Wood Zone

From Sonic Retro

Wood Zone as seen in the Sonic 2 Simon Wai Prototype.

Wood Zone is a wood-themed level created by Brenda Ross that is present in the Sonic 2 (Simon Wai prototype). It hosts flora and fauna in its backdrop, and an elaborate maze of trees in the foreground. The level is very unfinished: in the Simon Wai prototype, the first act ends rather quickly, and the second act is simply an empty level slot with a palette. It shares music with Metropolis Zone.

The level seems to have been worked on after the Simon Wai prototype, as new background scrolling data is present in revision 00 of the game (a much later build). Through hacking, Wood Zone can be accessed in Zone slot 02 of the final Sonic 2. Unlike Hidden Palace Zone, very few parts of Wood Zone remain in the final game: only the palette and music data are present.

Wood Zone was subject to much speculation for many years. It became a fan favorite, perhaps as well known as the Hidden Palace Zone, and has been featured in several hacks. Two notable hacks, Sonic 2 Delta and Sonic 2 Long Version, each contain fan created versions of what their creators thought the zone might have looked like had it been completed.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

Sonic 2