Well that's one off of the bucket list. I've come close before, but always managed to lose all my continues somewhere near the end. Sure, I could have used the level select cheat, but it just isn't the same. Or save states (Beat Sonic 1 that way in the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on 360). Anyway, it's done and now I never have to play it ever again. On to Sonic CD I guess.

Sonic 2 has never looked this good

I played through Sonic 2 on my phone. That sounds crappy, but believe it or not it's the best way to play the game. They actually remade Sonic 2 in 2013 for cell phones only. Really! Completely new engine, new graphics, widescreen, and silky smooth. Seriously beautiful. Go watch some videos on YouTube. It's very impressive. Still a pain in the ass to play, but more on that later. Sonic 1 got the exact same treatment (also only on phones). I have no idea how I hadn't known about these games. You'd think completely remade Sonic games would get more fanfare.

It turns out the Sonic CD game from 2011 is the work of the same dude. That one you can get on consoles (and PC). Hadn't realized they put so much work into its re-release. If you want an idea of the level of work that went into the game, just look at these Metacritic scores. The Sonic 2 released in 2010 on iOS got a 60. Sonic CD got a 93 on the same platform.

Moga Pocket

Sonic 2 was also the first game I've played through with my new Moga Pocket. Bought it off of Amazon for under $13.00 (link). Overall not a bad experience (aside from the actual game itself). The circle pad isn't ideal, but it's still probably better than the d-pad on the Genesis. Great little device. Well-made, comfortable. Really easy to set up, at least with the compatible games. I'm sure the newer ones are better, but this one is so cheap! Looking forward to playing more Android games on the device. If only I could figure out how to get Goat Simulator to work with it...

Sonic 2 's got some huge level design issues. Particularly with enemy placement. You'll be running through loops at top speed and suddenly run into an enemy, losing all your rings. Or jump onto a platform only to get hit by another enemy, losing all your rings again. Or get hit by a projectile from an enemy off screen. It gets real cheap. Don't even think about collecting 100 rings for an extra life in the latter part of the game. Otherwise, my only complaint with the game is the final boss. Metal Sonic and then Robotnik with no rings. And what's worse is that both their weak spots are right next to spikes you can barely see. It would have been nice if they added some kind of checkpoint to the remake so that you don't have to beat Metal Sonic so many times. At least I didn't have to worry about continues and starting over from the beginning.

Used to be an NES game

I also beat the original Dragon Quest (currently on sale for $1 on Google Play) on my $20 tablet (Micro Center) not too long ago. Surprisingly the Android/iOS version of Dragon Quest is also the definitive version of the game. They did a great job updating the graphics and the music. I think they fixed some difficulty issues as well. Being able to quick save anywhere is extremely useful. Still a very old school game. Pretty short, but still a bunch of grinding. I'd recommend it if you're curious about where modern JRPGs came from.

Anybody know of any other definitive versions of old games available only on mobile platforms? It's an interesting phenomena. Feel free to comment.