Alright, so today I'm going to be reviewing Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis. This is my first review, so feel free to leave feedback; it's very much appreciated.

Graphics - 10

16-bit graphics, for the most part, always look pretty good, but Sonic 2's use of the Sega Genesis' capabilities makes for a very beautiful looking game that holds up well even today. From the lush green fields and cliffsides of Emerald Hill Zone to the industrial mechanics of the Metropolis Zone, this game looks so crisp and eye-pleasing. Everything pops out with color, and leaves players wide-eyed as they view them.
The animations are very fluid and move together very well. Rarely did I encounter a moment in which there was a single bit of lag (if I ever did). Compared to other games on the console, this game's graphics tend to hold up the best. A gamer could easily feel how much work was put into them to look as brilliant and as eye-catching as they are.

Sound - 10

The compositions of any Sonic game are known for being amazing. No matter the quality of the Sonic game, the music almost always sounds extraordinary and dynamic. In this game, the same is true. Each song fits the levels that they are assigned to very well. Emerald Hill Zone, being the lush green and natural sort of level, has an upbeat and bubbly kind of track playing as you speed through collecting rings and destroying robots. Chemical Plant Zone has a techno/rock sort of theme to it, which helps the gamer to picture the setting of an industrial wasteland of a city, filled with dangerous chemicals and fluids, into their mind.
A level taking place on a flying battleship piloted by the main villain? A song that sounds like a war anthem, of course, would be fitting for such a level as Winged Fortress Zone. The music in this game compared to other games sounds like it had tons of work put into it, and it has that special feel to its compositions that many other games wish they had.

Addictiveness - 9

This game has many different things you could do. You could try to beat levels as fast as you could, try to get the highest score that you could, or collect tons of rings and jump into the ring of stars around a checkpoint to go to a Special Stage, in which you can get the mystical Chaos Emeralds to unlock Super Sonic, which is a powered up form of Sonic you can activate by collecting 50 rings and jumping (note that this also unlocks the true ending). No matter what you like to do in this game, you'll constantly find yourself going back to play this game again and again to do all of these things to the best of your ability.

Story - Blank

This game has a story, but it's really just an excuse plot written into the manual. Basically, Dr. Robotnik, an evil scientist and Sonic's arch enemy, is trapping animals into robots to power them again, but this time he's come armed with a huge fortress called the Death Egg, which he launched into space. He plans to use it to take over the world (as most evil scientists tend to do). While this plot seems OK, it's really only there to give you a greater goal in this game. The main focus of Sonic 2 is its fast paced gameplay, so a story isn't really a necessity in this case.

Depth - 7

There are a lot of different things you can do in Sonic 2. From beating levels as fast as you can and getting a high score, to slowing down and taking in the beautiful scenery around you and checking out all the various pathways and collectables, such as rings, shields, and Chaos Emeralds. This is all very fun, but as expected from a 2D platformer from 1992, there isn't much else to it, so a 7 is a good rating for a game from its time. While there were games with more to do in them back then, this game still had plenty within it to do and explore.

Difficulty - 7

The controls of Sonic 2 are very easy to pick up. Run left or right, jump, hold down and use the jump button to do a spindash, jump on enemies to kill them, avoid traps and obstacles, and get to the end of the level. Typical platformer logic for the most part, only 3 times as fast! This game (of course with a name and a character like Sonic) moves at a very fast pace, calling for quick reflexes and skill, especially in later levels like Metropolis Zone.
The most difficult part of the game is most likely the 2 final bosses of this game, which you must fight without rings, which are your source of life in this game. As long as you can keep one with you at all times, you're fine, but in the final level, Death Egg Zone, there aren't any to speak of. This means getting hit once means you lose a life, so the final level definitely puts the player's skills to the test as they storm through Dr. Robotnik's space fortress destroying everything in their path. This game demands your complete attention to do well and succeed in your endeavors, earning this game's difficulty a 7/10, with much of it coming from the aforementioned final level.

Overall - 8.4

This game offers a lot in terms of entertainment, addictiveness, and difficulty. To anyone looking for a fun yet challenging experience, then this game is for you. It's fast paced, adrenaline pumping gameplay will keep the player on the edge of their seat as they overcome Zone after Zone of this Sega Genesis classic.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 get's an 8.4 for its fantastic settings, dynamic and upbeat music tracks, fun and fast paced gameplay, and the multitude of ways for the gamer to play the game. It is a must-play for any retro gamer out there.

This is a very well written review for being your first, nice job.

I enjoyed reading it and don't have too much to say but I'll try to give some advice to improve your reviews further though I'm no expert.

You could talk a bit more about the gameplay itself, what it's like, if it's enjoyable etc. I usually do this under the addictiveness category but you could just make up a new category for it as well.

And a thing I noticed which kind of confused me is the overall score. You gave the game an 8.4 out of 10 yet besides depth (and difficulty but it doesn't really affect the score in this case) everything has either a 9 or 10 so you think the game would get something closer to a 9 overall.

Another thing (this is mostly a nitpick though) is that under the sound category you could mention how the sound effects are and if they fit the game and such instead of only talking about the soundtrack.

That's pretty much it though, once again a really nice job,I hope to read more from you in the future and welcome back to vizzed!

Zlinqx : Thanks! And to make the final score, I just averaged together my scores. I guess I should put more priority towards some categories more than others. For instance, addictiveness is obviously more important than graphics, and such.

I was actually pretty confused because there was no gameplay category to rate on, even though that's the most important thing when it comes to a game

Thank you so much for the response!

DrakPokeMaster : Yah most of the time difficulty doesn't even factor in and I'd say addictiveness definitely plays a bigger role then say graphics.
And yeah that's why I just cover gameplay under addictiveness makes it easier when I'm reviewing a game though you could also just make a separate category for it too (wont be able to rate it then though :/).

No problem, if you write more reviews feel free to summon me. I might not be the best advice giver but I enjoy reading them