Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Game)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

GAME » on October 16, 1992

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Run, jump and spin through levels as Sonic and Tails, in order to thwart the plans of the nefarious Dr. Robotnik and free the kidnapped animals! Released by Sega in 1992, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is often considered one of the greatest platformers of all time.

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The first zone of Sonic 2 bears more than a passing resemblance to Green Hill Zone (Location) from the previous game. Emerald Hill is set inside a tropical resort, featuring palm trees, rolling green hills, and wildlife-themed enemies like monkeys, fish and bees. Dr. Robotnik appears here, driving a drill-based machine that he tries to ram in to Sonic.

This zone is set in a bustling industrial city that is flooded with a neon pink liquid. Sonic can survive while submerged in this, but only for a limited time since there are no air bubbles. Dr. Robotnik makes his appearance with a suction tube clipped onto the bottom of his ship, which he uses to extract toxic materials from the liquid below. The player must avoid his attacks while remaining on a series of platforms, which feature panels that will successively rotate.

This zone is set in the ruins of a sinking city as it succumbs to the depths of a lake. The low routes lead deep under the surface and features a significantly higher level of challenge, so players are advised to keep their heads above water whenever possible. Robotnik appears here with a giant mallet attached to his ship, he will hit down on two columns that flank the player on either side of street, causing them to shoot out arrows. The player must use these arrows as platforms in order to be able to reach Robotnik and bring him down.

This zone is set in a series of giant pinball tables, featuring flippers, bumpers and a number of slot machines. Dr. Robotnik appears here at the bottom of the last pinball table, with a set of electric pincers on the bottom of his ship. He uses this to drop bombs on the player, so staying on the ground is inadvisable. Instead, the player must spin dash up to, and utilize, the bumpers in order to hurl themselves at Robotnik.

Set in a mountain range high above the clouds, Sonic and Tails must face earthquakes and rising magma as they traverse this treacherous summit. Here, the doctor emerges from the lava in a heat proof submarine with a flamethrower attached on top. He will repeatedly emerge from the lava and attempt to shoot the player with flames, which also sets the ground on fire. The player must strike out at Robotnik once he emerges from the lava, while avoiding the jet stream of flames.

This underground zone is set in a deep cave, which is covered in crystals. Sonic must swing from vines and avoid being crushed by crystals while they progress on their way to Dr. Robotnik. If the player manages to get through this stage, they are greeted at the end by Robotnik, who has a pair of drills attached on either side of ship. He uses these to drill into the ceiling and create sharp debris that will fall on the player if they’re not careful.

This zone is a giant oil refinery which features pools of thick oil that that the player can skim across. The oil is a double-edged sword, however, as while players can use it, if they are not careful they can sink into it and lose a life. Robotnik appears here in a submarine similar to the one he uses in the Hill Top Zone, but instead of a flamethrower, he now has a laser cannon that is much more lethal. Another new tactic he uses is that when submerged, he will send out a claw that travels over one of the platforms on the screen.

This is the only stage in the game to contain three distinct acts. This massive, construction themed, zone features corkscrews, copious spikes, magma and, of course, industrial themed moving platforms. After players make the lengthy excursion to the end of act three, they will predictably find Dr. Robotnik there. This time, he is surrounded by seven shaped pods, which rotate around him, creating a protective shield. Every time the player hits Robotnik, one of the pods will break off and transform into an inflatable copy of him, but these don’t pose a problem as they can be destroyed with a single hit. After all the pods have been destroyed, Robotnik will strafe across the screen with a laser beam. He is vulnerable in this state, however, as one more hit will send him packing.

This one act zone is set in the sky, as Sonic rides on top of Tail’s plane, the Tornado. Throughout the stage, Sonic’s partner will remain under Sonic wherever he goes, so falling isn’t a problem here. The player comes up against a variety of aerial themed enemies, but when they get to the end they will find that there is no boss in this stage.

Tails' plane, the Tornado, takes a hit and begins to fall to the ground. Sonic bails out and lands on Robotnik’s Wing Fortress. This flying citadel has many different traps and enemies, but the biggest threat to the player is falling off the screen, as this can be done a little too easily. Here, Robotnik has built a contraption to do the fighting for him. He locks Sonic within an energy field, and along with Sonic there is a laser cannon which strafes to and fro across the top of the screen, attempting to periodically fry the player. Along with the cannon, there are three flying spike platforms that bounce off the walls. The player must use these as a platform in order to reach and damage the sensitive cannon, while avoid their spiked sides.

After the fight in the Wing Fortress Zone, Sonic chases Dr. Robotnik into the Death Egg. This, ringless, zone consists of two separate bosses. The first is Mecha Sonic, this doppelganger has some of Sonic’s moves, as he jumps and spin dashes across the stage. The player must hit him in the head while he stands still in order to damage him.

After a few hits, Mecha Sonic goes down, and Sonic progresses into the next room for his final confrontation with Dr. Robotnik. The giant robot he appears in lumbers slowly around the arena, but the lower half of said monstrosity is invulnerable. The only way the player can reach the breakable upper half is to wait for the right moment. After trudging around for a bit, Robotnik rockets off the top of the screen, causing a target to appear over Sonic. When the target begins flashing, the giant egg bot is about to come crashing down. Immediately after landing, the machine lurches forward presenting the only safe opportunity to attack. But the player has to be careful as every other fall, he'll fire off his spiked arms which are near impossible to avoid unless Sonic is out of reach. After twelve hits Robotnik will go down, and the ending of the game begins.

By using a Game Genie, it is in fact possible to get into the Hidden Palace Zone, an incomplete level which was scrapped during development.

The code to unlock it is ACLA-ATD4 and then going into level select and pressing A and Start together when highlighting the Death Egg Zone.

The level is obviously unfinished and cannot be completed without creating the Egg Prison item in debug mode. Bits of the level design seen in the numerous Beta versions of the game are still there including the infamous 'Master Emerald' block. All level art seen in previous Betas have been deleted presumably to save cartridge space and most of the textures as a result are just a glitched mess. In the background however, art from the Oil Ocean Zone can be seen.

In the 2013 iOS and Android release of the game, this level was added as an easter egg.

South Island has been peaceful since Dr. Robotnik's defeat. Sonic, bored, decides to go on a journey in search of other adventures. Upon his return, he is shocked to find the island nearly abandoned. The only clue as to where all his friends might have disappeared to is a single note, written by his two-tailed fox buddy, Miles "Tails" Prower. In the note, Tails explains that he's been kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and is being held in a place called Crystal Egg. The price for Tails' safe return are the 6 Chaos Emeralds, to be delivered to 6 new boss robots. Thus, Sonic goes on a quest to find the Chaos Emeralds and rescue Tails.

The 8-bit Sonic 2 seems to be very similar to the 16-bit version on the surface, but is a considerably different feeling game. It features its own unique roster of levels, completely separate from the console version, with unique bosses and themes. Many gameplay elements carried over from the 8-bit version of Sonic 1 also see improvements, like the ability to recollect dropped rings (similar to the 16-bit version).

If the player manages to collect all of the Chaos Emeralds hidden in the game's previous levels, upon defeating Silver Sonic at the end of the Scrambled Egg Zone, they will move on to the game's final showdown with Dr. Robotnik and the game's true ending. Failure to collect the Chaos Emeralds before the encounter with Silver Sonic will result in the game ending after his destruction and the player receiving the "Bad Ending," in which it is implied that Tails has been lost forever.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 received preview coverage in the October 1992 issue of GamePro.

The Game Gear's lower screen resolution results in the Game Gear version having a smaller visible screen area than the Master System edition, causing some fans to consider the Game Gear version the more challenging title. For example, when facing the boss of the Underground Zone, the reduced screen area either side of Sonic gives the player less time to react to hazards moving onto the screen. Other bosses were also affected: the Green Hills Zone battle takes place in a smaller, steeper arena; there is a 3rd chute which cannot be seen while fighting Robotnik in the final Crystal Egg stage. The music for the intro sequence is also different. The Game Gear version uses the Scrambled Egg Zone music for the scene showing Robotnik escaping with the captive Tails and the Master System intro music for the title. The boss music is also different between the two versions. The Master System version used a single theme for the endings while a new good ending theme was added for the Game Gear version.

The Game Gear version also features dark blue (instead of green) water in the second Act of the Aqua Lake Zone, and omits the game's only "Speed Shoes" item box, which may be found only in the Master System version of this stage. In the Game Gear version in power-up's original location is a Ring item box instead, thus rendering the item unused in said port.

The music for Green Hills Zone was later used as the theme song for the Japanese and European versions of Sonic the Hedgehog CD, where it is called "Sonic: You Can Do Anything". A remix of the tune is also used for Mecha Green Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos (Game).

The Sega Master System/Game Gear game was re-released on:

Sonic Mega Collection (Game) (2002) (GameCube, PS2, Xbox, PC)
Sonic Adventure DX (2003) (GameCube, PC)
Sonic Gems Collection (Game) (2005) (GameCube, PS2)

The game was later re-released on Nintendo (Company)'s Virtual Console (Concept) service, with the Master System version released for the Wii (Platform) Virtual Console in December 2008 and the Game Gear version released for the Nintendo 3DS (Platform) eShop in June 2013.

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