4.5/5 - Great
This is a review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2013) as a game on it's own, not of how it remakes and improves the original.
In my review of Sonic the Hedgehog, I stated that what made it so special was it's revolutionary physics system. That game to this day handels like almost nothing else in the industry - you gain momentum running down slopes, you can roll into a ball through loop de loops, jump at inclines, to gain increased height - it all combines to create a system that is fast, dynamic, replayable and full of skill mastery.
Sonic 1 also screwed up by rarely truly taking advantage of these traits as well as it should have. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the other hand, is a triumphant sequel. It takes everything that SHOULD have made Sonic the Hedgehog great, and truly makes sure it does.
Sonic 2's levels are almost entirely intricate, dynamic, open, and very fast. The designers have truly understood what makes Sonic work. These stages have a lot more speedy setpieces in them, but they give a well needed thrill that combines well with more involved sequences that, with enough skill, can be combined together to never lose your momentum. Sonic 2 is an immensly replayable game because of this - every level is super memorable and unique yet super open, you never take the same path twice. Even the game's water level can now be played without touching water once if you're good enough! Especially with the addition of multiple playable characters - the original Genesis release only had 2 identical characters, but later with the Sonic & Knuckles lock on we got Knuckles, and the 2013 remake brought with it flying Tails. Different characters can approach the level design in different ways so the game is always fresh. Sonic 2 is truly a joy to play.
But level design is not all that improved. The brand new Spin Dash move is a game changer for mainting flow and gaining speed, and the speed cap has been removed for some crazy fast moments, the 2 act structure and larger zone count keeps any area from overstaying it's welcome, the zone themes are even more colorful and diverse and the music is some of the best the Genesis can output, and the game overall feels grander too, with the help of tails tagging along enhancing the adventury feel and the climax being quite climactic for a Genesis platformer!
Sonic 2 does stumble in a few ways though. For starters, the physics have yet to be perfected due to the still present roll jump lock hurting manuverabillity (unofficial mods can fix that but that can't count, but Origins fixes it too) There's also the climax, which while cool can be a real slog - Oil Ocean Zone is rather unimpressive, Sky Chase is very boring on replays, Wing Fortress is rather confusing and full of pits, and the worst of it, Metropolis Zone and the Death Egg Robot being frustrating and poorly designed.
But actually, I find that the 2013 remake has fixed these! When playing in ultrawide on Android (or even just Widescreen on consoles), the improved visibility helps with a lot of the blindsides that ruined Metropolis, and makes for a zone I actually really like! I find Metropolis in widescreen to be a fast, super challenging, well crafted final trial. The Death Egg Robot had no visibility issues, it was ruined by bad hitboxes - but with the newly added Insta Shield enabled (through the level select sadly, but still a welcome feature) it actually becomes a challenging game of timing and I enjoy it a lot this way too. It's still far from perfect, this odd climax and some other issues along the way hold Sonic 2 back, but it's still a really great game.
It's thrilling, challenging, replayable, catchy, and memorable as hell, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will always be a banger!

Um jogo nota 9, mas tive que dar um ponto a menos porque joguei pelo celular e a forma que eles usaram pra fazer os jogadores verem anúncio é nojenta. Mas em geral é aquele Sonic padrão que a gente tanto ama, eu considero o Sonic 1 melhor em fases com toda a certeza, mas esse aqui não perde seu brilho não, suas fases são ÓTIMAS. Em compensação um quesito que esse jogo acerta mais que o seu jogo anterior são as músicas, é cada PEDRADA que ele lança que é impossível não adicionar umas 4 no spotify. Inclusive fica a dica aí: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMW5zcDL9Ug

atualização: peguei todas as esmeraldas do caos, sou um true gamer

Marathonned the whole Sonic series in a year for the 30th anniversary.

I used to absolutely hate this game, but the main reasons that make the mobile remake of this game so much superior to the Genesis one are (again) the 16:9 resolution and the fully 3D-rendered Special Stages. Although technically very impressive for 1992, the pseudo-3D Special Stages of the Genesis version had really bad depth perception and collision issues that made getting Chaos Emeralds for bonus points and, of course, the eventual Super Sonic reward cumbersome and annoying. With proper 3D rendering, the Special Stages are easier to complete and totally reactable, rather than necessary to memorize that a bomb on an upward ramp is going to appear in front of you because the Genesis couldn't render it before it was really close.

Stages are a (subjective) improvement from Sonic 1. There is a much heavier emphasis on parts of levels that exist solely for spectacle and making you feel fast. The point of Sonic 1 wasn't to be going fast at all times, it was to be good enough that you COULD go fast. Sonic 2, however, makes sure that all players regardless of skill level get to have fun with speed through the addition of the Spin Dash and Dash Panels. The core design philosophy behind Sonic 1 is still present in Sonic 2, but made a little easier so it ends up being less frustrating for the average player. Stages like Aquatic Ruin have an entire span of level located at the top devoted to skipping all the platforming in the water if you can maintain your speed and platform precisely. Pairing Sonic with Tails allows you to jump into Tails' arms like in Sonic 3 to fly up through parts of level you normally wouldn't be able to in the Genesis version, since the player-controlled Tails originally couldn't fly. There's a lot of opportunity for skill expression in Sonic 2, moreso than Sonic 1, and that's awesome.

There's a lot of really cool ideas, like all the cut Zones and unimplemented phases of the Mecha Sonic boss fight, that unfortunately never had the time to be finished in time for the original game's release. The mobile remake only adds in Hidden Palace Zone (two versions, in fact. One that is 1:1 the same as what is present in the Simon Wai leaked Genesis prototype, and one that is more of an original layout designed by the remake's team of developers), but I think adding in any more to this remake would've made this practically a completely new game. I'd love to see a reimagining of Sonic 2 that has stuff like Wood Zone, Cyber City Zone, a full Death Egg Zone level and the unused phases of the Mecha Sonic fight fully incorporated. But as it is, this is the definitive way to play this game.

Sonic Origins really does a lot of favours for the older Sonic games, as the quality of life changes make the experiences so much funner. Hidden Palace Zone is a fun secret area, the bonus stages are way smoother, and I didn't expect to come out of this game saying I actually found the last 3 zones of the game fun, whereas before I thought Metropolis Zone was one of the worst in the series and couldn't stand it. I'm also glad to say I've finally beaten the final boss of this game without a save state during it.

turns out if the special stages suck dick, I'm not encouraged to explore for rings and try to beat them. and that only emphasizes how "white noise" all the levels are

except metropolis onward

that was miserable

My wife: i like sonic
Her sister: i dont
Me (full of wife’s penis): mmhghhfff
The chairs:
Her dead husband:
Egg man: i hat that hedgehog

Sonic 2 é definitivamente um dos melhores ports mobile que eu já vi.

+ Trilha sonora incrível em grande parte do jogo
+ Ótima gameplay
+ Sprites lindos que envelheceram muito bem
+ Chefes bem divertidos
+ Habilidade de Super Sonic apesar de deixar algumas fases mais fáceis é divertida
+ Uma nova fase secreta no jogo incrível
+/- As conquistas são meio esquecíveis no jogo mas acabei pegando todas elas
+/- História bem simples

I don't know why I skipped right over to Sonic 3 after playing Sonic 1, I guess I was just really eager to play it again since I've been kinda obsessed with that game my whole life, but man Sonic 2 is a great time! The classic Sonic games are just super addicting, sweet and short experiences that I feel like I could replay over and over. There's a bit of a dip with the one-two punch of Metropolis Zone and then Sky Chase, but besides that I had a great time with the rest of the game. My hands were fuckin sweaty while trying to beat the Death Egg Robot, but god damn it felt satisfying to do it! Sonic 3 is still my favorite in the classic series, but this isn't far behind. Great, great game!


I don't know if I would've gotten all the emeralds without the Origins coin system, cus Jesus the special stages are brutal.

Damn. Sonic 2 still impresses me. For many years I’ve ranked it below 3 but I might be wrong because this game is sooooo gooodddd. It may have less stages but the stages it does have. Also damn impressive this is a sequel to 1 with how much stuff they improved. This is absolutely a must play for platform fans.


My rankings of stages:

1. Chemical plant
2. Hill top
3.mystic cave
4. Emerald hill
5. Casino night
6. Oil ocean
7. Metropolis
8. Wing fortress
9. Aquatic ruin
10. Sky chase
11. Death egg

None of them are lower then a b. That’s how good this game is btw

This is the third game I played in the Sonic Origins collection. This one was just great almost all the way through. I enjoyed my time all the way up to Flying Battery.5. After that it was pretty much all downhill. For some reason the final boss really got to me and took me about two hours to beat. I get incredibly stressed when I can't make a single mistake so that caused me to make way more. This is actually my second time playing this game as well as I said before in my Sonic CD review, I played this on Switch online with rewind so I don't think it really counts. Anyways, I went through and actually got all the chaos emeralds (something i will not be doing in sonic 3) this time which was honestly pretty fun though also challenging. Glad I got infinite retries to do them too or else I would never get them done. I played through the game as sonic, as knuckles would probably be too different and I had already done sonic and tails in the past. Overall, a great game with a few frustrating bits at the end that knock it down from 4.5 to 4.0 to me. Truth be told, I've actually already started Sonic 3 and Knuckles, so I'll continue on with that. Hopefully it lives up to this game.