Upon completing this again after a few years, I am willing to admit that the 8 bit sonic 2 has some good ideas. Being able to skim across the water in the aquatic zone was a really neat touch that I don't think happens anywhere else in the classic sonic series. Gimmick Mountain along with its phony walls and Scrap Brain-like spheres you launch off of were also kinda neat. And, in theory, the paraglider could have been a nice diversion if it didn't have busted and unintuitive controls.
It's just too bad that most of the level design ranges from decent to absolutely terrible, with scrambled egg being the worst offender. It is 100% trial and error when it comes to figuring out what directions to hold to not get dumped into some spikes. Then there are all of the blind jumps in Green Hill Act 3 that involve a sociopathic level of precision to nail. The developers themselves must have realized how bad of an idea the latter case was, as you can rack up copious amounts of extra lives leading up to the ordeal.
The chaos emeralds don't fare much better, but at least they are always in act 2 of each zone. (You're still not going to find some of them without consulting a guide though...I don't even think it would possible to find the emerald in zone 2 even if by complete accident)
Even the music is quite honestly forgettable. Definitely not terrible by any stretch, but a far cry from the tracks in the far superior Sonic 1 8 bit and definitely a whimper stacked up against the Genesis trilogy.
Only play this if you're a diehard sonic fan and just have to beat all of the games. You're not missing much otherwise.
It's just too bad that most of the level design ranges from decent to absolutely terrible, with scrambled egg being the worst offender. It is 100% trial and error when it comes to figuring out what directions to hold to not get dumped into some spikes. Then there are all of the blind jumps in Green Hill Act 3 that involve a sociopathic level of precision to nail. The developers themselves must have realized how bad of an idea the latter case was, as you can rack up copious amounts of extra lives leading up to the ordeal.
The chaos emeralds don't fare much better, but at least they are always in act 2 of each zone. (You're still not going to find some of them without consulting a guide though...I don't even think it would possible to find the emerald in zone 2 even if by complete accident)
Even the music is quite honestly forgettable. Definitely not terrible by any stretch, but a far cry from the tracks in the far superior Sonic 1 8 bit and definitely a whimper stacked up against the Genesis trilogy.
Only play this if you're a diehard sonic fan and just have to beat all of the games. You're not missing much otherwise.