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#REDIRECT [[Mystic Cave Zone]]
|Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|:Category:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit) scrapped levels|l2=Scrapped Levels|{{PAGENAME}}}}
 
'''Dust Hill Zone''' is an infamous name featured in several prototype versions of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)]]''.
 
 
 
==GamePro & Simon Wai==
 
The name Dust Hill Zone first appeared in GamePro Magazine, in a screenshot featuring an early version of [[Mystic Cave Zone]]. The name was largely forgotten until the discovery of the [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Simon Wai prototype)|Sonic 2 Simon Wai prototype]] in 1999. Dust Hill Zone appeared in the game’s level select screen, and selecting it would take the player to Mystic Cave Zone.
 
<gallery widths="320" heights="240" >
 
Mag_gamepro_3.jpg|An excerpt from GamePro Magazine, featuring Dust Hill Zone/Mystic Cave Zone.
 
Ss.s2bls.png|The [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Simon Wai prototype)|Sonic 2 Simon Wai prototype]]'s level Select screen, featuring Dust Hill Zone's name.
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
==Desert Zone & Brenda Ross==
 
Because the name "Dust Hill" did not seem to fit a spooky cave level, many fans speculated that the name was not originally intended for Mystic Cave, and that Mystic Cave may have been a replacement for a cut zone. In digging through old magazines, there was found a mockup of a desert level cut from the final game. Speculation ran rampant that this cut desert level may have in fact been Dust Hill, replaced by Mystic Cave after having been cut. The fan community was able to determine that Brenda Ross had been the art designer for the level, managed to track down her email address, and conduct [[Brenda_Ross_interview_by_Deviance_(February_2001)|two]] [[Brenda_Ross_interview_by_Wetflame|interviews]] with her over the years. Some parts of the interviews seemed to confirm that Dust Hill Zone was the desert level, while others made it seem more dubious.
 
<gallery widths="320" heights="240" >
 
DesertlevelCorrectColor.JPG|The mockup of the cut desert level, often speculated to be Dust Hill Zone.
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
==Hirokazu Yasuhara & Time Travel==
 
In May 2017, ''Sonic 2'''s "planner", [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]] detailed some of the earlier stages of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s development as part of a game design presentation at Digital Dragons 2017{{ref|https://twitter.com/necrosofty/status/866702759357292544}}. Of particular note is the idea that ''Sonic 2'' once incorporated a time travelling mechanic - a feature that was never mentioned in public at the time, but found itself in a different guise as part of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD]]''.
 
 
 
However, ''Sonic 2''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s version of time travel was something very different - time zones would be accessed in a more linear way, and rather than appear as re-skinned and slightly tweaked versions of the same levels, each time period would have an entirely new set of stages.
 
 
 
Yasuhara's presentation featured four slides containing planned time periods, and a rough idea of how they linked together:
 
 
 
<gallery widths="320" heights="240" >
 
Sonic 2 Level Map Concept 01.png|"Now", also known as "present time"
 
Sonic 2 Level Map Concept 03.png|"Future"
 
Sonic 2 Level Map Concept 02.png|"Now 2", the "ruined present time"
 
Sonic 2 Level Map Concept 04.png|"Ancient time"
 
Sonic 2 Time Travel Document.jpg|"Now, Medieval, Now 2, Ancient, and Future times showed in the diagram"
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
Of note are two things: first, where [[Emerald Hill Zone|Green Hill Zone]] appears in "Now", in its place in "Now 2" is featured Dust Hill Zone. This means that Dust Hill Zone, whatever it was, was intended to be the "bad future" of Green Hill Zone. Second, also in "Now" is the name [[Sand Shower Zone]], a name previously unheard of in relation to ''Sonic 2''. While the word "dust" has many meanings and thus could be applied to a variety of locales, Sand Shower Zone is a name that could only realistically apply to a desert or beach level.
 
 
 
==Prototypes Unmasked==
 
In November 2019, drx unveiled [[Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_(prototype;_1992-08-21)|two newly]] [[Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_(prototype;_1992-09-14)|discovered prototypes]] of ''Sonic 2''. As in the Simon Wai prototype, selecting Dust Hill Zone from the level select screen in each prototype takes the player to Mystic Cave Zone. The later September 14 prototype even features a title card for the level, again calling it Dust Hill Zone.
 
<gallery widths="320" heights="240" >
 
DustHillMysticCaveTitleCard.png|A "Dust Hill Zone" title card, 27 years later.
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
==Why Dust Hill?==
 
As stated, the name "Dust Hill Zone" doesn't seem to fit the image of an underground cavern, but [[Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(16-bit)|Sonic 1]]'s oddly on-the-nose [[Final Zone]] and ''Sonic 2''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s inappropriate [[Genocide City Zone]] show that the team may not have had a handle on great level names. However, if Mystic Cave Zone was intended to be a "bad future" variant of Emerald Hill Zone, then the name makes some sense. Perhaps Dr. Eggman "dusted" Emerald Hill Zone with bombs, and the cavernous underground sections were all that remained? Then, when the time travel gimmick was dropped from the game's plot, the team simply changed the level's name.
 
 
 
==Conclusion (For Now)==
 
At the time of this writing, the most reasonable conclusion seems to be that Dust Hill Zone was a bizarre early name for Mystic Cave Zone, and that the cut desert level was this Sand Shower Zone.
 
 
 
References:
 
 
 
{{S2MDOmni}}
 

Latest revision as of 17:55, 13 November 2019

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