Sonic 2 Hacking Guide
Binary - Color Palettes

It's hard to design art without the right choices of colors available. That's what makes palette editing so useful. This will allow you to customize the games color palettes to you specifications so that you can make things look the way you want.

002782 - Palette 00 pointer (Sega logo startup)
00278A - Palette 01 pointer (Title - Tails and twinkling stars)
002792 - Palette 02 pointer (Unknown)
00279A - Palette 03 pointer (Sonic and Tails)
0027A2 - Palette 04 pointer (EHZ)
0027AA - Palette 05 pointer (Level 01)
0027B2 - Palette 06 pointer (WZ)
0027BA - Palette 07 pointer (DHZ)
0027C2 - Palette 08 pointer (MZ)
0027CA - Palette 09 pointer (MZ3)
0027D2 - Palette 0A pointer (WFZ)
0027DA - Palette 0B pointer (HTZ)
0027E2 - Palette 0C pointer (HPZ)
0027EA - Palette 0D pointer (GCZ)
0027F2 - Palette 0E pointer (OOZ)
0027FA - Palette 0F pointer (MCZ)
002802 - Palette 10 pointer (CNZ)
00280A - Palette 11 pointer (CPZ)
002812 - Palette 12 pointer (DEZ)
00281A - Palette 13 pointer (ARZ)
002822 - Palette 14 pointer (SCZ)
00282A - Palette 15 pointer (HPZ underwater)
002832 - Palette 16 pointer (CPZ underwater)
00283A - Palette 17 pointer (ARZ underwater)
002842 - Palette 18 pointer (Special stage)
00284A - Palette 19 pointer (Unknown)
002852 - Palette 1A pointer (Unknown)
00285A - Palette 1B pointer (Unknown)
002862 - Palette 1C pointer (Unknown)
00286A - Palette 1D pointer (Unknown)
002872 - Palette 1E pointer (Unknown)
00287A - Palette 1F pointer (Unknown)
002882 - Palette 20 pointer (Unknown)
00288A - Palette 21 pointer (Unknown)
002892 - Palette 22 pointer (Unknown)
00289A - Palette 23 pointer (Unknown)
0028A2 - Palette 24 pointer (Unknown)
0028AA - Palette 25 pointer (Unknown)
0028B2 - Palette 26 pointer (Options / Level Select / 2P Vs)
0028BA - Palette 27 pointer (Unknown)

Palettes use a simple 16-bit format. In the following format explanation, each number represents a nibble (half of a byte), rather than a byte.

FORMAT:
#1 #2 #3 #4

1 - ??? (Usually zero)
2 - Blue shade
3 - Green shade
4 - Red shade

Only every 2 values will actually change the color. So, this gives you 8 shades of each color.

Here is a list of the cycling palettes that are used for things such as water.

001E7A - EHZ water (color 13) 1
001E7C - EHZ water (color 14) 1
001E7E - EHZ water (color 1E) 1
001E80 - EHZ water (color 1F) 1
001E82 - EHZ water (color 13) 2
001E84 - EHZ water (color 14) 2
001E86 - EHZ water (color 1E) 2
001E88 - EHZ water (color 1F) 2
001E8A - EHZ water (color 13) 3
001E8C - EHZ water (color 14) 3
001E8E - EHZ water (color 1E) 3
001E90 - EHZ water (color 1F) 3
001E92 - EHZ water (color 13) 4
001E94 - EHZ water (color 14) 4
001E96 - EHZ water (color 1E) 4
001E98 - EHZ water (color 1F) 4
001E9A - HTZ lava (color 13) 1
001E9C - HTZ lava (color 14) 1
001E9E - HTZ lava (color 1E) 1
001EA0 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 1
001EA2 - HTZ lava (color 13) 2
001EA4 - HTZ lava (color 14) 2
001EA6 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 2
001EA8 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 2
001EAA - HTZ lava (color 13) 3
001EAC - HTZ lava (color 14) 3
001EAE - HTZ lava (color 1E) 3
001EB0 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 3
001EB2 - HTZ lava (color 13) 4
001EB4 - HTZ lava (color 14) 4
001EB6 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 4
001EB8 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 4
001EBA - HTZ lava (color 13) 5
001EBC - HTZ lava (color 14) 5
001EBE - HTZ lava (color 1E) 5
001EC0 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 5
001EC2 - HTZ lava (color 13) 6
001EC4 - HTZ lava (color 14) 6
001EC6 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 6
001EC8 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 6
001ECA - HTZ lava (color 13) 7
001ECC - HTZ lava (color 14) 7
001ECE - HTZ lava (color 1E) 7
001ED0 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 7
001ED2 - HTZ lava (color 13) 8
001ED4 - HTZ lava (color 14) 8
001ED6 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 8
001ED8 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 8
001EDA - HTZ lava (color 13) 9
001EDC - HTZ lava (color 14) 9
001EDE - HTZ lava (color 1E) 9
001EE0 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 9
001EE2 - HTZ lava (color 13) 10
001EE4 - HTZ lava (color 14) 10
001EE6 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 10
001EE8 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 10
001EEA - HTZ lava (color 13) 11
001EEC - HTZ lava (color 14) 11
001EEE - HTZ lava (color 1E) 11
001EF0 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 11
001EF2 - HTZ lava (color 13) 12
001EF4 - HTZ lava (color 14) 12
001EF6 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 12
001EF8 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 12
001EFA - HTZ lava (color 13) 13
001EFC - HTZ lava (color 14) 13
001EFE - HTZ lava (color 1E) 13
001F00 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 13
001F02 - HTZ lava (color 13) 14
001F04 - HTZ lava (color 14) 14
001F06 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 14
001F08 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 14
001F0A - HTZ lava (color 13) 15
001F0C - HTZ lava (color 14) 15
001F0E - HTZ lava (color 1E) 15
001F10 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 15
001F12 - HTZ lava (color 13) 16
001F14 - HTZ lava (color 14) 16
001F16 - HTZ lava (color 1E) 16
001F18 - HTZ lava (color 1F) 16