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In the Simon Wai prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, selecting "Genocide City Zone" from the Level Select screen will bring the player to an empty level and then simply fall to their death at the bottom of the stage. Concept art was revealed, showing Sonic in a traveling tube, along with the name Cyber City Zone.
Tom Payne, the Zone artist in charge of this level, stated that this Zone was intended to be a graphical change of Metropolis Zone, but was dropped before it was even started. Instead, he worked on the third act of Metropolis Zone. According to a Tom Payne interview, the meaning behind the name is due to the Japanese team members wanting to make the zone sound dangerous in English, resulting in the alternate name "Cyber City" in concept. It was planned to be a single zone, but due to time constraints, the remaining zone ended up as Metropolis Zone Act 3. In the Sonic Jam strategy guide Yuji Naka stated basically that the third act of Metropolis Zone used the layout meant for Cyber City and that it was meant to be a single act. The concept art was also confirmed as being the inspiration for the Sonic Spinball level, The Machine.[1]
On the 12th of December 2023, the Video Game History Foundation leaked to the Internet recently discovered new digitized papers by artist Tom Payne, including sprite work and level layouts, which allowed for a partial recreation of the level to be achieved with help from rom hacker Hez as well as with some extra assets from The Machine and some guesswork. The purple level is centered on the game mechanic of fans pushing Sonic out of the path intended by the player, alongside anti gravity machines pushing them to the floor similar to the ones of future Death Egg Zone, giant claws resembling bear traps, chained iron balls, metallic handles on a rolling chain, conveyor belts and aquatic sections similar to Chemical Plant Zone. Outside new threats in the form of turrets that can shoot in 6 possible directions toward Sonic, no enemy is yet known with certainty that would have had populated the level[2].