Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Difference between revisions

* [[Hailfire Peaks]]: Several levels don't fit well into any one category, such as Hill Top Zone ([[Death Mountain]] / [[Green Hill Zone]] / [[Lethal Lava Land]]) and Aquatic Ruin Zone ([[Temple of Doom]] / halfhearted [[Under the Sea]]).

* [[Human Cannonball]]: One of the more fun ways of getting around Oil Ocean Zone is to shoot yourself out of the various cannons dotted throughout the level.

* [[Invincible Minor Minion]]: Crawl in the Casino Night Zone can only be destroyed by spinning or rolling into him from behind: attacks from above or the front bounce harmlessly off his pinball bumper shield. On the other hand, he's fairly passive and if you don't bother him, he won't bother you. An appropriate enemy for the [[Casino Park]] level.

** The Flashers in the Mystic Cave Zone are invincible when lit up (even when Sonic himself has the invincibility power-up, he'll just pass straight through them without destroying them).

* [[Super Mode]]: Introduced in this game. Become Super Sonic by collecting all [[Chaos Emeralds]]. After that, collect 50 rings and jump. Normally touching enemies hurts Sonic, but as Super Sonic, it ''defeats enemies'' instead. Touching [[Spikes of Doom|spikes]] in Super Mode won't hurt Sonic either, but he can still die by falling in a [[Bottomless Pit]], being crushed, or drowning. As Super Sonic, Sonic's rings decrease steadily and he turns back into regular Sonic if he runs out. It's only for Sonic though. Tails will have to wait for the next game(s).

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

* [[This Is a Drill]]: Robotnik has two drill-themed contraptions: the drill-tank contraption from Emerald Hill, and the cave-burrowing contraption from Mystic Cave.

** 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.

* [[Unwinnable By Mistake]]: When you finish the stage as Super Sonic--i.e. run past the spinning sign at the end--you immediately power down. If you jump again, you'll transform into Super Sonic, immediately power down, and be stuck running in place in midair. Sonic [[Exit Stage Right|runs to the right and offscreen]] when the sign finishes spinning; but if he's stuck in midair, the stage doesn't register as finished and you have to reset.

* [[Urban Legend of Zelda]]: Several planned levels were [[Dummied Out]], such as Wood Zone (eventually recycled as Mushroom Hill in ''Sonic and Knuckles''), Death Egg (all of the level before the final boss fights was cut) and Hidden Palace (whose soundtrack and some data survives in the final cartridge). A lot of [[Wild Mass Guessing]] has surrounded these, including the idea that originally Sonic 2 was supposed to have the time-travel gimmick of ''[[Sonic CD]]'' and the Dust Hill Zone (which eventually became the Mystic Cave Zone) was a [[Bad Future]] of Emerald Hill, and so forth. A particularly mysterious cut level is the gloriously named Genocide City Zone.

** Genocide City was eventually renamed Cyber City Zone once the Japanese developers understood what the word actually meant. However the lost zone did make a comeback of sorts in [[Sonic Spinball]].

* [[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 (Video Game)|Sonic 3 and Knuckles]]'' in retaliation for Tails's [[Artificial Stupidity]].