Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Beta 4 to Beta 8/Wing Fortress Zone

This is a sub-page of Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Beta 4 to Beta 8.

General Differences

• The background section in Y range 580 to 67F (Seen here in black and white) doesn't scroll in any of the Beta builds. It scrolls like the rest of the background in the final version.
• The lasers at the start of the stage are silent in Beta 4.
• The Tornado doesn't start making sputtering noises until Beta 7.

• Once the speed launchers launch the player(s), the launchers stay in the same position. In the final version, they slowly retract back to their original position.
• The turret platforms near the end of the stage are horribly out-of-sync in Beta 4 and Beta 5, making that particular section much more difficult than it should be.
• In earlier builds, the game doesn't play the boss music during the Barrier Eggman fight. This was corrected in Beta 8.

• In Betas 4 and Beta 5, Barrier Eggman has a nasty little feature: The laser beam can destroy the floating spiked platforms. The platforms will respawn after three seconds.
• Barrier Eggman only takes a single hit to defeat in Beta 8. This was likely changed temporarily to test the following bug:

• During the end cutscene, if the player is Super Sonic, they'll keep their increased jump height and jump past Tails into the pit below. The jump height was fixed in Beta 8.

Zone

Full Maps

Beta 4
Final

Beta 4-5
Beta 6+

The ring lines changed from three rings to eight rings. There's a launcher here in Betas 4 and 5 that would launch the player right into the pit at the start. Kind of a jackass move, since this is the first launcher the player could possibly encounter. To safely demonstrate how it works to the player, they placed it further to the left and reoriented it to face away from the pit.

Beta 4	Beta 5-8
Final

It's possible to get the super ring monitor and speed shoes monitor in Beta 4, but the player has to make a tricky jump from a revved-up Spin Dash. Beta 5 added two more flipping platforms to make it easier for the player.

Beta 4-5
Beta 6-8
Final

Beta 6 added seven more rings to the left, and the final version removed the six rings on the slopes.

Beta 4-5	Beta 6-8
Final

There's a half-circle of rings in Beta 4 and Beta 5 - this is left over from the CENSOR Prototype, which featured another slope. The topmost rings in that curve were deleted, as was the ring to the left that was just kinda there. The three rings were placed higher in Beta 6, and in the final version, two more rings were added above those three.

The small cubby at the right holds a super ring monitor and a launcher in Betas 4 and 5. In other versions, the reward was sweetened to two super ring monitors and an invincibility monitor, but the danger was heightened with the addition of three floating turrets.

Beta 4-5
Beta 6+

Beta 6 deleted the three rings and one of the Cluckers, then spaced the remaining two Cluckers further apart.

Beta 4-8
Final

On the top part of the ship, in every Beta version, there's a long string of thirty rings leading up to a quarter-pipe. The final version removed all but the last three rings.

Beta 4-5	Beta 6+

There's an extra life monitor way up high, past the three super ring monitors floating in the air. It's impossible to get this extra life without Super Sonic, which might be why it was deleted.

Beta 4-5
Beta 6-8
Final

Seems they couldn't figure out how many rings to put in the wind tunnel section. They're in groups of two in Beta 4 and Beta 5, changed to groups of ten in Beta 6, and then in the final version they're pared down to groups of four.

Beta 4-8	Final

The three rings were placed higher up and more to the right. The way they're placed in the Beta versions, the player can run into them, go right past the conveyor belt platforms and fall into the pit below.

Beta 4-5	Beta 6+

The topmost pulley in this area in Betas 4 and 5 is inaccessible, and the pulley below that doesn't lead to anything exciting. Both pulleys changed from lowering down to raising the player up, and the topmost super ring monitor was moved even further up. To get to that monitor, the player has to make a perfect jump from the platform of the added Clucker.

Beta 6 adds two more pulleys, one of which replaced an additional set of rotating platforms.

Beta 4-5	Beta 6+

Beta 6 adds a pulley in the upper-left, five rings to the right of that pulley, and an extra pulley leading to a hidden extra life monitor.

Beta 4-5	Beta 6+

There's a pulley in Beta 4 and 5 that serves no discernible purpose. Naturally it was removed from later versions, starting in Beta 6.

Beta 4	Beta 5-8	Final

Beta 5 added an extra life monitor to the cockpit(?), and the final version removed the three useless rings below Eggman.