Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Reviews

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a game I hold very dear in my heart: it was one of the very first games I ever played for the mega drive, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Although considering I was 6 years old at the time, I died constantly...but that never largely got in the way of the fun of playing the game. Despite dying enough to make the "game over" screen forever etched into my brain, I enjoyed Sonic 2 immensely.

Then, when I saw that Sonic 2 was out on the XBLA, my nostalgia factor kicked in and I promtly downloaded it, ready to control the energetic blue hedgehog once more. It seemed like the perfect buy for me: a classic game plus little extras and achievements to boot.

As far as the actual game goes, the classic mega drive model has been completely unaltered. You play Sonic (or Tails if you like defying titles) as you progress disjointingly between the different stages and constantly defeat Dr. Robotnic (or Eggman as he unfortunatly would later be called).

As far as the standard 2-D platformer goes, Sonic 2 is still as good as ever. Running across the screen at mach 1, collecting rings, correctly timing jumps and avoiding animal controlled machines whilst listening to a brilliant polyphonic soundtrack (especially the 'Metropolis' song) is still as fun and rewarding as ever.

Another point that I will forever praise and worship for this game is an implemented save system. Since the older sonic games never had a save or password system, trying to collect the chaos emeralds was a difficult task. Now, you can simply save just before you start a bonus stage, or perhaps in the middle of it, in case the great mines of doom become too much to handle. Hence, becoming Super Sonic (which I could never accomplish back on the mega drive) is made easier, though the challenge of the actual bonus stages are present and still as unforgivingly difficult as ever.

Though with the introduction of a save system comes the reducdancy of the life system. Though this is due to the fact that the actual game has been unaltered, knowing that you can just save before the final boss or something similar and then just load if you die eliminates one of the core challenges of Sonic 2.

That said, the platforming challenge of correctly timed jumps and the monsters themselves are still present, so don't think that the game will be a simple walk in the woods.

As I said before, the soundtrack for this game is excellent, with most of the songs sounding like energy pumping rock scores which complements the game very well. Then the final boss track sounds like an orchestal score with a blaring snare drum in the background that creates this wonderful epic feel and fits the final fight greatly. Though my favourite by far is the metropolis song, purely because it sounds like a kick ass rock song and it really gets you going for playing the stage.

The monsters range from near harmless to downright cheap. An example of harmless would be the fish from the emerald hill stage; just as long as you jump either on or at them, they're destroyed. The example of cheap is the grasshoper from the metropolis stage. His attack is throwing his scyths at you. This is cheap because most of time these monsters are situated in cramp low roofed areas where jumping in order to dodge the scyths is impossible. Not only are they hard to dodge: they are fast, can curve in the air; and at times go 180 degrees to catch you if you somehow managed to jump over the grasshopper.

Despite the little complaints of the enemies or the near total loss of the need for a lives system, the game is still really damn good. With wonderful level design and a retro aesthetic complete with a great soundtrack, you can't go wrong with Sonic 2. If you're looking for classic fast paced 2-D sidescorlling adventure, a bit of nostalgic indulgence, or just something to tide you over until Sonic 4 is out, this is must buy.

So now I leave you with a little question to ponder on: why did Sonic the Hedgehog 1 have 6 chaos emeralds, but every Sonic game after that has 7?

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is as fun today as it has always been, the worlds fastest hedgehog doesn't fail to keep you on the edge of your seat with his blistering speed and daring abilities. Originally for the Mega Drive/Genesis back in the early 90's; Sonic 2 is the first Sonic title for this console that allows you to play as Tails 'Miles Prower', a two tailed fox with the ability to fly (although this cannot be used in-game).

The synopsis of game is similar to that of its predecessor Sonic 1; the evil scientist Doctor Robotnik (Eggman) has captured the animal citizens of Mobius and contained them inside giant capsules and badniks. It is your job to go around saving as many as you can by defeating the badniks, defeating eggman and breaking open the capsule. However, Robotnik has bigger plans that need to be dealt later on.

The game takes place in a variety of different stages such as meadows, caves, casino's and chemical plants - each with its fair share of obstacles. You collect gold rings as a form of vitality to keep you from dying and as a means to enter the special stages throughout the levels in order to collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds. Collecting all 7 will allow Sonic to turn into Super Sonic - however it doesn't have any effects on Tails.

A neat extra that wasn't included in the original release is the ability to save the game at ANY point and reload it from exactly where you saved it. Also the inclusion of achievements make it all the more worthwhile and may challenge you to try new things (such as time trials or collecting all of the emeralds).

With the added online capabilities included, this game has reached new levels of fun - leaderboards mean you can see how you rank up points wise with your fellow friends and with the world. Co-op means you can team up as Sonic and Tails to fight the evil Dr Robotnik (although Sonic always gets priority over the camera and most of the collectables). Vs mode pits you against each other with 4 levels where you must compete for the fastest time or the most amount of rings. There are some issues of lag when you aren't the host of a match but you usually learn to compensate for this pretty quickly.

In short, if you love classic yet ground breaking titles; then this is definately one worthy of downloading.

When Sega Genesis was the supreme console on the market Sega did so with a fast little blue hedgehog named Sonic. The original Sonic the Hedgehog game was fun but in my opinion this is the best Sonic game the series. The question is does is stand the test of time or is it another casualty of time.

To start of the game still looks as good as it did when I got my Sega Genesis over 15 years ago. It is an incredible feat to create a game where the graffics can stand the test of time.

The gameplay is simple you can either run or jump. One addition to the gameplay that was not in the original is the ability to start at top speed by holding down and the jump button. This move is important because your a ball when you do it which will help you defeat regular enemies. Like all the other Sega classics they added the ability to save your game. This will come in handy while achievement hunting or if you have to walk away from the game. I would have loved to have this feature 15 years ago because I never had the skills to beat the last boss.

The level design is top notch and while you prgress through the game they do not feel redundant. Some of the levels that you will encounter will put you in a casino, on an airplane or underwater.

The levels where you collect coins in order to get the Chaos Emeralds are so much fun, I personally did not enjoy any of the other games. In this one Sonic and Tales run down a half pipe and collect "x" amount of rings in order to advance through the level eventually getting you the emerald.

This time around you have a little buddy named tales running around with you. The AI is terrible with him but there is the occasion that he will do something useful such as collect the ocassional ring. The good thing about tales is that there is the ability to have a second player join your game. It is not in split screen though, which takes away the fun from the second player because the focus is solely on Sonic so you will leave him behind.

There is an online vs. mode but the community is basically dead now (suffers from consistant lag) but this mode really doesnt add much to the game. In order to win you need to finish the level first or the other player runs out of lives.

The achievments in this game are somewhat challenging. There are two achievements for playing online and winning 10 games. You also have the standard beat certain acts. The difficult achivements are to beat levels in a specific time frame, get all of the emeralds and to beat the game in under an hour. They are not to taxing but can pose a challenge for most.

At the end of the day this game has withstood the test of time and to date is the best Sonic the Hedgehog experience Sega has to offer. Even after all of these years I still love to play it and I cant wait til my baby is a couple years older becuase I am going to introduce it to him. At a price point of only $5 I dont see why anyone would not have it on their hard drive. If you have never played stop wasting time reading this review and go get the game.