The Culprit: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Genesis) Resource

Introduction

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, “My Introduction to Gaming”, my interest in the wonderful hobby of playing video games, began very early in my life. I was just two-years-old  when my cousin, who was 12 years old at the time, showed me his SEGA Genesis and a rather impressive collection of games. In this collection, he had a brand new game he had just purchased, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which absolutely blew my mind and set me up for a life long passion for gaming.

My previous article inspired me to re-visit this spectacular game for the umpteenth time. Despite, having played it so many times in my life, I had not made the pilgrimage to destroy the Death Egg in over 5 years. That is a hell of a long time for a game that I had otherwise re-played at least once per year for most of my life. This yearly ritual was interrupted both by interference from my real-life responsibilities, developing strategies to combat my backlog, and my interest in pursuing games I have never beaten before.

In starting this site however, I have learned to strike an acceptable balance between revisiting the classics that defined my youth, and creating new memories via experimentation with new games and genres. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, is probably one of the most influential of these games that defined my childhood, primarily because it is the game that started it all, the culprit responsible for initiating my life long love affair with gaming.

Review

Visuals: 8.5/10

Sonic returns from his previous outing looking a bit more detailed, with better fluidity of movement. Visually, the game scrolls cleanly and utilizes parallax scrolling, which was an impressive feat the Genesis always advertised.

With the smooth scrolling and fast-paced action, the backgrounds of the game could potentially be overlooked. Luckily, the environments are absolutely gorgeous; every inch filled to the brim with color, screaming at the player to be noticed. These vibrant colors are not used to simply distract from other aesthetic shortcomings, rather they accent the beautiful textures and detailed sprite work that make the world feel lush and natural.

The play areas, or Zones, are not limited strictly to scenic outdoor terrain. The game offers a variety of venues to blaze through, ranging from casinos, to metropolises, to airborne fortresses. Each incorporating visual elements into the platforming, blending the environment with the gameplay in a seamless manner.

These areas often incorporate pseudo-3-D interactive assets that elevate the presentation and actual gameplay. For example, the Metropolis Zone incorporates a number of spinning bolts, tubes with rotational z-axes, and other seemingly textured backgrounds. This Pseudo 3-D effect is also utilized in the special stages, which appear as continually forward scrolling half-pipes.

Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ushered in the next era of SEGA Genesis programming, showing off what the system could really do. Gone were the lowly graphics of Altered Beast and Golden Axe; Sonic 2 set the stage for games like Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Vector Man, and other visual delights with psuedo-three-dimensional assets.

Sound: 9.5 /10 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2, like many of the blue blur’s outings, has an incredible soundtrack. Masata Nakamura’s ability to squeeze the most out of the Genesis’ limited capabilities becomes readily apparent within the first few moments of the game.

The title screen opens with a short, yet triumphant tune that sets the stage for the action that is to follow. Each level has a lovingly crafted tune that fit the locales appropriately, and provide a musical experience that please even those who do not enjoy the game itself.

Emerald Hill Zone, the game’s opening level, delivers one of the most influential tracks in video game music history, behind its predecessor’s Green Hill Zone. It is simply an auditory treat and universally appealing.

Each level is capped off with a boss battle accompanied by an absolutely incredible loop that ups the ante and provides a level of tension not present in much of the upbeat BGM otherwise contained in the Zones

In this gem of a soundtrack, nearly every level theme is perfection. A few of my personal favorites include Aquatic Ruin Zone, Casino Night Zone, Mystic Cave Zone and Metropolis Zone. These songs are a MUST listen for the video game music enthusiast, and I am willing to claim they are among the best on the Genesis outside of the work of Yuzo Koshiro.

Gameplay: 9/10

Rather than try to reinvent the series in Sonic’s second adventure, Sonic Team instead chose to perfect the original formula, upping the ante with more speed, more branching pathways, and more playable characters.

The addition of this new character, Tails, does not affect the gameplay significantly. This addition does however, allow for a second player to tag along on the journey to destroy the Death Egg without negatively impacting Player 1. Since Player 2’s inclusion can only help and not hinder the playthrough, with the exception of the Special Stages, it is perfect to play even with young children. It is this mechanic that allowed my 2-year-old self to participate in my older cousin’s sprint from Emerald Hill Zone to the finale quite a few times and introduced me to gaming in the first place.

In addition to the basic physics and jumping mechanics from the first game, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 adds a new ability called the Spin Dash. This allows Sonic or Tails to curl in a ball and charge up. Upon releasing the charge, the player is propelled forward with momentum significant enough to overcome most half-pipes and loops. This fixes a tremendous issue from the first game. In the prequel, if Sonic wasn’t running with sufficient velocity, he couldn’t make it up a steep loop, requiring the player to back track to build up speed and try again. This annoyance was remedied with the Spin Dash, which allows the player to “unstick” themselves in a matter of seconds. I cannot overstate how much this improves the flow of the game compared to the original.

In addition to a new cool move, Sonic also has a lot more ground to cover. Most levels are twice as long as the previous game, with multiple paths leading to the same goal. Approaches may vary depending on a player’s personality and the structure of the individual levels. For example some players may want to speed run through the game, collecting as many rings, lives and continues as possible. Others however, may want to deliberately progress through the levels collecting enough rings to target the special stages and unlock Super Sonic.

Both of these approaches are not mutually exclusive, however. It is actually ideal to balance these approaches depending on the specific Zone’s requirements and the player’s skill at the Special Stages; taking into consideration cashing in those 50 rings for access to the Special Stage will negatively impact the end of Act score, especially if the Chaos Emerald isn’t obtained.

Another consideration is that upon reaching the later levels, more precision platforming is required, slowing down the pace significantly and favoring a more conscientious approach to gameplay.  Speed running these later Zones is still feasible, but it will unlikely happen on someone’s first playthrough.

Having so many paths and different strategical approaches to the levels in a platformer is certainly one of the strong suits of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The fastest thing alive trades the genre’s more precision-oriented conventions for a more free flowing and exploratory experience.

This approach to the game design is a double-edged sword, however. Sonic 2’s level design is appropriate for the experience the developers were trying to create, but it lacks the puzzle-platforming aspects that really elevate the genre when they are properly implemented. Playing through Sonic 2 never makes me feel like “wow, this level design is genius.”

Not only that, but Sonic 2 even has a few areas where poorly placed pitfalls really interrupt the flow of the game.  One specific area that come to mind is an area in one of the Mystic Cave Zones. In this section there is an opportunity to hit top speed, but if the player chooses to do so, they will end up falling into an inescapable pit of spikes. I feel this is really poor level design and it is almost unavoidable unless the pace of play is slowed down significantly.

The game compensates for some of these flaws by having an intrinsically good feel to the mechanics and controls. It really feels so fast and smooth, and hitting half-pipes and loops at top speed provides a sort of visceral excitement that is lacking in many other platformers. I am certain this is why Sonic was so exciting back in the day, there truly was nothing else like it.

Capping off each Zone is a boss fight. Each fight is Dr. Robotnik either inside, or controlling, some sort of mechanical contraption. These range from submarines, to drills, to giant robots, to a freaking mechanical Sonic. Like most platformers, a few well-timed jumps get the job done and the strategy really comes down to learning the patterns and having appropriate timing. Despite this, the fights are generally pretty fulfilling especially towards the end of the game when they get a bit more difficult.

There is one boss fight,  however, that spices things up significantly. Casino Night Zone’s boss battle involves fighting Robotnik while using a pinball machine as a means of attack. The player must use the flippers to launch themselves at the mustachioed menace, in-tandem with the half-pipe contained in the boss arena. This is a welcome change of pace in a game with mostly straight forward boss fights; it is a shame that such creativity wasn’t used with a few more of the battles, something that could have potentially elevated the gameplay into the stratosphere.

Aside from the Single Player/Co-op campaign, there is also a VS mode that allows Sonic and Tails to race in split-screen through a small selection of levels. It is actually really fun, but the horizontal-split creates an unusual, highly distorted view of the level. This is unavoidable however, due to the low resolution of the Genesis and the fact that a vertical split would render the game unplayable. It definitely isn’t visually stunning, but VS Mode can offer some additional play time and permits the player to take revenge on Tails for losing so many coins in the Special Stages.

Another interesting tid-bit, is that the game can be played through as Knuckles the Echidna by using “Lock-On Technology.” Simply insert the Sonic 2 cartridge into the upper slot on the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge and insert that Frankenstein into the SEGA Genesis. This offers yet another way to play the game, thanks to Knuckles climbing technique…and Knuckles is absolutely a boss so its totally worth assembling the cartridge tower to try it out. Despite this, the game is nearly identical and it doesn’t offer any additional levels or features as it does with Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but it is certainly worth exploring.

Taking all the gameplay features into consideration, Sonic 2 offers one of the most fast-paced, enthralling experiences on the SEGA Genesis, despite having some shortcomings with regards to level design. The excellent controls, expansive levels, and availability of both a VS mode and the ability to lock-on with Sonic and Knuckles, result in a truly worthwhile time investment. Sonic 2  is a must own in my mind, and I owe my life in gaming to this wonderful piece of history.

 

RESOURCES

Selected Cheats

• Level Select: From the Options menu go to Sound Select menu and play the following sounds in order: 19,65,09,17. Press C and Start to return to title screen. When the game is starting back up hold A and press Start and the screen that reads Sonic and Tails (Miles) Prower. Hold A and Press start at the title screen as well and it will give access to a level select menu.
• Super Sonic: from the level select menu’s Sound Test feature play the following sounds: 04,01,02,06. Select the level you wish to play. Collect 50 rings and Jump to turn into Super Sonic

Sonic The Hedgehog Sites

• Sonic Retro : An impressive compendium of Sonic Resources included information about all Sonic games down to flash games and a page dedicated to linking to other Sonic fan sites
• Sonic HQ: up to date Sonic news and access to comics and music. Also has information about games from a previous iteration of the site available
• The Green Hill Zone: Not up to date, but is an incredible site with information up unti the 360/PS3 generation. Really well done for the older games.

Play the Awesome New Game Sonic Mania! The Best Sonic Game Since the Genesis Era.