Sonic Retrospective IV - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Click here to read other entries in the Sonic Retrospective.

Soon after Sonic the Hedgehog became a success, its creator, Yuji Naka, left SEGA due to issues with management. However, a new initiative in SEGA of America called Sega Technical Institute was attracting Japanese as well as American developers and with persuasion from a friend and the promise of greater control, higher pay, and a ferrari, Yuji Naka joined STI. 

STI began work on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and one of the main features they wanted to incorporate was a new main character for a 2-player mode. There were several ideas suggested, including a turtle, but the two-tailed fox design was chosen and Miles "Tails" Prower was born. Despite plans to name him simply "Tails," his creator liked the Miles Prower name so much he snuck it into various parts of the game, forcing the full name he has now. 

Original concepts for the game included 18 zones, time travel, and altenrate versions of zones. The time travel idea would later be used in Sonic CD, and some of the zone concepts, such as the desert and snow zones, would appear in later games. SEGA of Japan needed the game ready for Christmas of 1992, so cuts had to be made.A screenshot of one of the scrapped levels.

With the staff not all speaking the same language, there were problems during the development, and in interviews some of the American staff members said they felt like their contributions were unjustly cut, but in the end the game was shortened to the eleven zones the final game contains. There are several mods of Sonic 2 that "restore" this cut content based off of the information in prerelease footage and prototype ROMs.

When Sonic the Hedgehog 2 came out it was one of the best selling games of the time and was received very well by critics. The new features, zones, and gameplay elements all came together to make a very good game that remains popular today. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the first game in the series to contain the spin-dash attack, which allowed easier rolling and a much easier way to get by upward slopes. The spin-dash is a staple of the Sonic series and just about every game after Sonic 2 uses it. It may not have been revolutionarily new, but it made the game a lot more convenient and it feels like it should have been there all along.

Tails unfortunately plays Luigi here, being no more different from a gameplay perspective than Sonic. Tails is seen to be flying, but it isn't until Sonic 3 that players could control Tails' flight on their own. The cooperative mode is also rather simple, requiring the Tails player to stay on screen or be unable to see what their character is doing.

The competitive 2-player mode consists of the two players racing eachother in selected zones to see who can finish best based on rings, time, and points. The splitscreen looks a little odd, but the mode is fairly fun and a good first attempt at multiplayer in Sonic.

The zones in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are very well designed and contain several that would become staples of the series. The zones were also changed from three acts to two, longer acts. The Casino Night Zone has pinball and slots, features that would be standard in the casino levels of other games in the series. In the Sonic Jam strategy guide level commentary, Yuji Naka said that the level was based off of experiences in Las Vegas and America in general.

The Aquatic Ruin Zone is one of the more interesting zones in the game, in that depending on how good you are at the platforming, it may be an underwater level or an easier Emeral Hill Zone style. Each act  has a lower path and a higher path and it is difficult to get back up to the higher path once you've fallen into the water. Oil Ocean zone is interesting as the water is contaminated by oil, allowing you to jump out of it easily if you fall from a platform.

Towards the end of the game, the zones become different with a long, three-act Metropolis zone, and the one-act Sky Chase Zone. Metropolis originally was two different zones, but due to time restraints, they turned the last level into act 3 of Metropolis. Sky Chase is a vehicular section, with Tails flying the Tornado as Sonic rides on top. It's very easy, and a nice break before the very hard Wing Fortress and final bosses in Death Egg.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2's levels really perfected the balance between speed and platforming, and improved on the first game immensely. The level design isn't much different from the first game, but it does improve it by making it easier and faster. The later levels do get more difficult, but the game doesn't involve as much dying as Sonic 1. By keeping the game at a steadier speed while still having sections with good platforming and sections where loops abound, Sonic 2 is fun and challenging and holds up very well today.

Next time: Sonic CD

Comments

[Daniel Brokstad]

This is is pretty much my all time most important childhood game. Was the Sonic game I played the most at a neighbourhood kid's house. Classic levels, faster, better bonus stage and SUPER SONIC! Not to mention epic last boss.

I recently(this week) went back to the Sonic games, starting with the first one and playing through all of them. They're all good, but the best one looking back at it now..

.. is Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Awesome power ups, Sonic, Tales AND Knuckles as playable characters. 6 Emeralds and 6 Super Emeralds. Super AND Hyper Sonic. Not to mention the longest "campaign" in the series. (But then again, this is pretty much 2 games put together -literally- into 1 "campaign")