Here's one from our fan James. It's a Retronexus!
With the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, released in 1991, Sega finally got their “Mario”; that is, a mascot that basically became the “face of the system”. Because of this, the pressure to make the second game and make it well increased significantly. Did Sega succeed in this? Hell fucking yes. They stuck to the formula of the first game; the same formula that has kept many kids, including myself, occupied for days.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, as in any Sonic game to my greater knowledge, the rings you collect along your travel become a tool for your survival. You obtain these rings, and when you run into an enemy robot or jump on a batch of spikes (if you’re silly enough to do so) you will lose all the rings you got. Well, the rings scatter and you’re most likely to get a few back, but nonetheless, if you hurt poor Sonic and you do not have any rings, you lose a life and begin from the last check point. So basically the whole point of the game is to make it from one side of the level to the other without killing the poor bastard along the way. Very simple indeed, as while at some points you may be going in a different direction, for the most part you will be holding that right direction on the d-pad the whole way through. Perhaps you will jump a few times, spin dash a little. But it is relatively simple regardless. There is an addition of a boss battle at the end of each level, where you fight Dr. Robotnik in one of his many hedgehog-killing machines. There is also an option to collect what is known as “Chaos Emeralds”, though it is not essential to the game play. When you collect enough rings and pass a check point you have the opportunity to go to a strange tube-like level and, you guessed it, collect more rings to get these Chaos Emeralds. Admittedly, I’ve never gotten all of them, so I don’t know what happens when you do. But I’m sure it’s something super cool.
There are 11 different levels or “Zones” in Sonic 2, most of which consist of 2 “Acts” and a boss battle. As mentioned earlier, there are enemies that may impede your progress from finishing the level. Most of these robot creatures are easy to kill by merely jumping on top of them, but as the levels progress some of them become more challenging. Other than those and random batches of spikes that come up from the ground, there aren’t many ways to be killed along the way. That being said, there are some zones that offer new ways to stop Sonic, such as falling off the edge to his death, drowning in water, or falling in lava. Point is, it isn’t very tough to get through these levels. That is until the latter half of the game, where there are more opportunities for sonic to get hurt and the enemies become tougher. Graphically, this game is what you’d expect from a Sega Genesis game, 16-bit goodness. And while most of the zones are quite similar in their set up, some of them contain unique additions that set them apart. My personal favourite is “Casino Night Zone”, where you have the opportunity to get (or lose) rings from a slot machine device. There’s also a hell of a lot of bumpers in that level (circular objects that send Sonic bouncing off), so you’ll be going all over the place, which is pretty cool.
Looking at the boss battles specifically, there isn’t really much to say here. To destroy Robotnik’s toy you need to jump on it (at the appropriate time) 6-8 times, making sure you don’t die in the process. Similar to the levels, most of the boss battles are very easy, again until the later zones in the game. Specifically, the “Metropolis Zone” boss is a pain in the ass, and damn near impossible to beat on first attempt. Overall, the battles add a slight challenge to the game, but nothing overwhelming. Just make sure you have some rings!
Well, that’s basically all the gameplay. What else could there be left to talk about? Hmm…Oh yeah! The Music! How could I forget? It’s the heart and soul of the game, and it actually makes it more enjoyable to play. Every song fits the level more than the last, from the jazzy ensemble in Casino Night Zone to the creepy, horror like tunes in Mystic Cave Zone. For me, at least, this is one of the few games that I can’t seem to enjoy as much if it’s on mute. Let me put it this way: Sonic without music is like chocolate without peanut butter. It’s still enjoyable, but it’s not quite as delicious. It’s hard to describe, but like I mentioned earlier all the songs seem to fit the levels perfectly. And yes, they’re in a loop so it may get a tad repetitive, but not enough to make it annoying in the time it will take for you to beat a level.
So that’s that. Sonic 2 in a nutshell. I could talk about the multiplayer mode, but it is much too straightforward, and I find it a little pointless. To wrap it up, if you’re a gamer who is looking for a challenge in a game all the way through, this is/was not the game for you. But to a more casual gamer, like myself, this game is quite the pleasurable experience. Thanks Sonic. Thanks for taking many of my childhood hours away!
- James
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