Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Review

I so cannot wait for this to be released. When I got my Genesis years ago, this game came with it and its one of the best genesis games out there.

Great news, i left the original alone as i've been holding out for this one. Can't come soon enough.

Possibly the best Sonic game ever, this one took the brilliance of the first one, and made it better! I would be downloading it if it were not for the fact I already have it on Mega Collection.
If you've never played it before, download it NOW! (or when it comes out )

I remember playing this in the shop all day on Sonic Twosday (1992/11/24...remember that, it may come in useful...). They had a Mega Drive set up in an arcade cabinet, and myself and a mate hogged it for the whole day!

Popular opinion has it that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the best of the Sonic series, but popular opinion is often wrong. This is by far the best Sonic game, and although I own the original cart, and an emulated version, I'm still getting this one. Great, great game.

Well I'm just starting to get into Sonic games so I would download the first one first and if the games good, then ( and only then ) I'll get Sonic 2.

mario/zelda, get this one anyway. The first is good, but this is fantastic, and I'd hate for you to miss out if you didn't like the first one.

Another advantage this has over the first Sonic is that it is fast. Even on 50hz, this thing rattles along, especially in the first few levels. I remember the Mega Drive struggling to keep up on the Chemical Plant Zone levels with those big long ramps.

Oh well thanks kelvingreen I'm gonna get this one now. But I'm still gonna get the first one. ( maybe right now..... yep right now! )

Another good advancement this one had over it's predecessor was the inclusion of the Sonic Spin Attack. Also...looooved that casino level. First time I played it I became ridiculously addicted to the fruit machine type game on there.

Wow snoic the hedgehog is great. If number 2 is supposed to be better I can't wait for this one!

Sonic 2 is brighter, bigger and much, much faster. And it's two-player.

I know, even if one has Sonic Mega Collection, it will only let you save Sonic 3 data, so in a way, it is worth buying both 1 and 2.

Well, Sonic 3 was the first of the series to let you save, so in that sense Mega Collection is being true to the original, but yeah, on VC, you'll be able to save your progress in any of the games.

I've played this on the mega collection. Its great and alot easier than number one. But that only makes it better.

Sonic 2 is my favourite out of the 3 games.

The perfect sequel to an amazing classic. This is even BETTER then the origional (way better, imho). I only wish that every Sonic sequel could have kept getting better and better.

NAH.... not as good as 3. 3 had more depth, more levels and (I think) better bonus rounds
I'd call this game a stepping stone from 1-3
but still an excellent game:)

Did Sonic 2 (as well as 3 and Knuckles) also challenged Super Mario World, or was it just Sonic 1?

Hay anyone know if they will release sonic 3 and sonic and knuckles sepratly, or toghether as origanly planned in development?

And answering your question BJ I would say that any sonic game in the 16 bit era was completly in competion to any mario game out there including SMW

Personally, I liked sonic 3 the best of any sonic game. Sonic 3 & Knuckles was good too, but some of those levels from sonic and knuckles were annoying.

Definitely the best one in the series. I'm gonna have to restrain myself from downloading while reminding myself about Mega Collection!

The chemical plant zone music is worth the money alone, Sonic 3 was a bit too complicated for my liking, and the level design just wasnt up there with sonic 2. Full agreement with you damo....... for once

Personally, I think Sonic CD is the best in the series.

Do you know if you'll be able to get Knuckles in this like you could if you linked Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 2?

Thank you, TheRealFONZ. You answered my question, now I'll answer yours.

Well, releasing Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles "sepreately" is most likely going to happen. Releasing them together though, either they would do it or it'll likely be a special cheat code to link them together. Either way, Sonic and Knuckles will have to come out first in order for them to happen.

I have played it before, but I never owned the Sega Geneis console in my life. SH 2 is a great game! I have played all 3 series though... but not enough play time to do all of them, but some are fun.

I read Gamesmaster now, and am writing in a letter to it promoting this site! Oh, and google seach video game pianist, he plays the chemical plant music

I used to play this game at my uncle's house when I was little. That, and Moonwalker and Afterburner. Good times. I bought Sonic 1, so I'll surely be getting this one, too.

I love this game. Its on my sonic mega collection disc so I don't need it, but its deffinitely the sonic game to get.

I already have three versions of this game but it won't stop me from downloading it!

best sonic game ever made for any system. i liked sonic for game gear 2nd best...dont ask me why

have the mega collection and the original...played with my sister for years when first came out because of the two player function and now i laugh at watching my kids master it

I agree fac attack about this being the best Sonic game made for any system. I haven't played any Game Gear Sonic games at all.

*Well, releasing Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles "sepreately" is most likely going to happen. Releasing them together though, either they would do it or it'll likely be a special cheat code to link them together. Either way, Sonic and Knuckles will have to come out first in order for them to happen.*

I disagree with that statement.

First off, the original Sonic & Knuckles came out after Sonic 2 and 3, and still managed to support using Knuckles in both games (IIRC, the only reason Sonic 1 wasn't supported was due to using an incompatible palette) The cartridge passthru allowed S&K to access the level data from the inserted cart, and in much the same way the VC could allow S&K to access the level data from the games that have already been downloaded.

Secondly, even if Sonic 2 & 3 needed to support it for some reason, Nintendo has already shown they have the ability to release updates to VC titles.

On a completely unrelated note, I was playing Sonic 2 today, and had earned 2 of the emeralds. I was having trouble beating the 3rd bonus stage, mainly because Tails kept losing our rings for us >_

Tails was rather dim on those bonus levels. I awlays found the best way to do them, was to use one hand on the D-pad on controller one, and then use the other hand for the second D-pad, and control Tails yourself.

Took a few tries, but eventually I got used to it, and even managed to do the final bonus stage without losing any rings.

Seems my last post got cutoff becaues I'm really long-winded. Hah.

Anyway, the question I had was, I had reset the console to disable Tails, and when I started a new game (Sonic only), the first bonus level that played was the 3rd level (the one I was having a hard time beating). Not only that, but after beating it (without Tails it was EASY), it revealed that I had earned three emeralds. It's like it kept the two I had gotten even though I had reset the VC. Is this a bug or a feature? Just out of curiosity

what is the difference about sonic mega collection and sonic mega collection plus? oh and by the way steve I remember doing something like what you posted about on sonic 1 but never sonic 2.

has anyone been having trouble with the frame rate in America? i notice that the frame rate really slows when you lose alot of rings while underwater?

Steve, that was on the original release too. Resetting the console seemed to keep how many emeralds you had gathered. I used it once or twice to have Super Sonic throughout the game ^_^

It's great to see it on the VC, but I already own it on the "Genesis Classics Collection." Regardless, this game is worth its weight in salt to be own in some way, shape, or form.

sonic mega collection had the mega drive games where the mega collection plus had the master system titles as well as the mega drive games.

I got an emulator of this and its still one of my favourites. Although there was no save feature on this so once you got so far and so few Chaos Emeralds you'd have to start from scratch but the Wii saves the place you paused or hit the Home button on the Wii remote so you CAN get all 7 Chaos Emeralds and release Super Sonic!
Sonic 3 (& Knuckles bit aswel) are on my list to-get if they become downloadable! Don't listen to bad feedback on this, Sonic 2 is a classic and a top title!

Even if you had this for the MD and bought the collection on GC this is worth a down load, it's the best Sonic game ever. Can't wait until we get this in the UK (EU) great graphics, plays like a dream. Tails gets a tad annoying but you can choose not to have him with Sonic. Down load this now!

I like it better when Tails is with him. It reminds me of playing the Donkey Kong Country games.

My favourite one of the series, I can't wait for it to come to Europe.

I've owned the cart for this, and my brother has Mega Collection, but I'll probably still download this one anyway. I can't remember a lot of it, but it's certainly the best game in the Sonic series, and well worth a download from anyone.

Downloaded it not a moment or two later after 12pm, and finished it now (I should really get some sleep!)

What a game. Love it, my favourite Mega Drive game, one of my favourite 16-bit games, my favourite Sonic game, and one of my favourite platformers. And to top it off, one of my favourite nostalgia games! This was one of my 'ultimate' childhood games. As such, I had to have it via my Wii =P

Heck, I'll probably go through it again this weekend! I need to do a seven chaos emerald run through...

I absolutely love this game, my favourite on the Mega Drive!

I don't remember it having thin blue borders on the top and bottom of the screen
while playing though... Is it supposed to be like that?

Anne - that is normal for a PAL/50Hz game.

gota say i agree with sean on this one, sonic 2 was great but sonic cd was even better, loved that game. hope they release it for v.c

You never know, diablos79. Maybe they will. Maybe Sega will add in Sega CD games for the VC. Maybe even 32X, Saturn, and/or Dreamcast.

I say avoid this if you're in a PAL region. Not only is it annoyingly sluggish and has the usual borders, there's also a distracting wrap-around of a couple of lines at the bottom of the screen. Really disappointed. Should have just gone back to Sonic Rush!

When I got my Sega-megadrive this was the game that came with it, and it was a simply amazing game. With its amazing graphics and fast gameplay, it was definitely my favorite game of all time starting there.

So, better than the first one?
I really want to download a Megadrive/Genisis and I'm not sure how to pick between the two...

Does any know if the level select cheat works or not i can't seem to get it to work

This game's awesome! Which is better? The first or the second?
I'd say the second game's better.
But my brother says the First is better.

I'd say the second is better, because it has Tails, better graphics, more levels, and better music.
My brother says this first one is better, which is weird because Tails is his favorite character.
I like it better when Sonic and Tails team up rather than Sonic being by himself. Two heads are better than one, I always say.

Second is better since you can play two player. But the game can't save which is bad.

man i wont that game i done care if i can get it on sega. matta fact they dont even sell sega's no more. if any body who read this gotta sega an wanna get rid of it let me no . man i still no the code to select the level an get super sonic i jus wanna play sonic the hedgehog 2 not 1 cuz 1 was boring, it didnt even have tails in it but any ways ill holla. ....CHI-TOWN BALLa

Is the EU version as fast as the US version? And if not... how much slower is it?

I agree, 1 was a little boring but to me it was still good. Sure Sonic 2 can't hold a candle to Super Mario World, but when you combine the power of 1, 2, 3, and Knuckles" together they stand a chance.

This is my favourite game of all time. Ive said it countless times and im not about to change my opinion. This game is a classic and out does all of todays modern games by miles. I have finished this game SOOOOO many times (Im not lying when i say its well over 150 or even 200) and i still downloaded this game again recently and can play it without getting bored. And amazingly after finishing this game again i discovered a secret are i NEVER knew about in Chemical Plant Act 2 which lets you skip the entire water part and go straight to the boss. To find out what this secret is then go to my account at youtube (Sonicjackaroo). I done a video for it there. This should be the first game you get on the VC. Dont miss this game.

This was only a small improvment over sonic1 in my eyes but still i consider it to be the best out of the 3 sonic games.

Like I said before, I owned the Genesis that came with the first two Sonic games (and Mega Collection). Faster gameplay and balanced difficulty. I can't forget playing as Super Sonic either, though I did used the code to play him (A Dragon Ball Z tribute or parody is anyone's guess). I can't say it's better than the first, because Sonic 2 focused more on speed. At least until you hit an enemy, which is a recurring problem. Regardless, this game is still a blast.

My only problem with this is that certain levels will demand speed, then shove an enemy in your face without giving you time to react. Apart from that, The special stages are awesome, super sonic is kick-*ss, and the levels have brilliant themes and a huge nostalgia factor.

My list of my favorite Sonic games
#5 Sonic 3(MD/GEN)
#4 Sonic and the Secret rings(Wii)
#3 Sonic 1(MD/GEN)
#2 Sonic Heroes(GCN,PS2 & XBOX)
#1 Sonic 2(MD/GEN)
(I never played Sonic CD)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is my favorite Sonic game ever and also my favorite Genesis game. If you don't have the game already for Mega Collection on the Gamecube like I do, it's definitely worth the 800 points. The graphics are still colorful and the music is still awesome, one of my all time favorite game soundtracks. The game has a decent length and provides a good challenge (although the final boss is an absolute pain) and having a buddy play as Tails also adds to the fun. A must have for any Wii owner.

Best... 2D Sonic game... Ever! My onley gripes would be the later bonus stages (where you obtain the chaos emeralds) are to frustrating. Still, I never tire of playing this game over & over again. The levels are some of the best designed in the Sonic series. Plus it has some cool secret codes, (Including a fun debug mode) look them up on the internet if you have this game.

I love Sonic 2. It is hands down the best Sonic out there. The graphics are clean, but more importantly, the gameplay is enough to keep you playing all the way through in one sitting. Download this and Mario World or Mario 64, and you've got a rivalry filled points card well spent. I think this has way more charm than sonic 3, but pretty much every 2d sonic is good. Give this one a download as soon as possible, though.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the day it was released, due to not yet being born (or even a fetus, for that matter, which I became nearly a year later). I'll download the game, though, as I enjoyed a flash sonic game (that was very accurate to the original games in gameplay) I played online before...

Boy this is just one great game. It's fun coming back to from time to time, way better than #1 and the music is fantastic

I loved this game alot as a kid and was really proud when I beat it (being that there aint no save states or nothing) And I never beat the first game without using the cheat.
I prefer Sonic 3 & Knuckles (the true Sonic 3!) over this and this is a tough game to top.
Easily 5 stars.

The best Sonic game, hands down.

One of the best platfromers.....ever!!

It's an early Sonic game; there's not much to say about it. Not as good as Sonic 3 or CD, but still good. It's a good game to get for practically everybody, obviously excluding those who are looking for gore or and just hate video games. Still, if you're going to get a VC Sonic game, get Sonic 3. Just its save feature makes it vastly better than this one.

8/10

Sonic 2 doesn't need a save feature, and everyone knows Sonic CD is a pile of crap.

This is fun. I gave it four stars to be generous. To be honest, I never really got into Sonic. I just didn't get it. I downloaded it to give it another shot and I like it now, but I still suck at it. It's hard!

My favourite of the Original 4 games, followed by Sonic & Knuckles, then the original. This succeds where the others fail and does so magnificently. If you like Sonic then this is essential

An awesome game. Not as good as the first one though.

Any Sega fan should have this game. Its the best of the series!

why do i get blue lines on the bottom and on the top of my screen when i play sonic 2 but when i play sonic 1 i dont get that

No way is Sonic CD a pile of crap. It and Sonic 2 are the best of the series!

This was the best game on MegaDrive and maybe of all 16-bit generation. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 was a Super Mario Bros. "copy & pasta", but this sequel set the series' rules with an extremely speed. This game has not been beated in Sonic series... well, maybe Sonic CD could be the only one which can be compaired. I didn't enjoy so much with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knucles, the three Advance and the two Adventure...

This game is NOT a Super Mario Bros. "copy & pasta"!

When all is said and done, Sonic was always better than Mario.

Easily one of Sega's best ... Even now it's one of the "fastest" characters around, no matter what system you play

It's no Super Mario World, but at least this installment of Sonic the Hedgehog has a 2 player mode, something Sonic needed from the start. I have gotten fairly far in this game but I always seem to loose interest in the land of "black water". 1990s video games treated oil as serious business, my how the future pans out. Again, sonic doesn't hold a candle to any Super Nintendo Mario game. Even "Mario is Missing" owned compared to this game. Never the less this game is rather fun in moderation.

-Waldo

There have been poor Mario games - "Missing" and "Time Machine" to quickly name two. Sonic is easily more fun than either of them. I don't see how anybody can say otherwise. Unless you're still stuck in 1990s Nintendo fanboy mode.

My first videogame I ever played on a console.This is my favourite videogame of all time just because of the memories I had of it when I was a kid.

My favorite of the Sonic Trilogy. I played this a lot at my cousins house as a kid, because i didn't own a Genesis. Who could forget that minigame?

One of my favorite games of all time. If you don't own it you NEED to buy it NOW!!!! Chemical Plant Zone music is so groovy and you will be humming it all day.

Completly flawless game. The level design in this game is clever and the music is the best out of all the sonic games due to the likes of Chemical Zone, and Metropolis Zone. The lack of a save feature is kind of annoying however but this is still one of the best Mega Drive games out there.

To Slangman:

Yeah, its a bummer that there is no save feature, but there is a hidden Level Select Option so you can play any of the levels whenever you want. I don't remember what it is, but you can Google it or something.

Yeah i heard theres cheats for level select but i would rather beat the game without cheating though.

4/5
Very fun, a little challenging, but a tad bit boring once you beat it
could use a save feature, though =]

This game was light years ahead of its time.

The core design brilliance is in the controls. It is often said that the game is all about speed--this is only semi-true. Yes, the game is fast, sometimes, but the real interesting part is the momentum-based-gameplay. You run up walls. Awesome. You jump off of them and fly through the air. You gain momentum down slopes, and you lose it going up hills and walls. The more momentum you have, the farther you can jump, thus, the more obstacles you can avoid.

It should be noted that in many platformers of the time, if you run faster, you jump higher--(mario, kid chameleon, etc)--Sonic doesn't follow this silly physics fallacy. However, if you jump off a ramp, you'll go really high, or even just off a very small hill on the way up. Strategize with this element to reach rings, lives, high cliffs, or improve your times by skipping obstacles, which improves your level-end-score, which gives you more lives, which helps you later on.

Talk about gameplay depth. And this is just with a d-pad and a jump button. Simple as hell to learn, incredibly, incredibly deep.

The faster you fall onto and bounce off of baddies/boxes, the higher you are thrown into the air. So that's fun too.

The level design is even better. Take a look at one:

http://qntm.org/files/maps/chemicalplant2.png

That is nonlinearity at its finest. You always know you're going right, so you won't get lost, however, every time you play the game, it will be different. Indeed, the levels are very difficult to memorize as well. The plethora of secrets are a nice attribute. Here is another level:

http://qntm.org/files/maps/aquaticruin2.png (the bottom half is underwater, but you can't tell here)

In this level (and many others) the upper paths through the level are the fastest and easiest and most rewarding, however, they are designed to be difficult to stay on, especially with gravity pulling you down into the dangerous, slower lower paths.

Mario levels barely have height or multiple paths at all. The game is barely even 2-d, since the height dimension is mostly used for jumping, which is really just a tool the player uses as an attack or to pass pits. It's really mostly a 1.5 dimension game. (this paragraph is tongue in cheek and should be taken lightly)

In fact, come to think of it, mario levels rarely have slopes at all.

Anyway, so, the levels are works of art, and never get stale. Nor does the gameplay, since it is so versatile. Each bouncer gives you 10 options on where to land, or what to land on, or what to bounce off of next. Or you can skip a bouncer all together.

The music is some of the best in video game history.

The ring system needs a whole nother essay. As well as the special levels and chaos emeralds.

The graphics are beautiful. The parallax is exceptionally done and way ahead of it's time. Also, look at this screenshot:

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/11627/1/87.jpg

Specifically, look at the shadows under the grass. Other platformers of this time period have a distinct flat quality to them, however, little things like this shadow give the sonic levels a huge extra charm and depth.

I'm not trying to argue that Sonic is better than Mario, or any other platformer. However, it certainly isn't worse.

Oh, and watch this, at least the first level: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PtDl-0B5U-g

Wasn't that one of the most entertaining speedruns you've ever seen? TAS, I know, but it's mostly recreatable without tools. I got :19 on the first level with a similar route, and was able to do it 30% of the time after less than an hour of practice.

Anyway, if you don't have another copy of Sonic 2 around the house available for playing, I highly recommend this work of art, you'll want to start it up again and again and again. (the only flaw: metropolis)

I can't agree enough Epyo. Sonic 2's level design is fantastic and paced perfectly, and is very replayable. And the emphasis on momentum really makes the game fun to play around with, as well as adding depth as you say.

But Metropolis a flaw? =O That's one of my favourite stages! Though those green enemies who threw blades were annoying, but what 2D platformer doesn't have annoying enemies?

This game is such a classic! Metropolis was really hard for me, the furthest I have been in this game is to the Airplane stage. Great game but needs some type of save feature. Not the suspend play.

I'm really tempted to buy these Sonic games 1 by 1 one VC, even though I already have mega collection. The gamecube controller is just not cutting it.

I even bought that Hori thing for around £30 and the Dpad isnt all that, its like a bigger versions of the original GC one. I felt cheated.

Christmas of 92 was the year I got Sonic 2 and Street of Rage 2 for presents. Its also the year I could quite being jealous of my friend's SNES games because these 2 games mentioned earlier raised the bar of 16-bit gaming on Sega's console. Sonic 2's visuals are easily on par with any SNES game. I do think Sonic 2 is better than 3, but Sonic 3 is an excellent game as well. I remember the first time I reached the Casino night level and being amazed at the games visuals.