Sonic Origins: How to Find the Hidden Palace Zone

The Hidden Palace is not a myth anymore. Keep reading to learn how to access the secret level in Sonic Origins that had been scrapped from the original title 30 years ago.

Sonic Origins is a remaster bundle of cult-favorite Sonic titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckle. Sega has brought all of these classic Sonic games under one title, allowing players to experience their childhood once more on modern videogame platforms.

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With that being said, Sonic Origins offers a lot more than just the contents of the original release. Most notably, it features a hidden level not included in the original Sonic the Hedgehog 2, released in 1992. Despite being advertised in pre-release marketing campaigns, the mysterious level never made it into the final cut – turning it into a thing of legends.

Unfortunately, you cannot access the Hidden Palace Zone from the level select menu in Sonic 2. Instead, you must take a particular course in Mystic Cave Zone Act 2 to access the secret level. That’s why in this guide, we will be explaining how to find the Hidden Palace Zone.

How to Access the Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic 2

You can access the Hidden Palace Zone by progressing through the levels of Sonic 2 until you reach Mystic Cave Zone Act 2. Moreover, you can also jump right into Mystic Cave 2 from the level select menu.

You can access the level select menu by pressing Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, and Right. However, this is still a roundabout way of getting to the secret level because even though Hidden Palace is on the level select menu, nothing happens when you click on it.

To get to the Hidden Palace Zone, you must continue right and stay on the lower levels of the area. The key is to gradually make your way down until you fall into a pit leading to the secret area. However, you must look out for spikes along the way.

When you start the level, keep heading right until you eventually come across your first lever. Then, pull it down to lower the bridge. However, instead of continuing right by jumping across the floating platforms, you need to drop down from the bridge as shown.

How to Access the Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic 2 — Credit: Sega

Now, jump past the spikes and continue heading right. You’ll soon come across another lever, so pull it down and lower the bridge. The path ahead will be full of spikes and obstacles, so tread carefully. You’ll eventually come across two collapsable brick ledges. Now, you need to climb up to the platform instead of jumping down.

From there, continue heading right until you reach the end of the ledge. You’ll see vines hanging in front of you. So, jump forward to grab it, and it will take you down to the lower platform. Now, head to your left and jump down the moving crates to access the lower area.

Now, pull down the lever to your left and lower the bridge. After crossing the bridge, jump down the collapsable brick ledges and continue making your way to the right. Be sure to take down the enemies in your way.

You’ll have to continue heading right from here while avoiding the spikes. Then, you’ll eventually reach a collapsable brick ledge and a spring. Jump on the spring to gain altitude and climb over the platform to your right. However, there will be a lever on top that you need to avoid pulling.

The path to your right will be riddled with enemies, but you must keep pushing forward until you reach the ledge. Now that you’ve reached the end of the platform, you’ll notice that there’s a lever you can pull to lower the bridge in front of you. However, you must ignore the lever and jump down the ledge instead. Falling down this pit will take you directly to the Hidden Palace Zone.