Sonic II Beta Versions

Documentation by Cyan Helkaraxe
Research by Bane Singollo

Legal Issues:
This document may be distributed freely as long as no changes are made to it in any way. If you wish to add / change anything within it, then please e-mail the author for permission.
Also, the author cannot be held responsible for anything caused directly / indirectly by this document. The author is in no way involved with SEGA or any of its subsidiaries.
Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Tails Prower, and all other characters / games are copyrighted and owned by SEGA enterprises Ltd.
It is illegal to distribute full commercial games on the Internet, and the author has nothing to do with software piracy in any way. I cannot tell you where to get ROMs etc. However, as far as I understand, it is LEGAL to download versions of games that are in Beta or Alpha format, although if you are in any doubt, do not.

Introduction:
The aim of this document is to enlighten oneself on the subject of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” game series. Specifically, this document talks about the various versions of Sonic the Hedgehog II that were created before the full commercial game.
These Alpha and Beta versions are very rare, and occasionally cartridges of these games can be found selling for several hundred dollars each. However, recently, one Beta version of Sonic II was made available to the general public free of charge in the form of a ROM file.

The person responsible for making this ROM file available was Simon Wai. However, it 
wasn’t Simon who actually obtained the ROM in the first place. To find out how he obtained the ROM, one shall have to observe the past. Several years ago, a device was released called the Super Magic Drive. This was very popular in Hong Kong. The idea of this device was to copy ROMs on to diskettes, and load ROMs from diskettes. This allowed oneself to obtain videogames on a diskette.
However, Sonic II Beta was falsely distributed in Hong Kong as the full version during the first half of 1992. It was removed from circulation a while later, but due to the popularity of Sonic, many people would have bought it thinking it was the full version. Therefore, some people would have the diskettes. Simon Wai obtained the ROM file from a web site constructed by a Hong Kong resident. This web page is written in Chinese, so many English-speaking Sonic fans would have had no chance of obtaining this ROM by searching the Internet.

It is quite possible that other beta versions were “leaked” – many cartridges were distributed to magazines for review, so somebody may have copied one.

Why should there be more than one beta version?
When a game is being written, it goes through many stages in development. Most of these stages are in the form of a ROM file on the hard disk of a PC running an emulator. Obviously, when the game is being written, many backup copies are made. However, these copies are confidential to SEGA, it is doubtful if they ever left the offices. When Sonic 2 was released, it is probable that they were deleted. However, the software manager of SEGA Europe is known to have received many copies of the game while it was being developed, so it is possible that one or more of these has leaked. These copies were e-mailed from America to his PC. The rare possibility exists that a hacker managed to break into these transmissions and get the file. 1992/3 was SEGA’s best year market wise, so it is very possible that a hacker somewhere expressed enough interest to break into their computer system.

However, what actually gives beta versions titles, like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and pre-release is the distribution. At various key points in development, the game is “Sellotaped” up (user interfaces made reliable, zones arranged in a playable order) and distributed to various magazines for review.
SEGA would normally ask for such cartridges back, but occasionally one will be “lost”. Most of these losses occur not down the back of desks, or down drainpipes, but into one of the employees bags and into their homes.

How many beta versions are there?
Although I have not consulted official sources, I can make a fairly accurate estimate. I have exclusive proof of at least four versions, and I would imagine that there are about two more unaccounted for.
These are Alpha, Beta (Simon Wai’s ROM), Gamma, and Delta
I am currently gathering information together to prove the existence of another version.

How can you prove this?
To prove the existence of all these versions, first of all, we have to observe the evidence that I have gathered.
Most of the evidence is based on screenshots (mainly from magazines and books, meaning the chances of hoaxes are smaller), although some information was from the Internet.

Evidence:
The first source I shall look at is the Sonic 2 Beta version, from Simon Wai.
These are the key points of this game:
•	Tails has no flying animation
•	Sonic’s running and jogging animations are different
•	The title screen is in the style of the Master System version of Sonic 2 (see below)

•	The level select screen is in the style of Sonic 1, with the title screen in the background, and no small images when you select a zone:

	
•	There are very few badniks
•	There is only one boss (Emerald Hill Zone – the final zone)
•	There are wooden balls released by buttons in Oil Ocean Zone:

	
•	The Hidden Palace Zone, and the Wood Zone are half-implemented
•	Genocide City Zone, and Death Egg Zone are defined, but have no level data. However, both zones are defined as being 2-stages in size.
•	The music for Oil Ocean Zone, and Hidden Palace was used for 2-Player mode in the final game. However, the Oil Ocean Zone final music is in the sound test.
•	There is no Hidden Palace Zone track (number 10 on the final version)
•	Emerald Hill Zone is called Green Hill Zone
•	Mystic Cave Zone is called Dust Hill Zone
•	Aquatic Ruin Zone is called Neo Green Hill Zone
•	The special stage is an option on the select screen, but doesn’t work
•	2 Player is only available through a key-combination
•	The score counter in the game is in an italic font
•	There is no text when you start a zone
•	The Hidden Palace Zone has a modern background
•	Track-stiction is implemented reliably (when you run down a steep curve, such as the Hidden Palace Zone, you stick to the platform)
•	The waterline has a blue ripple effect

Those were the key points to note about the Beta version. However, there is more evidence. We shall now look at a book written by Tony Takoushi (software manager for SEGA Europe) that was released in 1993, ISBN 0-590-55377-1. This book explains how to complete Sonic II, and also features a preview section. This preview section has shots from the released game, shots of a Beta version of Sonic CD, and shots of Beta versions of Sonic II. The shots of Sonic II are under the section “Sonic as you’ve never seen him before!”.

In total, there are for screenshots here. Let’s look at each one in turn, describing them in detail:

Picture 1: Sonic and Tails running across a reactive (lights up when you walk on it) bridge on the Hidden Palace Zone.

This picture is clearly not out of the release version, as it features the Hidden Palace Zone.
Key points:
•	Score counter in italics
•	Hidden palace zone has modern backdrop

The second picture features Sonic and Tails getting somewhat bored while standing around in the Wood Zone. This picture looks exactly the same as the screen seen when you start Wood Zone on the Sonic II Beta version.
Let’s see the key features:

•	Score counter in italics

Well, that’s not much to go on, but we can at least make some use of it. However, the other two shots prove the existence of at least one and maybe two other versions of Sonic II.
Let us examine the first of these two images in detail.

The first image is the Aquatic Ruin Zone. However, like the Beta version, it is called the Neo Green Hill Zone. You see the same as when you start Neo Green Hill Zone on the Beta, but there is a zone title. The screenshot has been taken right after the zone is revealed. On the screen is Sonic and Tails, plus the usual combination of rings and badniks. However, there is text reading Neo Green H Zone 2 on the screen. This is in the process of moving away quickly. The H is clearly intended to be a Hill, but is heavily corrupted. Let’s see the main features:

•	Intro Text in the Sonic II release version style
•	Score counter in italics

Although this might not be much, this will be essential in proving things later. Let’s see the fourth and final image.

This image is the level select for this game, and looks exactly the same as the Sonic II beta version level select. However, there is a considerable difference when you look at what the text reads:

Green Hill Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Metropolis Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Stage 2
Hill Top Zone		Stage 0
Stage 1
Hidden Palace Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Oil Ocean Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Dust Hill Zone		Stage 0
Stage 1
Casino Night Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Chemical Plant Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Neo Green Hill Zone	Stage 0
Stage 1
Sky Chase Zone	Stage 0
Sky Fortress Zone	Stage 0
Death Egg Zone	Stage 0
Special Stage
Sound Select		80
2 Player Vs

This clearly shows differences. Let’s see the key features. The key features will be listed as differences from the Beta version selection screen, as this is the only similar thing to it.

•	The screen is in the same style as the Beta version
	
	Differences from the Beta version:
•	Metropolis zone has moved up the list to take the place of Wood Zone
•	Sky chase has appeared
•	Sky Fortress has appeared
•	2 Player Vs has appeared (but you can get it using a key combination on the Beta version)
•	Death egg has reduced to one-stage in size
•	Genocide City has disappeared

This proves that the version of the game used here is somewhat different to the Beta version. Seeing that death egg has decreased to 1 stage, and non-implemented zones have disappeared, this could be said to be a later version. Also note that the image in the background is the same as the Beta version level select screen, which is a sepia-toned Beta title screen. This means the version we are dealing with here could have the same title screen as the Beta version.
Seeing that Death Egg has reduced to one stage, you can assume that they had started to design it.
The two above points give us two more features:

•	Death egg is implemented
•	The title screen is the same as the Beta version

This concludes our observation of this book, and moves us on to our next source:
The Sonic the Hedgehog yearbook, 1993 (ISBN 1-85830-073-8).

This gives us two sections. Inside this book there is a review of Sonic II, which was published when Sonic II was out. However, while they were writing it, the game was still in pre-release status. Also, on the inside covers, there are screenshots; mainly from Sonic II.

Screenshots from Sonic II:
There are several screenshots, and several things can be noted. The first thing is that the screenshots are from an emulator – not a monitor or TV, due to the fact that each pixel is razor-sharp. The screenshots in the book before were from a monitor. The faults of the emulator show a little – in one zone there is no colour change below the waterline, indicating no raster effects, and in another case, some of the greens are not mapped properly, and end up near-black. The latter could also be explained by faults of the printer, or the gamma-correction system built into early Sonic II pre-release versions.
Here is a compiled list of key features from these shots:

•	Oil Ocean Zone has buttons (to release wooden balls)
•	The background of a few of the zones are different colours. This could be explained by a fault of the emulator.
•	There are many badniks on the zones
•	The waterline has a blue ripple effect (this could be the emulator’s fault)
•	The creepers that you hang on to in the Mystic Cave Zone are implemented
•	Tails is flying

The next source is the review.
Here are the features:

•	The review mentions 10 Zones
•	Special stage is described in detail
•	Split screen is implemented
•	Sonic appears to be swinging his arms in a different way to the released version, indicating the set of sprites used are from the Beta version.
•	The review mentions Tails flying

That is all that can be obtained from that source. Our next source is a Sonic the Hedgehog novel:
“Sonic the Hedgehog in Castle Robotnik”, by Martin Adams, ISBN 0-426-20405-0
Superimposed on the back cover design is a screenshot from the game, specifically, Sonic II – Chemical Plant Zone (as all StH novels in this series do).

This points out one important key feature:

•	Sonic uses Beta version’s sprites when running

Our next source is that of the Internet.

I have studied several screenshots, and although some may be hoaxes (such as Dust Hill) others could be correct. The most important one is that of the Hidden Palace Zone.

The key points of this picture are:

•	Track Stiction is not reliable (Sonic doesn’t stick to the downward curve)
•	Score counter is not in italics
•	Badniks differ

Our final source is Sonic the Hedgehog III.
If up-up-down-down-up-up-up-up is pressed quickly during the title animation, a sound-test option will appear on the title screen. When this is selected, the player is confronted with the same screen as the Sonic II level select (see below).

Clearly, this is the same code as Sonic II, the only difference being the zone names. If you observe the pictures in the corner of the screen, they represent the Sonic II zones. When you select Zone I of Sonic III, you see a picture of Emerald Hill, etc.
This proves one very important point. If you select the second 2-Player Zone, then the image seen is one from Sonic II, and is of the Hidden Palace Zone.

Therefore the key points are:
•	Sonic III has the same code as Sonic II release version for the level select
•	Sonic III uses the same pictures as Sonic II release version (except the hidden palace zone picture has been removed on Sonic II release)

Conclusions:
It can now be safely concluded that there is more than one Beta version of Sonic II.
However, to prove the existence of each one, we need to define a timeline.

This is the current time line, with only the Beta version and Sonic II release version shown on it. However, Sonic I and Sonic III are also shown:

This is obviously nothing but the truth, as we know when Sonic I, Sonic II Beta, Sonic II release, and Sonic III were created/released, as they are date stamped. Sonic II Beta also came before Sonic II release (unless the Beta is a hoax).

Now, we can add further entries into this timeline. The first one we shall add will be Sonic II Alpha. The existence of this can be proven by observing early screenshots. According to evidence gathered above, we can see that:
•	The Alpha version has non-italic counters
•	The Alpha version’s track-stiction is faulty
•	The Alpha version has different badniks.

Taking the first option, we can see that this shot must be old. Sonic I and Sonic III both had non-italic ring counters, so arguably, this shot could be anywhere between Sonic I and Sonic III. However, as this version was definitely created before Sonic III, that narrows down our choices. The released version of Sonic II had italic ring counters.
Clearly, the production team at some point in the timeline, changed from normal ring counters to italic ones. Whenever this point was, the Alpha version came before it.

To help define exactly when this point was, examine the Beta version of Sonic II. Here you will see that they are using italic ring counters. This means that the point of change was between Sonic I and Sonic II Beta.

As if that wasn’t enough to place a rough date on this Alpha version, there are more points to consider.

Track stiction was not implemented properly in this version, which is something that was fixed for the Beta version and release versions. This means it must be older than the Beta version.

The other point is that of badniks. There were other badniks in the Alpha version, as the screenshot clearly shows. Now, this is one contradicting piece of information. This is due to the fact that these badniks never appeared in the later versions. However, if you observe the Beta version, you will notice that there are badniks there which were removed before the final game. This means the production team were happy about removing badniks they thought were boring. This means that they thought the Alpha’s badniks were boring, and got rid of them.

So, there is no doubt now that there is an Alpha version, created some time between Sonic I and Sonic II Beta version. Let’s add that to the timeline:

You will note a few changes to this timeline. Firstly, Sonic I and Sonic III have been removed – they are “out of shot” to either side. Secondly, although we know the Beta version and later were released during 1992, we cannot yet date-stamp the Alpha version, although we know it was developed after Sonic I.

Now, there are more entries that can be made to this timeline, especially after the Beta version.
The next source we shall consult is the book written by Tony Takoushi. 

The first two screenshots could be from the Beta version, as there is no evidence to contradict this information. However, the version they are from could be the same as the version used for the other shots on that page – there is no reason for them to use a different version for two pictures. However, on the screen showing the level select, Wood Zone is not an option, so it can be assumed that either Wood Zone was accessed using debug mode or similar for that screenshot, or that screenshot (and possibly the hidden palace on as well, judging by the similarity) was taken from the Beta version.

However, the other two shots (level select and Neo Green Hill Zone) are definitely taken from a version other that one of our recorded ones.

Firstly, the Neo Green Hill Zone.
Here we can see that the ring counter is in italics. This means it came after the Alpha version. Although nothing else is unusual about this image, one thing that can be noted is the level title. Being Neo Green Hill Zone, this must mean it wasn’t from the release version, as it was called Aquatic Ruin. So this picture is somewhere between the Alpha version and the release version. However, to narrow down the time-frame a little, let’s observe that title. The text is a little corrupted, but it is there, none the less. On the Beta version, there was no text at the start of a level. This must mean that this version came AFTER the beta version.

Now, some may argue that this was from a version earlier than the Beta version, and they temporally removed the level titles because they were corrupted. However, seeing as it is on the same page as the level select, we can assume that it is the same version as that. Of course, the version that created this screenshot COULD be between the Alpha and BETA versions, but it is unlikely, as there is no evidence to suggest it is not a GAMMA version.

The fact that this version is a Gamma (after Beta) can be proven quite simply.
Take a look at the level select screenshot. Now, the title screen is the same on this version as the Beta version. This is because we can see it in the background. However, more importantly, we can see that SEGA have dropped the zones that were going nowhere (Wood Zone was scrapped after the Beta, as it was hardly done, and so was Genocide City; possibly the title was too controversial). You will also note that Death Egg Zone has gone down to 1 stage in size, which means that SEGA had at that point at least planned the level (and discovered only one stage was required) and quite possibly had begun to put the level in.

Also, you will note that several new zones have appeared:

•	Sky chase
•	Sky Fortress
	
	And (not really a zone):
	
•	2 Player Vs has appeared (but you can get it using a key combination on the Beta version)

This means that this is a later edition than the Beta version. Why would they create a version of the game without Sky Chase and Sky Fortress (the Beta version) AFTER creating these levels? They wouldn’t. That is why the version featured in this book is a Gamma version.

So, although we don’t know where the Wood Zone shot and the Hidden Palace shot came from, and although some may argue where the Neo Green Hill shot came from, there is no doubt where the level select came from.

Note two things in passing:
The first is that the Wood Zone shot could be from the Gamma version – perhaps one of the levels (Sky Chase, etc.) still references the Wood Zone data.
The second thing is, even at this point they are calling Mystic Caves the Dust Hill Zone. In the Alpha version, there was a Dust Hill Zone, but was deleted, and overwritten with Mystic Caves. Note in passing that the reason the final’s Oil Ocean Zone music is in the Beta is because it was probably used for Dust Hill, before they replaced it with Mystic Caves. Have a listen to that track on the Beta version – you will be amazed at how much it suits Dust Hill. Of course, on the release version, they had changed the sound settings, so the Oil Ocean track’s instruments sounded a bit more oily rather that deserty.

Anyway, this is our updated timeline:

Now, although the existence of a Delta version is highly controversial, I am preparing to attempt a proof.

Although the evidence proving this is very rare, there are several sources which highly suggest it.

Of these sources, the most notable one is the Sonic III level selection screen.
As proved earlier, it can be noted that there is a Hidden Palace Zone picture on the Sonic III selection screen. Because the same code is used in Sonic II, and this picture doesn’t appear in Sonic II, it can be assumed that they had a reason to draw it.

Seeing that both the Beta and Gamma versions do not have any images, and due to its age, we can assume that neither does the Alpha, there must have been a version after the Gamma version using the Sonic II/III style level select screen, and incorporating the Hidden Palace picture.

This description does not fit any so far proven Sonic II version, and therefore suggests strongly the existence of the Delta. QED.

Postscript:

We think this is a pretty exhaustive proof, but obviously some of you are going to disagree with us. That’s cool, it’s your prerogative. If you’d like to dispute it in a friendly and constructive manner, then e-mail us! We love to talk!

On the other hand, flames will receive nought but the silence of the grave.

Oh, and if you agree with us e-mail us too. Hell, write even if you only speak Swahili and didn’t understand a word!

Yours ever

Cyan Helkaraxe (manic@emulationzone.org)
Bane Singollo (sephiroth281@hotmail.com)