Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)/Concept Art

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This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis).

To do:
Document all of these:

A bunch of other concept art.

Yasushi Yamaguchi (Judy Totoya) Art

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).

Internal Sidekick Competition

A contest was held within Sonic Team and STI to create a new sidekick character for Sonic, with various artists submitting their ideas. It would be Yasushi Yamaguchi (Judy Totoya) who won with his two-tailed fox character.

Boomer the Turtle and "Kiwi"

Boomer the Turtle (also named Boomy and BoomBoom in the concept art), was submitted by Craig Stitt. While his shell would've provided as a strong defense, he was still quite vulnerable and would've required Sonic to flip him upright if he got hit. He also had to be pushed far enough to power his jets to fly over ground-based hazards and water. It's possible that the concept of a jet-powered turtle was the inspiration for the Turtloid badnik used later in Sky Chase.

Another sidekick design included is a kiwi. There's a list in the top left of the second image that has other species ideas, including a bee, armadillo, and squirrel.

For Sonic 2 we needed a buddy / player two for Sonic. This little guy was my submission. He would have been tough with the shell, but vunerable, needing Sonic’s help, if he got flipped on his back. He would have helped out Sonic by being able to ‘fly’ if Sonic pushed him up to speed. Then Sonic would jump up and ride on his back over lava, spikes etc etc.
— Craig Stitt

(Source: SEGAbits)

"Rabbit"

A sketch of a rabbit sidekick idea, also by Craig Stitt.

I have to guess that the 'rabbit' in the upper right is an idea for Sonic's buddy.
— Craig Stitt

(Source: February 2021 interview by DefinitiveDubs)

Enemy Concept Art

Tom Payne's Concepts

Tom Payne sketched out many enemy ideas during the early development of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. According to his documents, these enemies were ideas for Green Hill (Emerald Hill), Hill Top, Chemical Plant, Sand Shower, Rock World, Hidden Palace, Oil Ocean, and what appears to be Blue Ocean. After an enemy idea was approved, Tom Payne would work with Hirokazu Yasuhara to flesh out the concept. Sega's proprietary art-development stations called "digitizers" were then used to create the art for in-game. Digitizer art for many of the scrapped enemies seen here were found on floppy disks owned by Tom Payne.

List of ideas for Green Hill/Emerald Hill, Hill Top, Chemical Plant, Hidden Palace, Oil Ocean, Sand Shower, and Rock World
List of ideas for Sand Shower and Rock World
Sand Shower ideas. Cactus and Warthog
Sand Shower ideas. Frog, Snake, and Scorpion
Vulture/Pterodactyl, Scorpion, Penguin, and Dinosaur
Ant, Scorpion, and Vulture/Pterodactyl
Cactus and Lizard
Vulture/Pterodactyl, Cactus, Wasp, and Dragonfly
Lobster and Vulture/Pterodactyl
Scorpion
Scorpion and Dinosaur
Snake
Snake, Mouse, Fish, Vulture/Pterodactyl, and Dinosaur
Porcupine and Penguin
Pig

Alligator/Gator

The infamous alligator enemy seen in the Sand Shower mock-up. It went unused in the Nick Arcade prototype as a debug item for Hidden Palace and was later removed from the game's data sometime after the Simon Wai prototype.

Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches

Ball

There was a cut ball enemy planned for Chemical Plant that would have simply bounced around, causing Sonic to bounce off of it when hit. Its graphics can be found as early as in the Nick Arcade prototype, and its object code exists in the August 21st prototype before being removed from the game's data in later builds. Early concept art of this enemy incorporated a spring into its design (similar to the Sand Crab). If Sonic tried to attack it, he would get bounced off, and would have to find a different way to defeat the enemy (if at all). It could have been used to the player's advantage by jumping on the springs and being able to access a normally-inaccessible platform. The digitizer page on the object's color information contains an earlier design for the ball than the one seen in prototype builds.

Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art
Early concept art
Early concept art
Concept art
Concept art
Concept art
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Digitizer page

Bee/Wasp

Hirokazu Yasuhara's art showcases a scrapped idea for this enemy, where it's projectile bullets could burn bridges down and open up new paths for Sonic. This enemy was later renamed to Buzzer for the final game.

Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art
Concept art
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches

Bubbler and Bubbler's Mother

Bubbler and Bubbler's Mother were scrapped enemies intended to appear in Chemical Plant. Bubbler's Mother would have planted Bubblers, which would expand to hurt the player and then disintegrate. Similar to the unused Ball enemy, graphics for Bubbler exist in the Nick Arcade prototype, and its object code was implemented in the August 21st prototype before being removed from the game's data in later builds. Some concept art for Bubbler's Mother show alternate names used in development for Chemical Plant (Chemical Factory) and Hidden Palace (Secret Palace).

Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art
Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art (annotated)
Concept art
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Digitizer page

Dinosaur/Stego

A scrapped dinosaur enemy seen in the Hidden Palace mock-up. Like the previous alligator enemy, it went unused in the Nick Arcade prototype as a debug item for Hidden Palace. Despite being removed in the Simon Wai prototype, it was re-added to Hidden Palace in the August 21st prototype and remained in the game's code all the way up to Beta 5. This enemy was later salvaged alongside Hidden Palace for the 2013 remake.

Concept art
Concept art
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Digitizer page
Digitizer page

Frog

A scrapped frog-like enemy, which would have hopped around on a specific path. If Sonic got too close to it, the frog would have shot a projectile at him. The concept of a frog-like enemy would later appear in Sonic the Hedgehog 3's Launch Base.

Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art
Concept art
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches

Lobster

A scrapped lobster-themed enemy, likely intended for the underwater level Blue Ocean.

Concept art
Sprite sketches

Pterodactyl/Vulture

A pterodactyl/vulture badnik, which would have flown over the player and dropped bombs on them. Intended for Sand Shower and Rock World.

Concept art
Sprite sketches

Sand Crab

An enemy designed for Sand Shower and Rock World. It would've taken advantage of the planned palette swap between these zones, hiding in the sand or snow depending on the level before popping out, sending Sonic flying if he jumped on its springs/shell. The early Sand Shower/Rock World design went unused in the Nick Arcade prototype through the August 21st prototype. It was later repurposed as Crawl for Casino Night with an updated design in the September 14th prototype and received its finalized design in the CENSOR build onward.

Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art
Sprite sketches
Sprite sketches

Snail

An early version of the snail was planned for Hill Top 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. A later design labeled "3rd incarnation" simply strolls forward and charges at the player and was used for Green Hill/Emerald Hill instead. The snail appears in the Nick Arcade and Simon Wai prototypes, being later replaced by Coconuts in the August 21st prototype.

Hirokazu Yasuhara's concept art
Concept art
Concept art

Squid

A scrapped squid enemy. As with the lobster, this was likely intended for Blue Ocean.

Concept art
Sprite sketches (colored)
Sprite sketches

Others

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.

Sprite sketches

Other Concept Art

The Sludgehog

A sketch of Sonic smoking a cigar.

Zone Concept Art

Metropolis Zone

Concept art for Metropolis Zone. The zone is presented with gray being the primary color, instead of the final's green.

An early level design for Act 3
Showcasing a furnace and pipes

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.

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.