feels like i played this alongside my six year old self. we did it lil' buddy, we finally beat the one game we had no chance in hell of finishing without a gamecube memory card
as with sa1, there's really no point in arguing about this series since the detractors have long made up their shitty minds. sa2's an interesting beast though because it manages to excel just as much as its predecessor... in very different ways!
the speed stages are great, albeit nothing like sa1's. maybe you prefer these more linearly driven, setpiece-focused levels, but i might be partial to having a spindash that can blaze me across entire courses in a matter of seconds. i like going places i shouldn't and being rewarded for it. there's some of that here, but it's not nearly the same. that said, there's no city escape or final rush in sa1 so we'll call it a draw
treasure hunting is improved tenfold. i definitely prefer the newly limited radar system (it makes finding shards early super satisfying) and the overall increased difficulty. especially after knuckles' previous story was an absolute cakewalk. rouge is basically knuckles on hard mode and i generally prefer her side more for that. love her music too, though i wish it was more lyrically driven to better contrast knuckles
shooting's a more mixed bag. tails reps one of the best stages but also most of the worst. eggman on the other hand for the most part lives up to gamma's gameplay well enough - especially once he gets his booster. there's def a sense of flow to these that i feel a solid chunk of people don't give deserved credit because they just wanna go fast and grind rails
...which is a sentiment i don't completely identify with because i feel sa2 is more than the sum of its parts. the narrative is genuinely great and actively shifts moods and gameplay styles accordingly. you're always listening to a banger, you're never on the same sort of stage for more than a few minutes at a time - and you're always pushing closer to one of the greatest fuckin' finales you'll ever find in video games. the quality of direction really skyrocketed here. the last episode's preview alone completely solos every single scene in sa1
one strange oddity though: there's a surprising lack of shadow gameplay here. maybe the devs weren't so confident in him as a newcomer and didn't expect him to be such a hit?
if they knew what was good for them, sonic team would've just made a whole ass game where you play as shadow the hedgehog...
EDIT: after careful deliberation (replaying the shit out of everything) i've decided that i have 0 significant issues with this game. i'm not even standing by what i said about the speed stages before. they're all fuckin' fantastic and i think i might actually prefer these to sa1's (granted i need to spend some more time with that game too for confirmation)
on top of all of what i've said - i've still barely scratched the surface of the chao world content and that on its own is pretty impressive for being in an already tightly-packed game to begin with. how the fuck did this get made in two years?
i also learned last night via the extra video that city escape was inspired by sonic team constantly receiving parking tickets while living in san francisco. that's worthy of some merit on its own
and maybe this is cheating to mention since it's largely battle rerelease content, but i don't care: the multiplayer is some of the most fun i've ever had with a 2-player game
you know what - fuck it, 10/10
EDIT 2: got all 180 emblems. basically a perfect game
as with sa1, there's really no point in arguing about this series since the detractors have long made up their shitty minds. sa2's an interesting beast though because it manages to excel just as much as its predecessor... in very different ways!
the speed stages are great, albeit nothing like sa1's. maybe you prefer these more linearly driven, setpiece-focused levels, but i might be partial to having a spindash that can blaze me across entire courses in a matter of seconds. i like going places i shouldn't and being rewarded for it. there's some of that here, but it's not nearly the same. that said, there's no city escape or final rush in sa1 so we'll call it a draw
treasure hunting is improved tenfold. i definitely prefer the newly limited radar system (it makes finding shards early super satisfying) and the overall increased difficulty. especially after knuckles' previous story was an absolute cakewalk. rouge is basically knuckles on hard mode and i generally prefer her side more for that. love her music too, though i wish it was more lyrically driven to better contrast knuckles
shooting's a more mixed bag. tails reps one of the best stages but also most of the worst. eggman on the other hand for the most part lives up to gamma's gameplay well enough - especially once he gets his booster. there's def a sense of flow to these that i feel a solid chunk of people don't give deserved credit because they just wanna go fast and grind rails
...which is a sentiment i don't completely identify with because i feel sa2 is more than the sum of its parts. the narrative is genuinely great and actively shifts moods and gameplay styles accordingly. you're always listening to a banger, you're never on the same sort of stage for more than a few minutes at a time - and you're always pushing closer to one of the greatest fuckin' finales you'll ever find in video games. the quality of direction really skyrocketed here. the last episode's preview alone completely solos every single scene in sa1
one strange oddity though: there's a surprising lack of shadow gameplay here. maybe the devs weren't so confident in him as a newcomer and didn't expect him to be such a hit?
if they knew what was good for them, sonic team would've just made a whole ass game where you play as shadow the hedgehog...
EDIT: after careful deliberation (replaying the shit out of everything) i've decided that i have 0 significant issues with this game. i'm not even standing by what i said about the speed stages before. they're all fuckin' fantastic and i think i might actually prefer these to sa1's (granted i need to spend some more time with that game too for confirmation)
on top of all of what i've said - i've still barely scratched the surface of the chao world content and that on its own is pretty impressive for being in an already tightly-packed game to begin with. how the fuck did this get made in two years?
i also learned last night via the extra video that city escape was inspired by sonic team constantly receiving parking tickets while living in san francisco. that's worthy of some merit on its own
and maybe this is cheating to mention since it's largely battle rerelease content, but i don't care: the multiplayer is some of the most fun i've ever had with a 2-player game
you know what - fuck it, 10/10
EDIT 2: got all 180 emblems. basically a perfect game
23 Comments
the best of all time. shadow wasn't in it too much to keep you wanting more.
cool to see you changed your mind on the game (if I recall correctly, you had it at a way lower score before)
Ayo emerald and (mostly) mech stage appreciator... Always didn't like how gamers for some reason vehemently hate those stages despite the grand majority of them being pretty baller (i blame youtubers). Unironically one of the few games I'll say going for 100% is extremely fun in, replaying stages and going for A ranks is awesome. Also idk if that last line is referring to Shadow the Hedgehog being your 1000th game but if it is you're very real.
@deadlydonut yeah you do recall correctly. i never finished any of the story paths before, but still had enough personal history with the game to want some kind of an opinion logged regardless. same boat with sa1. i def let the judgments of my friends cloud my own at that time, but either way something def clicked here that never quite did before
moral of the story is not to rate games you haven't finished or played in years
@airiban matter of fact, i'm as real as it gets
moral of the story is not to rate games you haven't finished or played in years
@airiban matter of fact, i'm as real as it gets
last line reads like irate gamer back to the future
@guttertrash i cannot WAIT to play the game
"i definitely prefer the newly limited radar system" without exaggeration or a hint of irony what is it like to be the smartest person on the internet?
You really should give a chance to the spark eletric jester series. It's something that synthesize well the passion of playing Sonic after adventure series. The first one is something more close to the Sonic 2D with some elements of Kirby, megaman, and Hack and slash. But with the 2 and 3 it is the peak of Sonic adventure (principally the third game, this shit goes crazy)
The part in the finale where
F I N A L
H A Z A R D
Is typed out noticeably slower than every other fight, while Live and Learn plays in the background is a cooler moment than most games can hope to match and summerizes your "greater than the sum of its parts" comment perfectly. And it has like, weirdly good character development in that fight as well.
F I N A L
H A Z A R D
Is typed out noticeably slower than every other fight, while Live and Learn plays in the background is a cooler moment than most games can hope to match and summerizes your "greater than the sum of its parts" comment perfectly. And it has like, weirdly good character development in that fight as well.
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@cyanplaza it goes even harder because it's spelled out like THE FINALHAZARD as one word. also yeah, like, that finale is worth a few stars on its own frankly
Dunno if it's been mentioned, but I'm too much of a lazy dipshit to check:
Originally, only Sonic, Eggman, and Knuckles were planned to be playable with Tails, Shadow, and Rouge only being in narrative scenes. At some point, this changed, and that was the main reason for Tails being in a mech and I guess they already had so many Sonic levels they didn't have enough to share with Shadow. It was always my biggest disappointment as a kid—only having four stages for the best character.
Either way, SA2 is peak and if you disagree, I hope you can find enjoyment in life somewhere.
Originally, only Sonic, Eggman, and Knuckles were planned to be playable with Tails, Shadow, and Rouge only being in narrative scenes. At some point, this changed, and that was the main reason for Tails being in a mech and I guess they already had so many Sonic levels they didn't have enough to share with Shadow. It was always my biggest disappointment as a kid—only having four stages for the best character.
Either way, SA2 is peak and if you disagree, I hope you can find enjoyment in life somewhere.
i never got a handle on how the rails work in this game. i know that crouching lets u gain speed but sonic just starts to go all over the place when ur on a rail long enough nd i find it rly hard to balance him so i end up losing a ton of speed! i dont want to bitch and moan forever so id like to know some tips if anybodys got em
@jeffbackloggd Crouch on the straights, let up and lean on the curves.
@jeffbackloggd the rail grinding is overly sensitive on the HD releases so you're not as accurate as you probably think you are.
@ExSOLDIER that's how you're supposed to do it apparently but I've never let up on the curves. I just hold the button the whole time and turn when I need to and it usually works out.
@ExSOLDIER that's how you're supposed to do it apparently but I've never let up on the curves. I just hold the button the whole time and turn when I need to and it usually works out.
@exsoldier yeah that makes a loooot of sense esp since he doesn't even get a bounce attack. at least he gets his dues in multiplayer. shadow on city escape is so fuckin sick
@jeffbackloggd as they said, rail grinding is way more sensitive. what works for me is holding B and then repeatedly flicking the stick in the direction opposite to my turn. so on a left turn, repeatedly flick the stick to the right or else you'll lean too far to the left and eventually fall. on a straightaway just crouch without any stick movement
the hd version is def not perfect with rail physics but it's not significant enough to impact your ranks if you know what you're doing
@jeffbackloggd as they said, rail grinding is way more sensitive. what works for me is holding B and then repeatedly flicking the stick in the direction opposite to my turn. so on a left turn, repeatedly flick the stick to the right or else you'll lean too far to the left and eventually fall. on a straightaway just crouch without any stick movement
the hd version is def not perfect with rail physics but it's not significant enough to impact your ranks if you know what you're doing
increased my score by a half star and added another couple paragraphs in post
anyone giving this game a 6/10 is a coward of the highest order on god
anyone giving this game a 6/10 is a coward of the highest order on god
you're interesting me in sonic more and more, might have to check out the games
@chandler do you actually believe that, a bit harsh I'd say
@nowitsreyntime if they claim to like the game but in that sort of wishy-washy "it's a guilty pleasure" sort of way where they're totally insecure about what they enjoy, then absolutely
if they just sincerely don't like things in the game, then whatever - bad takes aren't cowardly
if they just sincerely don't like things in the game, then whatever - bad takes aren't cowardly
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@chandler I do agree with that first part then, pretty lame
status report: just got all the A ranks today. only emblems i've got left are chao races and karate
not only is this my favorite sonic game by a landslide, but it might be scratching my top 5 period. i'll need to think a lil more on that when the 100% is all said and done, but right now i'm still not even bored of playing these stages. and i rarely replay games at all
so that certainly means something
not only is this my favorite sonic game by a landslide, but it might be scratching my top 5 period. i'll need to think a lil more on that when the 100% is all said and done, but right now i'm still not even bored of playing these stages. and i rarely replay games at all
so that certainly means something
chandler
1 month ago