Played this on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on PS3 with save states.
Pros: I like the level variety. One of my big complaints about the first game is that a lot of the levels didn't feel distinct, but this game avoids that by having less acts, but more zones so there's more diverse aesthetics. I like the addition of tails and multiplayer, it's nice to be able to be able to select your character and play with a friend. The spin dash is great addition, no more struggling to build up speed. Sonic felt slow and clunky in the first game, but he really does feel fast in this game. I think one of the best changes is that getting all of the Chaos emeralds gets you an awesome reward. Playing as Super Sonic kind of lets you bypass playing the actual game, which is pretty funny.
Cons: The level design feels cheap sometimes. The increased movement speed comes with the side effect of not being able to properly react to anything. This game loves throwing hazards, pits, and enemies in your way that you can't react to, so it basically necessitates memorizing the levels to go fast. This applies to both the standard and bonus levels. The bonus levels are cruel in this game because they are way harder and a lot easier to miss. I guess the trade off is the potential to access them multiple times in the level and actually being able to understand how to control Sonic. Another issue I had with the game is that enemies do a poor job of telegraphing their attacks, which is a big issue when there are more enemies that fire projectiles in this game. Also, I love the addition of Tails, but he's the embodiment of little brother mode. Playing as Tails in co-op is hard because the camera focuses on Sonic, and playing as Tails solo is like playing as a slow version of Sonic that can't go Super. On the brightside, Tails is so slow it negates the other issue I had with not being able to react to the stage. It just doesn't feel great to feel like you're walking through the levels.
Overall, I like Sonic 2 more than its predecessor mainly because moving faster just feels good. I found myself getting stuck less often since I was able to build up speed and actually progress through obstacles. The trade off is the occasional cheapness, but I think the pros outweighs the cons in this case. Next up will be Sonic CD. I won't be using save states with that one, so I hope I'm able to get through it okay. Thankfully, going forward I'm pretty sure all of the games have in-game saving.
Pros: I like the level variety. One of my big complaints about the first game is that a lot of the levels didn't feel distinct, but this game avoids that by having less acts, but more zones so there's more diverse aesthetics. I like the addition of tails and multiplayer, it's nice to be able to be able to select your character and play with a friend. The spin dash is great addition, no more struggling to build up speed. Sonic felt slow and clunky in the first game, but he really does feel fast in this game. I think one of the best changes is that getting all of the Chaos emeralds gets you an awesome reward. Playing as Super Sonic kind of lets you bypass playing the actual game, which is pretty funny.
Cons: The level design feels cheap sometimes. The increased movement speed comes with the side effect of not being able to properly react to anything. This game loves throwing hazards, pits, and enemies in your way that you can't react to, so it basically necessitates memorizing the levels to go fast. This applies to both the standard and bonus levels. The bonus levels are cruel in this game because they are way harder and a lot easier to miss. I guess the trade off is the potential to access them multiple times in the level and actually being able to understand how to control Sonic. Another issue I had with the game is that enemies do a poor job of telegraphing their attacks, which is a big issue when there are more enemies that fire projectiles in this game. Also, I love the addition of Tails, but he's the embodiment of little brother mode. Playing as Tails in co-op is hard because the camera focuses on Sonic, and playing as Tails solo is like playing as a slow version of Sonic that can't go Super. On the brightside, Tails is so slow it negates the other issue I had with not being able to react to the stage. It just doesn't feel great to feel like you're walking through the levels.
Overall, I like Sonic 2 more than its predecessor mainly because moving faster just feels good. I found myself getting stuck less often since I was able to build up speed and actually progress through obstacles. The trade off is the occasional cheapness, but I think the pros outweighs the cons in this case. Next up will be Sonic CD. I won't be using save states with that one, so I hope I'm able to get through it okay. Thankfully, going forward I'm pretty sure all of the games have in-game saving.