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Wood Zone

From Sonic Retro

Revision as of 04:41, 27 November 2019 by SyntaxTsu (talk | contribs) (Implementation)
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Wood Zone
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Wood Zone
Beta Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
Number of Acts: 1 (incomplete)
Level theme: jungle

Wood Zone is a wood-themed level planned for the Sega Mega Drive version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It was designed primarily by Brenda Ross but was never finished, ultimately being pulled from the game before release. It hosts flora and fauna in its backdrop, and an elaborate maze of trees in the foreground.

Design

Wood Zone is thought to be Brenda Ross' second Sonic 2 level, after the also unused Sand Shower Zone[1], with Ross claiming the art was 50% finished before being scrapped[1]. No boss was ever created for the level.

Implementation

Wood Zone in the final game.

Unlike several scrapped stages, Wood Zone was at one point partially playable within Sonic 2, being present in the "Simon Wai" prototype and the Aug 21st "Alpha" prototype. Both prototypes show a very unfinished Act 1 which ends rather quickly, while the second Act is little more than an empty level slot with a palette. The music of Metropolis Zone plays in the stage.

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 final game. While the graphics and stage layouts were removed, it can still be accessed in the final game by using the Game Genie code ACLA-AECY (AB6X-AEBR in Knuckles in Sonic 2) - go to the stage select menu and select Emerald Hill Zone (Special Stage in Knuckles in Sonic 2), and Sonic will be taken to a broken stage with Emerald Hill Zone graphics and the old Wood Zone palette.

With Sand Shower Zone unlikely to have been added to the game at any point and Wood Zone being removed almost completely, no artwork created by Brenda Ross is thought to have made it into the final release of Sonic 2.

History

While the Time Travel concept was still being considered for the game, Wood Zone was originally going to be the Present version of Casino Night Zone. That concept is somewhat reused in Sonic Forces with Casino Forest.

References


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