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| − | [[Image:DesertlevelCorrectColor.JPG|frame|right|Dust Hill Zone with the correct pallette.]] | + | #REDIRECT [[Mystic Cave Zone]] |
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| − | The lost desert level, referred to as '''Sabaku Zone''' (砂漠 ''sabaku'', desert) or '''Desert Zone''' in a [[:Image:Sket banper.png|very early enemy sketch sheet]] but properly known as Dust Hill Zone, is a level in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' that was scrapped early in production. A single mockup image of the level exists which has created a large amount of interest in it. Based on the mockup image published in magazines, it was going to take place in a typical southwest American desert and feature lots of sand. There are cacti in this level, and the zone would have been indoors and outdoors.
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| − | No remnants of the level have been found in any of the discovered prototypes, nor in the final game.
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| − | ==Mockup Image==
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| − | [[Image:Desertlevel.JPG|center]]
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| − | The pictures above come from multiple sources, the left and middle ones have a incorrect pallette, while the far right image has the correct one. The middle one was printed on the back of a Sears, Roebuck and Co. Magazine from a November/December issue of 1992. None of these pictures were accompanied with a caption mentioning any level name.
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| − | Before its level artist [[Brenda Ross]] unveiled this screen was in fact a mockup image for promotional use, this could already be deduced based on three things:
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| − | * The HUD is not in italics, and a "08" instead of the typical "8" is shown.
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| − | * Sonic is off-centered in the photo.
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| − | * The running sprite uses a walking sprite from ''Sonic 1'', which would be incorrect for the development timeline the picture was shown in.
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| − | ==Interviews with Brenda Ross==
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| − | Deviance conducted [[Brenda Ross interview by Deviance (February 2001)|a interview]] on February 2001 with [[Brenda Ross]], the artist who oversaw the art production of the desert level. There was also a [[Brenda Ross interview by Wetflame|second interview]] conducted by Wetflame. Unfortunately shortly before the first interview her email address was made public and she received a huge batch of fan mail.
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| − | ==Mystic Cave Zone connection==
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| − | [[Image:Sonic 2 beta level select.png|thumb|right|200px||Level Select screen featuring Dust Hill Zone.]]
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| − | Many gaming magazines and the Simon Wai prototype referred to [[Mystic Cave Zone]] as Dust Hill. The magazines probably had access to a prototype similar to the Simon Wai prototype which had Dust Hill Zone in the level select menu, but lead to Mystic Cave Zone. This led to speculation over the years that Dust Hill was a prototype name for Mystic Cave.
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| − | On September 13, 2008 [[Tweaker]] and [[Sik]] released evidence that finally proved Dust Hill Zone referring to the Desert mockup image, and not Mystic Cave. Through [[Chris Senn]], they were able to get into contact with [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]] a person involved in the development of ''Sonic 2''.
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| − | ==Other Zone connections==
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| − | According to [[Brenda Ross]] and [[Tim Skelly]] (Art Director), most of the graphic tiles would have been reused (with different colors) in a [[winter level]]. One of the possibilities was that the Desert level would change into a Snow level half way through, but [[Tim Skelly]] explained: ''There would have been two separate zones, spaced far enough apart so that the player wouldn't notice the repetition of the art.''
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| − | As a side note, this level was originally planned as being the "present" version of another scrapped level, ([[Rock Zone]]), but the idea of time travel was quickly dropped and it's quite possible that it never got to be implemented in this game. Additionally, "desert zone" and "rock zone" are just descriptions, or working names, and not proper names of the zones.
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| − | ==Magazines which referred to Dust Hill==
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| − | [[Image:Dust Hill scans.jpg|noframe|right|200px]]
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| − | ===Dated Scans===
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| − | *[[An Amusement Park called Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Video Games and Computer Entertainment, October, 1992)|Video Games and Computer Entertainment (October 1992)]] - Dust Hill Zone included on the list of levels on the first page. A screenshot of Mystic Cave is shown on the third.
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| − | *[[Game Preview - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Electronic Gaming Monthly, November 1992)|Electronic Gaming Monthly (November 1992)]] - The name Dust Hill is given to the Mystic Cave zone section.
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| − | *[[Game Preview - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (GamePro, November 1992)|Game Pro (November 1992)]] - Dust Hill name used under Mystic cave screenshot on page 46.
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| − | *[[Game Preview - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Supergame, November 1992)|Supergame (November 1992)]] - Dust Hill is the name given to the Mystic Cave section.
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| − | ===Undated Scans===
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| − | *[[Backstage with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Guide, 1992)|Sega Guide (1992)]] - Dust hill is included on the list of levels on page 16, the screen caption below Mystic Cave Zone calls the level Mystic Zone.
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| − | *[[:Image:Sonic2PrevUKMagazine.jpg|Unkown UK magazine]] - The name Dust Hill is not mentioned, but a screenshot of the level is.
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| − | *[[Game Preview - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Videogame, Issue 20)|Videogame (Issue 20)]] - Dust Hill is used for the Mystic cave images.
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| − | *[[:Image:SegaGuideBefore.jpg|Sega Guide Clip (Before)]] and [[:Image:SegaGuideAfter.jpg|Sega Guide Clip (After)]] - Images of Dust Hill are shown. Mystic Cave is not mentioned.
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| − | ==Level Inclusion in ROM hacks==
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| − | Several enthusiasts in the community, such as [[Esrael]] with his hack, ''[[Sonic 2 Delta]]'', and [[Sonic Hachelle-Bee]], with ''[[Sonic 2 Long Version]]'', have used the image of this desert level to create full zones based on the artwork. These levels provide an alternative to perhaps understand how this level would have been had it moved past the concept stage.
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| − | [[Category:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit) Levels]]
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| − | [[Category: Scrapped Levels]]
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