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Itachi9695
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POSTS: 18/67
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Sonic 2 Month! This month I'll be reviewing all of the console main series Sonic games that I can, ending with Sonic 2. Why? Because this month focuses on the 20th anniversary of Sonic 2. So let's begin, shall we? It had been 6 years since Nintendo started dominating the market, due mostly to Mario, and Sega desperately needed a mascot of its own to sell it new console, the Genesis. They hosted an in-company competition to see who could design this new mascot. Eventually, Naoto Oshima's "Mr. Needlemouse", who would later be known as the Sonic we know and love. The game was finally released in 1991 and was bundled with the Genesis, increasing sales dramatically. Let's take a look at why this game became the legend it is today. Graphics The graphics for this game are really spectacular for their time. Everything from the levels to sprites to the backgrounds are very well done. Sonic himself looks pretty good and so do the enemies. Green Hill Zone is very bright and colorful and it shows just what the Genesis can pump out. Every boss uses the Eggmobile sprite as the base, but the different weapons each of them use look like they're part of the same sprite. It doesn't look like they simply attached the weapon to the sprite and it's just a nice little touch. All of the backgrounds go perfectly with their environment. A great looking game, but is it a good game? Sound I love this game's soundtrack, then again I guess I could say that for just about every Sonic soundtrack. These tunes have become classics. The opening "SEGA!" (which by the way, took up an eighth of the cartridge's memory) has become embedded in my brain. Green Hill Zone has been burned into every Sonic fan's ears for eternity. Marble, Spring Yard, Labyrinth, Star Light, and Scrap Brain are still very good songs to listen to. The boss music is one of my favorite boss themes ever. All in all, the music for the game is spectacular and I honestly can't think of a single track I dislike. Well, the Special Stage music almost makes me want to go to sleep, but it's not a bad track. Addictiveness It doesn't matter how many times I play the game, I always find new routes to take and hidden secrets I didn't even know were there. This game will have you coming back time and time again. This game's been out for 21 years and it's still this amazing. It's just one of those games where right when you think you know every twist and turn, something new appears and makes you go "Wow, I never knew this shortcut was here!" or "Woo! Fastest time yet!" It's things like this that keep you coming back years after you first beat it. Story There really isn't much to say because the story isn't really explained through cutscenes or anything, so what I'm about to put is a summary of the plot from the game's manual (Yes, there ARE stories to the classic Sonic games, all you have to do is look up the manual). The evil mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman in Japan. We finally got the "Eggman" name in Sonic Adventure, but that's for another review) has kidnapped the innocent animals of Sonic's world and turned them into robots. As Sonic, you must free these animals from their metallic prison and stop Dr. Robotnik once and for all. Not really the greatest story in the world, but it does the job and at least gives you a motive. Depth There are total of 6 Zones in the game, each with 3 Acts. They are as follows: Green Hill, Marble, Spring Yard, Labyrinth, Star Light, and Scrap Brain Zones. There is also the Final Zone, which is basically just the final boss, and the Special Stage. Out of all these stages, Labyrinth Zone is by far my least favorite. Why you may ask? Because it's a water level. While water levels would become a little more fun in the future, this one is 80-90% underwater, and you can't breathe, so you're constantly on the lookout for air bubbles. Each Act shouldn't take you more than about 5-6 minutes max and that's mostly for the slower-paced Zones. As for the Special Stages, your objective is to collect the Chaos Emeralds hidden in each of the stages. You can access these Special Stages by collect 50 rings and jumping into a giant ring at the end of Acts 1 and 2 of every Zone, with the exception of Scrap Brain (don't really know why except maybe because there's a cutscene at the end of Act 2) and the Final Zone (I know, duh, right?). These Special Stages are rotating mazes and you have to find your way to the Emerald. There are 6 of these total. So, while this game isn't very big in terms of the number of Zones, there is a lot to each Zone, so it is a decently big game. Difficulty On your first few goes, you may find the game slightly irritating at times, but after a while, it becomes pretty easy to beat. Some Zones are a little more difficult than others and the same applies to Special Stages (the 3rd one being the hardest one in my opinion). The Final Zone is really only slightly difficult because of two reasons; 1) you have no rings and 2) you can be crushed at almost any time. Trust me, this game gets easier the more you play it. Gameplay and Controls The controls for this game are rather simple, use the D-pad to move left and right, look up by pressing up and down by pressing down. You can also roll by pressing down while you're running. The roll is a very helpful technique for gaining speed (the spin dash wasn't introduced until the second game). You jump by pressing any button, it really doesn't matter if you push A, B, or C they all have the same function. You can destroy enemies by doing one of two things, jump into or on top of them (or on a certain weak spot for some), or you can simply roll into enemies that are on the ground. One major aspect about the gameplay is rings. Rings are basically coins, which means collecting 100 gives you an extra life. These rings also keep you alive. If you take a hit with no rings, you die, but if you have at least one ring, you can take an extra hit. This costs you all of your rings, but they do spill onto the ground so that you can pick them back up. There are also several types of monitors spread throughout each level. These contain different items depending on their picture. There is the ring box which gives you 10 rings, a shield which gives you an extra hit that doesn't cost you your rings, the power sneakers which let you run faster for a short amount of time, invincibility which makes you invulnerable to attack and lets you kill any enemy you touch for a limited time, and extra lives, but those are pretty self-explanatory. The game plays very smoothly and makes you feel like you're in control the entire time and overall is just great. Overall I think this game has aged very well over its 21 year life-span and is still a joy to play today. If you're curious to see how the Sonic phenomenon started, give this game a try, you'll probably enjoy it. I give this game a 9 out of 10. Time to boot up my Genesis! See you next time for Sonic CD. By the way, let's see who can get the reference the title makes.  Graphics The graphics for this game are really spectacular for their time. Everything from the levels to sprites to the backgrounds are very well done. Sonic himself looks pretty good and so do the enemies. Green Hill Zone is very bright and colorful and it shows just what the Genesis can pump out. Every boss uses the Eggmobile sprite as the base, but the different weapons each of them use look like they're part of the same sprite. It doesn't look like they simply attached the weapon to the sprite and it's just a nice little touch. All of the backgrounds go perfectly with their environment. A great looking game, but is it a good game? Sound I love this game's soundtrack, then again I guess I could say that for just about every Sonic soundtrack. These tunes have become classics. The opening "SEGA!" (which by the way, took up an eighth of the cartridge's memory) has become embedded in my brain. Green Hill Zone has been burned into every Sonic fan's ears for eternity. Marble, Spring Yard, Labyrinth, Star Light, and Scrap Brain are still very good songs to listen to. The boss music is one of my favorite boss themes ever. All in all, the music for the game is spectacular and I honestly can't think of a single track I dislike. Well, the Special Stage music almost makes me want to go to sleep, but it's not a bad track. Addictiveness It doesn't matter how many times I play the game, I always find new routes to take and hidden secrets I didn't even know were there. This game will have you coming back time and time again. This game's been out for 21 years and it's still this amazing. It's just one of those games where right when you think you know every twist and turn, something new appears and makes you go "Wow, I never knew this shortcut was here!" or "Woo! Fastest time yet!" It's things like this that keep you coming back years after you first beat it. Story There really isn't much to say because the story isn't really explained through cutscenes or anything, so what I'm about to put is a summary of the plot from the game's manual (Yes, there ARE stories to the classic Sonic games, all you have to do is look up the manual). The evil mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman in Japan. We finally got the "Eggman" name in Sonic Adventure, but that's for another review) has kidnapped the innocent animals of Sonic's world and turned them into robots. As Sonic, you must free these animals from their metallic prison and stop Dr. Robotnik once and for all. Not really the greatest story in the world, but it does the job and at least gives you a motive. Depth There are total of 6 Zones in the game, each with 3 Acts. They are as follows: Green Hill, Marble, Spring Yard, Labyrinth, Star Light, and Scrap Brain Zones. There is also the Final Zone, which is basically just the final boss, and the Special Stage. Out of all these stages, Labyrinth Zone is by far my least favorite. Why you may ask? Because it's a water level. While water levels would become a little more fun in the future, this one is 80-90% underwater, and you can't breathe, so you're constantly on the lookout for air bubbles. Each Act shouldn't take you more than about 5-6 minutes max and that's mostly for the slower-paced Zones. As for the Special Stages, your objective is to collect the Chaos Emeralds hidden in each of the stages. You can access these Special Stages by collect 50 rings and jumping into a giant ring at the end of Acts 1 and 2 of every Zone, with the exception of Scrap Brain (don't really know why except maybe because there's a cutscene at the end of Act 2) and the Final Zone (I know, duh, right?). These Special Stages are rotating mazes and you have to find your way to the Emerald. There are 6 of these total. So, while this game isn't very big in terms of the number of Zones, there is a lot to each Zone, so it is a decently big game. Difficulty On your first few goes, you may find the game slightly irritating at times, but after a while, it becomes pretty easy to beat. Some Zones are a little more difficult than others and the same applies to Special Stages (the 3rd one being the hardest one in my opinion). The Final Zone is really only slightly difficult because of two reasons; 1) you have no rings and 2) you can be crushed at almost any time. Trust me, this game gets easier the more you play it. Gameplay and Controls The controls for this game are rather simple, use the D-pad to move left and right, look up by pressing up and down by pressing down. You can also roll by pressing down while you're running. The roll is a very helpful technique for gaining speed (the spin dash wasn't introduced until the second game). You jump by pressing any button, it really doesn't matter if you push A, B, or C they all have the same function. You can destroy enemies by doing one of two things, jump into or on top of them (or on a certain weak spot for some), or you can simply roll into enemies that are on the ground. One major aspect about the gameplay is rings. Rings are basically coins, which means collecting 100 gives you an extra life. These rings also keep you alive. If you take a hit with no rings, you die, but if you have at least one ring, you can take an extra hit. This costs you all of your rings, but they do spill onto the ground so that you can pick them back up. There are also several types of monitors spread throughout each level. These contain different items depending on their picture. There is the ring box which gives you 10 rings, a shield which gives you an extra hit that doesn't cost you your rings, the power sneakers which let you run faster for a short amount of time, invincibility which makes you invulnerable to attack and lets you kill any enemy you touch for a limited time, and extra lives, but those are pretty self-explanatory. The game plays very smoothly and makes you feel like you're in control the entire time and overall is just great. Overall I think this game has aged very well over its 21 year life-span and is still a joy to play today. If you're curious to see how the Sonic phenomenon started, give this game a try, you'll probably enjoy it. I give this game a 9 out of 10. Time to boot up my Genesis! See you next time for Sonic CD. By the way, let's see who can get the reference the title makes. |
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Registered: 07-05-11
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| Sonic Nerd |
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 07-05-11
Last Post: 1181 days
Last Active: 1181 days
Post Rating: 1 Liked By: classgame,
