Tonight marks the World Premiere of Sonic 2 HD! For the first time since the project’s technical demonstration in 2008, the curtain has been pulled away to let the world see what Team S2HD has been building up. We hope this answers many of the questions long-time fans of the project have had, and that everyone is just as excited as we are for what’s to come.

For those who haven’t seen S2HD since the Tech Demo, you’ll notice that just about everything has been rebuilt from the ground up. What isn’t as obvious is that everything behind the scenes was scrapped as well: shortly after the Tech Demo’s release, the engine used was thrown away in favor of an even more accurate engine in the works–one capable of far more expansion than was originally imagined. In the year that followed the art direction also saw massive changes, and, from late spring of 2010, the finalized art style brought about the last wave of changes to everything that had been created previously. All of Sonic’s movement frames were redone. All the Badniks were scrapped and redesigned. Many of the level art assets underwent the same treatment. The result of these changes is reflected in what you now see.

By the fans, for the fans, spread the word: the alpha release of Sonic 2 HD will arrive Q1 2011!