There’s a lot of great content inside Sonic Origins. Not only does the collection feature a handful of classic Sonic games, but it also includes some new content that wasn’t in the original releases. Some of the games’ worst-kept secrets are simple to find such as the debug mode or the level select screen, but one piece of content was missing from the original Sonic 2 that’s made its way into Sonic Origins: the Hidden Palace Zone.
The Hidden Palace Zone was rumored to be a secret zone that players would have to search for when the original Sonic 2 launched in 1992. Ironically, no such zone existed in the original version of the game so hours of turning over every rock and log in search of hidden content were wasted. It wasn’t until the 2013 remaster of Sonic 2 that Hidden Palace Zone was officially included in the game. Now that Sonic Origins is out, fans were delighted to discover that the secret zone was included in the recent collection.
More Sonic Origins guides:
| All Level Select Codes | How to Be Super Sonic | How to Access Debug Mode |
How to Find Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic Origins
Because of the sprawling nature of Sonic levels, it can be a bit difficult to directly follow a guide on where something is located in a specific level. If you’re getting lost, make sure to check out the walkthrough video by Block Surprise linked below. The video isn’t of the Sonic Origins version of Sonic 2 and they end up having to double back to find the it, but the hidden zone is in the same place in both versions.
It’s worth pointing out that the Hidden Palace Zone can’t be accessed from the secret level select menu until you’ve discovered it naturally for the first time. After you’ve been there once, it’ll be unlocked in the level select menu, but until then, you’ll need to follow the steps below.
- Start at Mystic Cave Zone 2. You can either get there by regularly progressing through Sonic 2 or by warping there immediately using the level select menu.
- Start heading right, lower the bridge and then immediately jump down to the area below, watching out for the spikes.
- Continue to the right, lower the next bridge, and jump up the two collapsing brick ledges to the floor with the blue robotic millipede.
- Head right running up the two ramps while avoiding enemies.
- At the end of the line, you’ll find a vine-covered switch to grab hovering over a pit. Grab the switch and then drop down below being mindful of the spikes on the right side of the pit.
- At the bottom, head to the left and drop down as far as you can go avoiding being crushed by the three rotating boxes.
- Continuing down and to the left, lower the bridge blocking your way and run down the next pit with the two brick ledges minding the spikes on the far left.
- Once you’re down again, head to the right across the track that dips down and up and jump on the bounce pad at the end of the track over the spikes.
- Continue to the right avoiding enemies as they come your way, but when you encounter a vine-covered switch to lower the bridge that’s on the other side of a seemingly endless pit, don’t grab it. Instead, fall down into the pit which is the secret entrance to Hidden Palace Zone.
