Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Simon Wai prototype)
From Sonic Retro
The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 beta is a widely distributed prototype of Sonic The Hedgehog, which features arrays of incomplete zones. It was found by Simon Wai on a Chinese website.
In the beta copy, only four levels can be played in "normal" gameplay (though technically this is a prerelease to test some features and so there is no real level order). The rest have to be accessed through the level select code. Many are not playable, so the debug code is used to explore the acts. Genocide City Zone and Death Egg Zone are blank, causing Sonic and Tails to fall to their deaths as soon as the Act begins.
The widely distributed beta version may have been altered slightly by pirates to stop the SEGA logo from showing when the ROM boots up. The game was put on pirate cartridges with the help of a Super Magic Drive in Asia and Brazil and was then passed on as the final version. The beta is frequently examined by hackers to determine how Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the Megadrive was developed.
Levels
- Neo Green Hill Zone (playable) (renamed to Aquatic Ruin Zone)
- Chemical Plant Zone (playable)
- Hill Top Zone (playable)
- Green Hill Zone (playable) (renamed to Emerald Hill Zone)
- Wood Zone (cut)
- Metropolis Zone (incomplete)
- Hidden Palace Zone (cut)
- Oil Ocean Zone (incomplete)
- Dust Hill Zone (incomplete) (renamed to Mystic Cave Zone)
- Casino Night Zone (incomplete)
- Genocide City Zone (empty) (cut)
- Death Egg Zone (empty)
"Lost" Levels
Hidden Palace Zone is probably the most-loved level in the Sonic 2 beta. It got cut shortly before release, apparantly due to size issues.
Genocide City Zone was dropped before it was even started in favor of the third act of Metropolis, according to its artist, Tom Payne.
The desert level has always been an enigma. It is a constant source of debate. A mock-up picture exists which proves that at one stage in development, a desert-like zone complete with cacti was planned in a Sonic 2 prototype before the dumped version. This zone is often believed to be named Dust Hill Zone. However, this is not the case in the available beta ROM and we have nothing to suggest that the level has ever existed in a playable format.
The winter level would have been a separate zone from the desert level, but shared most of its graphics.
The official word on the beta, from Yuji Naka in an IGN interview, is that it was stolen from a toy fair in New York in 1992.