Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Sonic 2 Alternate is a hypothetical soundtrack for if I made Sonic 2's music. I love Leila Wilson's fanmade one, so I wanted to do one as well.
emerald hill zone act tw- 2 player mode. partly inspired off of mushroom hill alternate's slower speed for act 2. the others will likely not be as same-y as this one is to the og zone.
Sonic 2 Alternate is a hypothetical soundtrack for if I made Sonic 2's music. I love Leila Wilson's fanmade one, so I wanted to do one as well.
emerald hill zone act tw- 2 player mode. partly inspired off of mushroom hill alternate's slower speed for act 2. the others will likely not be as same-y as this one is to the og zone.

![[Z-Alternate] Death Egg Zone (Sonic & Knuckles)
Act 1: 0:00
Act 2: 4:51
so uh. i had some ideas.
i made this last week-yesterday, just as a sort of what if if i got to do the whole ost. namely in this video, death egg.
i decided to try a 3/4 rock type song for act 1. act 2 is your usual final level, running in desperation as you rush to stop the madman. i also made this with the intention that i actually follow up on the original death egg leitmotif in launch base alternate, referencing said zone in this song as well.
act 2 is microtoned. i thought itd be really cool imo
see woofle? you couldve done it.
This will not become a series.
Do not ask me to do more. [Z-Alternate] Death Egg Zone (Sonic & Knuckles)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s6N9qWaHMTg/mqdefault.jpg)
![lost girl (ym2612 + sn76489) [first time tracker use]
starting out with a simple track to really dip my feet into this. good song tho. lost girl is deltarunes memory and i think thats really cool.
tracker (furnace) is actually kinda cool to use when im not comparing it to ultra mega hyper death egg act 48
ohhh my goddd decemberrrrrr, decemberrrrrrrrr i am the find her dodge girl find her dodge girl
yes i made the thumbnail in 2 minutes why
i copied these verbatim from an xyz video because somehow it just works for that nigga, ignore spamton:
spamton, dialtone cover, dialtone deltarune, dialtone arrangement, genesis cover, genesis arrangement, deltarune cover, deltarune arrangement, spamton, dialtone cover, spamton deltarune, spamton arrangement, genesis cover, genesis arrangement, deltarune cover, deltarune arrangement, bigshot, bigshot remix, bigshot cover, bigshot arrangement, deltarune, spamton, kris, jevil, ralsei, spamton neo, susie, dr, deltarune cover, deltarune remix, deltarune arrangement, spamton cover, spamton remix, spamton arrangement, deltarune chapter 2, ipissedmyself, nostalgia, genesis, sonic cover, genesis cover, genesis remix, genesis arrangement lost girl (ym2612 + sn76489) [first time tracker use]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t4fFvsDkBhQ/mqdefault.jpg)



![Neon Lights - Sonic 2: Return of Shadow OST (SHC 2015), by JoeNickROS
made by JoeNickROS, originally for Sonic 2: Return of Shadow (2015 Edition)
2026 edit: after someone commented that this is actually a remix of marvel vs capcoms hulk theme, i looked on joenickros channel to see that this actually Was uploaded under that name..
ill take it down if asked to lo
oh whats this? songs i had no part in, being put up on my channel?? its a necessary action. not like theres anyone (else) willing to spend the time to put up an actually good playlist of the sonic 2: return of shadow ost, especially with a song as obscure as this one.
sadly, after the 2015 version, this song got replaced with twinkle park for its zone. which, like, the song and its genesis translation does, in fact, slap. but the removal of this song really sucked imo. this is probably my second favorite song from the hack (#1 being sound test number 16, which, strangely enough, got removed from the 2015 version and was re-added into the 2020 version? upon some cheats, i was able to deduce its the final zone which replaces sonic 2 death eggs theme. joe was cooking heavy, idk).
such a good composition ive had on loop for hours. its so calming and captivating all at once. how the hell does one make a song like this... man i love the instruments used in this hack, theyve got such a specific flavor.
JoeNickROS really has to upload his tracks somewhere at some point. he has a soundcloud but it, funnily enough, has 0 TRACKS FROM HIS MAIN HACK. HOW.
sonic retro page for this hack:
https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_2:_Return_of_Shadow
it seems to be outdated. guess no one had the time to update it to the 2020 edition. the older version isnt here either, so its just... a kind of incomplete page...
straight 2015 download link (from the retro):
https://info.sonicretro.org/images/7/77/S2ROS.rar
straight 2020 download link (shc vault):
https://shc-dist.lostsig.co/downloads/contest2020/[SHC]%20[contest2020]%20330%20-%20Return%20of%20Shadow%20(By%20JoenickROS).7z
or just. visit the shc vault...
i wont say you shouldnt play this version instead or anything. its definitely better in almost every way. less lag, little better collision, hell, even the drum samples are higher quality. or different, at least. i just miss old nlzs theme, is all.
maybe if JoeNickROS ever finds this video out of a one/trillion chance, hell add it to the next version of the hack, which im positive there... wont. be.
mans likely moved on hacking altogether. definitely dont blame him, its exhausting, to say the least.
okay
metal reign yap session below if youre only here for sonic 2 return of shadow miraculously
as for how it applies to metal reign...
if you dont know, which you probably dont, a short recreation of this zone can be found by taking a certain route in moon monsoon act 2. a tribute, of sorts. levels not that in-depth or anything, i just wanted to show some love for this zones vibe. even if it is somewhat just a star light recolor.
in a way, id like to believe metal reign has a ROM hack vibe. grew up on those pretty much my entire life. from sonic and ashuro to sfactor to megamix to return of shadow, i just have a lot of appreciation for hacks like those. and now i get to do something like a hack for srb2. however pathetic of an explanation that is to make an srb2 mod... yeah i love rom hacks. s why a lot of the more (i dont wanna say retro) aspects are all intentional. like the music being all 16-bit (except for metal sonics, who showed up in an era where his game wasnt limited by those), the pixels in the textures being double sized (so you can see the pixels easier, adding to the feel), slightly different palettes, asset flips, a great deal of it is to give metal reign that vibe. theres also the movement changes. not even involving the abilities, just spinning capability. in every other hack, it was common for one to be able to use air abilities out of a roll from a ledge or slope or whatever. that just became a standard for me. idk why it isnt everywhere tbh, thats a _great_ inclusion to the formula.
the vibe may definitely not be... for everyone... or hell, it may not even be noticeable. but ive enjoyed making metal reign feel less like a map pack and more like a new experience, sort of inspired by stuff like this.
or maybe its just not that deep. its 12 as im writing all this, maybe im crazy.
in v1.2, special stages will be revamped to give a better tribute to 5 or 6 of these.
metal reign download:
https://mb.srb2.org/addons/metal-reign-level-demo.7766/ Neon Lights - Sonic 2: Return of Shadow OST (SHC 2015), by JoeNickROS](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wffRv7qprho/mqdefault.jpg)



