Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Concept Art
This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Concept Art.
 | To do: Document all of these:
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Contents
Yasushi Yamaguchi (Judy Totoya)
| To do: Uncropped versions of a majority of these exist online. |
Initial line art of Sonic and Tails used on the Japanese boxart. Tails has his mouth open in the finished version.
Various expressions for Tails
initial line art of sonic
line art of various poses of Sonic
more line art of Sonic's poses
even more line art of Sonic's poses
Line art of various poses of tails
More line art of Tail's poses
Even more line art of poses of Tails
Some line art of Tail's stand still poses
Some cut off line art of Tails
Some line art poses of Tails
Line art of the Tornado
Facial expressions of Dr. Eggman
Concept art of Dr. Eggman
Concept art of the Eggmobile
concept art of the Death egg Robot
Concept art of robo Sonic
Concept art of Emerald Hill's Badniks
Concept art of Chemical Plant's badniks
concept art of Aquatic Ruin's Badniks
concept art of Casino Night's badniks
concept art of Hill top's badniks
concept art of Oil Ocean's Badniks
concept art of Metropolis Badniks
concept art of Sky Chase's Badniks
concept art of the Wing Fortress Badnik
Tom Payne
A rather... odd image of an unshaven Sonic pointing a gun towards himself with the name "Sonic the Sludgehog". The top left seems to show an unfinished drawing for the scrapped Crocobot.
Time Travel
Early on in development, the developers tossed around the idea of time travel where Sonic and Tails would travel through the present, medieval, ruined present, ancient and future times. Every period Sonic and Tails would reach a warp point and travel to the next period.
Apparently the past period was to have suffered a tsunami at one point, also notice that Tropical Plant is now Tropical Summer.
One interesting thing to note is that the concept art follows the internal stage IDs quite well, even more in the Simon Wai build (italic means the stage is unused, bold means its name was changed.
| Timeline Concept Art | Map Concept Art | ID | Simon Wai | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Green Hill Zone | $00 | Green Hill Zone | Emerald Hill Zone |
| Ocean | Ocean Wind Zone | $01 | Unused | Unused |
| Wood | Woods Zone | $02 | Wood Zone | Wood Zone leftovers |
| Sand | Sand Shower Zone | $03 | Unused | Unused |
| Metropolis | Metropolis Zone | $04 | Metropolis Zone | Metropolis Zone |
| Tropical Sun | Tropical Plant Zone | $05 | Metropolis Zone Act 3 | Metropolis Zone Act 3 |
| Blue Ocean | $06 | Unused | Wing Fortress Zone | |
| Hill Top | Hill Top Zone | $07 | Hill Top Zone | Hill Top Zone |
| Olympus | $08 | Hidden Palace Zone | Hidden Palace Zone leftovers | |
| Blue Lake Zone | ||||
| Rock | Rock World Zone | $09 | Unused | Unused |
| Oil | Oil Ocean Zone | $0A | Oil Ocean Zone | Oil Ocean Zone |
| Dust | Dust Hill Zone | $0B | Dust Hill Zone | Mystic Cave Zone |
| Death Egg | ||||
| Tropical | Tropical Summer Zone | |||
| Blue | Blue Lake Zone | |||
| Hill Top Zone | ||||
| Casino | Chemical Plant Zone | $0C | Casino Night Zone | Casino Night Zone |
| Chemical | Casino Night Zone | $0D | Chemical Plant Zone | Chemical Plant Zone |
| Genocide | Genocide City 1 Zone | $0E | Genocide City Zone | Death Egg Zone |
| Neo Death Egg | Genocide City 2 Zone | $0F | Neo Green Hill Zone | Aquatic Ruin Zone |
| "The Last Battle in Space" | $10 | Death Egg Zone | Sky Chase Zone |
Scrapped Sidekicks
Boomer the Turtle
Boomer the Turtle (also named Boomy and BoomBoom in the concept art) was one of many early submissions that were part of an internal competition for who would be Sonic's sidekick in Sonic 2, initially made by Craig Stitt. He would've been more dependent on Sonic than Tails would in the final, requiring Sonic to flip him upright if he got hit, and had to be pushed far enough to power his jets to fly over ground-based hazards and water. Other initial designs for him included a bird, a kiwi, a design more akin to Sonic's with similar shoes and gloves, and one with a visor. The list in the top left of the second image also includes names for other planned species. It's likely that the concept of a jet-powered turtle was the inspiration for the Turtloid badnik in Sky Chase Zone.
Scrapped Badniks
Sand Shower Badniks
Concept art was drawn up for a second, cactus-themed badnik for Sand Shower. The idea for it was that if Sonic got too close to it, the badnik would start flashing red. It would then explode, shooting out projectiles in a way similar to the Bomb badnik from Sonic the Hedgehog. It was never decided if the badnik would have moved towards Sonic or stayed still.
There was also a warthog badnik planned for the zone, but what it would have done is unknown.
Frog
The developers of Sonic 2 toyed around with the idea of a frog-themed badnik, which would have hopped around on a specific path. If Sonic got too close to Frog, it would have shot a projectile at him (seen in concept art below).
A frog-like badnik would eventually appear in Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Ball
There was a cut ball badnik that would have simply bounced up and down to hurt Sonic. Its graphics can be found as early as in the Nick Arcade Prototype, and its object code exists in the August 21st build. Early concept art of this enemy incorporated a spring into its design (similar to Banper). If Sonic tried to attack it, he would get bounced off, and would have to find a different way to defeat the badnik (if at all). The enemy could have been used to the player's advantage by jumping on the springs and being able to access a normally-inaccessible platform.
In the final game, there are no badniks which have a spring built into their design.
This document on the object's color information contains a different design for the ball than those seen all known builds. Whether or not this is an earlier or later iteration is unkown.
Snail
Multiple iterations of a snail badnik were planned. The vertical mode was palnned for Hill Top Zone and would have climbed a wall and taken chase after Sonic if he was near, either by curling into it's shell or using rocket boosters. The "3rd incarnation", which simply strolls forward and charges at the player, appears in the Nick Arcade and Simon Wai prototypes and is the only version of the snail implemented in any known builds of the game.
Bubbler and Bubbler's Mother
Bubbler and Bubbler's Mother were scrapped badniks intended to appear in Chemical Plant Zone. Bubbler's Mother would have planted Bubblers, which would expand to hurt the player and then disintegrate. Graphics for this enemy exist as early as in the Nick Arcade prototype, and it's object code was implemented in the August 21st build.
Some concept art for Bubbler's Mother show early names for Chemical Plant (Chemical Factory) and Hidden Palace (Secret Palace).
Other Badniks
Several animal/insect-themed badniks were drawn up for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but were never implemented into the game. They include;
- The Frog badnik mentioned above.
- Squid and lobster-themed badniks, intended to be in underwater levels.
- A pterodactyl/vulture badnik, which would have flown over the player and dropped bombs on them.
- A dragonfly which would have had five bombs attacked to its body as its "abdomen". It would have dropped all of them as it approached Sonic.
- A mole badnik with a drill on its nose, similar to the Grounder badnik. It would have hid behind a wall and, when Sonic approached it, burst out of its hiding spot.
Other
MTV and Sega: Rock the Rock
Oddly enough, the Sonic & Knuckles promotion MTV and Sega: Rock the Rock shows some more concept art at 5:59. Of the new pieces are Super Sonic in space on the right, and ice level (likely Winter) and possibly Rock World at the bottom.
