Sonic Marathon: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (16-Bit)

Name: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (16-Bit)

Console: Xbox 360 (MegaDrive Ultimate Collection)

If you've read my review of Sonic 1 then you know I'm fairly indifferent to the game. I think it had a lot of great concepts but nothing too special yet. Along with this I wasn't to keen on the level design for some of the stages.

Well does Sonic 2 do anything better?

Ladies and gentlemen I will freely admit that this game got me hooked onto the franchise. Every stage is shining with colour and something awesome to do. Don't like platforming? Just speed through the level and take a high and quick breezy path. Want to take your time and get some power-ups along the way? Well then do just that.

This game can be played so many different ways it trumps most modern platformers with choice.

The addition of Tails 'Miles' Prowels is a welcome one although, with me being a Sonic main player and whenever I get the chance I generally ignore the other play types, I feel as though Tails is a little over powered... He never dies and you can always rely on him to deal the damage for you especially in boss fights, even though they're still not much of a challange.

We also get the inclusion of the spin-dash which is awesome for picking up high speed although I did find myself beating the camera a few times because I was going THAT fast.

Enough jibber jabber, let's talk stages!

Before we kick off I would like to point out that Sonic 2 strays immediantly away from the formula which Sonic 1 set out. Instead of 3 acts there are now only 2. Albehit they are longer I thought it was a little weird to begin with although this is a welcome change as the later games pick this up as well.

Emerald Hill Zone

Green Hill but with more flurish. I'm perfectly fine with this now but expect me to grow annoyed in future games...

Level design-wise it does just feel like an extended Green Hill Zone with a boss fight that is just stupid, especially with Tails by your side. I mean it, Robotnik just shuffles from one side to the other without any attacks in the slowest fashion I've ever seen.

Chemical Plant Zone

Alright! Some now we're picking up! Some awesome platforming mixed with a lot of high speed moments, you better believe I abused the spin-dash here, and nice section at the end preparing for the next stage. This is fricken game design!

Oh and you can kill the boss in 2 seconds flat. Literally if he had an attack pattern I don't know about.

Aquatic Ruin Zone

That name, that texture OH GOD LABYRINTH!!! Oh... oh... so you can avoid the water completely... and it's actually fun... so I stand corrected.

Yeah Aquatic Ruin is fine as long as you stay away from the water section. Nothing special but not garbage either.

Funny story I beat Robotnik by complete fluke. As I jumped on him Tails decided to snort some crack and followed through leaving me to witness all of his trauma come to the forefront of his mind. Let's just say that Robotnik didn't stand a chance.

Casino Zone

Ah... so this is where Spinball came from... Okay then... Should I be offended, intrigued or indifferent...

The ro-boss-nik, thank you I shall lay off of the alcohol for the remainder of the review, of this stage is a pushover once again. Literally it plays itself so... NEXT!

Hill Top Zone

Hill Top = Lava... makes sense. Very straight forward stage and lasted a few minutes per act.

Boss wise, once again, Tails did most of the blunt work here. These fights are getting very samey now... I mean I know Sonic 1 did the same but I had bigger expectations for the sequel.

Mystic Cave Zone

Forgot about this one... SLOW ASS PLATFORMING AGAIN.

Look I like platforming. I honest to god do BUT I dislike it when a game grinds everything to a halt for the sake of a tricky jump that is placed almost out of nowhere.

Come on boss fight give me something... it's a replica of the first boss with an added drill. Oh sorry, it goes up and down now as well... Jesus...

Oil Ocean Zone

Elevators. Slow elevators. Eh when it picks up speed the fast platforming is fun but... I don't know... it just feels a little off. Still not bad just slightly off putting.

So Robotnik grew a tentacle... I mean it works better than the last couple of bosses. Tails did what he does best again. Short story for a short boss.

Metropolis Zone

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Tis a fun bendy wendy stage. The corkscrew bits are annoying but that's only due to STUPID ENEMY PLACEMENT OH MY GOD I HATE THEM sorry I got a little angry there.

Welp stage 2 is coming to an end so boss tiiii... HOLY MOTHER OF GOD ACT 3????

Alright I beat that... oh now there's a boss fight, okay.

A hiccup on my first go but all is fine let's do this oh god that was rubbish. As long as you stay to the right or left you cannot get hit. *Sigh* well let's get on with the nex... TAIL WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING IN THAT!

Sky Chase Zone

So the flying Sonic character has a plane... Did Tails do this to assert his dominance? Maybe his plan was to donate the plane to Sonic so he could go to his garage and just chill. Because if I were him I would totally do that.

The stage is a push over. Just sway to avoid the enemies. This along with the slow speed of the stage makes it the easiest one yet.

Wing Fortress Zone

You know what? Maybe Tails shouldn't have built that. Yeah probably a bad idea.

So the Tornado went down in a single hit... Great job buddy.

Alright let's go oh... Bottomless pits... A lot of them. After several attempts I finally finished the stage with a GODAMN BULLS*** BOSS FIGHT. The difficulty isn't an issue here but rather the placement and movement path of the spikey platforms. They cross over constantly and it wouldn't be that big of a problem if the stage was wider. Ugh anyway after that we continue to finish the... SONIC NO... BAD SONIC STOP... OH GOD NO... PLEASE... WTF?!?!?!?!

Death Egg Zone

As Robotnik decides to fly to his space station, don't question it don't question it don't question it, Sonic decides to follow after... by jumping onto the shuttle going there... by jumping onto the outside the shuttle going there... into space... Can Sonic breath in space? Does he breath? Why does he drown then? This opens up a whole bag full of questions I didn't think to ask until now...

Anyway this is essentially a boss zone. First up: Metal...Sonic?

Okay I forgot about this but wow he comes along way from the metal charge bot he is here. 8 hits and boom he's down. Now let's take on the big guy himself!

HAHA I've got you cornered! Wait where are you... Well f***.

Robotnik climbs into a bigger more robot...y version of himself. This fight is pretty darn ridiculous but once you've nailed his attacking pattern it's pretty simple.

Welp that was it... Sonic The Hedgehog 2.

My overall thoughts?

I LOVE THIS GAME!!!

Granted it is a flawed game but it is beautifully flawed.

Level design is once again the only flaw here and it effects only a few levels. Besides from this it's perfect way to enter the franchise. This does not mean that this is my favourite Sonic game though. That shall be revealed at another date so for now peace out!

SCORE: 8 out of 10 / A great game with little problems overall

Get ready this Friday for Sonic CD!

#Sonic #The #Hedgehog #2