Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive)

Sonic The Hedgehog 2, was awesome basically.

◘►Introduction

Sonic 2 was one of the biggest gaming memories of my childhood and gave me many hours of joy trying to complete the game to the standard of all my peers and until this day I can be found playing this game, I cannot stress how much of a timeless classic this game actually is.

During the course of this review I will look at the following,
• Game ...
...Story Line

Sonic the hedgehog 2 was brought out in 1992 as a sequel to Sonic 1 which was a phenomenal title in its own right. Sonic 2 had a lot to live up to and Sega had a lot riding it to keep there console ahead of the game.
Thankfully the game was a massive hit and everyone who was anyone was playing Sonic 2, The game managed to over 6 million copies for Sega Mega Drive alone and today is the biggest selling game on the Mega ... more

Sonic The Hedgehog 2, was awesome basically.

◘►Introduction

Sonic 2 was one of the biggest gaming memories of my childhood and gave me many hours of joy trying to complete the game to the standard of all my peers and until this day I can be found playing this game, I cannot stress how much of a timeless classic this game actually is.

During the course of this review I will look at the following,
• Game Storey Line
• Characters
• Controls, Music & Graphics
• The Games LEGENDRY Status
• Price and Availability

These sub categories should allow me to show you how good this game really is, I will conclude my closing paragraph with a summary of my review on this legendry game.

◘►Game and Story Line

Sonic the hedgehog 2 was brought out in 1992 as a sequel to Sonic 1 which was a phenomenal title in its own right. Sonic 2 had a lot to live up to and Sega had a lot riding it to keep there console ahead of the game.
Thankfully the game was a massive hit and everyone who was anyone was playing Sonic 2, The game managed to over 6 million copies for Sega Mega Drive alone and today is the biggest selling game on the Mega Drive.

The game it self was one of the first games to have a decent storey line, It starts Sonic flying his tornado plane over a holiday resort on a lush island and he sees it as a great place to have a holiday, it just so happens sonic meets a young flying fox on the island and they become friends, unfortunately for them the island is also being visited by the all time lamest baddy of computer gaming Dr. Robotnik , after an explosion towards the center of the island, this is when Sonic and Tails rush into action and the greatest due in gaming history are born. The rest of the game is based around stopping Dr Robotnik from destroying the island to get all the chaos emeralds which Robotnik could use to power his evil evil EVIL space base to destroy the world, shocking I know.

You can now use Sonic and Tails to battle the new 11 zones that have been created for the enjoyment of sonic fans everywhere. The game also included one of the finest mini games that could ever been thought of.

The game contained many attributes that enthralled new gamers and old and all of the 11 zones contained unique styles, colouring and ability to stretch the mega drive to its limits.

The zones themselves were Emerald Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, Casino Night Zone, Hill Top Zone, Mystic Cave Zone, Oil Ocean Zone, Metropolis Zone, Sky Chase Zone, Wing Fortress Zone and Death Egg Zone, which all contained 2 acts apart from metropolis zone which had 3 acts. Each act was a segment of the zones which had to be completed before attacking one of Dr Robotniks evil machines which were no match for the mighty bash of Sonic and Tails as you attacked the machines got weaker and eventfully exploded until Dr Robotnik had to run the scene and hide in another zone and you could free the animals captured in that zone and return them to the wild, until he is finally destroyed at the Vicious Dr at Death Egg Zone where you meet Sonics metal Counter Part which is the worst thing you could come across when you’re only flesh blood and sonic speed.

That’s if you ever were able to get all the way through the metal monsters, spikes, springs, water horrific drops and not forgetting getting crushed or getting caught in molten lava.

Sonic contained attributes that can be see in many quest and platform games to date, such as the collection of rings and “special boxes” that gave sonic special powers. Including Magic dust that made sonic invincible to spikes, getting hurt and lava, other boxes included coin boxes, a blue go box and a speed running box, which helped you complete the games and take everyone on with abilities that would be harder if you were just plain old sonic, wait a minute I believe sonic could of done this himself but this was a great part of the game play.

Got Rings? I could never collect enough rings but if you did collect them without getting bashed and losing them all your game could be extended by getting 100 rings and getting an extra life, to keep the party commencing and getting to that all important final level.

I must say I got the game in 1997 and only recently had the correct skill to complete the traitorous environments, Not being the best at sonic never put me off as every time I played I was pleased with how much further I could now go.

Two Players?

Seriously, Yes! You can now take sonic to new levels teaming up with your mates to take on the evil doctor which was truly a great selling point for the game. Even though I remember my mum spending £30 for an extra controller for my mother, oh well you have to share I suppose *rolls eyes*.

Overall the game itself id enthralling and amazing and I would recommend it to any retro gamer who can appreciate It’s History and legacy to the max, although this game is great for kids, adults and the elderly as it can be played by anyone as its style and grace is one that cannot be matched by the multi platform, high ability, graphical and current games to date.

◘► Characters

The characters of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are some of the most classic and timeless to date and are recognisable around the world unlike many other mainstream games, Just to prove this Can you name any of the characters of World of Warcraft? This is the biggest selling game ever! I know I Can’t.
Sonic contained a few sub characters which aren’t key parts to the game but still helped make it what it is. Including Gold Sonic, Metal Sonic and all the birds and creatures that sonic rescued, Which added to the all resourceful game design and playability.

To get gold sonic was a challenge in its self as all the emeralds needed to be collected and rings need to be had, I have never been able to go gold to this date. Which does bring a little tear to my eye ïÂ�Œ.

However the game was mainly based around Sonic and Tails battling to stop the evil Dr Robotnik from his plans.

Sonic is the main character obviously and is that stereotypical hero with great values and big ego, if sonic was to live and breathe he’d be better then David Hasselhoff, Mr T, Chuck Norris or President Obama in my opinion anyway!
The blue hedgehog is no ordinary hedgehog, well he is blue for a start and for a finish he can run fast, you defiantly wouldn’t be running him over on a dark wintery night even if you did you’d be shocked to see gold rings fly everywhere and weird bouncing noise that cant be explained.

Thinking of tails now, where would a great hero be without his sidekick the answer is he’d be evil muhahahaha, Tails is there to fly sonic about save the day, and collect rings but he’s also very annoying why wont he just stay out the way and stay 50 steps behind stealing rings and distracting you from the good you’re doing is not the best way to support your chisel chinned hero but in the end of the day he’s their to help sonic and his amazing ability to fly does this.

Now moving away from the good let’s think, evil plans, escapades, in justice, stella mcartney and ant & dec, yes you’ve guessed right I’m talking about one of the most Iconic bad guys of gaming in history the original Dr.Evil mister Dr Robotnik who is your generally terrible bad guy who can never do anything right, but yeah he is still bloody annoying and his amazing way with machinery constantly stops you from saving the Emeralds and the world!

Overall the characters of sonic make the game what it is, which makes the great game play even more exciting and brilliant.

◘► Controls, Sound & Graphics

Sonic was one of the simplest games to control on the mega Drive with simple combination's that allowed you to use sonic and tails full potential, the controls themselves were fast acting and went well with the Mega Drive controller which was a key point for making the game what it was.

Music and sound? Yes Sonic 2 had great music and sounds which I sometimes find my self humming to this day, this was a great attribute to the game play and the sounds helped me interact in a very user friendly way.

The graphics for a 16-bit console were exceptional, and I find some 3d based games today less vibrant, especially WII games, bleh!! This couldn’t even be beat by Sonic 3 and is a true credit to the game designers and producers. The game was fast, reliable, soulful, colourful and a triumph to Sega and the Sonic Team amazing me to no-end!

Overall the way the controls, music and graphics were connected to the game play created truly vibrant and amazing experience.

◘► The Games LEGENDRY Status

The game was second part of an already amazing saga which led the way to many titles that are still being produced to this day, this was truly an attribute to the sonic brand and has the amazing status as the best selling mega drive game ever. The game in 2007 had a new major turn around becoming available on the Xbox 360 Arcade and the Wii which can be downloaded and enjoyed to this date.

◘► Price and Availability

If you are wanting a copy of the original mega drive cartridge, you can’t have mine but you can buy it for a reasonable price off e-bay with a console for about £20, but the game is also available on many other formats including PC CD Rom, Xbox 360 Arcade, Wii and in the newly available Sega Classics Collection.

CD Rom Price - £2.99 in game which is reasonable.
Wii Price – 800 Points (Points Need to be bought with a card)
Xbox 360 Arcade Price - 350 Points (Points need to be bought by card)
Sega Classics Collection - £24.99 (this includes most sonic mega drive games and many other titles.)

◘► Conclusion

From my years of enjoyment from this game I can conclude this was a completely epic game with a great legacy that would be hard to match, Sonic can be matched to many great series including Halo, Mario Brothers, but it is a classic in own right and I would 100% recommend this game to all ages.

Thanks for reading my review,
Frain2005 aka Ben
 

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