- This article is about a prototype. For other uses, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (disambiguation).
The CENSOR prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was originally released by the group CENSOR on November 9, 1992. However, it was forgotten pretty quick by the final build released by the group MAGICAL. Half of the reason why is because nobody wanted prototype builds of a game[1]. However, on February 14, 2019, the build would be rediscovered by drx and Evilhamwizard, and subsequently released to The Hidden Palace Zone.
This build could potentially be Beta 3, which wasn't included in the Sega QA archive.
General differences[]
- The header for the ROM was changed to make it easier to identify in a copier. Strangely, the serial code was changed to that of Wani Wani World.
- An additional demoscene intro is added.
- Tails is always called Miles, regardless of the region.
- The 2 PLAYER VS button now takes the player to the 2-player level select screen.
- Debug Mode is enabled by default. Holding the A button as you select a level triggers it. However, edit mode is disabled; only debug information appears. Path swappers are no longer visible in Debug Mode, like in the final game.
- On a European Mega Drive, the music has been fixed to play at the same speed as NTSC & PAL.
- Slope collision is different, with the player's state being like they're on flag ground when standing on slopes. The player can also get crushed in areas he can't get in the release build (e.g.: going under the tubes in Chemical Plant zone.)
- The death function is bugged, and the screen no longer locks when you die. Strangely, this wasn't fixed until Beta 6.
- The Sonic 1 spike bug is still present.
- End-of-Act results have a period between "Act" and "1/2". For some reason, it was removed.
- In all zones that have ground tiles, the player's ledge detection is off. If you go near the end of a right hanging platform, Sonic instead stays in his idle state and not to his balancing state. This only works with right-hanging ledges.
2-Player Mode[]
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Super Sonic[]
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Zone differences[]
Chemical Plant Zone[]
- Out of all of Sonic 2's history, this is the final build to have Chemical Plant Zone's hexagonal loops. They were changed to be fully square, as running on them causes Sonic to die.
The aforementioned monitor out-of-bounds.
Casino Night Zone[]
- There is a strange ring monitor placed out of bounds. This was removed in Beta 5.
Metropolis Zone[]
- Finishing Act 2 will take you directly to Sky Chase Zone instead of Metropolis Act 3. However, if you use the level select to beat Act 3, you will be taken to Aquatic Ruin Zone Act 1.
Sky Chase Zone[]
- A few rings are added (subsequently deleted in Beta 4)
- If the player Spin Dashes on top of the Turtloid platform, they'll stay put, unaffected by the autoscrolling. This was corrected in Beta 8.
- The propellers from the flyby Wing Fortress Zone can damage the player. This was fixed in Beta 7.
- When the player reaches the end of the zone, the background keeps moving after a screen-lock initiates. Was fixed in Beta 5.
Wing Fortress Zone[]
- There are missing sound effects in the intro.
- Various objects; such as rings and launch pads; were removed. However, some new rings were added.
- The shield monitor in Wing Fortress is in later builds and the final game; but due to the lack of a badnik, it's impossible to get it.
- Various checkpoints have been added.
Are you up 2 the frame-perfect jump?
- Due to various missing platforms, it's nearly impossible to progress after a point in the zone. To complete, you need a fully charged Spindash, a perfectly-timed jump at the end of each ramp to reach the platform above. This was thankfully fixed in Beta 4.
- Various mappings for the zone have been modified.[2]
Glitched Death Egg Zone.
Death Egg Zone[]
- The title card and doors are gliched in the build. Fixed in Beta 4.
- Checkpoint information isn't properly cleared at the end of Wing Fortress Zone, so the game attempts to spawn the player at the X and Y of the last checkpoint... this leads to the player spawning in the death zone.
- The boss theme never gets played
- Mecha Sonic immediately starts descending right as the screen locks; not when the music starts playing. Its sound effects are also different.
- The Death Egg Robot starts in the middle of the rom. This wasn't changed until the final game. It takes 8 hits to defeat in this build; in the release build, it's twelve. It's also missing a few sound effects, and the player keeps control when the robot is defeated. The game resets after the Death Egg Robot is defeated and the player escapes.
- Due to the point above, there is no ending.
Hidden Palace Zone[]
- The zone now plays the music used in the final build.
- The tile and collision data have now been removed, though Redz badniks can still find solid terrain; said solid terrain is still visible.
Special Stage differences[]
- They take a long time to load, because the developers compressed most of the art individually.[3] This was fixed in Beta 4.
- Rings are removed at the end, due to palette changes.
- After the first round of a Special Stage in 2-Player mode, the "Most Rings Wins!" message is changed to "Win Twice Win All!". For an unknown reason, it was removed in Beta 5.
- The stages have different palettes to the ones in the final (although Stages 1, 3 and 5 were reused for Stages 2, 5 and 7 respectively.) The palettes were finalized in Beta 6.
Sound Differences[]
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Trivia[]
- As stated above, this prototype was actually released back in 1992. However, nobody buyed it because nobody wanted prototype builds of a game.
Main article (Knuckles in Sonic 2) · Staff · Manuals · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery · Pre-releases (Nick Arcade, Simon Wai, CENSOR) · Re-releases (2006, Dash!, Crash!, 2013, 3D, Sega Ages)
*Appears only in prototype versions · **Appears only in re-releases
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