Sonic 2 Fans Are Restoring Cut Stages Using Original Design Documents

thegamer.com:

Sonic 2 famously has a lost level called Hidden Palace Zone which was eventually made playable in a remaster 20 years after it launched. What you might not know is there were more levels cut from the Sonic sequel that never saw the light of day, and now dedicated fans of the blue blur are trying to restore them.

These aren't levels salvaged from Sonic 2's code. No, these long-lost stages are being revived using their original sketches. They literally never made it past the drawing board, yet somehow they've remained in a good enough condition that fans are able to try and bring them to life three decades later.

RELATED: Sonic's Original Bonus Levels Remain Undefeated

Reported by Time Extension, the Video Game History Foundation's Frank Cifaldi has teamed up with artist ManiaHez on this project. Cifaldi has shared an image of one of the sketches they're working from. The hand-drawn Sonic level demonstrates how the hedgehog would have made his way around the stage.

Although there are no enemies present aside from the turret, the level looks a lot like Metropolis Zone which was included in Sonic 2. Those similarities might be why it didn't make it into the game. One fan pointed out Sonic uses a jump bar in the drawing. Jump bars weren't introduced to the series until Sonic 3, but clearly the idea was thought up during the prior game's development.

Cifaldi does highlight no matter how successful they are at bringing these sketches to life, the lost stages will probably never be playable. The sketches are naturally very basic compared to what they would have been had they been developed by Sega and added to the finished game. Cifaldi and ManiaHez have no idea which enemies were going to be included in the final version, nor