The Video Game History Foundation has uncovered never before seen Sonic 2 beta content
Out of any video game's development history, Sonic 2's is perhaps one of the most researched and documented of all time. Ranging from meticulously studied beta cartridges, pre-release promotional material, and interviews, fans have spent decades trying to understand every aspect of Sonic 2 for the Sega Genesis. Over the years, bits of new information about Sonic 2's development have trickled out, but a new endeavor has seen a ton of never-before-seen content make its way online for fans to enjoy this past week.
The Video Game History Foundation got in touch with two of the former members of Sega Technical Institute, the division of Sega that worked on Sonic 2. Tom Payne and Brenda Cook (née Ross) were both artists who worked on the game, and offered up content to be backed up related to the game's development. Everything provided to The Video Game History Foundation was backed up onto The Internet Archive to be preserved. This includes a demo reel VHS from Cook, which includes a handful of animated frames of a cut desert level, and a screenshot of another cut snow level. Payne's artwork shows art assets that would never make it into the final game, as well as level design chunks and enemies that are only seen or mentioned in beta cartridges for Sonic 2.
The full writeup, as well as a YouTube video going into detail about the preservation are available below, with high-quality backups of all of the documents available to view on The Internet Archive.
The Video Game History Foundation Blog
The Internet Archive