Dust Hill description in an old magazine

ICEknight · Feb 2, 2004

Here's the only known magazine article that mentions the title Dust Hill Zone:

Surprised? Maybe you expected pictures from the desert and a description of "Ashura" on the side. :P

If you can prove that Dust Hill is something else, post your proof*.

*Mangled interviews don't count.

PinkRose324 · Feb 2, 2004

OMG!!! 111 IT'S TEH DU$T H1LL!!! *shot*

seriously, IMO, this proves that dust hill is not a desert zone and that the desert zone is still unkown.

can you find descriptopns of other lost zones in that magazine?

ICEknight · Feb 2, 2004

The article has a description of [possibly] every other stage in this prototype, but the only lost stage in there is Hidden Palace.

At that point (75% complete, according to EGM), the known levels were:

-Green Hill Zone
-Chemical Plant Zone
-Neo Green Hill Zone
-Casino Night Zone
-Hill Top Zone
-Dust Hill Zone
-Oil Ocean Zone
-Metropolis Zone
-Hidden Palace Zone
-Sky Chase Zone

...And the magazine doesn't show more stages. There's no pics of Hidden Palace as they "don't want to spoil it since it's hidden".

It's not clear wether it's supposed to come after Metropolis or anywhere else. Also, there might have been more levels but they just didn't want to show the last ones.

Lostgame · Feb 2, 2004

Kool. Well, I'm not sure about the interview now, but oh well. It's cool.

SuperBlah · Feb 2, 2004

but why "dust hill", it doesn't look dusty at all. *blasted*

ICEknight · Feb 2, 2004

If the average house features some dust in those places that aren't cleaned properly for a couple of weeks, imagine how much dust will a cavern have. :P

Badass Cyborg · Feb 2, 2004

ICEknight said:

If the average house features some dust in those places that aren't cleaned properly for a couple of weeks, imagine how much dust will a cavern have. :P
Click to expand...

Yeah, but still....."Dust Hill Zone"? Where in the cave is there a hill? Why couldn't they have just called it something like "Dusty Cavern Zone"? :blink:

ICEknight · Feb 2, 2004

Why Quartz Quadrant, Flying Battery and Chrome Gadget? Because the designer thought it was a good name at the moment.

Then somebody else might have noticed what you say and told him to think of a different title, which was Mystic Cave.

LOst · Feb 2, 2004

ICEknight said:

Here's the only known magazine article that mentions the title Dust Hill Zone:

Surprised? Maybe you expected pictures from the desert and a description of "Ashura" on the side. :P

If you can prove that Dust Hill is something else, post your proof*.

*Mangled interviews don't count.
Click to expand...

That magazine scan can be a hoax. I've seen better scans.

Badass Cyborg · Feb 2, 2004

LOst said:

That magazine scan can be a hoax. I've seen better scans.
Click to expand...

I agree to some extent:

Enter a dark and menacing system and find you need to get out alive!
Click to expand...

This phrase always struck me as odd. Either this is a hoax, or the editor of the magazine has very bad English skills.

SuperBlah · Feb 2, 2004

ICEknight said:

Why Quartz Quadrant, Flying Battery and Chrome Gadget? Because the designer thought it was a good name at the moment.
Click to expand...

Quarts Quadrant - quartz formations in the level,

Flying Battery - "Battery" is An emplacement for one or more pieces of artillery, or a set of guns or other heavy artillery, as on a warship. (Doctionary.com),

Chrome Gadget - level full of gadgets and traps, with a "chrome" style.

I think the title also has to do with the way the level looks too, IMHO

ICEknight · Feb 2, 2004

LOst said:

That magazine scan can be a hoax. I've seen better scans.
Click to expand...

...It's not a hoax. I have the whole article scanned since a while ago.

SuperBlah · Feb 2, 2004

ICEknight said:

LOst said:

That magazine scan can be a hoax. I've seen better scans.
Click to expand...

...It's not a hoax. I have the whole article scanned since a while ago.
Click to expand...

still, the author needs spell check badly :P

The MOPMASTER of the year 3000 · Feb 2, 2004

Dust Hill.. I finally get it. Inside of hill TOP zone.

Timecrash · Feb 2, 2004

...What?

The MOPMASTER of the year 3000 · Feb 2, 2004

lets see, hill top on both sides, metroplis below, and casino night above. Looks real, but after the sonic 1 thing, need more proof.

Quickman · Feb 2, 2004

still, the author needs spell check badly
Click to expand...

No they don't. Every word there is correct.

(Doctionary.com)
Click to expand...

Ahem.

Personally, I think the rings there are a little suspicious. They're a little too random to be spilled, and they're all the perfectly round sprite, something we only ever see on the mock-ups.

Guess Who · Feb 2, 2004

Not to mention it could just be a S2B rom close to ours, when Mystic Cave is still referred to as "Dust Hill".

Quickman · Feb 2, 2004

I don't think so. It looks more like a beta. Our prototype is an alpha. It has the DHZ/MCZ boss, we know that much.

ICEknight · Feb 2, 2004

In this article, everything looks like the final version and the only missing things seem to be Wing Fortress and Death Egg, although they could have wanted to leave those as a surprise, like they did with Hidden Palace.

Also, this seems to be the version that appeared in one of the game guides, with the title cards already implemented (there's a known scan with the title card saying "Neo Green Hill").

Guys, it's very simple. Either face the facts when there's enough proof to back them up, or keep living in a fantasy land where Dust Hill is a desert that could have been in Sonic CD and Sonic 2 was going to have time travel.

Dust Hill description in an old magazine

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