This review contains spoilers
"Running Away From Some Issues, Running Right Into New Ones"
After the disappointment that was the first entry in the series, I was excited to try out this much lauded sequel. I hoped for some tighter controls, fair enemies, a better Chaos Emerald minigame, and tighter level structure. What I experienced instead was a mixed bag, though a grand improvement overall. While the controls were still frustrating, the minigame still underwhelming, and there still being a good amount of cheap enemies and poorly designed levels, it was to a much lesser extent than the first title. Sonic Team instead opted to add some new fun to the formula, with more levels akin to Green Hill Zone and less like Labyrinth or Scrap Brain Zone. This led to a new experience with Sonic that was more positive than the last - though it may still not be something I would recommend.
First, I have to talk about the visuals and sound design - excellent yet again! There are a bunch of punchy tracks and great zones to experience visually, and sound effects are crisp and unique. The music is incredibly catchy and iconic in feel. There is a wider range of color throughout, and it gives the game a nice breath of fresh air that the first game unfortunately stumbled with the farther you got into the journey. The presentation here is no joke, and easily the best aspect about the game in terms of quality and consistency!
Unfortunately, this level of quality didn’t get translated to other aspects of the game. The controls are still a bit weird, especially because even the slightest of movements can disable the ability to Spin Dash. This makes timing certain moves insanely tricky and raises the skill cap to unnecessary heights. Avoiding some tougher enemies becomes trickier without this extra flexibility unless you are already aware of their movements and locations, something that new players would be unaccustomed to. The tighter levels help to make use of this feature as well, but the controls just need to be a bit more forgiving for activating it and maintaining momentum.
Speaking of the Spin Dash, this was a welcome addition to the franchise! While I’ve already encountered it in the first classic Sonic remaster, it has come to my attention that the move did not exist in that game upon original release. What a shame that is considering it could’ve used some tweaking in this title, but it allows for so much more movement potential in each level. It helps set up jumps and attacks while quickening the pace of gameplay - huge positives in my book. As mentioned before, if the controls would’ve been freed up just a bit to let this move be used more dynamically, it could’ve allowed for new players to unlock more enjoyment within the game. Instead, only skilled players can really access this enjoyment, which would be fine if it didn’t have something related to the enjoyment of levels wrapped into the mechanic itself…
Enemies in this game are very annoying. They’re often placed in areas where you aren’t able to react to their presence unless you already know the level, which is a very cheap way to cause players to lose rings and lives. The level that is the worst offender is Metropolis Zone, which has annoying star enemies and grasshoppers with homing attacks on the players’ location. There are so many instances where you have to make a blind jump or boost and one of these a-holes are in the way, and it just makes this set of levels suck so badly. It's at its worst in Metropolis Zone, but some other levels suffer from this stuff as well (Wing Fortress Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Mystic Cave Zone).
Lastly, the Chaos Emerald minigame is improved greatly, but it's still reliant on vapid memorization or extremely quick reflexes. The 3D levels are neat, but the blind turns when moving around the half-pipe are too sudden and difficult to gauge properly. If the turns could be signaled much earlier it would help with the experience. It’s still much better than the first games’ version, which relied heavily on luck and had little structure as a proper minigame.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Classic” was a much improved sequel to the first title. It introduced a new Spin Dash move for Sonic to use, had a greater consistency and flow to gameplay, and still provided the fantastic visual charm the first game presented. However, it was still a frustrating experience with cheap enemy placements, annoying level mechanics, and a disappointing minigame for collecting Chaos Emeralds. Despite its noticeable improvements, I would still Not Recommend this one since the overall game feel wasn’t that fun still. If you enjoyed the first then this is a must play, but if you found that one to not be that fun then you may very well still find this one unfun. The “blue blur” has started to figure out his gaming identity, but these first few games haven’t convinced me to turn into a fan.
Final Verdict: 5/10 (Average)
After the disappointment that was the first entry in the series, I was excited to try out this much lauded sequel. I hoped for some tighter controls, fair enemies, a better Chaos Emerald minigame, and tighter level structure. What I experienced instead was a mixed bag, though a grand improvement overall. While the controls were still frustrating, the minigame still underwhelming, and there still being a good amount of cheap enemies and poorly designed levels, it was to a much lesser extent than the first title. Sonic Team instead opted to add some new fun to the formula, with more levels akin to Green Hill Zone and less like Labyrinth or Scrap Brain Zone. This led to a new experience with Sonic that was more positive than the last - though it may still not be something I would recommend.
First, I have to talk about the visuals and sound design - excellent yet again! There are a bunch of punchy tracks and great zones to experience visually, and sound effects are crisp and unique. The music is incredibly catchy and iconic in feel. There is a wider range of color throughout, and it gives the game a nice breath of fresh air that the first game unfortunately stumbled with the farther you got into the journey. The presentation here is no joke, and easily the best aspect about the game in terms of quality and consistency!
Unfortunately, this level of quality didn’t get translated to other aspects of the game. The controls are still a bit weird, especially because even the slightest of movements can disable the ability to Spin Dash. This makes timing certain moves insanely tricky and raises the skill cap to unnecessary heights. Avoiding some tougher enemies becomes trickier without this extra flexibility unless you are already aware of their movements and locations, something that new players would be unaccustomed to. The tighter levels help to make use of this feature as well, but the controls just need to be a bit more forgiving for activating it and maintaining momentum.
Speaking of the Spin Dash, this was a welcome addition to the franchise! While I’ve already encountered it in the first classic Sonic remaster, it has come to my attention that the move did not exist in that game upon original release. What a shame that is considering it could’ve used some tweaking in this title, but it allows for so much more movement potential in each level. It helps set up jumps and attacks while quickening the pace of gameplay - huge positives in my book. As mentioned before, if the controls would’ve been freed up just a bit to let this move be used more dynamically, it could’ve allowed for new players to unlock more enjoyment within the game. Instead, only skilled players can really access this enjoyment, which would be fine if it didn’t have something related to the enjoyment of levels wrapped into the mechanic itself…
Enemies in this game are very annoying. They’re often placed in areas where you aren’t able to react to their presence unless you already know the level, which is a very cheap way to cause players to lose rings and lives. The level that is the worst offender is Metropolis Zone, which has annoying star enemies and grasshoppers with homing attacks on the players’ location. There are so many instances where you have to make a blind jump or boost and one of these a-holes are in the way, and it just makes this set of levels suck so badly. It's at its worst in Metropolis Zone, but some other levels suffer from this stuff as well (Wing Fortress Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Mystic Cave Zone).
Lastly, the Chaos Emerald minigame is improved greatly, but it's still reliant on vapid memorization or extremely quick reflexes. The 3D levels are neat, but the blind turns when moving around the half-pipe are too sudden and difficult to gauge properly. If the turns could be signaled much earlier it would help with the experience. It’s still much better than the first games’ version, which relied heavily on luck and had little structure as a proper minigame.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Classic” was a much improved sequel to the first title. It introduced a new Spin Dash move for Sonic to use, had a greater consistency and flow to gameplay, and still provided the fantastic visual charm the first game presented. However, it was still a frustrating experience with cheap enemy placements, annoying level mechanics, and a disappointing minigame for collecting Chaos Emeralds. Despite its noticeable improvements, I would still Not Recommend this one since the overall game feel wasn’t that fun still. If you enjoyed the first then this is a must play, but if you found that one to not be that fun then you may very well still find this one unfun. The “blue blur” has started to figure out his gaming identity, but these first few games haven’t convinced me to turn into a fan.
Final Verdict: 5/10 (Average)