Exclusive: New Sonic 2 Game Genie Discovery - The Key to Wood Zone?

Following our past investigations with Sonic 2 and Game Genie codes, The Sonic Stadium can say that it has also managed to uncover an alternative version of Emerald Hill Zone without the use of ROM hacking tools.

Simply by using a Game Genie and a retail copy of Sonic 2 plugged into a Mega Drive, you can discover a version of Emerald Hill containing Wood Zone-style graphics, leading some to believe that this could be the start of uncovering the truth behind one of Sonic 2's long-lost levels.

How do you get to it? Simple.

You need a Mega Drive of course (this code, provided by fellow Sonic Stadium-ist and affiliate, @Roareye Black, has not been tested on ROMs and Emulators, however since it's the same game, it will probably work anyway), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and a Game Genie, of all things.

Using the Game Genie, Roareye was able to pretty much 'hack' into either a Beta Version of Emerald Hill (which may seem more probable) or, the beginnings of hot-on-the-heels access to Wood Zone. Roareye simply got there by accident, modifying the Game Genie Code to get to the Hidden Palace Zone.

Here's the code to get to Hidden Palace:

Hidden Palace Cheat: Input this code in your Game Genie: ATLA-ATCY. Then start the game. Go to Options and do the Level Select (Play tunes 19, 65, 09, 17. Hold A, press Start. On title screen, hold A and press Start). Then in the Level Select, go to the Sound Test and play tunes 01, 09, 09, 02, 01, 01, 02, 04, 01, 02, 06. Select Emerald Hill Zone Act 1. Hold A and press Start. Pray as you see the Hidden Palace titles zoom past. No floors though, so press B as soon as you can. Whizz about the empty screwed up level at your leisure.

See that code up there? Roareye edited that Game Genie code to make up some crazy results. To access these, all you have to do is change the code to the one shown - everything else you do (like the level select, etc) is as explained above.

Emerald Hill (With Wood Zone style textures): ATLA-AECY
Emerald Hill (With basic textures & layout): ACLA-AGCY
Emerald Hill (With polished textures - no clipping): ACLA-ACCY

Again, this may look like nothing special, yet we're all excited about it. Maybe it could be the way further into the game. Maybe it's a dud. Whatever, you read it here first. ^_- More on this as it happens.