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Difference between revisions of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)/Development"

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''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' has gone through several changes over its development process. There are several rejected ideas, levels, and other things that were left on the cutting room floor. The following details several of these things.
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''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' went through many ideas and changes during the development process. What follows is a collection of items related to the game's development.
  
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==Prototype Versions==
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==Development Process==
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Several prototypes have been found over the years. The first prototype discovered, the [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Simon Wai prototype)|Simon Wai prototype]], found by [[Simon Wai]], is famous for its deleted levels. This particular prototype was stolen during a toy show in New York in 1992 according to [[Yuji Naka]]. [http://uk.xbox.gamespy.com/articles/654/654750p4.html]
 
  
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Another much [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Nick Arcade Prototype|earlier beta]] was found by [[drx]] and looks similar to the one featured on the TV show ''[[Nick Arcade]]''. This was followed later by drx's discovery and release of five more betas, named [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Beta 4|Beta 4]], [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Beta 5|Beta 5]], [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Beta 6|Beta 6]], [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Beta 7|Beta 7]], and [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Beta 8|Beta 8]]. These seem to be very similar to the final version.
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[[File:S2 Commercial Behind The Scenes.png|right|thumb|190px|Behind the scenes of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' Japanese commercial.]]
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After the tremendous success of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', it was only natural to expect a sequel to the game. Though many would have expected the same original team to spearhead the second entry in the series, right off the bat problems arose that would turn the production of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' into the words legends are made of. [[Yuji Naka]], the man responsible for the engine of the first game, had run into issues with the management of Sega of Japan, the exact disagreements between him and the company unknown. Growing weary of the politics, Naka quit Sega, intending to look for work elsewhere. Back in the United States, [[Mark Cerny]], the man who had come up with the gaming classic ''Marble Madness'', had been hired by Sega to create a new gaming studio for the company, the [[Sega Technical Institute]]. The general idea behind the studio was to hire talented individuals who were only getting their start in the industry and teach them the ways of the gaming world, not only with the talent already established in the U.S. but by talent from Japan, as well. Placing advertisements in the local papers, the resumes began pouring in, with such people as [[Tom Payne]], [[Brenda Ross]], and future-creator of ''Spyro the Dragon'' [[Craig Stitt]] becoming employees of this new experiment in game development.
  
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==Time Travel==
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During the production of the original ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', Mark Cerny had already secured [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]], the director of that project, to come out to the United States and work for STI once his job back at Sega of Japan was done. However, when Cerny learned of Yuji Naka's departure from the company, he immediately called up his long-time friend, attempting to persuade him to come out to America as well and become a part of his venture. With the promise of a better salary, more executive power, and the potential for a Ferrari, Naka took Mark up on the offer, hiring back into the Sega fold.[http://info.sonicretro.org/Tim_Skelly_interview_by_ICEknight_(August_2004)]
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The concept of Time Travel in ''Sonic 2'' was referred to in early [[:Image:Sket_banper.png|concept art]], as well as several gaming magazines including a [[Game_Preview_-_Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_%28Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_%2C_August_1992%29|August 1992 EGM article]]. Only past and present timezones are referred to in the concept art, so it may not have had as many alternate time zones as ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD]]''. It isn't known at what point the time travel concept was dropped, but the 1992 EGM article refers to the game as being 40% complete whilst mentioning time travel being associated with the game. The concept art refers to the scrapped level [[Rock Zone]] as being the past version of the scrapped [[Dust Hill Zone|Desert Zone]].
 
  
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Though the American staff of STI cut their teeth on the game ''[[sega:Kid Chameleon|Kid Chameleon]]'', with the arrival of Naka, Yasuhara, and a handful of other Japanese staff members, Sega gave the team their first big assignment - the sequel to ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. With two of the three main people behind the success of the first game (the third, [[Naoto Ohshima]], choosing to stay behind and eventually direct ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD]]'') it only made sense to devote the entire studio to Sega's biggest game yet.
  
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'''Allusions to Time Travel in the Simon Wai prototype'''<br>
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Filled to brim with ideas, one of the first elements the team decided on was that they wanted a new main character to be introduced in the game, someone who could be developed for a potential two player mode found within. An internal competition was held, and though many entries were submitted (including one from artist Craig Stitt for a flying turtle named "Boomer'") it was [[Yasushi Yamaguchi]] who won with his two-tailed fox character, [[Miles "Tails" Prower]]. Originally wanting the character to be named "Miles Prower," the rest of the team felt his name should simply be "Tails," to match the simplistic nature of Sonic's name. Unhappy with this idea, Yamaguchi (who became the lead zone artist in the game) decided to sneak the name "Miles Prower" into various concept art and in the game, making both names legitimate in the end.
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Although time travel is not present whatsoever in the final game there are possible leftovers in the [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Simon Wai prototype)|Simon Wai prototype]] that indicate it was present in the game at one point.
 
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*[[Aquatic Ruin Zone]]'s name is listed as Neo Green Hill Zone, possibly indicating it as a future version of [[Emerald Hill Zone]] (which was listed as Green Hill in this prototype).
 
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*Some prototype zones share soundtracks, [[Wood Zone]] shares the same music as [[Metropolis Zone]] and [[Genocide City Zone]] shares music with [[Chemical Plant Zone]].
 
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*The level design for Wood Zone and Metropolis Zone are similar.
 
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*An unused futuristic looking Star post can be found using debug.
 
  
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==Deleted Levels==
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Being nothing less than ambitious, the original plan was to make a sprawling, 18-zone epic, revisiting the unique level tropes [[Sonic Team]] had created for the first game, putting their own spin on traditional platformer levels like desert and snow worlds, and even come up with some ideas that would be totally new. [[Emerald Hill]], [[Hill Top]], [[Oil Ocean]], [[Hidden Palace]], [[Dust Hill]] and the never-titled [[Winter Zone]] were some of the first levels to be worked on, the concept of time travel also being talked about in early production meetings. However, it became obvious early on that if they were to have the game ready for the Christmas season of 1992, that they could not get everything done. The time travel concept was dropped almost immediately, and Dust Hill and its winter counterpart were some of the first zones to be put on the chopping block, much to the chagrin of Brenda Ross, the artist responsible for their look.[http://info.sonicretro.org/Brenda_Ross_interview_by_Deviance_(February_2001)]
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[[Image:Hiddenpalaces2.png|right|thumb|160px|Hidden Palace Zone]]
 
  
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''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' was originally envisioned to have many more levels than those included in the final version. Three levels, [[Wood Zone]], [[Hidden Palace Zone]], and [[Genocide City Zone]], were found in the the "Simon Wai prototype" in unfinished form. There was also [[Dust Hill Zone]] which had a single mockup image printed in several gaming magazines but was dropped very early in the games development. Lastly, two other levels, [[Winter level]] and [[Rock Zone]], were also dropped early in development and the only references to their existence come from concept art and interviews by [[Sonic Team]] staff members. More info on these Zones can be found in their respective articles.
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Though the two sides of STI tried to work together, the language barrier proved to be too much at times. Most of the meetings for the direction of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' were done in Japanese (Mark Cerny being fluent in the language), leaving the American side in the dust. Trying to mesh the two cultures and work ethics became a challenge in itself, with some members unable to get along with Yuji Naka's intense personality. Tom Payne, who himself never had any issues with the Japanese half of the team, recalled in an interview later the stark differences between the American mindset of a nine-to-five job and the Japanese mindset of working almost all hours of the night, with members like Yamaguchi and Yasuhara being extremely passionate with the quality of the whole:
  
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==Scrapped Badniks==
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{{quote|1=Well for me-- this was my first job so I only had Sonic 1 to go by & tried to make it match that style I'd say the it was Yamaguchi who laid out the look. He would stay all night & fix everything that we did wrong. Quite an amazing fellow.|2=Tom Payne, Zone Artist for ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2''[http://info.sonicretro.org/Tom_Payne_interview_by_SageXPO_(July_30,_2009)]}}
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There are several [[Badniks]] which can be found in concept art which cannot be found in the final game. This includes: [[Banper]], [[Bee]], [[Bubbler]], [[Bubbler's Mother]] and [[Frog]]. There are also badniks whose object code has actually been found in prototypes, this includes: [[BBat]], [[BFish]], [[Gator]], [[Redz]], [[Snail]] and [[Stego]].
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 +
Even if tensions could rise as the leaders of the project demanded perfection, work on ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' continued unfettered. With each passing day, the hype behind the project grew more and more, immense pressure being put on the collective team. Not content with just the random screenshot from time to time, Sega wanted to advertise the game in as many ways possible. Getting in contact with the children's network Nickelodeon, a special cartridge was put together to be played on the gameshow [[Nick Arcade]], featuring an early version of Emerald Hill. This prototype, later referred to as the "[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Nick Arcade prototype)|Nick Arcade prototype]]," was eventually leaked onto the Internet in 2006. Sometime after the airing of the show, another early build was put together to help drum up interest, being a playable build to the public at a New York toy show. However, security at the show was not up to snuff, and at the end the [[Yuji Naka interview by GameSpy (September 2005)|cartridge was stolen]]. Later to be known as the [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Simon Wai prototype)|"Simon Wai" prototype]] (named after the man who discovered the ROM image on the Internet back in 1999) it was this build that was the source of many prerelease information related to the game.
 +
 
 +
[[Image:Hiddenpalaces2.png|right|thumb|190px|The much-discussed Hidden Palace Zone.]]
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Even knowing early on they would not have enough time to work on everything they had set out to in the beginning, as the release date drew nearer it became more than obvious that the team would have barely enough time to finish the eleven zones that ended up in the final game. [[Genocide City Zone|Cyber City Zone]], a one-act level that was meant to follow [[Metropolis Zone]] (and was briefly called "Genocide City" but changed once the Japanese staff fully realized what the word meant) was scrapped, most of it converted into the third act of Metropolis Zone instead. The very last level to be removed was one of the first that had been worked on, the Hidden Palace Zone. Conceived as an area Sonic would warp to after collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, deadlines forced the team to drop it, instead awarding the power of Super Sonic immediately after the seventh special stage was completed.
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{{quote|1=My only complaint was that if art had to get cut out it always seemed to be the American's on the team who's art got cut. Sometimes this was because the art wasn't working, but on other occasions, I don't believe this was the case. (such as with Hidden Palace, although I never was happy with the far background).|2=Craig Stitt, Zone Artist for ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2''[http://info.sonicretro.org/Craig_Stitt_interview_by_ICEknight_(January_2001)]}}
 +
 
 +
The game was released simultaneously in the United States and Europe on "Sonic 2sday," a marketing campaign promoting the concept of "blast processing" was pursued, while back in Japan the campaign focused on the introduction of "Tails." The entire team, both American and Japanese, celebrated together on November 23rd, 1992, proud of the game that, against the odds, would not only be the biggest selling Sonic game on the Mega Drive, but the best selling game of the 16-bit era.
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Also of note is the fact the game contained references to some of the biggest pop culture phenomenons on both sides of the Pacific. The Death Egg, Eggman's ultimate weapon in the game, was modeled after the Death Star, the superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' trilogy. Meanwhile, the seven Chaos Emeralds and the introduction of Super Sonic were homages to the well-known Chinese fable ''The Golden Warrior'' and its then-current interpretation being published in Japan, ''Dragon Ball.''
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The theme in the game that plays during the final cutscene, written by [[Masato Nakamura]], was later turned into a song for his band, [[DREAMS COME TRUE]]. Called [[SWEET SWEET SWEET]], the duet is sung with a real-life band backing the track.
  
 
==Concept Art==
 
==Concept Art==
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The following is concept art for the game which doesn't fit in any of the preceding sections.
 
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===Documents===
 
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<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
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File:S2spritesystem.jpg|Explanation of the sprite system.
 
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File:S2TASKLIST.jpg|Task list which give a timeline of Sonic 2 development.
 
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File:S2paldata.jpg|File dealing with the pallete data of the game.
 
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File:S2lavabubds.JPG|Information about a lava bubling animation.
 
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</gallery>
 
  
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===Other===
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===Enemy Concept Art===
 
<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
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File:S2sludgehog.jpg|A joke image of Sonic brandishing a gun. The idea of a hedgehog brandishing a gun was eventually realized in ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]''.
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File:Sket banper.png|Concept art of [[Banper]].
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</gallery>
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File:Sket fishfrog.png|Concept art of the [[Frog]].
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File:Sket bubbler.png|Concept art of [[Bubbler]] and [[Bubbler's Mother]].
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===Badniks===
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File:Sket bee.png|Concept art of [[Bee]].
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<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
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File:Sket snail.png|Concept art of a snail-like enemy.
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File:S2crawlconcept.JPG|Concept art of the Crawl badnik.
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File:S2crawlconcept.JPG|Concept art of [[Crawl]].
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File:S2crawlconcept2.JPG|More Crawl badnik concept art.
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File:S2crawlconcept2.JPG|More Crawl concept art.
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File:S2fishconcept.JPG|Early concept art for the Masher badnik.
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File:S2fishconcept.JPG|Early concept art for [[Masher]].
 
File:S2fishconcept2.JPG|Paper devoted to the Masher badnik.
 
File:S2fishconcept2.JPG|Paper devoted to the Masher badnik.
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File:S2badnikconcepts.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts.jpg|Features the [[Frog]].
 
File:S2badnikconcepts2.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts2.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts3.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts3.jpg|Concept art of [[Bubbler's Mother]].
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File:S2badnikconcepts4.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts4.jpg|More concept art of the snail-like enemy.
 
File:S2badnikconcepts5.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts5.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts6.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts6.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts8.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts8.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts9.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts9.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts10.jpg
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File:S2badnikconcepts10.jpg|Possible enemy ideas for Dust Hill.
 
File:S2badnikconcepts11.jpg
 
File:S2badnikconcepts11.jpg
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File:S2enemyconcepts12.JPG
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File:S2enemyconcepts12.JPG|More of the Frog badnik.
 
File:S2enemyconcepts13.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts13.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts14.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts14.JPG
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File:S2enemyconcepts15.JPG
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File:S2enemyconcepts15.JPG|More of the snail-like enemy.
 
File:S2enemyconcepts16.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts16.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts17.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts17.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts18.JPG
 
File:S2enemyconcepts18.JPG
 +
File:Snailconcept.JPG|Concept art for [[Snail]].
 +
File:Snailconcept2.JPG|Descriptions of the Snail enemy.
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File:Tricerabotconcept.JPG|Concept art of [[Stego]].
 +
File:Tricerabotconcept2.JPG|Further art of Stego.
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File:Waspconcept.JPG|Concept art of [[Bee]].
 +
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
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===Levels===
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===Level Concept Art===
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====Miscellany====
 
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<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
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Image:S2concept-1.png|Sonic and Tails near a large ramp. Might have been concept art for the ramps found in [[Emerald Hill Zone]].
 
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</gallery>
 
  
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====Chemical Plant Zone====
 
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<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
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Image:S2concept-2.png|The familiar "moving blocks" area from [[Chemical Plant Zone]].
 
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</gallery>
 
 
====Metropolis Zone====
 
====Metropolis Zone====
 +
 
<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
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Image:Metropolis concept.jpg|An early piece of concept art for [[Metropolis Zone]]. Looks like diagonal conveyor belts were originally planned.
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Image:Metropolis concept.jpg|An early piece of concept art for [[Metropolis Zone]].
 
File:S2metropolisconcepts.jpg|Early concept art.
 
File:S2metropolisconcepts.jpg|Early concept art.
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File:S2metropolisconcepts2.jpg|Early concept art. Text humorously refer to the level as Sonic sweat shop.
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File:S2metropolisconcepts2.jpg|Early concept art. Text humorously refer to the level as "Sonic sweat shop."
 
File:S2metrpolisconcepts3.jpg|Early concept art. Windows can be seen.
 
File:S2metrpolisconcepts3.jpg|Early concept art. Windows can be seen.
 
File:S2metropolisfgconcept.jpg|Early concept art of the foreground.
 
File:S2metropolisfgconcept.jpg|Early concept art of the foreground.
 
File:S2metropolisbgconcept.jpg|Early concept art of the background. Furnaces can be seen.
 
File:S2metropolisbgconcept.jpg|Early concept art of the background. Furnaces can be seen.
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File:Rhombusds.JPG|The famous diagonal elevators.
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File:Rhombusds.JPG|The unused diagonal elevators.
 
File:Metropolis1a.jpg|Early Act 1 map. Has diagonally slanted rotating steel drums. Very different from final. Only two things seem very similar to final; the general positioning of the starting area, and the short downward ramp leading to a flat area with the end sign.
 
File:Metropolis1a.jpg|Early Act 1 map. Has diagonally slanted rotating steel drums. Very different from final. Only two things seem very similar to final; the general positioning of the starting area, and the short downward ramp leading to a flat area with the end sign.
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File:Metropolis2a.jpg|Early Act 2 map. Has giant crusher. Very different from final. Aside from the immediate starting area and an area with a half-loop leading to a ramp in the top-left, almost nothing recognisable remains.
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File:Metropolis2a.jpg|Early Act 2 map. Has giant crusher. Very different from final. Aside from the immediate starting area and an area with a half-loop leading to a ramp in the top-left, almost nothing recognizable remains.
 
File:Metropolismapx.jpg|Another Act 2 map.
 
File:Metropolismapx.jpg|Another Act 2 map.
 
File:Metropolis3a.jpg|Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator.
 
File:Metropolis3a.jpg|Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator.
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File:Metropolis3b.jpg|Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator, horizontal moving spikey thing that was scrapped from Marble Zone.
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File:Metropolis3b.jpg|Early Act 3 map. Features a horizontal spike obstacle, similar to the ones removed from [[Marble Zone]] of the first game.
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File:Metropolis3c.jpg|Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator, horizontal moving spikey thing that was scrapped from Marble Zone.
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File:Metropolis3c.jpg|Early Act 3 map.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
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====Sky Chase Zone====
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====Assorted Levels====
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<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 +
Image:S2concept-1.png|Sonic and Tails near a large ramp. Most likely the [[Emerald Hill Zone]].
 +
Image:S2concept-2.png|The familiar "moving blocks" area from [[Chemical Plant Zone]].
 
Image:S2concept-3.png|Various ideas for [[Sky Chase Zone]] and possibly [[Hill Top Zone]].
 
Image:S2concept-3.png|Various ideas for [[Sky Chase Zone]] and possibly [[Hill Top Zone]].
 +
File:Cybercity concept.jpg|Concept art for the scrapped [[Genocide City Zone|Cyber City Zone]].
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
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</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
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==Early Game Design==
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===Miscellanious Documents===
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These scans come from various magazines. Many things found in these images can be found in the multiple ''Sonic 2'' prototypes that have been discovered. For in depth comparisons of which prototypes contain what is seen in the scans see [[S2Beta:Magazine Preview Scans|Magazine Preview Scans]].
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===Various===
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<gallery widths="148px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 +
File:S2spritesystem.jpg|Explanation of the sprite system.
 +
File:S2TASKLIST.jpg|Task list from which Tom Payne worked with.
 +
File:S2paldata.jpg|File dealing with the palette data of the game.
 +
File:S2lavabubds.JPG|Information about a lava bubbling animation.
 +
File:S2sludgehog.jpg|A joke image of Sonic brandishing a gun, knowingly foreshadowing the game ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]''.
 +
</gallery>
 +
 
 +
==Promotional Screenshots==
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 +
===Title Screen===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
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Image:mag_compare8a.png|One of the last minute changes to Sonic 2 was its title screen. The old one even made it to the game's manual.
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Image:mag_compare8a.png|The original title screen to ''Sonic 2'', as pictured in the U.S. manual.
 
Image:mag gamepro 2.jpg|Same Title screen in color. This one is a bit older as it lacks the menu options.
 
Image:mag gamepro 2.jpg|Same Title screen in color. This one is a bit older as it lacks the menu options.
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Image:mag_compare10a.jpg|With the old title screen came an old level select, similar to [[Sonic 1]]'s. As you can see, a few cut zones are selectable here.
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Image:mag_compare10a.jpg|An early level select, similar to [[Sonic 1]]'s. Features names of zones ultimately cut from the final product.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
 
===Emerald Hill Zone===
 
===Emerald Hill Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
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Image:mag_compare4a.jpg|An early mockup of the zone with an off-center Sonic. Note the [[Green Hill Zone]] clouds in the background, and the Sonic 1 HUD.
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Image:mag_compare4a.jpg|An early mockup of the zone with an off-center Sonic. Note the [[Green Hill Zone]] clouds in the background and the Sonic 1 HUD.
 
Image:EHZ mockup hires.jpg|Better quality version of the mockup, albeit with the top and bottom missing.
 
Image:EHZ mockup hires.jpg|Better quality version of the mockup, albeit with the top and bottom missing.
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Image:mag_compare14a.jpg|Tails' life counter says "Sonic".
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Image:mag_compare14a.jpg|"Tails" life counter says "Sonic".
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Image:mag_compare21a.jpg|Tails lives counter says Sonic still.
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Image:mag_compare21a.jpg|
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Image:mag_compare25a.png|Another thing about these shots are the fact they contain a score counter - this was removed in the final version of the 2-player mode.
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Image:mag_compare25a.png|A score counter is visible, removed from the final 2-player mode.
 
Image:mag_compare15a.jpg|Eggman appears to be flying straight down as opposed to diagonally. This seems to have been from a later prototype as we see Tails flying in from the top, which was not implemented in the Simon Wai prototype.
 
Image:mag_compare15a.jpg|Eggman appears to be flying straight down as opposed to diagonally. This seems to have been from a later prototype as we see Tails flying in from the top, which was not implemented in the Simon Wai prototype.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
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===Aquatic Ruin Zone===
 
===Aquatic Ruin Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
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Image:ARZ ramp.png|Another common feature of old screenshots are Sonic's prototype walking animation.
+
Image:ARZ ramp.png|Featuring the early walking animation.
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Image:ARZ ramp2.png|Walking animation again.
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Image:ARZ ramp2.png
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Image:mag_compare12a.jpg|Looks like the title card was broken at some point as it's using graphics from the underwater bubbles. It also reads "Neo Green Hill Zone".
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Image:mag_compare12a.jpg|A broken title card, loading bubble graphics in place of letters. Uses the early level name "Neo Green Hill Zone".
 
Image:ARZ underwater.jpg|Here Sonic's animations seem to be final.
 
Image:ARZ underwater.jpg|Here Sonic's animations seem to be final.
 
Image:ARZ floating log.jpg|Log floating on water.
 
Image:ARZ floating log.jpg|Log floating on water.
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===Casino Night Zone===
 
===Casino Night Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:mag_compare6a.jpg|As seen in the Simon Wai beta, Casino Night Zone was once very different and empty. The dust in this shot however means this is from a later prototype.
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Image:mag_compare6a.jpg|A [[Casino Night Zone|Casino Night]] with a vastly different color and art style, similar to the one featured in the "Simon Wai prototype."
−
Image:CNZ pink.jpg|This design also seems to be more complete than in the Simon Wai prototype.
+
Image:CNZ pink.jpg|This design also seems to be more complete than in the prototype.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
 
===Hill Top Zone===
 
===Hill Top Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:mag_compare9a.gif|Green balls on see-saws instead of enemies. This is consistent with the [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Nick Arcade Prototype|"Nick Arcade" prototype]].
+
Image:mag_compare9a.gif|Generic green balls instead of enemies. This is consistent with the [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Nick Arcade Prototype|"Nick Arcade" prototype]].
 
Image:HTZ ride.jpg|
 
Image:HTZ ride.jpg|
 
Image:HTZ magma.jpg|
 
Image:HTZ magma.jpg|
Line 152: Line 163:
 
===Mystic Cave Zone===
 
===Mystic Cave Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:mag gamepro 3.jpg|Mystic Cave was often mistakenly referred to as "Dust Hill Zone", due to some unfinished level select titles.
+
Image:mag gamepro 3.jpg|[[Mystic Cave Zone]] mistakenly referred to as "Dust Hill Zone," due to early level select titles.
 
Image:MCZ enemy.jpg|
 
Image:MCZ enemy.jpg|
 
Image:MCZ plank.jpg|
 
Image:MCZ plank.jpg|
Line 161: Line 172:
 
===Oil Ocean Zone===
 
===Oil Ocean Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:OOZ sun.png|Older Oil Ocean shots show a different sun which can be found in the Simon Wai prototype.
+
Image:OOZ sun.png|An earlier sun in the background to [[Oil Ocean Zone]]. Featured in the "Simon Wai prototype."
−
Image:OOZ walk.png|More of the prototype walking animation and switch that causes a ridable ball to appear.
+
Image:OOZ walk.png|More of the prototype walking animation, plus a switch that causes a ridable ball to appear.
−
Image:OOZ ball.jpg|A ridable ball. These are only accessable using debug in final.
+
Image:OOZ ball.jpg|The ridable ball. Only appear in the debug mode in the final game..
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
Line 178: Line 189:
 
===Hidden Palace Zone===
 
===Hidden Palace Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:mag_compare1a.jpg|Here's a mockup screenshot of Hidden Palace Zone. Sonic is off center and there is a background not seen in any of the dumped prototypes or later screenshots.
+
Image:mag_compare1a.jpg|An early mockup screenshot of [[Hidden Palace Zone]]. Sonic is off center and there is a background not seen in any later screenshots.
 
Image:HPZ diffBG.png|A different scan of the previous image.
 
Image:HPZ diffBG.png|A different scan of the previous image.
−
Image:HPZ Bat.jpg|Bat Badniks which were removed along with the zone.
+
Image:HPZ Bat.jpg|[[BBat|Bat Badniks]] which were removed along with the zone.
−
Image:HPZ Dino.jpg|Dino Badniks.
+
Image:HPZ Dino.jpg|Featuring [[Redz]].
−
Image:mag_compare2a.jpg|The shield glows through tube - something that would be later fixed in later versions.
+
Image:mag_compare2a.jpg|The shield glows through tube - something that would be fixed in later versions.
−
Image:mag_compare7a.gif|This screenshot has a green watermark (TV logo?) above lives icon - it isn't part of the background.
+
Image:mag_compare7a.gif|This screenshot has a green watermark above lives icon, and is not part of the zone.
−
Image:mag_compare13a.jpg|Sonic has his final walking animations, suggesting this zone lasted longer than the Simon Wai prototype.
+
Image:mag_compare13a.jpg
−
Image:HPZ Bridge.JPG|Another similar shot.
+
Image:HPZ Bridge.JPG
−
File:HPZ monitor.jpg|The infamous Tails 1-up monitor
+
File:HPZ monitor.jpg|The infamous "Tails" 1-up [[monitor]].
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
 
===Wood Zone===
 
===Wood Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:mag_compare11a.jpg|Sonic lying down in the scrapped Wood Zone, an animation not seen in the Simon Wai prototype.
+
Image:mag_compare11a.jpg|Sonic impatiently waiting in the scrapped [[Wood Zone]].
−
Image:S2 WoodZone.jpg|On the ramp.
+
Image:S2 WoodZone.jpg
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
 
===Dust Hill Zone===
 
===Dust Hill Zone===
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
 
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
−
Image:mag_compare3a.jpg|The only shot of Dust Hill Zone is this mockup. Like the Emerald Hill mockup above, it borrows graphics from Sonic 1. The crocodile badnik exists within early prototypes of the game.  
+
Image:mag_compare3a.jpg|The only shot of [[Dust Hill Zone]] "[[Gator]]" exists within early prototypes of the game.
 +
File:DesertlevelCorrectColor.JPG|A color-corrected version of the same image.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 +
 +
==See Also==
 +
*[[S2Beta:Main Page|The Sonic 2 Beta Wiki]] - A detailed look at the "Simon Wai protoype," pieced together by [[Simon Wai]] and [[LocalH]].
  
 
{{S2MDOmni}}
 
{{S2MDOmni}}
  
 
[[Category:Game Development|Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)]]
 
[[Category:Game Development|Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)]]

Revision as of 00:00, 21 March 2011

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 went through many ideas and changes during the development process. What follows is a collection of items related to the game's development.

Development Process

Behind the scenes of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Japanese commercial.

After the tremendous success of Sonic the Hedgehog, it was only natural to expect a sequel to the game. Though many would have expected the same original team to spearhead the second entry in the series, right off the bat problems arose that would turn the production of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 into the words legends are made of. Yuji Naka, the man responsible for the engine of the first game, had run into issues with the management of Sega of Japan, the exact disagreements between him and the company unknown. Growing weary of the politics, Naka quit Sega, intending to look for work elsewhere. Back in the United States, Mark Cerny, the man who had come up with the gaming classic Marble Madness, had been hired by Sega to create a new gaming studio for the company, the Sega Technical Institute. The general idea behind the studio was to hire talented individuals who were only getting their start in the industry and teach them the ways of the gaming world, not only with the talent already established in the U.S. but by talent from Japan, as well. Placing advertisements in the local papers, the resumes began pouring in, with such people as Tom Payne, Brenda Ross, and future-creator of Spyro the Dragon Craig Stitt becoming employees of this new experiment in game development.

During the production of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Mark Cerny had already secured Hirokazu Yasuhara, the director of that project, to come out to the United States and work for STI once his job back at Sega of Japan was done. However, when Cerny learned of Yuji Naka's departure from the company, he immediately called up his long-time friend, attempting to persuade him to come out to America as well and become a part of his venture. With the promise of a better salary, more executive power, and the potential for a Ferrari, Naka took Mark up on the offer, hiring back into the Sega fold.[1]

Though the American staff of STI cut their teeth on the game Kid Chameleon, with the arrival of Naka, Yasuhara, and a handful of other Japanese staff members, Sega gave the team their first big assignment - the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog. With two of the three main people behind the success of the first game (the third, Naoto Ohshima, choosing to stay behind and eventually direct Sonic the Hedgehog CD) it only made sense to devote the entire studio to Sega's biggest game yet.

Filled to brim with ideas, one of the first elements the team decided on was that they wanted a new main character to be introduced in the game, someone who could be developed for a potential two player mode found within. An internal competition was held, and though many entries were submitted (including one from artist Craig Stitt for a flying turtle named "Boomer'") it was Yasushi Yamaguchi who won with his two-tailed fox character, Miles "Tails" Prower. Originally wanting the character to be named "Miles Prower," the rest of the team felt his name should simply be "Tails," to match the simplistic nature of Sonic's name. Unhappy with this idea, Yamaguchi (who became the lead zone artist in the game) decided to sneak the name "Miles Prower" into various concept art and in the game, making both names legitimate in the end.

Being nothing less than ambitious, the original plan was to make a sprawling, 18-zone epic, revisiting the unique level tropes Sonic Team had created for the first game, putting their own spin on traditional platformer levels like desert and snow worlds, and even come up with some ideas that would be totally new. Emerald Hill, Hill Top, Oil Ocean, Hidden Palace, Dust Hill and the never-titled Winter Zone were some of the first levels to be worked on, the concept of time travel also being talked about in early production meetings. However, it became obvious early on that if they were to have the game ready for the Christmas season of 1992, that they could not get everything done. The time travel concept was dropped almost immediately, and Dust Hill and its winter counterpart were some of the first zones to be put on the chopping block, much to the chagrin of Brenda Ross, the artist responsible for their look.[2]

Though the two sides of STI tried to work together, the language barrier proved to be too much at times. Most of the meetings for the direction of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were done in Japanese (Mark Cerny being fluent in the language), leaving the American side in the dust. Trying to mesh the two cultures and work ethics became a challenge in itself, with some members unable to get along with Yuji Naka's intense personality. Tom Payne, who himself never had any issues with the Japanese half of the team, recalled in an interview later the stark differences between the American mindset of a nine-to-five job and the Japanese mindset of working almost all hours of the night, with members like Yamaguchi and Yasuhara being extremely passionate with the quality of the whole:

“ Well for me-- this was my first job so I only had Sonic 1 to go by & tried to make it match that style I'd say the it was Yamaguchi who laid out the look. He would stay all night & fix everything that we did wrong. Quite an amazing fellow. „

— Tom Payne, Zone Artist for Sonic the Hedgehog 2[3]

Even if tensions could rise as the leaders of the project demanded perfection, work on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 continued unfettered. With each passing day, the hype behind the project grew more and more, immense pressure being put on the collective team. Not content with just the random screenshot from time to time, Sega wanted to advertise the game in as many ways possible. Getting in contact with the children's network Nickelodeon, a special cartridge was put together to be played on the gameshow Nick Arcade, featuring an early version of Emerald Hill. This prototype, later referred to as the "Nick Arcade prototype," was eventually leaked onto the Internet in 2006. Sometime after the airing of the show, another early build was put together to help drum up interest, being a playable build to the public at a New York toy show. However, security at the show was not up to snuff, and at the end the cartridge was stolen. Later to be known as the "Simon Wai" prototype (named after the man who discovered the ROM image on the Internet back in 1999) it was this build that was the source of many prerelease information related to the game.

The much-discussed Hidden Palace Zone.

Even knowing early on they would not have enough time to work on everything they had set out to in the beginning, as the release date drew nearer it became more than obvious that the team would have barely enough time to finish the eleven zones that ended up in the final game. Cyber City Zone, a one-act level that was meant to follow Metropolis Zone (and was briefly called "Genocide City" but changed once the Japanese staff fully realized what the word meant) was scrapped, most of it converted into the third act of Metropolis Zone instead. The very last level to be removed was one of the first that had been worked on, the Hidden Palace Zone. Conceived as an area Sonic would warp to after collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, deadlines forced the team to drop it, instead awarding the power of Super Sonic immediately after the seventh special stage was completed.

“ My only complaint was that if art had to get cut out it always seemed to be the American's on the team who's art got cut. Sometimes this was because the art wasn't working, but on other occasions, I don't believe this was the case. (such as with Hidden Palace, although I never was happy with the far background). „

— Craig Stitt, Zone Artist for Sonic the Hedgehog 2[4]

The game was released simultaneously in the United States and Europe on "Sonic 2sday," a marketing campaign promoting the concept of "blast processing" was pursued, while back in Japan the campaign focused on the introduction of "Tails." The entire team, both American and Japanese, celebrated together on November 23rd, 1992, proud of the game that, against the odds, would not only be the biggest selling Sonic game on the Mega Drive, but the best selling game of the 16-bit era.

Also of note is the fact the game contained references to some of the biggest pop culture phenomenons on both sides of the Pacific. The Death Egg, Eggman's ultimate weapon in the game, was modeled after the Death Star, the superweapon featured in the Star Wars trilogy. Meanwhile, the seven Chaos Emeralds and the introduction of Super Sonic were homages to the well-known Chinese fable The Golden Warrior and its then-current interpretation being published in Japan, Dragon Ball.

The theme in the game that plays during the final cutscene, written by Masato Nakamura, was later turned into a song for his band, DREAMS COME TRUE. Called SWEET SWEET SWEET, the duet is sung with a real-life band backing the track.

Concept Art

Enemy Concept Art

  • Sket banper.png

    Concept art of Banper.

  • Sket fishfrog.png

    Concept art of the Frog.

  • Concept art of Bubbler and Bubbler's Mother.

  • Sket bee.png

    Concept art of Bee.

  • Sket snail.png

    Concept art of a snail-like enemy.

  • S2crawlconcept.JPG

    Concept art of Crawl.

  • S2crawlconcept2.JPG

    More Crawl concept art.

  • S2fishconcept.JPG

    Early concept art for Masher.

  • S2fishconcept2.JPG

    Paper devoted to the Masher badnik.

  • S2badnikconcepts.jpg

    Features the Frog.

  • S2badnikconcepts2.jpg
  • S2badnikconcepts3.jpg

    Concept art of Bubbler's Mother.

  • S2badnikconcepts4.jpg

    More concept art of the snail-like enemy.

  • S2badnikconcepts5.jpg
  • S2badnikconcepts6.jpg
  • S2badnikconcepts7.jpg
  • S2badnikconcepts8.jpg
  • S2badnikconcepts9.jpg
  • S2badnikconcepts10.jpg

    Possible enemy ideas for Dust Hill.

  • S2badnikconcepts11.jpg
  • S2enemyconcepts12.JPG

    More of the Frog badnik.

  • S2enemyconcepts13.JPG
  • S2enemyconcepts14.JPG
  • S2enemyconcepts15.JPG

    More of the snail-like enemy.

  • S2enemyconcepts16.JPG
  • S2enemyconcepts17.JPG
  • S2enemyconcepts18.JPG
  • Snailconcept.JPG

    Concept art for Snail.

  • Snailconcept2.JPG

    Descriptions of the Snail enemy.

  • Tricerabotconcept.JPG

    Concept art of Stego.

  • Tricerabotconcept2.JPG

    Further art of Stego.

  • Waspconcept.JPG

    Concept art of Bee.

Level Concept Art

Metropolis Zone

  • Metropolis concept.jpg

    An early piece of concept art for Metropolis Zone.

  • S2metropolisconcepts.jpg

    Early concept art.

  • S2metropolisconcepts2.jpg

    Early concept art. Text humorously refer to the level as "Sonic sweat shop."

  • S2metrpolisconcepts3.jpg

    Early concept art. Windows can be seen.

  • S2metropolisfgconcept.jpg

    Early concept art of the foreground.

  • S2metropolisbgconcept.jpg

    Early concept art of the background. Furnaces can be seen.

  • Rhombusds.JPG

    The unused diagonal elevators.

  • Metropolis1a.jpg

    Early Act 1 map. Has diagonally slanted rotating steel drums. Very different from final. Only two things seem very similar to final; the general positioning of the starting area, and the short downward ramp leading to a flat area with the end sign.

  • Metropolis2a.jpg

    Early Act 2 map. Has giant crusher. Very different from final. Aside from the immediate starting area and an area with a half-loop leading to a ramp in the top-left, almost nothing recognizable remains.

  • Metropolismapx.jpg

    Another Act 2 map.

  • Metropolis3a.jpg

    Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator.

  • Metropolis3b.jpg

    Early Act 3 map. Features a horizontal spike obstacle, similar to the ones removed from Marble Zone of the first game.

  • Metropolis3c.jpg

    Early Act 3 map.

Assorted Levels

Objects

  • Sket ball.png

    A bouncing ball which was scrapped before release. Its sprites can actually be found in a prototype version in Oil Ocean Zone.

  • RollingBallConceptArt.jpg

    More bouncing ball concept art. Taken from this file.

  • S2ballframes.jpg

    Page dealing with the frames of the bouncing ball.

  • S2ballthingy.jpg

    Artwork of the bouncing ball in full color.

Miscellanious Documents

  • S2spritesystem.jpg

    Explanation of the sprite system.

  • S2TASKLIST.jpg

    Task list from which Tom Payne worked with.

  • S2paldata.jpg

    File dealing with the palette data of the game.

  • S2lavabubds.JPG

    Information about a lava bubbling animation.

  • S2sludgehog.jpg

    A joke image of Sonic brandishing a gun, knowingly foreshadowing the game Shadow the Hedgehog.

Promotional Screenshots

Title Screen

  • The original title screen to Sonic 2, as pictured in the U.S. manual.

  • Same Title screen in color. This one is a bit older as it lacks the menu options.

  • An early level select, similar to Sonic 1's. Features names of zones ultimately cut from the final product.

Emerald Hill Zone

  • An early mockup of the zone with an off-center Sonic. Note the Green Hill Zone clouds in the background and the Sonic 1 HUD.

  • Better quality version of the mockup, albeit with the top and bottom missing.

  • "Tails" life counter says "Sonic".

  • Mag compare21a.jpg
  • Mag compare25a.png

    A score counter is visible, removed from the final 2-player mode.

  • Eggman appears to be flying straight down as opposed to diagonally. This seems to have been from a later prototype as we see Tails flying in from the top, which was not implemented in the Simon Wai prototype.

Aquatic Ruin Zone

  • Featuring the early walking animation.

  • ARZ ramp2.png

  • A broken title card, loading bubble graphics in place of letters. Uses the early level name "Neo Green Hill Zone".

  • Here Sonic's animations seem to be final.

  • Log floating on water.

  • Sonic's corner animation.

Casino Night Zone

  • A Casino Night with a vastly different color and art style, similar to the one featured in the "Simon Wai prototype."

  • This design also seems to be more complete than in the prototype.

Hill Top Zone

Mystic Cave Zone

  • Mystic Cave Zone mistakenly referred to as "Dust Hill Zone," due to early level select titles.

  • MCZ enemy.jpg
  • MCZ plank.jpg
  • MCZ rope.jpg
  • MCZ boxes.jpg

Oil Ocean Zone

  • OOZ sun.png

    An earlier sun in the background to Oil Ocean Zone. Featured in the "Simon Wai prototype."

  • OOZ walk.png

    More of the prototype walking animation, plus a switch that causes a ridable ball to appear.

  • The ridable ball. Only appear in the debug mode in the final game..

Metropolis Zone

  • Early Metropolis screenshots show a more complicated background that relied more on rotating palettes.

  • MetZ bumpers.jpg
  • MetZ gear.jpg
  • MetZ tunnel.jpg
  • MetZ bolt.jpg
  • MetZ bolt2.jpg

Hidden Palace Zone

  • An early mockup screenshot of Hidden Palace Zone. Sonic is off center and there is a background not seen in any later screenshots.

  • A different scan of the previous image.

  • Bat Badniks which were removed along with the zone.

  • Featuring Redz.

  • The shield glows through tube - something that would be fixed in later versions.

  • Mag compare7a.gif

    This screenshot has a green watermark above lives icon, and is not part of the zone.

  • Mag compare13a.jpg
  • HPZ Bridge.JPG

  • The infamous "Tails" 1-up monitor.

Wood Zone

  • Sonic impatiently waiting in the scrapped Wood Zone.

  • S2 WoodZone.jpg

Dust Hill Zone

  • The only shot of Dust Hill Zone "Gator" exists within early prototypes of the game.

  • A color-corrected version of the same image.

See Also


Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
Sonic2 title.png

Main page (KiS2|2013|3D|Ages)
Comparisons (KiS2) (2013)
Maps (KiS2) (2013)
Achievements
Credits

Manuals
Promotional material
Magazine articles
Video coverage
Reception
Merchandise

Development
Hidden content (KiS2) (2013)
Bugs (KiS2) (2013)
Region coding
Hacking guide
Bootlegs
show;hide
  • Levels
  • Enemies
  • Bosses
  • Prereleases
  • Media

Scrapped Levels:

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