Sonic the Hedgehog 2
1992 Aspect/Sega Sega Master System Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the second instalment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and was released in 1992. The 8bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 completely differs from its 16bit counterpart released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis with a different story, different levels and although the game makes visual references to the character Tails, Tails is unplayable. In the second instalment of Sonic series, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is somewhat of a halfway house between the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Chaos which surfaced a year later. Dr. Robotnik has returned and is up to his usual tricks, this time he has captured Tails and wishes to trade the six Chaos Emeralds for Tails. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a decent 8bit game and is easily able to hold its own against the other 8bit games in the series. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 runs much smoother than both Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Chaos alike and although the game still lacks the spin dash, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 now includes the ability for Sonic to re-collect his rings after taking damage, making certain parts of game much easier than its predecessor. One thing that makes Sonic the Hedgehog 2 relatively unique in the early Sonic world is the inclusion of ‘vehicles’ so to speak. The mine carts from Underground Zone, coupled with the hang gliders from Sky High Zone, the moveable bubbles from Aqua Lake Zone and the fly wheels from Gimmick Mt. Zone make Sonic the Hedgehog 2 still a lot of fun to play. The 8bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a very mixed colour palette, other than a few of the zones such as the first act of Sky High Zone and Green Hills Zone that have the brightness of the previous game. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 features an overall darker colour scheme that at first can be quite off-putting especially after playing Sonic the Hedgehog. The soundtrack used for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is much more advanced than the previous game, with the soundtrack opting for a more low to mid sound than a mid to high and although the soundtrack is more advanced, it fails to capture the bouncy track ear worms of the original. Composed of only 7 zones, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is not much longer than the original, easily finished in just over an hour. In the usual Sonic tradition, each zone is split into 3 levels, 2 standard levels, one with a chance to discover a Chaos Emerald and a 3rd battle with one of Dr. Robotnik’s animal boss creations. It is a shame that some of these levels never made their way onto the 16bit format as it would have been pretty cool to see 16bit versions of Underground Zone, Scrambled Egg Zone and Sky High Zone act 2 with the storms, winds and hang gliders. It may be a fair assumption to say that the 8bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a forgotten gem of the Sonic series, even if a lot of the Badniks are basically rehashes of the original, the levels are relatively unique and as far as the Sonic series goes, it falls just below the original and as mentioned above, it’s a shame that some of the zone ideas from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 never made it further. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has aged much better than expected and has been a pleasure to play again after many, many years. 8/10 Adam
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