Yeah, that's right, I played this on the Sega Genesis Classics emulator on steam, I nabbed it when they gave it away for free some years ago. Sega thought it was being clever when it removed the Sonic games so we would buy Origins, well, who is laughing now, SEGA?!... Now please let me buy Rocket Knight Adventure pleasepleasepleaseplease pretty please.
Ah, Sonic, the one and only! I really liked him when I was younger, and I mean, look at the guy: it's blue, has legs, what's there not to love? I remember being really fixated over this guy for a while, even more than Mario... and then I played the games. I honestly couldn't even tell you if they were even bad, mainly 'cause I never got far 'cause man do I SUCK at those games. No matter if it's 3D or 2D, then or now, I'm extremely bad at them and I really couldn't tell you why, guess it's one of my two curses, the other one being bad grammar. To this day the only Sonic games I've played till the end are Generations and Mania, but even tho I really liked the latter it didn't really made me better at them at all; after beating it I tried time and time again getting into the classic ones, but I just kept dropping them 'cause, again, I just felt I wasn't good enough, that something wasn't clicking. Finally beating Sonic 2 so long after my first attempt was an eye-opener, 'cause while I still consider myself really bad at this games, I also noticed the core design issues that make this experience sometimes a chore to go through.
And it's a shame, because Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has so many good elements that the first impression it leaves is always good! The game is beautiful from start to finish, everything looks incredibly well and far more interesting and stylized than many other 16-bit games. The colors pop out, the enemy and zone design are extremely creative and iconic, and the music... is a bit mixed actually, there are some themes here and there that are noticeable worse than others and don't sound that good, but believe me, when Sonic 2's music is good, IT'S FUCKING FANTASTIC. When it comes to presentation, the game doesn't shy away from going all out, even if that does mean that sometimes there can be a bit of slow-down when you have a lot of rings a get hit, but aside from that, and some graphical glitches that I don't know if they are a problem with the emulator or the game itself, in what respects looks, Sonic 2 absolutely shines.
And at a first contact, it looks like it shines in the gameplay department too! The first zone, Emerald Hill is amazing, it teaches you everything you need to know about the game's dependance on momentum and going as fast as possible, the multiple secrets and ways you can traverse the level, introducing some basic enemies from which future ones will expand upon and be more aggressive, etc. And all of this is... fun! It's really fun! I found myself really enjoying both of the acts of the first zone, and when arriving at Chemical Plant Zone, the first act was even more fun, introducing brand new elements that made the level far more interesting and most importantly: helped you go fast and overcome challenges in a far more agile and interesting way... and then Act 2 happened.
I... what the hell happened here? Don't get me wrong, it's far from being horrible, but many of the design decisions I simply don't understand that the game will carry onwards are present here: It simply won't let you go fast ... WHICH IS THE MECHANICN THE ENTIRE GAME IS SUPOSSED TO BE BASED AROUND. From here onwards, there are a ton of sections where the games into a precision-oriented platformer and... it just doesn't work. Sonic feels slippery, as it should! The idea is that he is supposed to go fast, and what slipperiness and imprecision when it goes slow, becomes a crucial key when it achieves incredible speed. So, when the game start to ask to take things more calmly and jump in a more precise way I say: ''OK! No problem, I get it, you got to break up the fast-paced levels with some down time. At least you will compensate the fact that Sonic wasn't designed for this kind of platforming with not so punishing level design, right?... right...?''
The game not only loves to keep slowing you down, but it also FUCKING ADORES to throw random shit at your direction that you just cannot react or recover from. Endless pits, random enemies or spikes, water from which you have no idea where to get out of, you name it! And this makes me specially mad because the game does have some extremely cool ideas and mechanics, and it’s not like it becomes unbearable from this point onwards, zones like the casino , Hill Top or Mystic Cave do have some fun moments and ideas throwed into them, but it just keeps tripping time and time again, not letting you do what's actually fun and unique about thus game and it seems hellbent on it. I don't want to see the final three zones of this game in my life, Metropolis Zone was boring and repetitive and drown out, Wing Fortress Zone was atrocious, and Death Egg Zone are just two bosses that aren’t that fun, and they don't give you any rings...You have to beat both battles without getting hit... YOU CAN'T EVEN USE SUPER SONIC IF YOU GET ALL THE EMERALDS IN THE FUCKING FINAL BOSS UNLESS YOU USE THE DEBUG MODE!
...ok... things got a bit heated there...
Listen, this game, as a sequel, is incredible: it's a huge upgrade in most regards, it introduces Tails and multiplayer, it introduced an incredible reward for getting the emeralds (tho getting them is absolute hell), it had actual little cinematics and it was all and all far more original and creative. And again, I did have fun, even if doesn't seem like it, but really, this game has some really good meat over its bones... but it's also full of rot. I cannot bring myself to really dislike it 'cause it isn't ''bad'' by any means, but I also didn't find myself actively enjoying it.
If you love or like this one, I'm so, so fucking happy for you and I'm so sorry I couldn't see what makes this game so special. I might be bad at Sonic, but sometimes Sonic is bad at design, and I can't look past that...
Tho I'll say I still really want to play Sonic 3, I might take a little break from Sonic before trying it, but I'll get there...
I'll get that hedgehog!
Ah, Sonic, the one and only! I really liked him when I was younger, and I mean, look at the guy: it's blue, has legs, what's there not to love? I remember being really fixated over this guy for a while, even more than Mario... and then I played the games. I honestly couldn't even tell you if they were even bad, mainly 'cause I never got far 'cause man do I SUCK at those games. No matter if it's 3D or 2D, then or now, I'm extremely bad at them and I really couldn't tell you why, guess it's one of my two curses, the other one being bad grammar. To this day the only Sonic games I've played till the end are Generations and Mania, but even tho I really liked the latter it didn't really made me better at them at all; after beating it I tried time and time again getting into the classic ones, but I just kept dropping them 'cause, again, I just felt I wasn't good enough, that something wasn't clicking. Finally beating Sonic 2 so long after my first attempt was an eye-opener, 'cause while I still consider myself really bad at this games, I also noticed the core design issues that make this experience sometimes a chore to go through.
And it's a shame, because Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has so many good elements that the first impression it leaves is always good! The game is beautiful from start to finish, everything looks incredibly well and far more interesting and stylized than many other 16-bit games. The colors pop out, the enemy and zone design are extremely creative and iconic, and the music... is a bit mixed actually, there are some themes here and there that are noticeable worse than others and don't sound that good, but believe me, when Sonic 2's music is good, IT'S FUCKING FANTASTIC. When it comes to presentation, the game doesn't shy away from going all out, even if that does mean that sometimes there can be a bit of slow-down when you have a lot of rings a get hit, but aside from that, and some graphical glitches that I don't know if they are a problem with the emulator or the game itself, in what respects looks, Sonic 2 absolutely shines.
And at a first contact, it looks like it shines in the gameplay department too! The first zone, Emerald Hill is amazing, it teaches you everything you need to know about the game's dependance on momentum and going as fast as possible, the multiple secrets and ways you can traverse the level, introducing some basic enemies from which future ones will expand upon and be more aggressive, etc. And all of this is... fun! It's really fun! I found myself really enjoying both of the acts of the first zone, and when arriving at Chemical Plant Zone, the first act was even more fun, introducing brand new elements that made the level far more interesting and most importantly: helped you go fast and overcome challenges in a far more agile and interesting way... and then Act 2 happened.
I... what the hell happened here? Don't get me wrong, it's far from being horrible, but many of the design decisions I simply don't understand that the game will carry onwards are present here: It simply won't let you go fast ... WHICH IS THE MECHANICN THE ENTIRE GAME IS SUPOSSED TO BE BASED AROUND. From here onwards, there are a ton of sections where the games into a precision-oriented platformer and... it just doesn't work. Sonic feels slippery, as it should! The idea is that he is supposed to go fast, and what slipperiness and imprecision when it goes slow, becomes a crucial key when it achieves incredible speed. So, when the game start to ask to take things more calmly and jump in a more precise way I say: ''OK! No problem, I get it, you got to break up the fast-paced levels with some down time. At least you will compensate the fact that Sonic wasn't designed for this kind of platforming with not so punishing level design, right?... right...?''
The game not only loves to keep slowing you down, but it also FUCKING ADORES to throw random shit at your direction that you just cannot react or recover from. Endless pits, random enemies or spikes, water from which you have no idea where to get out of, you name it! And this makes me specially mad because the game does have some extremely cool ideas and mechanics, and it’s not like it becomes unbearable from this point onwards, zones like the casino , Hill Top or Mystic Cave do have some fun moments and ideas throwed into them, but it just keeps tripping time and time again, not letting you do what's actually fun and unique about thus game and it seems hellbent on it. I don't want to see the final three zones of this game in my life, Metropolis Zone was boring and repetitive and drown out, Wing Fortress Zone was atrocious, and Death Egg Zone are just two bosses that aren’t that fun, and they don't give you any rings...You have to beat both battles without getting hit... YOU CAN'T EVEN USE SUPER SONIC IF YOU GET ALL THE EMERALDS IN THE FUCKING FINAL BOSS UNLESS YOU USE THE DEBUG MODE!
...ok... things got a bit heated there...
Listen, this game, as a sequel, is incredible: it's a huge upgrade in most regards, it introduces Tails and multiplayer, it introduced an incredible reward for getting the emeralds (tho getting them is absolute hell), it had actual little cinematics and it was all and all far more original and creative. And again, I did have fun, even if doesn't seem like it, but really, this game has some really good meat over its bones... but it's also full of rot. I cannot bring myself to really dislike it 'cause it isn't ''bad'' by any means, but I also didn't find myself actively enjoying it.
If you love or like this one, I'm so, so fucking happy for you and I'm so sorry I couldn't see what makes this game so special. I might be bad at Sonic, but sometimes Sonic is bad at design, and I can't look past that...
Tho I'll say I still really want to play Sonic 3, I might take a little break from Sonic before trying it, but I'll get there...
I'll get that hedgehog!
12 Comments
@Weatherby Huh, the two sides of the coin I see! Maybe it's a matter of not being familiarized with the game, and in repeated playthroughs the problem gets inverted, but I don't know, I just get the feeling that there are too many roadblocks and barely any of them are fun.
But glad we can fully agree on the last Zones, they are BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.
But glad we can fully agree on the last Zones, they are BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.
Screen crunch is an issue until you build familiarity with these games. I can certainly understand someone playing them today for the first time and it just not geling with them. That's part of why I think Origins has value, just having these games in 16:9 helps a ton with being able to read what's ahead of you, but I also think they kinda botched that in some bad ways. Maybe it's smoothed out now though, what with patches and all.
@Weatherby That might actually solve some of problems concerning shit that just... appears. I joked about that game at the beginning but I did have plans to buy Origins, but then I saw the reviews and price and I just passed it, but I might get it if its fixed, I'll have to check on that.
@CURS I didn't put Chemical Plant's theme as an example of the fantastic music only to not be too repetitive, 'cause that shit being a bop is universal knowledge at this point, it's so good.
And I'll agree, everyone has their own vision in what they want out of a Sonic game, and maybe playing Mania before it didn't help me to go into it with a more open mind, but either way, for me it's not a matter that I don't like it because it's not what I wanted, but rather because I didn't find it all that fun or well thought-out.
Still, thank you so much for the kind words and I'm glad you liked the review even if you don't agree with it! As I said, I know very well that a ton of people really like this one, and I absolutely get it and I'm really happy for you, it's just that it didn't click with me.
@CURS I didn't put Chemical Plant's theme as an example of the fantastic music only to not be too repetitive, 'cause that shit being a bop is universal knowledge at this point, it's so good.
And I'll agree, everyone has their own vision in what they want out of a Sonic game, and maybe playing Mania before it didn't help me to go into it with a more open mind, but either way, for me it's not a matter that I don't like it because it's not what I wanted, but rather because I didn't find it all that fun or well thought-out.
Still, thank you so much for the kind words and I'm glad you liked the review even if you don't agree with it! As I said, I know very well that a ton of people really like this one, and I absolutely get it and I'm really happy for you, it's just that it didn't click with me.
I will say that if you dislike parts of Sonic 2 because stuff kinda jumps in front of you and there's too much platforming, you're gonna fuckin hate the shit out of Sonic 1 lol
@weatherby OH I KNOW. I might get around it sometime just for the funny, but I already know that Marble Zone is going to be the bane of my existence.
While I disagree with your philosophy on Sonic's gameplay, I do however agree that this game's second-half is complete fartpants. If you want to remove the wind from my sails really quickly you only need to give me a crap climax, and suddenly I'll be hard pressed to play the game again. [ignore that I can replay Sonic 2 easily, I'm just used to the bullshit from playing it constantly when I was younger]
Yeah this one never really vibed for me. Played it again sometime last year and it is alright but mostly notable for being an upgrade
@Vee It seems that the final zones of this gane being dogshit is something that almost everyone agrees upon, and I'm glad that's the case. Even tho I didn't like some aspects of them, the rest of the levels have some really fun elements and moments, but the final ones range from boring to flat-out terrible. Metropolis zone being the only one with three acts looks like some kind of sick joke. And hard agree, a game leaving a terrible last impression deflates any interest I might have in playing it again, tho with this one, it wasn't much to begin with, sadly...
@appreciations That it's absolutely true, I've never beaten Sonic 1, but from the little time I played it and from what I've seen, this is a monumental sequel in most areas.
@appreciations That it's absolutely true, I've never beaten Sonic 1, but from the little time I played it and from what I've seen, this is a monumental sequel in most areas.
They were so focused on making you go fast that they forgot how to telegraph obstacles and enemy attacks!
Which is funny because I think this is the only Sonic game with this issue barring maybe CD.
Which is funny because I think this is the only Sonic game with this issue barring maybe CD.
@YFDaki I'm really curious about CD now 'cause for the longest time I heard that it was the worst of the classic games, but recently I've seen people saying really different opinions about it, some even say its their favourite! I really need to play it, maybe after I finally play 3 & Knuckles.
Weatherby
1 year ago