Thanks to everyone who submitted these as lots of stuff is covered. If you have a theory, check here first, and if it's not here submit your theory.

New SRZ Theories
Theory 057 Sonic 2 HPZ Theory X By Zykuro
If you ever thought Tails was the Guradian check this out. It explains why Tails was
ditched as the Guardian due to the gamers tastes of the time.

Theory 058 Sonic 2 Theory By BKEmpire@aol.com
Some thoughts on where HPZ was in the level order, and suggests some reasons that urged Sonic Team to cut it from the game.

Theory 059 Theory of the icons (Zone 1, Zone 2, etc...) in the bonus of Sonic 1. By LaMuerte
In english and spanish! This document presents a possible explanation for the unused Zone icons in Sonic 1.

SoSTH Theory Archive
Not a Theory 32X FAQ  This file which i just happened to find in my archives talks about what the 32X is and the idea behind the so called 32X/Genesis unit code named mars.. definitely good for reading.

Theory 001 Dust Hill Zone Alpha
Is Dust Hill Zone from Alpha or Beta Sonic 2? You will be shocked....

--- By Mosquito LS5 --- Dust Hill Zone Alpha --- Remember, how before most people knew about the Sonic 2 Beta, all we really cared about having to do with that was Hidden Palace? Of course, there was that other screenshot... the one known as Dust Hill. This screenshot does not appear anywhere in the Beta. Neither does the screenshot labeled Death Egg Zone that shows Sonic running down a purple ramp, which was reported by Vector (and for those of you who know the site GameSages, this is not the same Vector). At the site Sonic: The Conspiracy, a mock-up theory is suggested, saying these screenshots are fake screenshots created by Sega to show what they thought the game would look like. Although most of the screenshots have been proved to be from the Beta, this theory could easily be true for these two. However, I have a theory of my own, that these are real. And not from the Beta. But from another version. An earlier version. Not the Beta - the Alpha. --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 002 CD Secrets - And Longer Levels
Amazing discoveries about the missing "icons" in Sonic CD and more!

--- By Gabriel Morales --- CD Secrets - And Longer Levels --- I have been recently messing around with sonic cd (domestic sega cd version) using the debug. Everyone knows that there are icons which are nowhere to be seen in the game, right? WRONG! I have found 2 of the 3 strange icons in the levels and i am sure I can find the 3rd! I found the 2 (clock and the S (super sonic icon)) in the bad future of palmtree panic. I was fighting robotnic when I noticed a small bar in the debug parts list. I placed it and another robotnic appeared. Cool. I beat them both and headed down the tube thing, but I didn't distroy the roboegg thing. I thought it would be cool to fight infront of it. So i placed a robotnic. Then... all hell breaks loose. The game screen shakes violently and you a thrown back to the place where you fought robotnic(rats!). But the game only scrolls horizantaly, not verticly. So your under the area. When everything comes back into order, you'll notice 3 1 up icons ( i think the might not be 1 up icons, because i used a clock before. I'll explain later) Anyway, I move ontop of one and exit debug (other wise i'd just fall into a pit) and jump. It turns out the first is really a 1 up (or maybe a silver ring. Read on!), while the second is ... THE S!!! THE THIRD IS A CLOCK!!! Cool, eh! Now for my theorys and findings: When you jump on a clock, other than all the animations stoping, all the icons turn into 1up pictures. They don't give you a 1up though. My theory is the silver ring is useless untill you wold hit a clock icon (which would have been in the levels). Then they would turn into 1ups untill the clock ran out. OR. When you hit the clock, all items would be 1ups for a short while. But the coding was never finished. I also believe that super sonic was going to be in the game.OR. that the S icon is not supposed to be in the game and is used to show the game the invincibility and super shoes physics. Also, I think the levels were intended to much much much larger, because when you scroll down into the ground on palmtree panic, there is another level down there, complete whit springs and rings. --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 003 The Secrets Changes of Sonic Crackers
If you've ever wanted to know why there are different versions of the same level in Sonic Crackers, this theory will completely change your life!

--- By Loony Mike --- The Secret Changes of Sonic Crackers --- Here's a theory I have about Sonic Crackers. I think the reason that it has the same level with different colors(except for the carnival level) is because you play the level at different times of the day. At first, it's morning. Then, when you go World 2, level 2, it's evening. The other levels are also different times of the day. Well, that's my theory. --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 004 Beta Theory Pack
It’s interesting to read about what people thought about the Sonic 2 Beta before they had played it. This is one example.

--- By AJ Freda --- Beta Theory Pack - Classic!! Note: This theory was written before the release of the Sonic 2 Beta ROM. --- #10 is the real music for Hidden Palace. I have proof: You can speed up the music with Super Sneakers in the sound test, They probably didn't have the music finished yet in your beta copy, so they used something else, just like for wood zone, etc. #10 plays with the hidden palace level on the FINAL sonic 2 cart, so that was the finished music. Here is my theory about how all those lost levels went bye bye ^_^ Ok, First they had all those levels, then they took out Neo Green Hill Zone, Wood Zone, and Genocide City Zone, and they told magazines not to list those levels because in the carts that the magazines received those levels were still in there. Sonic Team told the magazines that they were sure they were going to put Hidden Palace in, and were fairly positive about Dust Hill (mystic cave). That's why you see so many pics of them in magazines. That one early dust hill picture was probably taken by a magazine that got the first stage development cart and didn't listen to them. ^_^. Next, they renamed dust hill to mystic cave. Then, once Sonic Team was wrapping up Sonic 2, they found out they had more than 12 levels (all sonic games come with 6 or 12 levels), so they said alright alright, we'll take out HPZ, but they had already programmed the level in, so they stuck in a few bytes of code to skip the level and take it out of the level select menu, and they took out the graphics to save space. END!! ^_^ --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 005 Beta Backlash
A disturbing look at the effect of "theory disagreement".

--- By Stealth --- Beta Backlash - Classic!! Note: This theory was written before the release of the Sonic 2 Beta ROM. --- aj's "proof" is less than convincing. the music in sonic games are all a midi type thing. all the "speed shoes" in sound test do is increase the tempo. plus, since the hidden palace in the real sonic 2 is crap, theres no telling exactly why it loads the music from sound test 10 it couldve been intentional, it could be a bug, it could have something to do with whats modified in the save-state... lots of things that music doesnt really fit the real hidden palace anyway... sound test 3 does much better. besides, if you want to argue over the "real hidden palace music", you would have to say it was 3, because the only playable version of hidden palace (ie.. the "real" one) uses that music and from what i know, "neo green hills" was the early name given to aquatic ruins. the name isnt really creative, so its obvious that they wouldve changed it if they thought up a better one. as for dust hill, i read part of a letter from saturnman saying the original one WAS supposed to be a desert level, but sega didnt feel itd interest the japanese. the level was stopped, and they probably used the name for mystic caves like i said earlier for aquatic ruins.. lack of a better one at the time i dont exactly know the deal with wood zone... but as you said, in your beta its unfinished. they might have stopped development on that level for others they thought were more suited for the game, and ran out of time in the rush sega was putting on them to send the game to the market, so they had to cut it out. same with hidden palace. earlier on, i heard something about sonic 2 being the last sonic game, because itd bring an end to the story. the hidden palace mightve had something to do with that, especially since one of those pics you uploaded has something that looks similar to s&k's master emerald. either they didnt have enough of the zone finished by the time they had to sell it, or the plot behind that part wasnt developed enough.(leaving way for future sonic games) and for the number of levels idea... i doubt that had anything to do with it. if they'll all fit on the cart, theres no problem with it, and the more thereare, the happier the players will be itd be pointless to "stick a few bytes in to skip the level"... really, if the game is like saturnman says, just a bunch of files that are encoded, they might have forgotten to remove ONE file, which held basic structure of the level. the garbage in the background comes from trying to load graphics from a part of memory that shouldnt be accessed, i ran into that problem while programming my games before. thats my 2 3/4 cents.. make of it what you will --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 006 Is Dust Real?
The author of this theory show us the reasons why the desert Dust Hill Zone may or may not be fake. Take a deep breath before reading..

--- By Jarred Man --- Is Dust Real? --- Have you ever noticed that there is a song that doesn't match anything in Sonic 2? And in the Beta Dust hill is Mystic Cave zone? I have three points to point out on the "off-center sonic" picture of it. Mystic Cave zone probably replaced it. 1. Sonic could be off center because if you go at a high speed, he moves off center, and he probably is stopping. Sort of when running on certain parts of Chemical Plant Zone. 2. The rings/time/score come from Sonic 1, probably an earlier version. 3. What sense does it make calling a zone w/o dust named dust hill zone? Evidence it is fake: 1. Sonic is off center---doesn't appear to be stopping, and he moves back on center quickly. 2. Where's tails? Can't shut him off in Sonic 2 Beta too easily (Get him lost) unless he wasn't always in the game. 3. There is no evidence that the rings/time/score ever looked different. In fact, if someone wanted to make a fake picture before even seeing a game, it is hard to picture revisions of text, making the old text the safest bet for a fake picture. --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 007 Visions of Vector
An incredible collection of theories. It will suck you in and keep you glued to the screen until the end... Beware!

--- By Vector --- Visions of Vector --- Before I start, yes, I am the same Vector who reported the purple Death Egg Zone. (Actually, the level was pink and blue, but I guess the 2 colors got combined as the information was passed along :) Anyway, the first theory I'd like to mention is the one about a Sonic 2 Alpha. I think that this theory is correct, and it does explain the Dust Hill Zone. However, the actual explanation of the prototype Death Egg shot is a little different. It turns out that the shot was actually from the prototype Casino Night. It had been used in a magazine, and the caption was something like: "Sonic and Tails will need the new Spin Dash moves to get throught the 12 huge zones, including the Death Egg Zone." It showed Sonic and Tails spin-dashing on a blue diagonal floor that led up into what looked like a loop. Anyway, since I didn't know about the previous Casino Night design until seeing it on the pages of SoStH, it seemed reasonable to think that this was the Death Egg. I did have a secondary theory (which turned out to be right), of an early Casino Night, because it did look Casino Night-ish. However, it was clearly a different set of graphics, and the magazine seemed to call it Death Egg, so wouldn't ypou come to the same conclusion? I think it's really cool that I was mentioned in a Secrets theory, since I'm a big Secret Sonic fan and I've basically been wondering about the numerous pics in that magazine since I noticed the changes in the final version. (I actually played a preview of Sonic 2 a month before it came out, and I thought the title screen was a prototype because it had been different from the one in the magazines. :) I did think I should clear this up, though. Does this mean that there wasn't a Death Egg Alpha? Not at all! In fact, I have another explanation for why such a Zone might have existed. When S&K was first reported, the magazine called it Sonic 4, mentioned the backwards- compatibility, and said that it was supposed to include the levels that had been missing from previous Sonic games. The 2 weirdest beta pics (the ones with Sonic running in air) - Dust Hill and the Hidden Palace shot with Triceratops Badniks - were included in the article. I think Mushroom Hill was the new Wood Zone, Sandopolis was the new Dust Hill, and Death Egg was the new Death Egg. Lava Reef 2, S&K Hidden Palace, and Sky Sanctuary together were supposed to make up for fans' loss of Hidden Palace from Sonic 2. Lave Reef had the cave aspect, along with the high-speed tubes, while the new HP and Sky Sanctuary brought the "ruins" aspect. After all, both S2 HP and Sky Sanctuary had green ruins. Doomsday might have even been the new Genocide City. You say on your page that all you do there is fall - maybe you're supposed to be Super. Super Sonic was invented in Sonic 2, after all. But I'm not so sure about the Doomsday connection, so that isn't really a major part of my theory. The only S&K zone that doesn't seem to be a revival is Flying Battery, but the S3 Level Select confirmed that it was going to go between Carnival Night and Launch Base originally,' so that still supports this theory. This theory is kind of a stretch, but I never said I was 100% certain :). Here is some interesting news - I can confirm LoonyMike's theory about daytime/nighttime play. From what I hear, Sonic Crackers was the prototype that led to Chaotix. Chaotix does have morning/daytime/ sunset/nighttime play, and the music in one area is different according to the time of day. --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 008 Dust Hill CD
Another Dust Hill Zone theory. But this time, the author tells us why the the zone may have been in Sonic CD Beta.

--- Scott Niermann --- Dust Hill CD --- I saw a theory on another page that says that Dust Hill (desert version) could have been one of two things. One way, it could have been Quartz Quadrant past. Two is that Dust Hill was a level itself that was erased in the final version. It probably was number two in the level slect. There is no two on the level select menu, so they assume it might be dust hill. My theory is based on this. I think that a level like this could probably be in sonic CD Beta. It is only a theory but a good idea. --- Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original' http://secretsonic.cjb.net ---

Theory 009 Sonic 2 Versions - RTF Document :: Word Document (Corrupt)
This epic collection of well-researched theories relating to the different versions of Sonic 2 is over 4,000 words long!
By Cyan
Note: Microsoft Word Document appears to be Corrupt

Theory 010 Disturbing Palace Redundant!
The points mentioned in this theory are expanded no end in 'Palace Separations' making this text file redundant.

---
By Jarred Man
  
---
Disturbing Palace
---
New and disturbing belief:
Hidden Palace Zone was indeed revised and shipped.

Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic and Knuckles is not that
much, however, Act 1 of Lava Reef Zone has all the
same detail and is complete.

The green things sonic could walk up in Sonic 2 were
replaced in Act 2 by blue metal things.

The rock backround remained for the beginning.

Those "pipes" in the walls remained.

As for the music, Stealth is probaly right. Hidden
Palace Zone probably had no music. If you get over
100 rings in the beta version for that board, it resets.
---
Taken from 'Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Original'
http://secretsonic.cjb.net
---

Theory 011 Pyramid Beta
Some excellent Sonic 2 Beta theories. It would be great if he could scan those EGM Dust Hill Zone pictures..Pyramid Boss!
Theory 012 Emulation Bulb
The name says it all! Truly an excellent theory on why the "Sonic Two and Knuckles" rom does not currently work on any emulators.

Theory 013 Beta Badniks
Time-travel in Sonic 2!? Repetitve badniks!? And created by someone who has many E-mail addresses!? WOW!

Theory 014 Palace Separations - Word Document :: Webpage
So, was Hidden Palace separated into many parts? Find out here! By Jarred Man.