Pekopon Reviews an all time Classic.
When I was growing up, I didn’t even know Sega existed. I was born in 1989, so by the time I was around six years old and could consistently remember stuff, Sega’s consoles were pretty much in the crapper. As the years went by, I learned about Sega and Sonic, and just decided to hate Sonic even though I never played his games. It was only when the Wii and Virtual Console came around that I downloaded the first Sonic game. It was surprisingly fun, if not a bit unforgiving. A month later I came across a model 2 Genesis and Sonic 2 in a thrift shop. I bought them, and for the first time I got to play Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
So why did I tell you all of this? Basically all of this set up is just to emphasise that I didn’t grow up with Sonic, and thus have a nostalgia free opinion on it. What you are getting is an unbiased view.
So on to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. To me, this seems like Sega’s Super Mario Bros. 3. I can’t imagine someone owning a Genesis without Sonic 2, much like I can’t imagine someone owning an NES without Mario 3. Sonic 2 squeezed every last ounce of strength from the Genesis, and it sure paid off. I’ll go ahead and spoil the rest of the review right now and say that this game is fantastic. I can’t call it amazing or incredible, but I can call it fantastic.
So the story of Sonic 2 is… I don’t know. I don’t have the manual. From what I can gather, Dr. Robotnik has kidnapped and imprisoned a bunch of cuddly animals because I guess he just hates cute things. Maybe he had a traumatic past with bunnies attacking him or something. He also has a giant robot that’s modeled after himself (egotistic dick) that I guess he plans on destroying the world with. So Sonic and Tails have to go stop Robotnik because the army doesn’t seem to care about the crazy egg guy trying to destroy the world with a giant robot. Though I guess Robotnik wouldn’t stand much of a chance against an armoured tank since his robots explode when hedgehogs jump on them a few times.
Sorry, I’ve gotten a bit off topic…
Bottom line, nobody cares about the plot in a Sonic game.
The Gameplay is what Sonic 2 is all about, and that’s where the game shines. (As any game should) It’s a 2D platformer where you jump on platforms and baddies, but Sonic’s gimmick is that you can run really fast. Oh sure, Mario can be pretty speedy in some games, but Sonic could easily out run him. Though if you go by their respective anime counterparts, Wheel Kirby would pwn Sonic in a race so badly that Sonic would have to retire in shame.
Unlike the first Sonic game, there aren’t as many platforming heavy stages, so most of the stages can be beaten really quickly with good timing and memorisation. It’s always super satisfying to memorise a stage and breeze through it in less than a minute.
Of course if that’s all there was to it, it would get somewhat boring. That’s why in each world that consists of two stages there are several elements exclusive to that world. In Chemical Plant Zone there are pipes, in Oil Ocean Zone there are oil slicks and hot air balloons, in Metropolis Zone there are screws to run on, and many more exclusive features.
Throughout the game there are various boxes that hold useful items such as 1ups, invincible powers, shoes that give Sonic super speed, force fields that give him an extra hit, and most importantly, the power rings. These golden rings are essential to the Sonic series as they count as your health bar. Basically so long as you have rings, you are able to get hit without dying. When you get hit you lose all your rings, and they go flying all over the screen. You really want to make sure you pick at least one of them up again so you can have another free hit. This makes Sonic pretty unique from most health systems of the day, and even to this day it’s pretty unique.
Something cool (or not cool depending on your views) is the addition of Tails. Tails is a computer played character who tags along with Sonic. For the most part he’s useless, but he’s often a life saver for me during boss fights. He’ll hit Robotnik sometimes, and he’ll make a special effort to collect rings you’ve dropped while fighting the boss. Most of the time I depend on Tails to land some hits on the annoying pinball boss in Casino Night Zone. He can also be used in a two player mode, but let’s just say that the 2 player mode is less that stellar. It’s probably the worst part of the game as it lags like crazy, and the split screen makes it hard to see anything.
Let’s talk music for a minute. Most of the music is Sonic 2 is good, but the thing is that it’s also pretty forgettable. Nothing really jumps out as amazing. Well, except for one tune that kicks some serious ass. The Chemical Plant Zone theme is easily the best song in the game, and currently holds a spot on my Top 10 Video Game Themes Ever list. Just listen to this and TRY to tell me it’s not incredible.
As far as graphics go, I can’t really comment too much. After all, I never owned a Genesis until the amazing graphics of today, so it’s hard to judge. However I’m willing to bet that this was pretty impressive for the Genesis. It still looks nice today, and I can honestly say it looks better than Super Mario World by a long shot. (Take THAT you overrated piece of history!)
Now while most of the game is pretty stellar, I do feel that I have to bring up the lack of a save feature. While it is a pretty short game and doesn’t really require one, I still wish there was a way to continue. Oh sure there’s the stage select option, but that’s cheating! You gotta play from start to finish for it to count if you ask me. (Yeah, I’m a purist that way) I can’t really blame Sega for not adding it, but these days games without save features haven’t aged very well. I don’t have the attention span for that, and it also doesn’t help when I get far in the game and it freezes. I’ll confess that I haven’t beaten the game, but I’ve landed three hits on the final Robotnik, and to me that’s close enough.
There are other minor nitpicks I could complain about, but there’s not much point. Those minor things don’t detract from the game at all. In the end Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is fantastic, and is easily my favourite of the three Genesis Sonics. I’m aware I could use the Sonic and Knuckles cart for it, but I’m not gonna buy that. Sonic 2 is fine as it is, and doesn’t NEED an expansion. If you can get your hands on Sonic 2, I say do it. It shouldn’t be too hard as you can get it on Virtual Console or Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. Though if you ask me, I say you should find a way to get it on a Genesis, even if the game does occasionally freeze.
I give this game a 9/10
Excellent in every way save for the 2 player mode and the lack of saving.
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