Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Game Gear auto demo)

The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 AutoDemo is a Sega Game Gear EPROM cartridge demonstrating the then-upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It was sent to several magazines worldwide for preview purposes. On July 14, 2014, Orengefox obtained a copy of the AutoDemo, and the ROM was released to the public in August.

As the name may suggest, this Sonic 2 AutoDemo is not playable - instead, the demo plays itself, starting with a simplified introduction sequence and title screen (much like the final game), before continuing with Sonic running through an early version of Green Hills Zone (complete with loop), gliding through a largely empty Sky High Zone, and briefly riding one of Underground Zone's mine carts. Following this, a static "Coming Soon" screen appears, and the demo loops from the beginning.

A single music track plays throughout the demo - one not present in the final game. Much is different from the retail release of Sonic 2, most notably the introduction and title screens and the Green Hills Zone tileset. Tails is also completely missing.

Many early screenshots of the game shown during development are thought to originate from this demo - the primary giveaway being that as gameplay is always the same, the ring and time counts at specific points never change. Furthermore as the HUD resets at the start of each of the three sections, Sonic is seen using a hang glider mere seconds into play - in the final game there are no opportunities to use one this early.

Date: May 12th, 1991

[CoolCademM]

The music slapped in this game but the only thing I’d change is the white noise volume. Like DAMN it was loud in this game.