In 2006, Sonic 2 again followed in the footsteps of Sonic 1 by appearing, pre-installed on Panasonic mobile phones in Japan. A few months later, a new version was released on a later phone model which featured an enhanced title screen and an "attack" mode, putting the player through a sequence of Special Stages or boss battles. The mobile version that we'll all be more acquainted with however is "Sonic 2 Dash", or just "Sonic Dash" which was released over on Western shores in April 2008, published by Glu who, at the time of writing, have a demo available to play online. The game is too big to squeeze onto a mobile in one go (or perhaps it isn't, and they want to make more money, hmm..), so only the first five zones are playable, with the remaining five and Death Egg to come at a later date, assuming it again follows the example set by Sonic 1. Conflicting media appears to portray two versions of the game, one that features exactly the same graphics that we're used to, with both Sonic and Tails, and another whose levels suffer toned down foregrounds and plain colour backgrounds, without Tails present. Perhaps this is relative to you're phone's capabilities? In either case, your HUD is now placed outside of the game window in a green bar area. Buttons 4 and 6 move left and right, button 2 is a straightforward jump, while buttons 1 and 3 are jumps that are automatically combined with the left/right buttons accordingly. 5 looks up, and also selects options, 8 looks down and rolls Sonic in a ball while moving, and 7 and 9 correspond to the down button combined with left/right. The initial title screen menu offers self-explanatory Instructions, Hi-Scores and Options (for European languages, difficulty and volume) menus. Selecting to start the game allows you to play either from the beginning or to pick one of the zones available.

It's been well documented on the internet that a number of ideas were put into Sonic 2 during development, many that didn't see the light of day. Names and media of many levels that were planned for the game, but dropped somewhere down the line have surfaced through developer interviews, early playable versions of the games and development notes and sketches. One of the most prominent is a theory that Sonic 2 stages were actually planned to have past and future versions, much like those that were featured in Sonic CD, Ohshima's alternative, fully Japanese sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog. Perhaps the biggest insight into Sonic 2's world of forbidden pleasures came in the late 90's, when an unfinished, barely playable beta ROM of the game was discovered on a Chinese website by Simon Wai, containing all sorts of unused content and levels that did not feature in the final Sonic 2. In an interview with website Gamespy in 2005, Sonic 2 lead programmer and "Father of Sonic" Yuji Naka happened to casually mention that a beta of the game was once stolen from a Sega demonstration at a New York toy show in mid-'92, and it's believed that he was talking about the original cartridge that this discovered beta could have come from, which then supposedly went on to be sold by pirates (probably not the "yarr" kind) under the unfortunate misguidance that it was the complete version. Thanks to the wonder of emulation and hacking and stuff, this little gem was let loose across the whole online Sonic world, leaving a rather large dent of notoriety in it.

The beta contains many levels, both familiar and otherwise, and their degree of completion varies a great deal, with some being very similar to their final version counterparts, while others carry completely different graphics or layouts. The game isn't designed to be fully playable, and the production of some of the later and unheard of stages hadn't even been started, it would seem. The correct character physics had largely been established, though bugs and glitches do still appear, such as Tails' ability to lose your rings when hit. If you can get a hold of the beta ROM and play it on an emulator, press A and start on the title screen to open up the level select menu, where you'll be able to access all of the proposed levels in their varied states of completion (some of which have different names to their final versions). Additionally, for debug mode, press C four times, then up, down four times, up, then A and start at the title screen. Select a level and hold A while pressing start. Levels include:

Green Hill Zone (Emerald Hill)
Wood Zone
Metropolis Zone
Hill Top Zone
Hidden Palace Zone
Oil Ocean Zone
Dust Hill Zone (Mystic Cave)
Casino Night Zone
Chemical Plant Zone
Genocide City Zone
Neo Green Hill Zone (Aquatic Ruin)
Death Egg Zone

Whoa! That's a pretty different roster, eh? Lets have a looksie at some of the new boys..

The name was also used for a short, story-driven level in Sonic & Knuckles, but it was originally found here. Sega released a lot of Sonic 2 media to the public alongside development to help hype it up, and this level appeared in numerous screenshots. Having seen these shots, some players were disappointed to find this cool-looking underground water cavern zone absent from the final version of Sonic 2, and made it known to the content-cutters behind this unpopular decision. Hearing their cries of concern, Sonic Team squeezed the level into Sonic & Knuckles a couple of years later, but as you can see from these screenshots, the resemblance is not entirely uncanny, despite being based on similar location types. In the interview mentioned earlier, Yuji Naka claimed that the team simply ran out of time to finish it off, and it just had to be cut. It's difficult to know where it would fit, as a similar cave level (Mystic Cave Zone) already exists in the final game, although he also goes on to claim that the level would have been accessed once Sonic gained all seven Chaos Emeralds. Supposedly, Hidden Palace would have been where the emeralds came from, and also where Sonic would be granted his Super Sonic ability. The moral is therefore to blame Sega management for avoiding delays and forcing it out before completion (a crime that, years later, they are still doing with much worse affects).

Fortunately however, Hidden Palace Zone, in its original glory does appear in Sonic 2 beta in a noticeably more complete and playable state than its fellow lost levels. There is one act, and you can only play it so far before being stopped by a large, mysterious green emerald blocking a tube, but all the graphics seem to be near enough complete. A lot of research has been put into this level since discovery, and it's been found that it was probably so close to completion that some distorted traces of it can even be found hidden deep within inaccessible regions of the final game. It even has its own music, which you can find in the Sound Test as track number 10. Originally thought to be an unused tune, this is now heavily believed to be the background music intended for Hidden Palace Zone. The music used for it in the beta version, however, is completely different, and would become the tune for the 2 player versus version of Mystic Cave Zone in the final game, which I prefer, personally.

Hidden Palace is a colourful affair with ground made of golden crystals, straight gold platforms for surfaces, and crystal pillars of green, purple and gold, complete with glowing circles. The background is made up of rows of more purple and blue crystal rocks and through them are beautiful waterfalls cascading down throughout this jewel encrusted cave. The structure is fairly enclosed, with tunnels and passageways, and the ground is very step-based. There's water looming along the bottom of the level, long, twisting green pipes to add speed, and check out those cool green bridges, which light up as Sonic walks over them. The only real objects around are crumbling platforms and a couple of level-exclusive badniks not seen in the final game.

You won't find either of these badniks in the final Sonic 2. The bat flaps around near the ceiling until you come along, where he swoops down in a semi-circular path towards you and returns to the ceiling. The red dinsoaur bot does little but trundle back and forth over a set area. After killing them, these badniks will reappear if you leave the area and come back.

Something that they would never have kept for the final game, in order to get down to the platform just below, you have to drop off the edge to the left very carefully so that you can just hang onto the one directly below. Fall off, and it's death for you.

And then you come to this. The ultimate icon for anything involving Sonic mysteries. It appears as though this big green emerald (probably not supposed to be the Master Emerald) is blocking up this tube, preventing you from going any further, and as of yet, no way of shifting it has been found. What lies behind it? Nothing, because the level has not been completed beyond this point, but the exact reason for its existence has been under constant dispute. Most likely a breakable rock that hadn't yet been made breakable at that point.

This is a far less complete zone in Sonic 2 Beta, but there's enough here to spark some interesting theories. As the simple, and probably temporary name would imply, this lost stage is set deep within a thick forest, on wooden platforms high up in the trees. The background is nothing but a thick load of dark green leaves, and around the place are wooden log platforms with railings, tunnels cut into the tree trunks with windows, and more leaves. All there is to do in the level is walk forward, fall through the tunnel and then come out to the right. There are a few other platforms and things around, but they aren't accessible without debug mode and if you try to jump out of there, you'll fall to your death.

It's this zone that seems to spark the theory that Sonic 2 was originally intended to integrate time travel into the stages, as mentioned above. Believe it or not, this level may have been where Metropolis Zone now stands, in the past, before Robotnik came and burned the wood down to create his factory. The tunnel entrances look similar to the those of the transport tubes in Metropolis, they carry the same kind of colour scheme and at an inaccessible point at the top of the map, there are even wooden conveyor belts. Perhaps most incriminating, they both have the same music in Sonic 2 Beta, which is a slightly altered version of the final Metropolis Zone tune. As with Hidden Palace, it's unknown why and at what point in production Wood Zone was dropped, but the time travel idea does create a strong, and interesting link to the Metropolis Zone.

Though the name "Dust Hill Zone" does feature in the beta, it is actually an earlier version of the Mystic Cave Zone. However, it is believed to be a possible name for this level, otherwise known as "Desert Zone". A wild west style desert the likes of which are rarely seen in the Sonic series, but unfortunately this level is not in the beta, and has never been made playable to the public. This one and only image of it has been found to most probably be a mock-up screenshot, i.e. a picture made up of the proposed sprites and artwork to create an idea of what the level will look like, before it was actually made. Hence the fact that Sonic has carelessly been slapped on there off-center.

Interestingly, the sprites for that crocodile have apparently been found nestled within the Sonic 2 beta, and more interestingly, interviews with Brenda Ross, the creator of this zone, have suggested that whatever was designed of it was to be made inter-changeable with artwork for a so-called "Winter Zone"! I don't think anything else is known about that, but because they were supposed to be linked in that way, could these Desert and Winter Zones be another case of time travel in Sonic 2? We may never know. Comments from Brenda Ross have suggested that around half of the level may actually have been put together before it was dropped.

Also notice a "Genocide City Zone" in the level select list of the beta. This level contains absolutely nothing except death for Sonic and Tails, but the name certainly sounds intriguing. A desolate, destroyed city from the future, not unlike Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)'s Crisis City? Perhaps even the "bad future" version of another stage? Another name discovered in conceptual enemy sketches for Sonic 2 is a "Rock Zone". Whether this is yet another dropped stage, or an alternate name for one of the others is unknown. Bear in mind that simple names like Wood, Desert and Winter Zones probably would have been changed to something more imaginative towards the end, had they been included in the final version. Sonic level names usually conform to a pattern of either two words, or one long one, followed by the "Zone".

Level Select: Go into the options menu on the title screen, and then go down to sound test. Play the following tunes in order: 19, 65, 09 and 17 (based on 17th September 1965, which is Yuji Naka's date of birth!), then press start to go back to the title screen. After Sonic and Tails have come up, and everything else has finished, hold down the A button and press start. You should be taken to a new menu where you can start the game from any act of any zone, and you can also access the first Special Stage, and another sound test can be found at the bottom. When you've selected a level, during gameplay, you can pause the game and then use the C button to advance the action frame by frame. Hold B to create a slow motion effect. Press the A button while paused to go back to the title screen, then you can just hold A and press start to go back to the level select menu straight away. If you restart the game normally, you may have to input the whole code again in order to use it.

Debug Mode: Like in Sonic 1, this allows you to change your character into any object that appears in the level and move it around the area, placing instances of that object as you go. First, get to the level select menu, then go to the sound test at the bottom of the list. Play these tunes in order: 1, 9, 9, 2, 1, 1, 2, 4 (24th November 1992 - Sonic 2's US release date). A ring chime will indicate that you've done it correctly. Select an act, but don't forget to hold down the A button before you press start. Keep it held until the level begins, and if it worked correctly, the score in the top corner will be full of letters and numbers. Now, you can press B to turn into an object, then D-pad to move your position around the level, A button changes the object, and C places one of those objects in the position you're currently in. Press B to go back to being your character, where buttons are used as normal until you press B again. You can interact with the objects you've placed, but they only stay there for as long as you're nearby, otherwise they'll disappear.

Enable Super Sonic: To cheat your way into getting Super Sonic without going through the painstaking task of collecting emeralds, simply input the level select cheat, and go down to its sound test. Play these tunes in order: 4, 1, 2, 6. The Chaos Emerald jingle will play. Now select an act, grab 50 rings, then jump.

Enable Super Tails with Super Sonic: Yes, believe it or not, you can get a form of "Super Tails" to aid Super Sonic, when playing as Sonic and Tails. First, get into the level select, and in the sound test, put both the Super Sonic code and the Debug one afterwards, so the tunes you need to play are: 4, 1, 2, 6, 1, 9, 9, 2, 1, 1, 2, 4. Choose an act and hold down A and press start, as with debug. Now you'll be able to turn into Super Sonic, and also use the regular debug features at the same time. Turn Super (you can create the necessary 50 rings yourself, remember), then change to the item box object, and open it up. This item is automatically a teleport item, as used in the 2 player versus games, and this actually transfers Super Sonic's characteristics to Tails, and he's surrounded by the standard invincibility stars. He can now run faster, jump higher, and is invulnerable to all attacks. However, because they've swapped abilities, Super Sonic no longer has them for himself, despite keeping his appearance and depleting supply of rings, he is essentially Sonic again (though he can still jump higher than normal, it would seem). Lose all your rings, so that you can officially go back to your blue self, then churn out another 50 and turn Super again, and you'll regain your abilities.

Easy Emeralds: If you're having trouble keeping 50 rings to get into the Special Stages as you play through the game, bear in mind that the number of emeralds you've collected so far is saved when you get a game over, and then start a new game through the options menu. So you can begin your first game and obtain the first emerald, then purposefully lose all your lives to return to the title screen. Go into the options menu, highlight the player select option and press start, keeping the same character you used previously. When you next go into a Special Stage, you'll find yourself in the second one, and the first emerald has been kept for you. Keep doing this for all emeralds.

14 continues (plus a catch): Go to the options menu, and in the regular sound test this time, put in the following tunes: 1, 1, 2, 4. Go up to the character select option and press start to begin the game with 14 continues under your belt. Tune number 4 is Oil Ocean Zone, and the catch is that due to a glitch of some kind, this tune will play continuously throughout the rest of the game, instead of the regular level music and sound effects that should play. So unless you plan to play without audio, or really, really like that tune, it's probably not worth it.