Difference between revisions of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)/Development"
From Sonic Retro
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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 | + | 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. |
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 Simon Wai prototype. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> |
Revision as of 15:58, 28 November 2009
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.
Contents
Prototype Versions
Several prototypes have been found over the years. The first prototype discovered, the 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. It was recently stated in an interview with Yuji Naka that this beta was from a demonstration cartridge that was stolen at a toy show in New York in 1992.[1]
Another much 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 Beta 4, Beta 5, Beta 6, Beta 7, and Beta 8. These seem to be very similar to the final version.
Time Travel
The concept of Time Travel in Sonic 2 was referred to in early concept art, as well as several gaming magazines including a 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 Desert Zone.
Allusions to Time Travel in the Simon Wai prototype
Although time travel is not present whatsoever in the final game there are possible leftovers in the Simon Wai prototype that indicate it was present in the game at one point.
- 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).
- Some prototype zones share soundtracks, Wood Zone shares the same music as Metropolis Zone and Genocide City Zone shares music with Chemical Plant Zone.
- The level design for Wood Zone and Metropolis Zone are similar.
- An unused futuristic looking Star post can be found using debug.
Deleted Levels
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.
Scrapped Badniks
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.
Concept Art
The following is concept art for the game which doesn't fit in any of the preceding sections.
Documents
- S2spritesystem.jpg
Explanation of the sprite system.
- S2TASKLIST.jpg
Task list which give a timeline of Sonic 2 development.
- S2paldata.jpg
File dealing with the pallete data of the game.
- S2lavabubds.JPG
Information about a lava bubling animation.
Other
- 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.
Badniks
- S2crawlconcept.JPG
Concept art of the Crawl badnik.
- S2crawlconcept2.JPG
More Crawl badnik concept art.
- S2fishconcept.JPG
Early concept art for the Masher badnik.
- S2fishconcept2.JPG
Paper devoted to the Masher badnik.
Levels
Miscellany
Chemical Plant Zone
The familiar "moving blocks" area from Chemical Plant Zone.
Metropolis Zone
- Metropolis concept.jpg
An early piece of concept art for Metropolis Zone. Looks like diagonal conveyor belts were originally planned.
- 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 famous 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 recognisable remains.
- Metropolismapx.jpg
Another Act 2 map.
- Metropolis3a.jpg
Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator.
- Metropolis3b.jpg
Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator, horizontal moving spikey thing that was scrapped from Marble Zone.
- Metropolis3c.jpg
Early Act 3 map. Has a diagonal elevator, horizontal moving spikey thing that was scrapped from Marble Zone.
Sky Chase Zone
Various ideas for Sky Chase Zone and possibly Hill Top Zone.
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.
Early Game Design
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 Magazine Preview Scans.
Various
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.
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.
- Mag compare25a.gif
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.
Aquatic Ruin Zone
Casino Night Zone
Hill Top Zone
Green balls on see-saws instead of enemies. This is consistant with the "Nick Arcade" prototype.
Mystic Cave Zone
Oil Ocean Zone
- OOZ sun.png
Older Oil Ocean shots show a different sun which can be found in the Simon Wai prototype.
- OOZ walk.png
More of the prototype walking animation and switch that causes a ridable ball to appear.
Metropolis Zone
Hidden Palace Zone
- Mag compare7a.gif
This screenshot has a green watermark (TV logo?) above lives icon - it isn't part of the background.