Written by Charles Clement
For a long time, all the way back to the first Sonic the Hedgehog title on the Sega Genesis, Sonic has been running through enemies, dashing through loop-de-loops and foiling Doctor Robotnik’s evil plans. There have been a number of great sonic titles since then, including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and the list goes on. The one we’re going to look at specifically is the one that captured my heart and introduced me to my favorite game character of all time, Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
After enjoying peace for about a year and befriending a fox by the name of Miles Tails Prower, Sonic has receieved a message from Dr. Robotnik. It said that he was going to steal the Chaos emeralds by turning helpless animals of the into robots and forcing them to build his ultimate weapon, the Death Egg.
A lot has changed since Sonic’s first adventure, including not only new enemies but some pretty cool new tricks like the Spin Dash, which can be accomplished by simply pressing down on the D-pad and the jump button. This causes Sonic to spin in place charging up his attack. Simply release the button to launch Sonic at his foes. Each of the game’s numerous stages have up to three levels, or Acts. The last Act of most of these levels ends in a fight with the mad scientist himself, Dr. Robotnik. Unlike many games of the time where you have a life meter in these games Sonic collects rings and if Sonic has at least one ring he will not take any damage. If you contact an enemy while Sonic has no rings he will lose a life. Lose all your lives and it’s game over. You can gain extra lives by collecting either one hundred or two hundred rings, depending on the area you are in. Earning 50,000 points will also award you with an extra life. Ending a stage with over 10,000 points will gain you a continue that you can use if you lose all your lives. There are a number of different power items in Sonic the Hedgehog 2; ring boxes containing 10 rings, a bubble shield that lets you take one extra hit without losing any rings, the Invincibility Box making you invincible for a short time, and the Dash Box to make you run a little faster for a short time.
In the middle of a level there are objects called Star Posts. Passing through one of these posts will save your exact position. If you die you will return to that post is in any stage that you were previously on. If you have fifty rings when you come across a Star Post you will see it glow with shiny red stars. Jump into it to access the Special Stage, but be careful. If you lose in the Special Stage you will not be able to go back through the same Post. You will have to re-collect those fifty rings again to access it in another world. While in the Special Stage you are asked to collect a certain amount of rings. After collecting three sets of rings a Chaos Emerald will appear. Watch out for bombs in the Special Stage, though. If you take a hit by these bombs you’ll take damage and lose some of the rings you’ve collected.
Though Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is more than fifteen years old it holds up quite well, even compared to more modern games. It’s hard to imagine that a game like Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was made back in 1992 when games were just starting to get better and better. All told Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is one of the best Sonic titles, in my opinion, and should hold a place on everyone’s gaming shelf. If you have never played a Sonic title start with the original Sonic the Hedgehog, but don’t even think about passing up this gem.
(Editors Note: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has appeared on the Nintendo GameCube and the Virtual Console making it eligible for Retro Redux.)
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