User:Philip1992/Sonic 2 Alpha



Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Nick Arcade Build is the name given to a Sonic 2 prototype that dates to before even the content of Sonic 2 Beta. There are many differences.

Description
This particular prototype was purchased by Łukasz Zapart from a game collector for $1500 (as opposed to the first beta, which was simply downloaded from a Chinese GeoCities website). It was used by a gaming magazine before the game was released, and is very similar, if not identical, to the build shown on Nick Arcade. It is considered to be a much earlier prototype, containing a glitched version of the original Green Hill Zone, and the level select uses Sonic 1 level names. Stages also play Sonic 1 music, and the level layouts are drastically different. The Nick Arcade Build contains a very different ending sign post, and a crash animation that happens when Sonic hits a wall at a high speed. The sprites for this action were found in the original beta.

The two-player mechanic was already implemented and mostly functional in this build, and can be accessed by pressing B + start when starting an Act from level select. Not every Zone has a two-player version.

The developers were generally only working with the first Act of each zone. Starting positions in the other Acts usually leave them unplayable. Labyrinth Zone and Hill Top (Scrap Brain) Zone Act 3 loads very garbled graphics - the player will fall to their death without debug mode, where they can find several objects floating in the air, almost all of which have broken collision data. Similarly, attempting to play Final Zone will crash the game almost immediately.

Zones
Only one zone is available during normal gameplay, but upon accessing the level select, the player is allowed to access several incomplete zones. It should be noted that none of these zones have names at this point in development, and the level select screen is identical to that of the last Japanese revision of Sonic 1. Image:sonic2alpha.PNGSonic crashing into a wall in Emerald Hill Zone; this function is not present in Sonic 2 Beta

Emerald Hill Zone
By starting the game normally from the title screen, the game accesses a very early version of Emerald Hill Zone from Sonic 2. The first noticeable change is that the music is from Star Light Zone in Sonic 1 and the fact that Miles "Tails" Prower is not present. The level's layout is noticeably different from Sonic 2's, with the robotic snail enemies from Sonic 2 Beta, but also missing Coconuts, the monkey enemy. The sign posts, too, are in a vastly different form. To access this zone from the level select, one must choose Star Light Zone. In Act 3, the player starts below the actual level, and will immediately fall to his death if debug mode is not used to move up.

Tails does not appear in the single-player version of this Zone, possibly because of glitches that occurred due to the early build, which would rig the challenge on Nick Arcade. However, he is in the two-player version, and in all the other Zones.

Green Hill Zone
By accessing Green Hill Zone from the level select, then player is sent to a very glitchy version of Sonic 1's Green Hill Zone. This zone does have Tails following Sonic. The level is, however, able to be completed, despite some areas needing to be avoided. The graphics are also slightly messy.

Chemical Plant Zone
Upon accessing Marble Zone from the level select, or completing Green Hill Zone, the player is sent to an early, incomplete version of Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic 2. The layout is also very different from the final version, and the green buildings in the background are purple.

Labyrinth Zone
Accessing Labyrinth Zone from the level select leads to the player falling to their death, unless debug mode is used to move to the right where floating objects can be found. The water ripple effect that was not present in the first revision of Sonic 1 appears, and along with the level select order, confirms that this game was built on the final Japanese revision of Sonic 1, which had both of these changes over the original. The effect does appear underwater in the final version of Sonic 2.

Hidden Palace Zone
By accessing Spring Yard Zone from the level select, the player is lead to Hidden Palace Zone. This revision of Act 1 of the zone seems to be identical to the one in Sonic 2 Beta; Acts 2 and 3 however have different (and changing) water levels, most likely a leftover from Labyrinth Zone. If the player uses debug mode to go to the right in Act 3, the boss music will start, the water will rise, but no boss will appear; if the player then exits debug mode after the water has risen, a rogue branch offset at some point in the code will cause the processor to attempt to execute data and crash. (see screenshot). It should also be noted that if the player almost drowns, the Labyrinth Zone music will play instead of Spring Yard when the player resurfaces.

Hill Top Zone
Accessing Scrap Brain Zone from the level select leads to an incomplete Hill Top Zone from Sonic 2. The first two Acts have partially completed designs, but neither can be completed, and Act 2 crashes midway through. Act 2 crashes half way through because in the original game this is the point where sonic falls down a hole to act 3 at the hands of Dr Eggman, the game uses the original engine so tries to load it at this point, but as there is no source code or data available the game subsequently crashes. Act 3 looks a lot like Labyrinth Zone (i.e. scrambled Chemical Plant Zone graphics), and using debug mode to move to the top of the level will take the player to Final Zone, just as it did in Sonic 1's Scrap Brain 3. Final Zone has Hill Top Zone graphics and an apparently working layout, but the game crashes before the player can move a full screen to the right.