Back in November 1992, SEGA released Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a sequel to the best selling Mega Drive (Genesis) original. With the addition of a second playable character, ten all new zones and a two player versus mode, the development team had struck gold rings. The game eventually sold over six million copies, not counting the ports and licensed emulations that have been released on various platforms in’its twenty two years of life.

One thing that confused many players was that a zone seemed to be missing from the line-up. In a preview article a few months before the game’s release, a screenshot of an underground zone that bared no resemblance to Mystic Cave Zone had been shown at the preview. Many people considered this unknown level to be lost in development, until a beta version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was leaked onto the internet less than a decade later. After using the game’s level select code to reveal the contents of the prototype, the identity of the level was revealed to the public as the Hidden Palace Zone.

This caused confusion for many, as the name had already been used for a fully playable level in Sonic & Knuckles, albeit with a different design. An interview with SEGA’s Yuji Naka later revealed that the stage was originally meant to be in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, as the origin point for Super Sonic when all the hidden collectables known as the Chaos Emeralds were collected by the player.

Several other levels were also discovered in this prototype, such as Dust Hill Zone, Genocide City Zone and Wood Zone, with many of them being partially playable, or requiring the debug mode to be available to navigate. After some more research, it was discovered that Hidden Palace had found its way into the final release, but could not be accessed without the use of a modification device. The version of the zone differed from the beta release, as all the art was removed, and replaced with an empty space that made the player fall to their death.

Although several reconstructions of the zone were made available in fan modified versions of the game, more commonly known as hacks, the Sonic 2 version of Hidden Palace remained hidden, until it was re-released in 2013 by two young developers by the name of Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley. The two men had become well known in the fan development scene, but were hired by SEGA after revealing a concept build of a port of Sonic CD for iOS devices.

The port was eventually released on Apple, Android and Windows Phone devices, as well as Valve’s Steam service, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. After the sales of the game proved to be worth their while, SEGA asked the two to reconstruct the first game, and then the second using the same engine that they had used for Sonic CD. The engine had originally been constructed by Christian for use in fan created projects, such as the current inactive Sonic Nexus and Retro Sonic XG.

As well as being rebuilt in 16:9 widescreen instead of 4:3, the 2013 remaster of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 featured an extended two player mode, the ability to play as all three main characters, (Sonic, Tails and Knuckles) without needing to lock on with Sonic & Knuckles, and for the first time, a fully built version of the original Hidden Palace Zone. The level itself is not included in a standard playthrough of the game, but requires you to look through every zone with a fine toothcomb to find the elusive entrance to one of the most recognised locations in the series.

If you are interested in unlocking the zone to play for yourself, then look below to find each currently available method. Also included are the methods to reach the incomplete editions of the level from some previous versions of the game, if you are able to find a copy of them. To find out more information about the game, be sure to visit the official SEGA website.

 HOW TO UNLOCK THE HIDDEN PALACE ZONE

1992 Beta Release 

Additional Equipment/Software Required – None

On the title screen of the game, hold A and press START. The level select screen will appear with Hidden Palace listed about halfway down. Simply select the level and begin playing.

1992 Final Release

Additional Equipment/Software Required – Cheat Code Device (Action Replay/Game Genie)

Before booting the game, load up your respective cheat device and enter the following code depending on what version of you have. If one version of the Game Genie code doesn’t work, then it is safe to assume that the other code will work.

Game Genie (Rev 0) – ACLA ATDR

Game Genie (Rev 1) – ACLA ATD4

Now load the game, and get to the level select mode. If you do not know how to get there, simply play 19, 65, 09 and 17 in the sound test mode. When you hear a ring noise, press start to go back to the title screen. Then hold A and press START when the title screen is fully displayed.

Now simply select Death Egg Zone, to go straight to Hidden Palace Zone.

Pro Action Replay – 000080322F

FFFE100001

Simply start the game from the title screen to access Hidden Palace Zone.

2013 Remaster

Additional Equipment/Software Required – None

There are two methods to unlocking the zone. The first is not permanent and will not work until you have found and completed the zone the regular way, whereas the second will keep the level open to access at any time.

Method 1 – Level Select

Start the game with No Save enabled, then press each letter of the SEGA logo when it appears on the white background. A ring noise will confirm you have done this correctly.

On the title screen, press two fingers on the touch screen and brush them up the screen at the same time. The level select screen will now appear. Select Hidden Palace to start the game in that zone.

Method 2 – Finding It Without Cheating

If you have played any of the older versions of the game, then you will remember the inescapable pit in Mystic Cave Zone Act 2. This time you will want to jump into it, as it will take you to the new version of Hidden Palace Zone. The pit is about half a minute after the first checkpoint, and as you need to lower the bridge to progress, it is a literal fork in the road to carry on the rest of the way through Mystic Cave, or go to Hidden Palace.

That’s all the methods that are currently available. Have fun exploring whichever version of Hidden Palace you decide to find.

Do you think the company made a good choice by asking Christian and Simon to port Sonic 2 to newer devices? Let us know what you think in the comments below.