Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This article covers the 16-bit version. For the 8-bit version, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit) .

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Logo of the game
Original title	ソ ニ ッ ク ・ ザ ・ ヘ ッ ジ ホ ッ グ 2
transcription	Sonikku za Hejjihoggu Tsu
Studio	Sonic Team Sega Technical Institute
Publisher	Sega
Senior Developer	Hayao Nakayama Shinobu Toyoda Masaharu Yoshii Yuji Naka Hirokazu Yasuhara Mark Cerny
composer	Masato Nakamura
Erstveröffent- lichung	Sega Mega Drive : November 21, 1992 November 24, 1992 Arcade : 1993 Wii Shop Channel : November 19, 2006 December 2, 2006 December 7, 2006 PlayStation Network : July 11, 2007 Xbox Live Arcade : July 11, 2007 iOS : April 20, 2010 Steam : January 27, 2011 Android : December 12, 2013 Nintendo 3DS eShop : July 22, 2015 October 8, 2015 Sega Mega Drive Mini : September 19, 2019 October 4, 2019 Nintendo Switch eShop : February 20, 2020
platform	Sega Mega Drive , Arcade , Sega Saturn , Nintendo GameCube , PlayStation 2 , Xbox , Windows , Nintendo Wii , PlayStation Portable , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , Nintendo DS , iOS , Android , Nintendo 3DS , Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Sega Mega Drive Mini
genre	Jump 'n' run
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer , co-op mode
control	Gamepad
medium	digital distribution
language	English
Age rating	USK PEGI

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ( jap. :ソニック·ザ·ヘッジホッグ2, Hepburn : Sonikku za Hejjihoggu TSU), only Sonic 2 is a 2D platforming Run - computer game , which by Sonic Team and Sega Technical Institute ( STI) and was first published by Sega in Japan on November 21, 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive . In the same year an 8-bit version of the same name was released for the Sega Master System and the Sega Game Gear .

The biggest new feature of the game was the introduction of Sonic's sidekick and from then best friend Miles Tails Prower , following the blue hedgehog at every turn and could be controlled in single player mode with a second controller, a new split-screen - Multiplayer , Supersonic , the new Spin Dash ability and generally larger scope.

It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) and the predecessor to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994). With the module of this game you activate the game Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the lock-on cartridge from Sonic & Knuckles .

action

With his new double-decker airplane called Tornado , Sonic leaves South Island and lands on an as yet unexplored island called West Side Island . There he is watched and pursued by a fox named Miles Prower . Surprised that someone can keep up with his speed, Sonic gives Miles the nickname Tails because of his two propeller-like foxtails, which he uses for additional acceleration. Tails also takes a liking to Sonic's plane Tornado and so the two become friends. Despite his speed, Tails decides to follow Sonic as best he can from now on. Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik to usurp world domination again by capturing the animals from West Side Island and also building a secret fortress in space, the Death Egg . He is also looking for the seven Chaos Emeralds that could make him almost invincible. Sonic and his new friend Tails set out to stop him again.

After a long journey through different zones, Sonic arrives at Dr. with the Tails flown and modified biplane Tornado. Robotnik's flying fortress and manages to hold on to the rocket with which Robotnik escapes back to the Death Egg and also penetrates the Death Egg . There he must first face his robot counterpart, Silver-Sonic , before he contests the final fight against the huge Death Egg Robot . In a drawn out battle, Sonic can beat Dr. Finally defeat Robotnik, after which the whole Death Egg collapses. Sonic falls to the planet and is rescued by Tails on his tornado . If Sonic collects all seven Chaos Emeralds during the adventure , Super Sonic flies alongside Tails and the tornado instead.

Gameplay

In Sonic the Hedgehog 2 , the player takes control of the blue hedgehog Sonic, who is accompanied every step of the way by Miles Tails Prower, in a side-scrolling 2D platformer. Alternatively, you can set in the options menu to go on the adventure only with Sonic or only with Tails. The level design adapts to the dynamic, fast feel of the game with springs, loops and more. In addition to the control pad for movement, only one action button is required to jump. In jumping or rolling form, called Spin Attack , Sonic can defeat opponents or open item boxes in the form of monitors. If you let Sonic duck down with the control pad and then press and release the jump button, Sonic can quickly dash forward with the Spin Attack with the Spin Dash from a standing position . When touched, the golden rings can be collected; If Sonic takes damage, he loses the rings. If Sonic takes damage without owning rings or falls into a deadly abyss, he loses an extra life, of which you have three at the start of the game. If you collect 100 rings, you get another extra life. The monitors, on the screen of which the item contained is displayed, can also contain an extra life, ten rings, a protective shield, temporary increased speed or temporary invulnerability. Checkpoints in the form of lanterns mark the reset point in the event of a loss of life. Points are also collected in all actions, which in turn can give "continues" so that the game can continue despite the loss of all extra lives. Most opponents can be defeated with the Spin Attack, which scores points and frees the trapped animals.

The game consists of eleven zones ( 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 ) with two regular acts that can be defined as levels . Exceptions are the Metropolis Zone with three acts (reasons under development), while the last three zones consist of only one single act. Each zone has its own theme, appearance and variety of opponents. At the end of the last act there is also a fight against the adversary Dr. Robotnik and one of his deadly machines before the game ends with the credits. If Sonic activates a checkpoint with at least 50 rings, he can get to one of the seven special stages directly above the checkpoint through a star circle , where one of the seven Chaos Emeralds in the game can be found by placing the specified number of rings within the Special Stage collects. If the player ends the game without all Chaos Emeralds, a message with the text "Try Again" appears after the credits, in which Dr. Robotnik owns the missing Chaos Emeralds. Once Sonic has collected all seven Chaos Emeralds, if he has at least 50 rings and is in the air, he can transform into Super Sonic . In this form the player is invulnerable, significantly faster and jumps higher, but the number of rings counts steadily backwards. As soon as all rings are used up, you transform back to Sonic. Even with all Chaos Emeralds, Tails has no metamorphosis.

In multiplayer mode, the Emerald Hill Zone , Mystic Cave Zone , Casino Night Zone are available in split-screen format and with a different soundtrack. One player takes control of Sonic, the other over Tails and whoever reaches the goal fastest wins. There are two more item monitors: a teleport monitor that swaps the positions of the two games and a? Monitor that triggers an effect of a random item. The special stages can also be played, with the winner being the one who can collect the most rings.

development

Following the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka's Sonic team from SEGA of Japan teamed up with Mark Cerny's Sega Technical Institute from SEGA of America and began developing a successor in November 1991. Tails was penned by Yasushi Yamaguchi, but there was disagreement about the name: While Yamaguchi insisted on the name Tails, SEGA of America wanted to christen him Miles Prower because of the play on the word "Miles per Hour". So they agreed on an official and a nickname for the new character.

In the course of the development, some level concepts were designed, partly implemented and partly discarded. In early 1992, a Sega magazine published a screenshot of Sonic in a desert-like zone, which was named Dust Hill Zone after a later interview with level designer Brenda Ross .

The team led by Yuji Naka presented in August 1992 at a games convention in New York City a playable beta version of the unreleased second part. A copy of the version was stolen, published by Simon Wai on the Internet on a Chinese site in 2000 , and has since been known as the Simon Wai Prototype . By 2019, a total of eleven different prototypes with different levels of development from May 1992 to September 17, 1992 came to light, which means that the development history within this period can be logged very precisely even afterwards.

In the earliest playable version, known as the Nick Arcade Prototype , as this version was playable by children on the American TV show Nick Arcade as early as May 1992, the Emerald Hill Zone is already in an advanced state under the name Green Hill Zone . The level selection key combination also takes you to the new levels Hidden Palace Zone , Chemical Plant Zone and Hill Top Zone as well as faulty, unstable levels from the first Sonic game, all with soundtracks from the first Sonic the Hedgehog.

In the aforementioned Simon Wai Prototype from August 1992, the existing four zones of the Nick Arcade Prototype were refined, all new soundtracks were added and for the first time were the Wood Zone , Aquatic Ruin Zone (called Neo Green Hill Zone ), Oil Ocean Zone , Metropolis Zone , Mystic Cave Zone (referred to as Dust Hill Zone ) and another significantly different Casino Night Zone are playable. The Dust Hill Zone seen from the earlier screenshot has been replaced by the Mystic Cave Zone . The Mirage Saloon Zone included in Sonic Mania , released in 2017, is based on the early Dust Hill Zone . In the level selection, completely faulty, empty levels were also available, including the Genocide City Zone , which was later renamed Cyber ​​City Zone according to the conceptual drawings . After the developers gradually reached the limits of the storage capacity, the Cyber ​​City Zone was instead implemented as the third act of the Metropolis Zone to save storage space , because the level designer did not want to discard the work of the level designer.

Up to the development status of the prototype on August 21, 1992, many zones were further improved and Super Sonic was added for the first time . The next level of development dates back to September 14, 1992 and this version has removed the long unchanged Hidden Palace Zone and the Wood Zone (the idea of ​​deleting either the Hidden Palace Zone or the Hill Top Zone fell in favor of the latter) the Sky Chase Zone , Wing Fortress Zone , Death Egg Zone , the Special Stages and the multiplayer mode were added. In the latter, all zones including boss fights were still playable, but the zones that were removed up to the final version only had major technical problems. The last prototype version dated September 17, 1992, known as the Censor Prototype , refined and improved the existing content. The remote Hidden Palace Zone could even be seen in trailers and commercials for the game and was built in 2013 in the mobile version by Christian Whitehead and hidden in a certain place in the game.

For the almost worldwide simultaneous publication on November 24, 1992, this day was advertised as "Sonic 2sday" (spoken like Tuesday, English for Tuesday). The simultaneous publication in the USA and Europe within a very short period of time caused delivery bottlenecks and stress for dealers.

The music of the game was composed again by Dreams Come True bassist Masato Nakamura . The game's ending soundtrack was re-recorded in 2006 with rapper Akon as the accompanying voice.

New releases and successors

New releases

Shortly before the first release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Mega Drive, a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 of the same name was released in 1992 for Sega Game Gear and the Sega Master System, which differs from the original both audiovisually and in terms of content. An arcade slot machine followed in 1993 exclusively for North America , and in 1995 the Sonic Compilation appeared for the Sega Mega Drive , in which the second Sonic was included as one of three games. In 1997 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was playable for the first time on the Sega-Saturn game Sonic Jam with a new easy mode, in which there are fewer opponents and more platforms. Also the Sonic Mega Collection (2002, Nintendo GameCube ), Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004, PlayStation 2 , Xbox , PC ), Sega Mega Drive Collection (2006 PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable ), Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (2010 PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 ), Sonic PC Collection (2009, PC), Sonic Classic Collection (2010, Nintendo DS ) and Sega Mega Drive Classics (2010 for PC, 2018 for PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Nintendo Switch ) contained this game.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was offered again in its original state on the Wii Shop Channel, Nintendo eShop , PlayStation Network , Xbox Live Arcade and on Steam online. For the mobile market there was a mobile phone version for the first time in 2006, which was improved in 2010, before Christian Whitehead's remaster mobile ports for iOS and Android appeared in 2013 , which added more playable characters and a 16: 9 widescreen.

An implementation with a 3D effect for the Nintendo 3DS was published in 2013 under the name 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Nintendo eShop , the game was also included on the Sega Mega Drive Mini , released in 2019, and also part of the Sega Ages in 2020 - Series for Nintendo Switch .

successor

After Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive was followed in 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog CD for the Sega CD before 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were released for the Sega Mega Drive. Numerous spin-offs dealt with platformer as well as other genres.

After Knuckles' Chaotix 1995 for the Sega 32X , the Sonic series more clearly denied the path of 3D platformer like Sonic Adventure , which, strictly speaking, should all count as successors to the original game. In Sonic Generations and Sonic Forces , the Chemical Plant Zone known from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 returned, both playable in 2D and 3D, while the Death Egg Zone in Sonic & Knuckles , Sonic Drift 2 , Sonic the Fighters , Sonic Battle , Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing , Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed , Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and Sonic Forces reappeared.

The Sonic Pocket Adventure , released in 1999 for the Neo Geo Pocket Color , is a separate game, but the majority of the content consists of zones, opponents, gimmicks and level designs from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 .

reception

Meta-ratings Database Rating GameRankings 88% (SMD) Metacritic 82/100 (X360) 60/100 (iOS) 87/100 (3DS) reviews publication Rating Computer and video games 94% Electronic Gaming Monthly 35/40 GameFan 197/200 IGN 8.5 / 10 (Wii) 7.9 / 10 (360) Official Nintendo Magazine 94% Bad Influence! Mean Machines Sega 96% Mega 94% Mega Zone 93% Sega-16 10/10 Sega Force 97% Sega Force Mega 95% Man! Ac 7/10 (Wii)
Awards publication Award Electronic Gaming Monthly Best Game of the Year (Genesis) GameFan Golden Megawards Best Action Platform Game Game Informer Best Action / Adventure Game, Best Graphics in a Video Game GamePro Action / Adventure Game of the Year, 16-Bit Game of the Year (Runner-Up), Award for Excellence in Graphics (Runner-Up) MegaTech Hyper Game

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 received very positive reviews and for many is one of the best, and for some even the best Sonic game ever. The criticism of the small size of the predecessor was dealt with and even more colorful worlds were created. The trade press of the time gave high ratings such as 197/200 from GameFan, 96% from Mean Machines, 10/10 from Sega-16 or 97% from Sega Force. With the exception of the smartphone implementations with more complicated controls, new publications also receive very good ratings.

The game was also a success from a commercial point of view. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sold 6.03 million times on the Sega Mega Drive alone, making it the second most popular console game after the first part. Above all, the smartphone implementations are driving the number up by millions.

Web links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Official profile on nintendo.de
• Cheats for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Interview with Yuji Naka on Gamespy : [1]
2. ↑ ^{a b} Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Genesis . In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive . Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
3. ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Xbox 360 Reviews . In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved November 27, 2014.
4. ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for iPhone / iPad Reviews . In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved November 27, 2014.
5. ^ 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for 3DS Reviews . In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved October 29, 2018.
6. ↑ Computer & Video Games , issue 132 (November 1992)
7. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly , 1998 Video Game Buyer's Guide , page 87
8. ↑ Ellie Gibson: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . In: Eurogamer . September 17, 2007. Accessed November 21, 2019.
9. ^ Famitsu , issue 206
10. ↑ GameFan , volume 1, issue 2 (December 1992), pages 9 & 14-17
11. ↑ Game Informer , issue 8 (January / February 1993), pages 56-57
12. ↑ Classic Reviews: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . In: Game Informer . 12, No. 109, May 2002, p. 104.
13. ^ Frank Provo: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Xbox 360) Review . In: GameSpot . September 13, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
14. ^ Frank Provo: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Wii) Review . In: GameSpot . June 15, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
15. ↑ Tom East: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 : The blue hedgehog returns . In: Official Nintendo Magazine . January 11, 2008. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved on February 3, 2012.
16. ↑ Eli Hodapp: 'Sonic 2' - Another Genesis Game Wrapped in Sega's Emulator . April 19, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
17. ↑ Bad Influence , issue 2, pages 46-47
18. ↑ Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . In: Mean Machines Sega . No. 2, November 1992, pp. 60-3. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
19. ↑ Game Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . In: Future Publishing (Ed.): Mega . No. 2, November 1992, pp. 36-41. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
20. ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . In: Mega Zone . No. 25, January 1993, pp. 31-33.
21. ↑ Dyson Turner: Sega-16 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . Sega-16. July 17, 2004. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
22. ↑ Reviewed: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive) . In: Impact Magazines (ed.): Sega Force . No. 12, December 1992, pp. 14-6. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
23. ↑ Sonic 2 . In: Impact Magazines (ed.): Sega Force Mega . 2, No. 1, August 1993, p. 91.
24. ↑ GameFan , volume 1, issue 3 (January 1993), pages 70-71
25. ↑ Game Informer , issue 8 (January / February 1993), page 34
26. ↑ GamePro , issue 44 (March 1993), pages 22-24