Sonic the Hedgehog’s journey into the video game landscape was far from over. After the massive success of the original Sonic game in 1991, Sega worked hard at crafting a sequel in hopes it would be bigger and more ambitious than the last title. During this time, many of Sonic’s creators and team members from Japan moved to America. Many setbacks, including cultural viewpoints from Japanese and American staff members and the unfortunate decision to cut levels from the game to save time, happened along the way. Despite all that, Sonic 2 came out to the public and was just as loved, if not more, than its predecessor. As for me, this is another winner from Sega, as it still managed to have all the things I enjoyed beforehand while also fixing the problems I initially had with the previous game.
Dr Robotnik (Eggman) is back and more angry than ever as he seeks to once again find the chaos emeralds to power his new space station and (of course) take over the world. It’s up to Sonic the Hedgehog and his new partner, Tails the two-tailed Fox, to travel through many different worlds to stop Dr Robotnik from his evil doings.
The Story is not the most important thing to take into account. Even the first Sonic game didn’t have much of a story. Even the new characters the game introduces like Tails don’t have much in character growth. That's okay, though, cause the central conflict is simple and doesn’t need much explanation. Thanks to the very minimal storytelling, the game still manages to stay relevant and timeless to keep players coming back for more.
The Gameplay is still the same as the last game, but it includes many updates that help improve what has been done before. As before, the game starts the player off with three lives. One hundred collected rings will earn you an extra life. Hit an enemy or dangerous obstacle, and you lose all your rings. You'll lose a life if you hit an enemy or dangerous obstacle without rings. That’s the base gameplay that the first game has already established. One aspect that makes the gameplay even better is the times the player is allowed to let loose and speed past areas where you don’t need to worry too much about an enemy or an obstacle getting in the way. That was lacking in the previous game, where that game wanted to halt the player into doing a platforming section that requires some brain power. Granted, those aspects still do happen, especially in the later levels. Thankfully, the pacing from going fast to slowing down is a lot better this time. Collecting chaos emeralds to get a different ending to the game has also been altered as now a player can find a challenge to get a chaos emerald by finding a glowing checkpoint location, jumping on to the checkpoint to enter a ring, collecting minigame that is both challenging and exhilarating. This is also the first time a Sonic game incorporates multiplayer. A second player can join in and play as Sonic’s sidekick Tails. I played by myself, so I didn’t have much use for Tails. Still, it was neat seeing him in action as sometimes, even in the single-player mode, he can help collect rings that I might have missed along the way. The difficulty gets increasingly complex as the game progresses, and the Eggman bosses are very well established and require brain power to outsmart them. This sequel promised to be more ambitious than last time, and Sega was true to their word regarding gameplay.
The Graphics in this game are just as great as its predecessor. They are timeless and full of life, and the 2D Pixel art has never looked better. Character designs for Sonic and Tails are outstandingly done, and the game features many uniquely designed enemies for Sonic to take out. Level designs are excellent. They allow the player to go fast while leaving enough wiggle room to slow down at the right moments to platform through tricky sections. New locations such as the Emerald Zone and The Mystic Cave will entice players with their exciting color palettes and intricately designed levels that beg for exploration to travel down different pathways or find hidden secrets. There are specific images that a lot of players and I can’t get out of our heads, including when Tails is flying a plane, and Sonic is riding on top of it. One of the most exciting features is when Sonic and Tails enter the challenge to collect rings for a chaos emerald. It is still 2D-pixel art, but it's made to look like running through a 3D space, which I bet for the time was very impressive, given this game is out a year after the first game. It can be argued that these graphics are any more remarkable than before. I can undoubtedly say that these visuals are quite the showstopper, as Sega took what worked from before and did everything they could to make them bigger and better.
The Music may be less memorable than the previous game. That is okay, though, cause, as far as I'm concerned, this compositional score still managed to be as great as before. Masato Nakamura returned to create another round of music mayhem. Fun Fact, according to Sega, the American Sega team wanted a different soundtrack to reflect the American culture. The Japanese Sega team hated their soundtrack and pushed to bring back Nakamura instead. Thank heavens they did because the classic Sonic games would not be the same without him. Nakamura was pressured to compose an excellent soundtrack to evolve the Sonic franchise further. What transpired is another winning soundtrack that is fun and delivers a few memorable tracks that would become a mainstay with Sonic fans, young and old.
Now, this is how you do a sequel! Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a game that Sega hoped would be even better than the last. I can definitely say that this game managed to fix a lot of the problems I had with the previous title, and at the same time, created another round of fast-paced fun while having great 2D Pixel Art graphics, engaging gameplay that is even better than ever before, and a soundtrack that creates melodies that further enhance the experience. Sure, I can find some problems involving a few gameplay controls needing more smoothness and that the game will start you all the way at the beginning instead of the last level you manage to make it to. All those aspects, though, can’t bring down what is ultimately a great sequel to an already impressive game and manages to be one of the best games in the Sonic franchise so far.
(Final Grade: A-)