Editing Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (section)

==Development==
In February 2011, ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II'' was confirmed to be in early development. [[Sega]] Brand Manager, Ken Balough, mentioned that "the idea is to introduce new zones with things [players] haven't seen." He had also hinted that ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II'' may have a larger budget than ''Episode I'', due to the latter being received very well commercially. Balough also mentioned that many ideas for ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I'' were planned while the first episode was being developed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sonic 4: Episode II Now "In Early Development", Says Ken Balough|url=http://www.tssznews.com/2011/02/25/sonic-4-episode-ii-now-in-early-development-says-ken-balough/|publisher=TSSZ News|date=25 February 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227080937/http://www.tssznews.com/2011/02/25/sonic-4-episode-ii-now-in-early-development-says-ken-balough/|archivedate=27 February 2011}}</ref> In preparation for the release of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II'', Sega released a [[Sonic the Hedgehog CD (2011)|remaster]] of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD]]'' to digital platforms in winter 2011, calling it a "prequel" release to ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4''. The events of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II'' would rely heavily on the events that occurred in ''Sonic the Hedgehog CD''.

On 29 December, new information on ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II'' was revealed along with a teaser trailer, including the return of both [[Metal Sonic]] and [[Miles "Tails" Prower|Tails]], along with an updated graphics and physics engine.

On 21 April 2012, ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II'' was mistakenly temporarily released to people who had confirmed their pre-order of the game on [[Steam]], before it was removed the next day.<ref name="leak">{{Cite web|last=Sanchez|first=David|title=Sonic 4: Episode II was leaked on Steam|url=https://www.gamezone.com/news/sonic-4-episode-ii-was-leaked-on-steam/|publisher=GameZone|date=4 May 2012}}</ref> Known as the "Beta 8" edition, it was quickly dismissed by Balough as an early prototype version that did not necessarily represent the final version, although it was instead found to be virtually complete with minimal differences, albeit with multiple bugs.<ref name="leak"/>

===iOS incompatibility===
Due to the near complete rewrite of the [[iOS]] operating system for the iOS 7 update in 2013, the game became incompatible with devices running on iOS 6.1.6 and lower. The game was fixed on 11 January 2016 with an official update, putting the game back in the App Store along with ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I|Episode I]]''.