of the game. In the video, Kazuyuki Hoshino goes through his sketchbooks from his time working on Sonic CD. Among the sketches is a drawing of cascading rainbow waterfalls flowing over various structures. It was soon confirmed by the developer of the 2011 remake, Christian Whitehead, that the sketch was from R2. He also confirmed a number of other sketches were connected to the stage, including a boss concept. Enemy and boss sprites would later be released by Whitehead in 2013.

Pages from the design document of Sonic the Hedgehog CD were included with the release of Sonic Origins, including a map of Little Planet showing "2R" between areas resembling Palmtree Panic and Collision Chaos.Media:SonicCD MCD Development LittlePlanet.png Naoto Ohshima would reveal R2's intended name - Dubious Depths - in 2023, with Masato Nishimura providing an alternate, earlier name for the level on social media.

Several explanations have been given for the Round's removal. Jim Tretheway, a member of the team that ported Sonic CD to Windows 95, claimed in a 2000 interview that Junetsu Kakuta implied the level was removed during production for not meeting quality standards. In 2011, Masato Nishimura claimed the level's removal was due to space and schedule restrictions,, clarifying in 2022 that space considerations were for the music data. Naoto Ohshima has since suggested the removal may have been down to the level's layout being incompatible with Sonic's speed, describing it as a "dungeon."

Currently, no publicly available prerelease has a playable version of Dubious Depths.

Gallery

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  Wheel boss concept.

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  More concept art of the wheel boss, next to an early concept for the EGG-HVC-001.

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  Enemy concept art, featuring the antlion badnik.

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  Sketches of the worm-like badnik.

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  Sketches of the Burrobot-esque badnik.

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  A collection of all known enemy sprites intended for Dubious Depths, along with the boss.