The Sonic 2 Prototypes

Since 1998, the Sonic 2 Beta rom has been easily accessible on the internet, after Simon Wai discovered it on a Chinese website. This caused him to start a very famous website called SWS2B, which contained a massive amount of information about this prototype.

However in November 2006, things changed when drx discovered a new Sonic 2 prototype that had not been dumped or released. The rom was obtained with the help of the community, and hackers began tearing it apart to find new information. A lot of Simon's effort has been used to create this site, combining his knowledge with new knowledge found in this second prototype.

While other sites refer to the earlier prototype with the names listed above, here it is referred to as Beta-E for clarity. The later prototype is reffered to as Beta-M. This naming system was devised by Damian Grove. Why not call the earlier build Alpha? Simple, it isn't an alpha, it is in a far to advanced stage of development to be considered Alpha. Also Alpha builds are generally only inhouse tested, not sent out to Magazines.

Comparisons
Comparisons between the two prototypes and the final.

Lost Data
Unused data within the ROMs.

Zone Comparisons
Comparing features of zones between the two prototypes and the final.

Zone Evolution
Showing how Zones evolved from Beta-E through to the Final.

Level Select and Debug
Access codes for the prototypes.

Timeline
Using magazine pictures a timeline of how the game progressed.

False Alarms
Think you've found something new? Check here first.