Monday, November 1, 2010

A Genocide City Update

It had been about two weeks since I had played the Sonic 2 beta, I had kept dreaming about it every night. The dreams were getting worse and worse, I was waking up from them covered in sweat, I couldn't get back to sleep, I was too tired to function during the day. I knew I had to try my Sonic 2 cart, it was the only way I could move past this. I was too afraid to try it by myself, however. I invited a friend over, and not wanting him to think I was crazy, I casually suggested playing Sonic 2. I turned on my Genesis, heard the familiar "SE-GA!" voice, and then the title screen came up. Tails wasn't in it, and I screamed at the top of my lungs.

My friend was understandably startled, and asked what the hell was wrong with me. Barely holding back tears, I blurted out the whole story in a barely coherent babble. When I was finished, my friend just stared at me for a few seconds, then spoke:

"What are you talking about? Tails was on the title screen, just like he always is."

I wasn't able to respond, somehow this made things seem even worse, now I wasn't even sure if it really was some kind of curse, or if I had just gone crazy. I sat in complete silence for a few minutes, my friend made up an excuse about having to be somewhere and left, I can't blame him. After the initial shock wore off, I tried actually playing the game. Tails wasn't there, and the bonus round was impossible. I got this message after losing:

"You Can't Run From Your Failures."

I had absolutely no idea what to do at this point. I considered checking myself into a mental institution, but that last message about running from my problems made me afraid to ignore the game. Thinking about the messages, I decided I only had one option, even if nothing good was likely to come of it: I had to play through the game again.

I decided to do the next playthrough on my Genesis, holding a controller, being in front of a TV, using a system from my childhood made me feel safer than playing the beta. Aside from the lack of Tails and bonus stages, the first two zones were completely normal. I wasn't surprised at this point when Dust Hill came up after Chemical Plant, but after going a few screens into it, I saw something new in the background: Tails, hanging from a noose on one of those old west style stands you see in Hangman games. This image would repeat itself in the background every few screens worth of scrolling. When I got to where I had fought the boss before, there was another image of Tails being hanged in the background, Robotnik wasn't in his special boss vehicle, just the generic Sonic 2 floating vehicle he makes his escapes on. He did a laughing animation, and flew away. There was no victory screen, it just faded out and went to Aquatic Ruins.

The zones that are in the final game were normal, but when I got to Wood Zone, there was another change. I had noticed textures in the wood that looked like faces on my first two playthroughs, but now they were much clearer: Tails' face, in a twisted scream. These were carved everywhere in the level, when I got to the boss the biggest carving yet was in the background. Again, Robotnik just did a laughing animation and left, causing the screen to fade out. Mystic Cave and Oil Ocean were normal, then I reached Hidden Palace. Hidden Palace had changed a lot more than Dust Hill and Wood Zone, there was no music at all, and no enemies either. I walked through two empty levels, until I reached the part where Robotnik had killed Tails. Nothing was there, not the Master Emerald, Tails, or Robotnik. Sonic went into his despair pose from when Tails had been killed, and stayed like that for about 30 seconds, until the screen faded out.

Genocide City started, and it to was very different. This time it was filled with enemies, demon shaped robots covered in fire. There was no way to kill them, and the level was still lacking rings. There were also lava spouts shooting up from the bottom of the screen, and fireballs falling from the sky. This was one of the hardest platforming levels I had ever played, but after several deaths I made it to the goal sign, which still had the floor gap next to it. I touched the sign, and this time I did the trick that lets you control Sonic during the end of level score tally. It worked, and Sonic didn't run into the pit. The victory message was in that familiar black text:

"It Won't Bring Him Back."

The screen faded, and Genocide City Act 2 appeared. The graphics were different here, the fire had burned out, replaced by ashes and soot covered ruins in the background. Again, there were no enemies, the corpses of the animals that became badniks had returned, but this time they were all laying in a pile of ash. Also like my first visit to the zone, the only obstacles were some small gaps in the floor, this time they looked like holes that had been burnt through it. I reached the end of the zone, Robotnik was in his vehicle, at the right end of the screen, about level with Sonic. He didn't move, so I attacked him. He made the usual flashing damage animation, so I kept doing it. After eight hits, he still hadn't reacted or been defeated, but the black text appeared again.

"What Do You Hope To Accomplish?"

Not sure what else to do, I kept attacking Robotnik. After a few more hits:

"Killing Him Won't Bring Your Friend Back."

I continued to attack Robotnik, the message changed every few hits. I'll post them in the order they appeared.

"You Let Him Die, That Will Never Change."

"Revenge Won't Soothe You Forever."

"Like The Past, He Is Lost Forever."

"You Can't Get Your Innocence Back."

"Your Enemy's Blood Can't Wash Away Your Mistakes."

"You Have No One To Blame But Yourself."

"Take Responsibility For Your Failure."

"You Are Attacking The Wrong Person."

After getting all these messages, I got an idea of what the game wanted me to do. Instead of jumping at Robotnik to attack him, I walked into him, causing Sonic to take damage and die. One final message came up:

"You Have Paid The Only Acceptable Price."

The game reset, and the title screen came up. This time Sonic wasn't there either, there was just an empty circle. I started the game, and the screen the common beta sends you to when you select Genocide City appeared. There was no timer, no Sonic falling to his death, nothing. I turned the system on and off and tried again, the same thing happened. I tried the beta on my computer, same thing, same screen. I tried another Sonic game, it was the same, everything in the series had erased him. I haven't tried to play a Sonic game in quite a while now, but I see that one screen every time I close my eyes.

(This story is credited to a person called KI Simpson. View the first Genocide City story here.)

39 comments:

  1. I suggest letting your friend play the game for you. See if anything odd happens while HE'S playing.

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  2. "I tried another Sonic game, it was the same, everything in the series had erased him."

    Try playing Knuckles Chaotix.

    Well, Sonic hasn't been a great loss, we still have Shadow and Blaze as clones of himself.

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    Replies
    1. Try using debug is everything deleted? Or is it scrapped? Gone? Still there but no sonic? Or tails?

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  3. He should play one of the 3D sonic games, it would be interesting to see the cutscenes with Sonic and/or Tails.

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  4. This is a blessing in disguise. Now he can't play any of the new games.

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  5. So naturally Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic for the 360 and PS3 what with having nearly jack all to do with Sonic will be mostly identical due to your hubris.

    Or maybe your eternal punishment IS only being able to play Shadow the Hedgehog. Creepy~!

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    Replies
    1. What about Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine?

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    2. what about shut the fuck up

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  6. What a shame, the original was written to a point where you might actually believe it, should you be so inclined...The update however just felt 'whored', if you'd excuse the seemingly rude term. Don't get me wrong, it was still entertaining, just lacked the believable aspects of the original.

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  7. Something about the empty title screen prevented me from sleeping the first night I read this.

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  8. Honestly I just stopped reading. The writer took the first one, stabbed it a few times, then ejaculated into the wounds. You have the first one where the writer is talking about the beta and removed levels. And suddenly magic out of fucking nowhere! His cartridge has those levels too.

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  9. Sonic and Tails dead? What are you complaining about? I'd celebrate!

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  10. Hold it. Sonic 2 doesn't have a "Wood Zone", let alone a "Hidden Palace Zone". Only thing I read was you can get to the palace through a glitch. Nice try. :/

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    Replies
    1. *ahem*. Wood zone, Hidden Palace, Dust hill, etc. are official zones that didn't make it into the final game.

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    2. *ahemER* Hey there Sonicfangamer2 (I guess you just aren't #1), this RETARDED anon's RETARDEDER comment was already addressed by the anon DIRECTLY below him (or possibly her, but I'd bet she's too fat to be considered feminine), so.....you comment there was kinda useless. Now practice harder so you can be #1!

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  11. @ november 6 anon
    They are removed levels from Sonic 2. There are 4 removed levels and Genocide Zone is one of them. Part one of this story describes what would happen with the pre-beta (alpha if you will) that had these stages in full, good and bad endings.. Part two (this) describes what happens as a consequence.

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  12. ...wait, so, how did Sonic get erased from the other games? If it's still that virus from the computer version you talked about, the solution is to play one that wasn't on the Genesis or computer. If it wasn't on the Genesis or computer anyway, that means you've taken that game too seriously, and for that reason, have gone insane, which explains the friend seeing Tails still there. If you reply, unless you outright say you made this story up, I will believe the second suggestion, since the first one has no explanation for the friend. If you don't reply, I'll assume that this is fiction.

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    Replies
    1. It was the character going insane.

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    2. Wait............this was FICTION!?!?!!?!?

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    3. More or less describing what...agh, look at the anon above you and save me the exact same speech.

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    4. I was being sarcastic. That anon who had to ask was as dumb as.......the offspring of a KI and a Simpson...

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    5. Nice joke, I'm fucking dieing of laughter (this reply is not sarcasm though, anon from May 28th)

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  13. I loved this pasta. more so because I have i have a 102 degree fever, and my xbox isn't working I've been playing Genesis all day, more importantly, I've been playing SONIC 2 all day, and now I kinda don't want to anymore... :/

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  14. What have you done? You've changed the past! You've created a time paradox!!!

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    Replies
    1. What have YOU done? You commented without saying faggot or nigger....you've created a comment paradox! Dr. King would be proud. And he'd then steal your chicken and rape your wife.

      Delete
  15. Well this whole story together was very CReAtive If I Do SaY SO MySElf. MaKE a PaRT 3 IF YOu CAn.

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  16. Labels: Childhood Raping
    Me: WTF???????

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    Replies
    1. 'good', wait, actually, good, uhm, actual fucking question

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  17. This changes nothing, still fucking hilarious, doesn't matter how much you try, this is too fucking funny

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    Replies
    1. Edit: THIS. WAS. FUCKING. HILARIOUS.

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  18. WHERE ARE THE DAMN PICTURES

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  19. This was by KI Simpson, not whoever Skella is, mr TAG SPAM

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  20. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DAMN TAGS!?!?!?

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