It’s been quite some time since you’d taken down the evil Dr Robotnik. With this peace though Sonic had decided to leave the island to have some fun exploration on foot, hoping that everything would be the same when he had returned to the Island due to that fact that Robotnik hadn’t shown his face for a while and things became far too quiet. But of course this story plot of never ending peace is more of a never gonna happen tale, as when Sonic returned his friends had disappeared like the ashes from an arisen phoenix (no this is not an ace attorney reference). This blue blur knew that something was wrong so he had rushed back to his pad only a note remained from longtime friend and pal Miles Prower (Nicknamed Tails) who was nowhere in sight, Sonic picked up the letter and without a second thought he was up, over, and gone to defeat Robotnik again while collecting the six Chaos Emeralds. What will happen to Tails? Is sonic really going to have to be faster than the speed of sound on this quest? Also what is that look-alike metal contraption that Robotnik has made? Only by reading this review will the answers be shown, so it’s time to speed keed!



Graphics: 7 out of 10

Now before you go downing the score for Sonic the Hedgehog (1 & 2) on game gear, you must remember this was made on an 8 bit system/handheld during the early 1990's so of course it won’t look as great as its genesis predecessor. In all actuality if you research this game in depth you’ll find out that this game came out before Sonic 2 on Genesis so there wasn’t really a standard on how the graphics should look or be and since this game was created for the Game Gear instead of the Genesis or Megadrive (depending on where you live) It’s certainly not the best looking game out on the system but taking a successful game from one console onto a handheld wasn’t a very easy thing during the early 90’s, especially when it’s a well-known mascot as if you make one mistake it could tarnish the character’s reputation including its popularity with gamers. Anyway I don’t wanna go off on a tangent as it’ll just drive me away from focusing with the graphics section on this review, the levels for what the handheld could manage are in my opinion decent and acceptable; however there is one thing I think they could’ve done, which would be to make (even if it wouldn't’t have been hugely different) the graphics look a little different from the first game since it does seem like just a basic recoloring and changing of level area’s from before. Normally I would’ve given this an 8 out of 10 but like I stated above there was only one problem I had with the game which made me tone it down to a 7 out of 10 instead, well now that this part is done let’s move on!


Sound: 9 out of 10

Although the graphics may not meet every fans expectations I’m sure the soundtrack will keep you entertained as it does live up very well to its Genesis roots, even topping some of my personal favorites at various times. My personal favorite songs in this game would have to be: The Green Hill Zone theme because of its mix between mysterious like you’re safe but also in dangers path every minute, then it also gives you and uplifting feeling as well knowing that you’ll see the end if you keep persevering. One more thing to note about Green Hills Zone’s theme is that if you’ve played Sonic CD before and have listened to the theme “You Can Do Anything” then you’ll notice that it’s very remotely similar to Sonic 2’s Game Gear level Green Hills Zone, so I guess we should thank this game for giving us the awesome intro that was received in the Japanese Version of Sonic CD. Moving on though, my 2nd favorite theme is the Underground Zone level as I feel that it gives off a certain vibe which creates a great start for the game and the storyline, with its darkened tone and also mysterious atmosphere. This sense of darkness makes you also know that you’ll eventually get through to the end to see the light that adorns the outside of the cove/ground. The sound effects I’d say are pretty generic for what you’d hear on Sonic games, like *doong* when you blow up badnicks or *wuuu-wiii* when you collect an air bubble. Based on all of this of course being my own personal preference, I think it’s fair to give Sonic 2 on Game Gear a 9 out of 10 for its sound department.


Addictiveness: 7 out of 10

I’ll be the first to admit that when I first played this game I wasn’t as addicted to it as I was when I played Sonic 1 & 2 on Genesis. However I still did and do enjoy this game to a certain extent, since I did appreciate the story in this game more so than the Sonic 2 that came out later on the Genesis as that version just felt like the same story as the original game but just with tails included. In the means of gameplay I’d say that there are some problems with controls at times where I know I’ve hit the jump button and Sonic just rolls off the cliff instead of jumping, which gets really aggravating especially if you’re trying to collect the Chaos Emeralds. The levels themselves I do find to be quite entertaining each with their own unique features such as: having hang-gliders in the level Sky High Zone which are used to glide across the zone to reach higher platforms and even sometimes gaining higher distance, as well as the bubbles in Aquatic Lake Zone which not only do some of them give you air to help you breath but some of them will also cover itself around you in order to help you raise up from the water while moving left or right inside the bubble. Lastly the only other thing I dislike which doesn’t make this game as addictive is how you retrieve/collect the chaos emeralds, because instead of entering a Special Stage and completing it in order to gain the emerald you now have to search for them in the 2nd act of each level which can be difficult in specific area’s which may require you to make accurate and long jumps, even having to reach enough height while in the air. It may be a turn on for other gamers who prefer it that way and I’m not saying that it’s a horrible idea, I just prefer the original way of beating a special world/stage in order to gain the item or in this case the emeralds, enough of my rambling though as looking back at everything I don’t think the addictiveness is horribly bad or terrifically great either as it’s sort of a game that you play every once in a while but not that often which in turn makes me give the addictiveness a 7 out of 10.


Story: 10+ out of 10

As funny as this may sound to a lot of fans out there I actually appreciate the story in this version of Sonic 2 better due to the fact that it took a different and even darker tone that Sonic 1 & 2 on the Megadrive (Genesis) because instead of just having Dr. Robotnik turning the animals on the island into robots while trying to take over the land, the evil doctor schemes his next plan by remaining hidden after his first defeat leaving Sonic to become curious as he knew that Robotnik couldn't’t have been taken down so easily and in turns decides to head out of the land to seek new adventures. By the time the hedgehog’s quills had left the inhabitants of South Island, our the villain hiding within the shadows of the world came onto the island and not only took all of the animals to be made into robots but he had Miles Prower (Tails) taken hostage and locked away inside a secret area. But before he took the furry fox away he made him write a letter to that blue rodent as Robotnik would say telling Sonic to collect the Chaos Emeralds in order to save his friend, surely enough our hero with a need for speed reads the letter and speeds off faster than he can eat 10 chili dogs as he searches for the emeralds once more to bring the evil doctor’s plans down again! It was a lot more of a threat to Sonic that we’d seen from this madman scientist so far and maybe even to this day which makes me give the story a perfect 10+ out of 10.....Alright I said I was going to move on but there is one last is one last issue I wish to address and that is the theory of what happens when you get that bad ending to the game, many people will say that Tails dies because you see an image of him in the sky. I believe that this is false for 1 very specific reason and that is why does having his face in the sky mean he’s deceased but if your face is there with him then it means he’s alive? All this means in my opinion is that you failed to save him and you have no idea where to find him, alright now let’s move on.


Depth: 8 out of 10

Believe it or not but this game actually has 7 levels with 3 acts compared to the 6 levels with 3 acts and a final stage found in the original Sonic the Hedgehog, which in turn will probably take you longer to beat this game not only for how long it is but also because the difficulty is higher as well. On the matter of depth I’d say on your first time playing this game it might take you a couple hours to beat it due to some off the traps that you’ll encounter throughout some levels that are hard to avoid the first time and are kind of like a beginners trap, but once you get the hang of it you’ll probably be able to beat the game in about an hour or two if you just plan on defeating the game normally without the Chaos Emeralds. Also you must get all the emeralds in order to reach the final level known as the Crystal Egg Zone and to receive the good ending to this game as well, the only thing I think this game is lacking is a multiplayer setting although; I guess they really couldn't’t do that with the game gear at the time so maybe I shouldn't’t be too hard on it only having a 1-player mode. So all in all I’d give the depth an 8 out of 10, not much else to say here so let’s move on!


Difficulty: 8 out of 10

This is probably one of the hardest 2-D sonic games I’ve ever played, I mean like it’s not impossible but dang is it harder than the Genesis version and even the Master System version in my opinion. One thing that really makes the game hard compared to the Megadrive is that during the 3rd act of each level there are NO RINGS TO COLLECT meaning that you have to do the entire boss of each level in one shot otherwise you’re going to lose a life which makes both the game and bosses harder to defeat, so be prepared to lose a few Sonic’s here and there. Once you figure out the pattern for each boss you shouldn't’t have that hard of a time defeating them, unless like I’ve stated many times before if you plan on collecting all the emeralds...if so then you might have a very difficult time defeating the bosses with the spare lives you have from your attempts at collecting each of them. If anyone was/is going to ask me which emerald is the hardest to get in the game then at least to me it would be the 2nd one which is located in the level Sky High Zone where you must fly on a hang-glider to almost reach the top of the screen where you’ll find the emerald, easy right? Well the only problem with that is the fact that you have to dodge all of the enemies in your way while maintaining your height to make sure you’re not too low and not too high where you touch the top of the screen and lose the hang-glider. In my opinion if you want a harder version of Sonic 2 then definitely play Sonic 2 on Game Gear which makes me give the difficulty an 8 out of 10.



It’s finally almost over, you’re at the ending stretch of your journey as you take a long look at your surroundings and your newest opponent that lays ahead of you whom is simply known as Silver Sonic. You must prevail victorious over this robotic doppelganger and face off against the vilest person on this planet, you must remember the freedom of your innocent friend tails is in your hands. At this very moment it’s imperative that you abandon all your fear/fears and focus simply on the fact of winning this battle, your resolve must be as sharp as your spiny blue quills! If you’re ready then let’s kick that Robuttnik into shape. Once again as our hero would say “C’mon step it up!” So let’s step up to the plate and save our friend...MILES PROWER (TAILS)!

mohammedroxx3 :  The Review is finished and is ready to read when you come online, I hope you enjoy it

Barathemos : I know you asked to be summoned to my next review, and here's my next review that I've finished I'll still have one more coming later this month, anyway I hope you enjoy it .

sonicthehedgehog57 : Wonderful review! Your reviews have so much detail, and it is 2,000 + words. I could never do that Anyways, you had a tremendous amount of detail and you covered everything! I love reading your reviews, they are just that great! ( Well, that is your job ) Keep making these awesome reviews!

sonicthehedgehog57 : Another long but yet interesting to read review man! Awesome job! I always enjoyed reading all of your reviews. Especially the ones for Sonic games! Keep up the awesome work man!

Awesome, awesome review man! It was pretty long but interesting enough to keep me reading. Sometimes I will get board with a long review but you did a very good job keeping it fun and giving information at the same time. I love seeing Sonic reviews for consoles other then the Genesis. Sonic 1, and 2 for the Game Gear (and Master System) is not my favorite Sonic games for the systems but they are great and really do the Sonic name justice.

Barathemos : I'm glad you enjoy the review, I always try to fit in as much information as I can when I make a review. It may look difficult at first but  you really just have to get into the swing of things when you want to write your review, and surely enough you'll see a way on how you like to write your reviews. Like you said it is my job to make review look good but just because some people like me have this job doesn't mean that we'll actually write good reviews haha I can tell you that right now. Anyways I'll keep you informed on my work and make sure to let you know when my next review is finished. 

mohammedroxx3 : Thanks, glad you enjoy it mohammedroxx3! This way probably one of my most favorite reviews to write as it was so distant from like let's say my Sonic 2 & Sonic 3 Reviews, since the story we so different. Which allowed me to experiment and see how I wanted to have my review come out, and apparently judging by everyone's response so far on this review I guess I did a great job. I'll definitely keep doing my best as I really do enjoy this position on the site!

GenesisJunkie : Yeah sorry GenesisJunkie but I wasn't sure whether or not you wanted to be summoned here and by the time I got it posted it was around 5:30 am so my mind wasn't really focusing. Couldn't agree with you more, whether they be short or long I feel that reviews must be interesting to the reader in order to keep them entertained but also making them want more to read at the same time when they've finished. Yeah I usually try to merge in between consoles when I do reviews for the same mascot  so that way I won't become stale, and maybe even boring to read. They also aren't my favorite games on that system/handheld and while they aren't as great as their genesis counterparts in my opinion they still like you described bring justice to the series. I'm skipping of track here though, It's great that you enjoyed the review and I'll be sure to keep you updated from now on...that is of course if you want to be updated. 

sonicthehedgehog57 : If your next review is half as good of a read as this one was you better let me know lol. You should check out Sonic Chaos (for the GG or SMS) I reviewed the SMS version already but I think you could do it much better then I did. There are only a few small differences in the two versions.

Wow. Awesome review. Very impressive. I wish I could write that well.

tgags123 : Thanks, I'm glad you were impressed with it tgags123. I think it's possible for you and many other to write that well you just have to find the talent inside of you for it, and once you have then you'll be doing as good as I've been doing.

GenesisJunkie : Well I know my next review will be on an NES game specifically named Metroid so I think if it works out it will at least be half as good as this one. I've actually played Sonic Chaos before (Sonic & Tails in Japan) but never actually beaten it, I shall definitely take a look at the two version and if I feel I can make it work then I will do a review on it. Would you mind if I checked out your review of the game just so I can see how you fared on making it?

sonicthehedgehog57 : I am not a big nes fan but I would still like to see your review. I would love it if you took a look at my review, let me know what you think. I find Chaos to be the easiest Sonic game, but then again I play it all the time lol. I have it for both the Master System and Game Gear.

GenesisJunkie : Ok then I will make sure to send you a summon when I'm finished with the review. I just wanted to make sure it was alright with you for me to look at the review since I didn't want you to think I was copying your review by reading it. I've only played Sonic Chaos about 4 times and it was on Sonic Adventure DX for Gamecube, by the way when November comes along I will be doing alot more Sonic reviews up until the beginning of January. After that I'll go back to my normal reviews.