It’s well documented that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a number of stages that were cut from the final release, and thanks to the Video Game History Foundation, we’ve now got some new footage of some of these levels to feast our eyes on.
Sonic fans will probably be familiar with these stages already, but for those that aren’t, they include Cyber City Zone, which was previously known in development as Genocide City Zone. VGHF managed to scan various design documents to partially reconstruct the zone, as well as using the map from Sonic 2’s game designer, Hirokazu Yasuhara.
In addition, VGHF also offered a loot at another cut stage from Brenda Cook, who previously revealed in interviews that she had worked on three zones that were left out of the final product: Wood Zone, Sand Shower Zone, and a winter-themed stage. The latter hasn’t been seen until VGHF was able to access Cook’s VHS portfolio, revealing some of her work.
Check it out below.
Fans will no doubt recall Hidden Palace as one of the most well-known cut stages from the Blue Blur’s fast-paced platformer, although this stage has been restored in the 2013 remake of Sonic 2.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was originally released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis back in 1992, and has been ported to numerous consoles since.