Difference between revisions of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)/Development"

Revision as of 21:10, 17 August 2008

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has gone through several changes over its development process. There are several rejected ideas, levels, and other things that were left on the cutting room floor. The following details several of these things.

Time Travel

The concept of Time Travel in Sonic 2 was referred to in early concept art, as well as several gaming magazines including a July 1992 EGM article. Only past and present timezones are referred to in the concept art, so it may not have had as many alternate time zones as Sonic the Hedgehog CD. It isn't known at what point the time travel concept was dropped, but the 1992 EGM article refers to the game as being 40% complete whilst mentioning time travel being associated with the game. The concept art refers to the scrapped level Rock Zone as being the past version of the scrapped Desert Zone.

Allusions to Time Travel in the Simon Wai prototype

Although time travel is not present whatsoever in the final game there are possible leftovers in the Simon Wai prototype that indicate it was present in the game at one point.

Aquatic Ruin Zone's name is listed as Neo Green Hill Zone, possibly indicating it as a future version of Emerald Hill Zone (which was listed as Green Hill in this prototype).
Some prototype zones share soundtracks, Wood Zone shares the same music as Metropolis Zone and Genocide City Zone shares music with Chemical Plant Zone.
The level design for Wood Zone and Metropolis Zone are similar.
An unused futuristic looking Star post can be found using debug.

Prototype Versions

Several prototypes have been found over the years. The first prototype discovered, the Simon Wai prototype, found by Simon Wai, is famous for its deleted levels. Another much earlier beta was found by drx and looks similar to the one featured on the tv show Nick Arcade. This was followed later by the discovery and release of five more betas, named Beta 4, Beta 5, Beta 6, Beta 7, and Beta 8. These ones seem to be very similar to the final version.

Deleted Levels

Hidden Palace Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was originally envisioned to have many more levels than those included in the final version. Three levels, Wood Zone, Hidden Palace Zone, and Genocide City Zone, were found in the the "Simon Wai prototype" in unfinished form. There was also a desert themed level which had a single mockup image printed in several gaming magazines but was dropped very early in the games development. Lastly, two other levels, Winter level and Rock Zone, were also dropped early in development and the only references to their existance come from concept art and interviews by Sonic Team staff members. More info on these Zones can be found in their respective articles.

Early Game Design

These scans come from various magazines. Many things found in these images can be found in the multiple Sonic 2 prototypes that have been discovered. For in depth comparisons of which prototypes contain what is seen in the scans see Magazine Preview Scans.