Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Difference between revisions

On a trip to West Side Island, Sonic meets a shy young fox named Miles Prower, nicknamed "Tails" by the other inhabitants of the island based on the fact that he has two tails. Sonic allows Tails to tag along with him when he notices that the fox can keep up with him by rotating his two tails like a jet propeller. Tails is also a surprisingly gifted mechanic for his age, as evident when he curiously examines the Tornado, a biplane Sonic used to travel to West Side Island.

 

 

Its engine based on its predecessor, ''Sonic 2 GEN'' kicks everything up a notch. The gameplay is faster than before. It features 11 zones, most of which have two acts; to compensate for having one act less per zone than its predecessor, the acts here are quite a bit longer. Debuting here is the Spindash, a technique where Sonic (or Tails) spins in place, revs up, and takes off as a spinning ball of doom, allowing players to destroy Badniks without having to jump and gain instant speed to go up slopes and loops. Also making its debut is the super form; here, after collecting all seven Emeralds and gathering 50 rings, Sonic turns into [[Super Mode|Super Sonic]], a golden hedgehog who's even ''faster'' than his regular form and possesses a higher jump (as well as [[Nigh Invulnerable|invulnerability]].) The Special Stages were also [[Retool|retooled]], introducing a "non-stop 3D movement" philosophy that would be embraced by the special stages of its successors. Thanks to these improvements and additions, ''Sonic 2 GEN'' is a massive fan favorite, not to mention the second-best-selling Genesis game of all time (right behind its predecessor, of course).

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=== Tropes appearing in this version: ===

* [[Action Bomb]]: Asterons.

* [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]]: Wing Fortress Zone.

* [[Dummied Out]]: A couple of zones met this fate, most notably the Hidden Palace Zone, of which you can find its BGM (track 10) in the finished game's sound test menu. HPZ would appear in ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|Sonic and Knuckles]]'' due to complaints about how they left out a beautiful level when it was advertised so much, but sadly it was almost nothing like the original.

* [[Eternal Engine]]: A number of levels, but most notably Chemical Plant Zone and Metropolis Zone.

* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: If you're playing as Sonic and Tails, both characters are present in the Special Stages even during the last few levels where Tails is absent.

* [[Green Hill Zone]]: Emerald Hill Zone, essentially an even easier variation on the original Green Hill.

* [[Tagalong Kid]]: Sonic's new sidekick Tails.

* [[Theme Music Power-Up]]: Super Sonic.

** The Grounder Badnik in Aquatic Ruin Zone has two drills for hands and a third for a nose. The Spiker Badnik in Hill Top Zone comes equipped with a detachable spiked drill on its head.

* [[Tube Travel]]: In the Chemical Plant Zone and the Metropolis Zone.

* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: Tails may be immortal, but the level design offers ample opportunity to "kill" him by squashing him with obstacles. This potential became a [[Running Gag]] in Cybershell's ~Let's Play~ of this game and ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles]]'' in retaliation for Tails's [[Artificial Stupidity]].

** This is also the entire point of the Tails abuse Machinima series by Whoisthisgit on Youtube (the ones that use actual gameplay at least).

** However, if you actually have a second player to wield the other controller, it becomes laughably easy, since a crouching Sonic is ''immune'' to the boss' attack, and Tails will always respawn if you manage to get him killed.

* [[Wasted Song]]: The Death Egg Zone theme is whimsically creepy, catchy, and awesome...and since it's only played in the corridor before the Mecha Sonic fight, you likely won't even hear 10 seconds of it. This is justified by the fact that it was originally supposed to be played for a full-length Act in the Death Egg Zone, but that was [[Dummied Out]].

* [[Would Be Rude to Say Genocide]]: There was an originally planned but deleted zone called Genocide City. The Japanese developers chose the name because they thought it sounded cool, but [[Unfortunate Implications|then they bothered to look up what the word meant]].

Released for the [[Sega Master System]] and [[Game Gear]], this version was actually the ''[[Older Than They Think|first]]'' to be released, although the Genesis version appears to be the canon one.

 

 

This version of ''Sonic 2'' builds on its predecessor with somewhat faster gameplay, even including loops in one zone. It also includes some differences from its 16-Bit counterpart, such as zone gimmicks including mine carts and hang gliders, the lack of a spindash (perhaps due to being this being the first version released), and the omission of Tails as a playable character (for obvious reasons, of course).

 

 

It's also the only SMS/GG Sonic to ''not'' have Special Stages.

* [[Kill the Cutie]]: {{spoiler|Heavily implied in the [[Bad Ending]]}}.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: The [[Game Gear]] release is considered significantly harder than the Master System's due to a [[Camera Screw|smaller resolution]] inhibiting players from being able to see what's ahead, resulting in cheap hits/deaths.

* [[Sequel Difficulty Spike]]: Due in part to the lack of checkpoints or shields and the increased length of the still-ringless boss Acts (Green Hills Zone Act 3 in particular has a series of blind jumps over spike pits before you reach the boss), this game is generally regarded as significantly harder than its predecessor, as well as harder than most other Sonic games from the same era. The Game Gear version adds some difficulty due to the screen displaying a smaller area, but even the Master System version is widely considered difficult by the standards of the series.

* [[Zero Effort Boss]]: The boss of Aqua Lake, a robotic seal who just knocks Sonic away like a ball, is incapable of directly harming you.

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