S2B/Sonic 2 Beta Zones/Hidden Palace Zone/Page 2

Master Emerald in Sonic 2? After years of investigation, it's now believed that it is nothing more than a breakable object for Sonic to go through.	The tube leads to nowhere.
Our exploration of Hidden Palace is stopped by this steep slope. Here's where debug comes in handy.	Going up the slope a bit, you'd see a collection of horizontally arranged rings. A lift is to be installed, perhaps?
The slope goes all the way to the top of the level, but continues again at the bottom. Many believed this warp-around feature of the zone was causing technical problems, and was one of the reasons why Hidden Palace was cancelled.	Neat waterslide that has no effect on Sonic.
Underwater platforms suggest Hidden Palace may involve a certain extent of underwater gameplay.

You're stuck inside solid rock when the level starts. If you move out using debug, you'd notice the level is exactly the same as act 1, but without objects.

Stop the Emerald Obsession

"Tails is the guardian of the Master Emerald" "The Master Emerald serves a significant purpose in Hidden Palace" "At this point Robotnik would steal the Master Emerald" "..." STOP!!

Since the unearthing of the prototype, the Sonic Secrets scene has been plagued by people making up "theories" (which are really "stories") associating this emerald with over-dramatized elements, such as it being guarded by Tails, or it being a place for other Chaos Emeralds to activate.

THESE ARE ALL FALSE.

This "Master Emerald" is merely an object for Sonic to break through before entering a tube, like in Chemical Plant Zone. We know because it has been confirmed by a zone artist, Craig Stitt, who worked on the very Hidden Palace Zone. This is straight from the horse mouth.

I have no idea what the Master Emerald is. If you are refering to the large emerald in the screen shots, that was simply a 'block' that you had to break inorder to gain access to the tubes beneath.

Craig Stitt, Hidden Palace Zone Artist @ Sonic Database

And again:

Im sorry to burst the Master Emerald bubble, but it was just a plug to stop up the tube. Sonic broke it the same way he broke anything open in the game.

Craig Stitt, Hidden Palace Zone Artist @ Sonic Database

This makes sense, because SonicTeam didn't really focus on the story aspect of the game, until Sonic 3.

So why is there only one such emerald in the zone? Why was the initial tube not blocked by the emerald? One possible explanation is that since the breaking effect is not yet working, there's no point putting it on every single tube since it'd just get in the way.

As we can see, there is nothing special with this object. Don't give it a second look. Case closed.

Within the Sonic Secrets scene, inventing theories involving the "Master Emerald" is equivalent to sticking up a sign that reads "I am a n00b who have done no research on the subject, and love to make silly things up just because it sounds more dramatic." Be glad that you read this today. Be an insider, not a n00b!