Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Review
This was the big one. Sonic the Hedgehog two was a LARGE part of my childhood. I remember when we first got a Genesis, and me and me brother would play it constantly, and then later on...we would still play it constantly with Super Sonic. This game has so much variety...such *click* to it you know? This game had such a hype for this game when it was released, because as you will already know, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game had such critical acclaim, that this one was waited on by...ALOT of people. Now the game may have had the hype, but did it live up to it?
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was eagerly awaited, and was finally released in Japan on November 21st, 1992. It was released to North America and Europe on the 24th. When Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released, the day was known as "2's Day"...because Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released on a tuesday... -.-'
Six months after the initial release, Sonic 2 had sold over Six Million Cartridges...Wow. Just Wow. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was also the highest selling game for the Sega Genesis.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2 they have made the wise decision to shorted the Zones down to two area's. Now in my opinion, this is a very smart decision. Sounds even shorter than the last Sonic game though, you say? To be honest, if it is you dont notice it. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 carries what was great about the first game, raises it to new levels, and then throws more speed into the game. It is Partial Perfection, in Sonic form. Once again, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 isnt without its flaws, BUT when playing the game, you wont even aknoledge them.
Lets start with the Cons because to be honest, they are minor, and far and few inbetween. For starters, Tails is a welcome entry into the Sonic World, but on occassions, your going to see yourself wanting to play as just Sonic, because when Tails is with you for the mission...he can kinda be a drag. Dont get me wrong here, Tails is great, hes an awesome character, and he was part of the Sonic Team when i was growing up too, but Tails can get in the way of things, like for instance, your fighting Robotnik on one of the boss levels, but Tails hits Robotnik, and Robotnik goes into that "Ive just been hit" mode, then you try too, but because Robotnik's like that and that point in time, you go THROUGH Robotnik, then Robotnik goes back to normal and kills you. Those kind of things can be very irritating.
Another thing that grinds my gears is that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 looks alot like the original, in terms of sprites, etc. Yes, the Green Hill Zone and every other background in this game looks just great, but Sonic's sprite hasnt been added anything to it, they havent updated the backgrounds to have some cool effects, like clouds going past or anything... a very minor complaint, but still one at that.
One thing that i am pretty undecided about is the Special Stages in this game. Why the first Sonic the Hedgehog had a very different experience in the Special Stages, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also has a very different experience (To the main parts of the Video Game). I am undecided as to wether Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a better Special Stage, but im putting this in Cons...considering i dont want to put it in the Pros because its not good...just not bad.
Something i loved about the earlier Sonic games was the absolutely epic fights with Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the final rounds, and aside from the final boss, i have one freakin' complaint about this game. THE BOSSES ARE WAY TO EASY. Im not joking, you can finish Robotnik off in less than Ten Seconds on this game, i swear it. Now, although the Robotnik levels do not make you feel challenged, its still pretty fun to play, so once again this is just a moderate Con.
And finally we come to the last con of the game for me. When you are getting to the later levels (I believe its two levels before the Final Boss, or the Death Egg Zone), you will find that in one of the levels, you are controlling Sonic the Hedgehog, and you are on top of what seems to be Tails Airplane, and you have to defeat bosses that are coming at you. Now this is where i get to the con of this... Its Boring. Its boring and useless, and there was no need for this level. The idea of Tails and an airplane isnt bad, but its just not fun, its not challenging, and there really was no need for it.
Now for the Pros, finally. Firstly, Theres a player select option. That means if you finally get annoyed of that freakin' Fox, hes gone. If you get annoyed of that Blue B**tard Hedgehog, hes gone. If you wanna play as both, there in. Its a great system, and is used in the later games, but wait theres more. Not only can you play as Sonic and Tails, Just Sonic, or Just Tails, you can also play as Knuckles. Who? you ask, all will be explained later (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Review Anyone?). But wait, STILL MORE? well yes, if you know the codes. Put in a code, and you can ALSO play as Super Sonic. This is a great addition because it gives it an extra "Longivity" factor, because you will definately want to play the game again but as Super Sonic.
Now were going to talk about what I thought was the main reason Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Triumphs over the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. Speed. This game keeps a much bigger foundation of speed than the previous Sonic title. While yes, the Green Hill Zone has loops and springs everywhere, and it is as fast as Lightning, much like how the Sonic levels should ALL be, the other Zones also have that same, heart-wrenching excitement that the Green Hill Zone has because all of the Zones in this game have loops everywhere, Speed up the @$*, and Sonic going faster than EVER. And thats EXACTLY what us Sonic fans had been waiting for, for the game to not lose its speed traits half way through the game, like the first Sonic the Hedgehog managed to. Thats not to say that Sonic the Hedgehog wasnt a fun game, its just that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 manages to multiply that speed sensation by 3X.
Another great thing about this game is that the Sonic Team had thought up something that would be crucial to Sonic's fame in later games, as well as this. The Spin Attack. All you have to do is duck, and press A, B or C (You know, because they all do the same thing), the great this is that this makes the game so much more fun to play on many levels, because you dont have to gather speed why running, you can just curl up and rip off to another part of the level! Excitement.
Come to think of something i havent mentioned yet, the Levels in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are MUCH better designed in my opinion to Sonic the Hedgehog 1. And this is partially why Sonic the Hedgehog 2, even inbetween the parts where it does *sometimes* lose its speed edge, its still hella fun to play, and you dont really notice it. The Casino Night Zone i would say loses the speed of the earlier and later Zones, BUT the Zone is just so much fun to play, that you wont care about the speed for that moment in time, and thats what i call dedication to a project. Sonic Team, you did us proud.
And for once, the slowing down of the levels works to Sonic's advantage. The game starts to slow down a bit at the Hill Top Zone onwards, with the simple, Loop-De-Loop levels leaving for more complicated level structures and harder enemies, but this is fine, because its such a challenge, much like the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, but your having much more fun why your at it. I just cant believe how well Sega did on this game, the idea of Sonic the Hedgehog is speeding through the levels, but even when the more complicated stuff comes in, and the speed loses its edge, the game is almost perfection to play, and that really is the best way to describe Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in many ways, almost perfection in the Sonic Series.
Finally for the last few Pros of the game. For one, its got a two player mode, and this is great because if you were like me when you were younger, and you had a younger brother who played games also, it rocked. Sonic the Hedgehog 2's "2 Player Mode" is so much fun to play, the excitement of trying to clear the level before your foe is just great, and also, when your finally done with this game, when you have played it enough to finally say "Well, its been great Sonic", there is ONE more thing you could do. Play around with the Cheat modes, hell, half of them are alot of fun to play with, believe me, debug mode, level select and ofcourse, Super Sonic.
In conclusion to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, i think the series hit its Holy Grail on this one. This is my favorite Sonic the Hedgehog game yet. This game is an absolute Gem, im 17, the first time i played this game i was 3 and im not bored of it, not one bit, infact coming back to this game after playing so many mediocre Wii games has just been a blessing for me. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is here to stay, and by gum, its so, SO good.
