Development:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)

This page details development materials of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis).

To do: Get filepaths. Isolate and organize sprites. What do we do about the other games found in here?

In 2019, a set of floppy disks owned by former STI member Tom Payne were found and preserved, creating what is now known as the Tom Payne Archives. These files contained sprites for Sonic 1 and 2, along with internal concept art and unrelated sprites pertaining to two other games that went unreleased.

Original files can be found here.

sonic_enemies_backup

ball

The Ball badnik seen in the Nick Arcade prototype.

bubbler and mamabub

Bubbler from the Nick Arcade proto, with Bubbler's Mother in green.

dino and dinosaur

The Nick Arcade proto's sprites for Stegway.

fish

Unrefined sprites for Masher.

gator and gator.2

Sprites for Gator, but with a much brighter palette! According to a cancelled Tom Payne interview from 2004, these Gator sprites date back to April 2, 1992.

newsnail.3, snail and snail.2

Sprites for Snail that seem to predate the Nick Arcade build, seemingly unsure on whether to give it a wheel.

sandcrab

Nick Arcade-build sprites for Crawl, with some dirt. Crawl was originally intended to pop out of the ground with sand/rocks appearing under it. The idea was likely scrapped after Crawl was repurposed for Casino Night Zone.

wasp.2 and wasp

Early sprites for Buzzer, including some not found in any known prototypes.

metropolis

To do: Check which tilesets are final.

Contained here are several tilesets for Metropolis Zone, mostly seen in the Simon Wai prototype.

block005

The Simon Wai proto sprites for the wheel obstacle.

block003

Several animated tiles.

piston.df

The pistons in the background.

zone04.pc

Floor, pipes, and wheels.

block004

Simon Wai slanty lift walls, Simon Wai background conveyors, and nuts.

block002

Pipes, wheels, (the top half of) a conveyor belt, and those bumpers that launch you into Slicers.

block001

Curved floors.

block000

Slanty lift. 'Nuff said.

bob

Early badniks, once thought to be just mere concept art, in sprite form! Results vary.

bobnface and faces.bg

Included in a scratch pad are some... disconcerting sprites of some guy making various expressions. When animated, he flashes a smile and winks. The full-body sprite appears to have been shot.

wheelpig

Several sprites of a badnik based on a pig. According to a cancelled Tom Payne interview from 2004, these sprites date back to when he first started working at STI (March 9, 1992).

pigwheel.s.0

Another pig, this one pink with a silver nose.

pigpage

Another rendition that would walk on four legs and fire some sort of projectile out of its neck after lifting its head up.

pigs.01

A slightly different rendition, pasted over another spritesheet of another unused badnik based on some insect.

pig

A singular sprite of the pig's walker variant.

blupigwh.eel

Another singular sprite, this time of the top-right pig in image 1.

2morepig.s

A rougher version of the wheeled pig variant, and a weird pig-bug thing.

drgnfly

The dragonfly moving and... aiming, though it's hard to tell as the sprite's not finished. Also here is a badnik similar to the Buzz Bombers from the Sonic 2 Master System box art. Comparing to the other sheets, though, these are actually part of...

enemies

...a whole treasure trove of unused badniks! Pictured here are:

• Bee/Wasp, an early version of Buzzer, including an early yellow version.
• A pterodactyl that may have dropped something on Sonic's head.
• A squid.
• A lobster, similar to Zaririn from the 8-bit Sonic 2.
• A blue tank-like badnik with claws.
• A scorpion, similar to Skorp from Sonic & Knuckles.
• Another version of the Buzz Bomber seen above. This version has only two jets similar to the original, and a firing sprite is also present.
• The previously-mentioned dragonfly.
• A frog.

Also included is a sprite of Sonic walking, for scaling purposes. Oddly, the palette used here (and in the Sonic 1 badnik sprites found in the TPA) appears to be the early palette seen in prerelease material for Sonic 1!

mole

Contains sprites of the mole badnik from the concept artwork, and a pillbug badnik which is very similar to Dango from Sonic CD.

squidfly

The dragonfly and squid from before, same as then.

wasps

Bee/Wasp, identical to what's seen above.