Tileset conversion, by 
Ah, the Hidden Palace Zone. One of the levels that was cut out of the Sonic 2 Beta. Of all the Sonic games I know, Sonic 2 for the Genesis/Mega Drive had been changed the most radical since it’s beta stage: 3 zones were cut (Wood Zone, Hidden Palace Zone and Genocide City Zone), some others got name changes (Neo Green Hill Zone -> Aquatic Ruin Zone), while another was completely rebuilt (Casino Night Zone). Anyway, of all zones cut, HPZ was the most complete, so the most likely one to be converted. Ok, enough of the story, let the rating begin.
Conversion Completeness
Unfortunatly, HPZ was never released in Sonic 2 (tho it got a little reference in Sonic & Knuckles), but screenshots of the beta were released, so I guess I have to resort to them from memory… Every tile I’ve seen seen the screenshots seem to be there, even part of the background I didn’t know about (lower most part). It even has the animations, and a lot tiles for them, due to the background waterfalls. Even the “Master Emerald” is there (Take note that the big green emerald that looks like the Master Emerald was used to cover the sucker tubes, and not to turn into “Super Sonic” or something. Just to let you know ;p) Speaking of Sucker Tubes, they are two tiles wide, so be carefull when using them. I’m amazed about the size of the set, even tho it may not be complete (it’s a beta!)…
Masking
Masking is almost perfect, no crooked lines whatsoever. Be carefull with the half-pipe type tiles tho: the worst disavantage of Jazz is that he can’t run up walls like Sonic can. Also, I have a complaint about the steepness of the green platform. Normally, I’d avoid angles above 45 degrees, that one is almost 70! A better choice would have been to make the mask stairlike, the green extensions are perfect for that. Those two thing (half-pipes and very steep hill) aren’t completely useless, since Jazz can run on them so some extent. Still, he’s no Sonic, so use them with caution.
Extras
I can be really short in this category: no extras like poles, destructible blocks, etc. The sucker tubes were part of the original, hence them being mentioned in the first section. I can understand the author didn’t want to make it too big, but still… the TSF set size limit is 4096 AFAIK. It would have been nice to put at least a Sonic/Tails/Robotnik sign in it, or some enemies just for the show.
Example level
I’m not gonna rate the level, but it’s worth mentioning it’s a remake of the Act 1 beta level. It’s pretty close tho, from what I’ve seen in the screenshots. I just wish the author would have chosen better music: I’d have preferred having Song #3 (the original HPZ music, now for 2P Mystic Cavern Zone) or #10 in the Sound test(lost music, sounds appropriate for HPZ) and even if he didn’t have them J1 Crysilis would have made a good substitute. Still, example levels are only ment to show off the tileset, which it does well.
Verdict
Pretty good conversion of the Sonic 2 Hidden Palace Zone, it’s a shame it’s not as usefull to JJ2 like it is to Sonic 2. With some improvising on the half-pipes you can make a fine level with this. Recommended, if it had more extras I would have given it a higher rating.
- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3
