Sonic 2 - Scrapped and Renamed Levels

Pre-Production Name (as seen in concept art and production sketches)	Beta Name (as seen in the beta ROM & later in the Solid Gold Guide)	Final Name
	Green Hill Zone	Emerald Hill Zone
	Wood Zone	-deleted-
	Metropolis Zone	Metropolis Zone
Hill Top Zone	Hill Top Zone	Hill Top Zone
	Hidden Palace Zone	-deleted-
	Oil Ocean Zone	Oil Ocean Zone
	Dust Hill Zone	Mystic Cave Zone
	Casino Night Zone	Casino Night Zone
Chemical Factory Zone	Chemical Plant Zone	Chemical Plant Zone
	Genocide City Zone	-deleted-
	Neo Green Hill Zone	Aquatic Ruin Zone
	Death Egg Zone	Death Egg Zone
	Sky Chase Zone	Sky Chase Zone
	Sky Fortress Zone	Wing Fortress Zone
Desert (Sabaku) Zone	-deleted-	-deleted-
Rock Zone	-deleted-	-deleted-
unnamed winter level	-deleted-	-deleted-

Wood Zone

Screenshot from beta ROM

Probably inspired by the Ewoks' village from Return of the Jedi, Wood Zone may have originally been planned as a "past" version of Metropolis Zone. Production sketches indicate the idea for time travel was considered for Sonic 2.

Dust Hill / Mystic Cave Zone

Contrary to what some people still believe, Dust Hill is Mystic cave.

Chemical Factory / Chemical Plant Zone

In production sketches, Chemical Plant was referred to as Chemical Factory (or Kemikaru Fakutori). The name was probably shortened because there is a limit to how wide a sprite can be.

Genocide City Zone

The only information available on this level is its name, as it appears in the level select of the beta ROM. According to one developer, the level was scrapped in favour of a third act for Metropolis Zone. There has been some suggestion that Genocide City would have used recycled Chemical Plant graphics/tiles.

Desert Zone

Production sketches name this level as "Sabaku Zone", which translates as Desert Zone. Some graphics were created for this level, which were used in concept art, but the level was scrapped at a relatively early stage.

Concept Art

Rock Zone

As time travel was originally planned for Sonic 2, the "past" version of Desert Zone would have been Rock Zone. This idea never got past the drawing board, and most probably, neither did Rock Zone.

Unnamed Winter Level

Referred to by fans as "Winter Zone", this level would have closely resembled Desert Zone. Some graphics were created by Brenda Ross, one of the artists who worked on Sonic 2. Cacti would have been replaced by Christmas trees and the Desert's yellow tones replaced by blue and white.