I'm a big fan of the classic Sonic games, while the third game is my favourite overall, this second instalment is a close second thanks to the introduction of Tails which I feel is a necessary addition to the franchise.
Naturally the third game us where our friendly fox truly shines given how he's a playable character in that instalment, this is why I can't say this game is perfect as having a second playable character with its own move set would've added replay ability to this game. At least the playthrough as is remains memory thanks to better boss fights with Eggman (although good luck with the final fight if you're not using an emulator) as well as the usual high quality from the art and level design were accustomed to from Sega. The music is also solid, however that's to be expected from 90s games.
It's a solid introduction to anyone looking to get into the Sonic franchise, I know these games are a one trick pony, but that one trick is too much fun for me not to recommend.
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An abomination that was thankfully ignored by time
Where the 16 bit Genesis version of Sonic 2 would go on to improve on the gameplay and expand the series into something distinct from Mario, the 8 bit version would be the first game but harder. This is kind of like a "Super Mario Bros: the Lost Levels" situation. The problem is the 8 bit Sonic 1 doesn't even come close to the quality of a game like the original Super Mario Bros. In fact, the 8 bit Sonic 1 was already awful and far inferior to the Genesis original.
Just like "Lost Levels", the 8 bit version of Sonic 2 is built off the foundations of it's predecessor but with the added goal of a higher difficulty curve. Sonic still can't collect rings he dropped after taking damage and the focus on basic, Mario-like platforming is still the central focus. The problem is your success in this game depends almost entirely on trial and error. This design philosophy is definitely a part of all games. The player needs practice in order to get good at it. The problem is the player needs to find the game fun from the start in order to want to practice it. In my case, I tried playing this game four or five times from the very beginning and I couldn't find anything redeemable about it. I tried both the Game Gear and Master System releases and while the latter has better visibility, there are still many moments where I had to take a leap of faith, which leads me to the level design. These zone, sprawling and huge as they may be, still feel restricting. There are very few diverging pathways and Sonic's static controls leave next to no room for experimentation.
I get that the hardware used was limited compared to the Genesis but that doesn't change the fact that these 8 bit Sonic games have all aged very poorly. In fact, that's sort of the nature of all 8 bit games and their arcade predecessors and the same is destined to happen to even the games of today. It may not be fair to compare these games to the ones of today but it still doesn't make me want to play them. Sometimes, the past is best left alone.
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The first 8-bit Sonic game was good but this one is just bad. It makes no sense that I have more difficulty fighting the first boss with save-states than the entirety of the last zone and the final boss without them (and this is only one of the many complains I have).
After Aqua Lake Zone 1 this game starts to have a horrible level design where everything is cooperating to kill you. It's not that it gets harder, but rather boring and frustrating.
I was never able to get far in this as a young kid on the Game Gear. Finally replayed it with save states to see the mythical end and good lord, what a miserable game. The first 8-bit Sonic was simple but a lot of fun, but this game is masacore by comparison. In particular, the Scrambled Eggs levels are insane levels of trolling that require unreal levels of reflexes. Lastly, big lol that the final boss was a huge joke compared to everything else in the game.
I'm convinced Sega packaged this shitty game with GGs instead of its superior predecessor to trick people into thinking they were getting a portable version of the Genesis game.
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Note: Unlike reviews, comments are considered temporary and may be deleted/purged without notice.I'm convinced Sega packaged this shitty game with GGs instead of its superior predecessor to trick people into thinking they were getting a portable version of the Genesis game.