Desert Zone

http://www.geocities.com/tqsonicfan/4.JPG

The lost desert level, referred to as Sabaku (Desert) Zone in a very early enemy sketch sheet, is a widely speculated debate centered around the images above — Sonic in a mock-up desert type level. This level is also known and referred to as Dust Hill Zone.

As a side note, this level was originally planned with a "present" (Desert Zone) and a "past" (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.

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:

• The HUD is not in italics, and a "08" instead of the typical "8" is shown.
• Sonic is off-centered in the photo.
• The running sprite in which Sonic is not natural for the physical area he would have just been in. This same incorrect sprite can be seen in a Hidden Palace Zone mock-up.

It was going to take place in a typical southwest American desert and feature lots of quicksand. There are cactus in this level, and the zone would have been playable underground and above ground.

According to Brenda Ross and Tim Skelly, most of the graphic tiles would be reused (with different colors) in a separate winter level.

In technicality, there is no piece of animation or art discovered as of yet to show that the "desert level/zone" was a playable level.

In the pictures above, the left and middle ones use inaccurate colours while the one on the right is using the correct colours. 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.

Interviews with Brenda Ross

The first interview conducted by Deviance on February 2001 to Brenda Ross, the artist who oversaw the art production of the desert level, is deemed unreliable by some, so confirmation by Brenda on whether the desert level was called "Dust Hill" is sketchy, possibly from the bombardment of e-mails asking about the level and it's name "Dust Hill".

As mentioned in the interview conducted by Wetflame on September 2004, she said she did not remember the official working title, but that Dust Hill had sounded familiar the first time she was asked about it.

The main reason for Dust Hill Zone theories is that it makes sense - people going by "technical" evidence rather than actual human reasing. It's still very likely Mystic Caves Zone was lumped over DHZ date in it's slot, as they rejected it at the last minute. Unforunately, most the theoriests on Dust Hill = Mystic Caves are not themselves programmers and don't understand how the process works. Programmers and designers tend to be lazy and leave everything to the last minute.

The fact that there is a "Stone Zone" and "Desert Zone" would further imply they were just pet names for two of the timezones involved, I doubt would of the timezones would be the overall name for the level.

The main anti-theories that are presented -

• Mystic Caves is Dust Hill Zone in our beta
• Brenda Ross petnamed it "Desert Zone", as well as the concept artist
• "Dust Hill Zone" appeared in a magazine.

However, these are moot points as -

• It's very likely the pointers were changed, or it just got overwrriten. Wing Fortress resides the in the special stage slot from Sonic 1, for instance. And Emerald Hill was in Green Hill's slot, so it took that name, and was left that way (As well as NGH) until they could think up a better one.
• It *is* a Desert, so it's only logical Brenda would call it that. It's hardly a real petname even, it's a plain out observation. As for the concept artist, we've never even heard of a Stone Zone, and even if it is the same Desert level, it's more than likely it's just the name for the timezone, or an earlier name for the stage.
• Because they had a version not dissimiliar to our beta. Most likely they got planted the beta cart wi

th little external info, so there is no they way they couldn't have called it Dust Hill. It proves nothing, however.

The main point is that names in sonic have ALWAYS either been Oddball or made straight out logical sense. Green Hill was Green Hill because it was a Hill with green grass and trees - Chemical plant was a chemical plant, Oil Ocean was an Oil Rig in an ocean of oil. Calling a Cave Dust Hill is neither Oddball, nor makes sense. Therefore, on basic of that logic, it's unlikely Mystic Caves was ever truly meant to be called Dust Hill. Anyone that's been in a cave will know they do not accumulate dust, rather slime. People, however, are entitled to their theories. Unfortunately, many DHG=MCZ people tend to push their opinions on others by blowing up tiny pieces of evidence or non-relavant material(such as the magazine picture, or the recent concept art) to make people feel bad about believing Dust Hill was the desert. It's one of the most argued over points in the community, and is a prime example of Oldbies pushing their weight around in the community.

Returning to the desert level

Several enthusiasts in the community, such as Esrael with his hack, Sonic 2 Delta, 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.

Other details for this zone are still unknown, and so other pieces of information are missing from this article.