Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Concept Art
This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis).
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Contents
Yasushi Yamaguchi (Judy Totoya)
Most of these would eventually be used for the Japanese box art and manual, either as vector artwork or colored line art.
Initial line art of Sonic and Tails used on the Japanese box art. Sonic's face would later be redrawn, and Tails has his mouth open in the finished version.
Facial expressions for Tails, some head turnarounds, and a model wireframe.
Initial line art of Sonic. The face and shoes would again receive a slight redraw, though not as noticeable.
Line art of various Sonic poses.
More line art of Sonic poses. The swimming pose (bottom right) is missing a bubble in the manual.
Line art of various Tails poses. In the bottom-right pose, Tails erroneously has only a single tail.
This page seems to be a correction sheet, as both images are redraws of poses seen on other pages. The bottom pose has the most obvious corrections, as Tails now has two tails as opposed to the one shown in the original.
Line art of the Tornado.
Facial expressions for Dr. Eggman.
Line art of various Eggman poses.
Turnarounds of the Egg Mobile.
Concept art of Robo Eggman.
Turnarounds of Mecha Sonic.
Emerald Hill Zone badniks (Buzzer/Stinger, Masher/Gabuccho, Coconuts/Aiai).
Chemical Plant Zone badniks (Spiny/Lander, Grabber).
Aquatic Ruin Zone badniks (Chop Chop/Piranha, Whisp/Bun-bun, Grounder/Handrill).
A Casino Night Zone badnik (Crawl/Guardon).
Hill Top Zone badniks (Rexon/Zaura, Spiker/Tsun-tsun, Sol/Gola).
Oil Ocean Zone badniks (Octus/Octar, Aquis/Seadra).
Metropolis Zone badniks (Shellcracker/Punch Crab, Asteron/Telstar, Slicer/Kamakiller).
Sky Chase Zone badniks (Turtloids/Dawson, Nebula/Potosu, Balkiry/Valkyn).
A Wing Fortress badnik (Clucker/Kokekko).
Scrapped Sidekicks
Boomer the Turtle
Boomer the Turtle (also named Boomy and BoomBoom in the concept art), made by Craig Stitt, was one of many early submissions that were part of an internal competition for who would be Sonic's sidekick in Sonic 2. While his shell would've provided as a strong defense, he was still quite vulnerable and would've been more dependent on Sonic than Tails would be in the final. He would've required 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 badniks 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.
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 unknown.
Snail
Multiple iterations of a snail badnik were planned. The vertical mode was planned for Hill Top Zone and would have climbed a wall and taken chase after Sonic if he was near, either by curling into its 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 its 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).
Dinosaur Badniks
Concept art showcasing several early designs for the Steggo and other dinosaur-themed Badniks.
Gator Badnik
Concept art for Gator and an unused Pillbug enemy, along with a rather large sketch of Sonic wagging his finger.
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 attached 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.
Zone Concept Art
Casino Night Zone
Concept art for Casino Night Zone. Depicts Sonic in a Sonic the Pinball machine, using a different color scheme compared to the final and prototype.
Metropolis Zone
Concept art for Metropolis Zone. The zone is presented with gray being the primary color, instead of the final's green.
A sheet, showcasing an early version of the level design for Metropolis Zone Act 3
A sheet showcasing a furnace and pipes for Metropolis Zone
Death Egg Zone
Concept art for Death Egg Zone, featuring Eggman in the Eggmobile, Death Egg Robot and his window, along with Super Sonic and Mecha Sonic Mk 1, referred to here as Meca Sonic.
Special Stage
Concept art for the Special Stage. interestingly, the stage seems to be taking place in a regular zone, with the ground and the background being similar to Green Hill's, instead of the geometrical environment of the final version.
