Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is Almost Perfect
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Sonic 2 is often held on a high pedestal in the Sonic community, and for good reason; it's a great game. However, this Genesis classic has a few more problems than you might remember.
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Some addendums (please read before commenting):
"Just git gud at da speshul stagez bro" I did. How else would I have beaten them in the first place? "Git gud" isn't the catch-all argument people seem to think it is. Something being possible to overcome doesn't make it well designed, otherwise why would anyone criticize any game in the first place? Bubsy 3D is beatable if you "git gud"; does that mean it's an amazing masterpiece?
4:13 - Apparently you can't fly as Tails in the original Genesis version. I only ever played as Sonic in that version, so that must be why I missed this.
8:25 - I have no idea why I said that Sonic Origins remade the special stages when the Christian Whitehead ports did it first (heck, those were my first experiences with these games). However, my point that they could've improved the camera behavior still stands, and if anything is only strengthened by the fact that they had more than one opportunity to do so.
Honestly, I can't blame you for forgetting that Tails couldn't fly when you controlled him in the genesis version. You see his CPU version doing it all the time, and you can do it in Sonic 3, and remakes of earlier games that include Tails allow him to fly, so you kinda just assume he always COULD fly.
(And again, the fact that you only ever played as Sonic also helps that...)
To be fair to Whitehead, for SOME REASON Sega outsourced most of Origins to some randos. I think only 3, which Christian Whitehead wasn’t even satisfied with yet, was entirely their work. Who knows, if Sega made simple good decisions, maybe they would’ve had the opportunity to improve things further in the other games as well as 3. I am very exhausted between that, Colors Ultimate’s problems, and Superstars. It’s like life handed Sega three home runs and instead they just repeatedly slapped themselves in the groin with the baseball bat.
If you collected all coins in a level, there would be a 50,000 point bonus.
🤡🤡🤡🤡
Sonic CD was not developed by Sonic Team either. Sonic Team wouldn’t be re-established until after S3&K’s development.
Well, the nice thing about Emerald Hill, is that you can get all 7 emeralds in the two acts. You can 100% enjoy speeding through chemical plant with all 7
bro said you HAVE to use both sonic and tails to get rings in them lol
@@InternetTAB Actually it's better if you are playing 1 player to use Sonic alone, it reduces the amount of rings needed for each special stage checkpoint and makes them all kinda easy. Like the above poster said, you can get 7 emeralds in the first 2 acts of the game
@@andrewmoluf4299 yes
Yep, exactly. I think the video creator could have taken a more critical approach and pointed out upsides like this.
@@InternetTAB It actually possible to get enough rings as Sonic with Tails tagging along in all 7 levels. I know that because I've done it.
Usually, I would put off the seventh emerald until Wing Fortress Stage, because precision platforming was a pain in the ass as Supersonic
If you want the special stage to be easier, you need to play them without your sidekick. The stage makes you collect more rings if both Sonic and Tails are together. If Sonic is alone, even if Tails is alone, the special stages will require fewer rings. But only Sonic can go Super in this game.
I didn't know about the fewer rings thing
The main thing I can always say about Sonic 2: Screw that spike pit in Mystic Cave Zone. ESPECIALLY if you somehow have Super Sonic already at that point.
Somehow? I litreally get them before chamical plant.
How could you have supersonic this early ?!?
@@TheSlainGuitarjust use all the checkpoints in emerald hill and chemical plant
@@TheSlainGuitar there are 3 checkpoints in EH1 and another 5 in EH2
Christian Whitehead got rid of the spike pit in the iOS port and replaced it with a really cool secret 🤫 pretty sure they kept it in origins
The Special Stages in Sonic 2 make me hugely appreciate the Special Stages of Sonic Generations 3DS.
Still gotta play through that version
that’s FUCKED UP i despise those stages
im hate sonic 2 special stages, and i actually like the sonic 1 special stages
Just turn off Tails, you can't fly with him anyway
@@BareKnuckleBlazeits still bad without tails, the camera and the bomb placement make them horrible
Hmm. All the complaints outlined in this video are things I loved about the game as a child. I loved the spectacle of the special stages, Sky Chase and Wing Fortress. I loved that the game's final level was punishingly challenging and took mastery of mechanics to defeat.
It probably helps that it was the first Megadrive game I had played, but I wonder if this is a case of "you had to be there"...
The special stages in this game were the best of the series (Sonic CD not withstanding). If you aren't playing with someone else, select to play as only Sonic or Tails so you don't have the CPU screwing things up for you in these stages (seriously that was a really weak peice of criticism that everyone who's ever played these games is aware of). The only valid critique is that it's too easy to collect all of the chaos emeralds early in the game, so having those stages appear at the end of stages rather than checkpoints makes more sense in that regard.
I absolutely loved the final stages in the air, they were fun, felt significant and challenged you in a way you hadn't been earlier in the game. The worst part of the game was how difficult the final boss was; no rings, a lot of hits to defeat and very tiny hit boxes made for an unfortunately disappointing experience.
I also love the special stages even for multiplayer.
You are correct re Sonic 2's visual presentation, it is 'grungy' when compared to the clean looking Sonic 1 artwork. I noticed this when playing on a crt back in the 90s.
Small point, but in the original Mega Drive release, Tails was unable to fly when controlled by a human. It was irritating.
Ah, yes. Tails in Sonic 2 - the first playable character to not perfectly tick all three staples of Sonic excellence. Gee, I wonder if there's any foreshadowing here. 😂
Liked for calling it Mega Drive and not ‘Genesis’
@@SproutyPottedPlant You know God forbid that a company name the same product another name in another country making it, it's official name in that country?? But whatever..
Pretty sure you're getting stressed over a joke @kenrickeason
@@kenrickeasonthe name genesis sounds very corny and aside it was not initially meant to be called that, the only reason it's named genesis and not mega drive in the us is because of a company that goes by the same name, and they wanted to avoid lawsuits, in other regions such as Europe and Brazil, it was still called mega drive
I know it’s controversial to say but I love the sonic 2 special stages, at first I was barely getting all 7 before the final fight with egg man, now I have every green hill check point memorized and can get all 7 before chemical plant on a semi consistent basis even with just sonic. But then again I’ve played through the game like 20+ times so maybe I’ve just crazy.
Edit: Metropolis is very difficult yes but if you get all 7 chaos emerald before then and manege to get 50 rings you can bress through all 3. And for the final boss, you can line up your sprit with the mecha sonic fight to where you can hit im 3-4 at once. And for the egg man fight if you go to the end of the arena you can make him fall, shot out his egg boiz he goes up l, comes back down, shots less egg boiz and then you can attack above the fire from the jet pack, (you know when you can’t do it anymore when the fire get larger and brighter.) he flys up and repeat until he is dead.
It's not controversial. It's just popular to hate the experimentation aspect. There's tons of checkpoints (even hidden in walls ala Sonic 3/Knuckles) for a reason. Those who understand that get it. I love the Special Stages.
I wasn't criticizing Metropolis, Mecha Sonic, or the Death Egg Robot as being too hard. I was criticizing them for being tedious.
@@spontman what does that even mean? Like I get it the fight is slow but after a few times through the game you can breeze through the fight in like 2 minutes. It’s tedious at first but if you can do it fast if you do it enough.
@@Gambet812 minutes is kind of hell for a boss that one-shots.
If I didn't see a comment that liked the special stages, I would have made my own. I absolutely loved these special stages. You are not crazy my friend. I used to play this as a child with my kid brother and we used to help each other learn the special stages layout. We would alternate between Sonic and Tails (using both P1 and P2 controllers).
It's actually a stretch to say that these are the worst in the franchise, because Sonic 1, Sonic CD, and Sonic Hero's special stages all exist. I think the fun part does wane once you have fully memorized each special stages ring/bomb locations, but it doesn't hamper the experience. It was also fun to see it feature on AoStH albeit for a short time.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" was one of the most popular games in the UK at the time, cementing game consoles as mainstream gaming platforms instead of unviable jokes compared to computers like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
It's also one of the few old games to make limited lives and continues work. Receiving a continue for getting 10,000 bonus points encourages mastering the levels, which wouldn't be innovated upon until "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped" six years later.
Overall, this game is a masterpiece. Certainly not perfect, but it's almost there. 💛
"Makes it look like he has a white pimple throughout the entire game."
I can never unsee that now......... thanks...
It always made me think of something else. Have you ever seen the film " there's something about Mary" 😂 Emphasised by his spikes.
The death egg robot was for me hell. Even when i figured it out, the stupid spikes make it way harder than it needs to be
When you're younger that thing is super tricky
I always waited til it did the drop at the end of the screen and hit it then. It took a long time but I assumed I would be killed if I jumped at it when it walked forwards
Never had problems with the spikes, because I was always behind him. Just had to take care of the bomb he fires then.
You can get behind him and he'll walk away from Sonic. Then you can jump over his jet-pack flame to hit him over and over.
Try it as Knuckles (with the Sonic 2 cart plugged into the S&K one). He can't jump as high as Sonic, so you have to aim for the nuts! The precision required is batshit insane.
S3&K IS Perfect
I flew into the void as hyper sonic in lava reef zone act 2
?
Can yall shut the fuck up about that game for once and talk about Sonic 2 because that is what this video is *ABOUT*
I really hate that people will get mad at you for making any form of criticism towards the "classics."
there is a very fine line between being critical and nit-picking. videos like this one are straight up nit-picking. what he did to sonic 2 is akin to highlighting all the shots michael jordan missed in his hall of fame career. it is silly
@@an0therdimensi0n99 Oh no... Admitting that something isn't perfect! So horrible!
Sonic 3 was better than Sonic 2
We know
Real
Yes
It was boring
Sonic 3 was a better game BUT Sonic 2 had better cohesive pacing between its levels/zones
To this day, i remember each special stage and their ring patterns.
I was about to comment this... The special stage for s3&k was way worse IMHO
wait? tails cant fly in sonic 2 when you play as him from what i remember
He can't you are right and I don't know why you aren't getting more likes.
READ THE PINNED COMMENT BEFORE POSTING
For the longest time, I'd just skip the section at 6:34 and just clip through the fans. As a six year old I just thought that's how you were supposed to do it, lol.
Also, when it comes to Mecha Sonic, I'd agree that his hit detection is screwy *but* you also can't be trying to jump on top of his quills. I always figured that buzzing sound meant they were moving and dangerous, but maybe that's just me. You can completely break the fight and one cycle his ass if you stand where he drops down from, spin dash in place and then make sure to jet off before he darts across (three buzzes and you need to let go of jump). For some reason, that hurts him without hurting you LOL. (Just make sure you're facing left)
True story, I also thought it was intended to clip through the fans as a kid too.
I always did that, too.
I love the "BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT" in the Thumbnail.
Sonic 2 is still greater than Sonic 1, but still not perfect.
I prefer Sonic 1 over 2. Sonic 1 was groundbreaking. Sonic 2 adds nothing much to it, imho. Also the bonusrounds in Sonic1 are cooler than the 3D one in Sonic2.
Sonic 2 for speed. Sonic 3 for platforming.
I'm loving your choice of backing music
breakcore over a nerdy sonic video. this is my kinda guy lol
Personally, Sonic 2 is my favorite Sonic game. Just as Game Apologist says: "Sonic 2 is Straight to the point with fast and to the point gameplay exploration is there but its not required, Meanwhile, Sonic 3..."
Pure fun.
...is better in every conceivable way.
is a masterpiece.
9:22 - 9:35
You 100% nailed the vibe. That's EXACTLY how it happens lol
Tails doesnt fly in original Sonic 2
This game took a wrong turn starting in Oil Ocean Zone. (I still don't know why Sega brought it back for Sonic Mania. It makes all of Superstars' Zones look good. The music doesn't fit at all, like they should have kept the Casino Night 2P music for that Zone. Like I CANNOT play the zone without this change.) Metropolis Zone just suffers with bad enemy placement. And if this game had a save feature, maybe the Death Egg Robot would be more forgiving.
I still find this good, but I perfer Sonic 1 over Sonic 2 personally.
I agree on CNZ2P fitting OOZ more than its final song, but if they had done that then the music would've gone unused in the game proper like Track 10. That's one of the problems I have with Sonic 2, a lot of tracks were swapped around from their originally intended usage and a lot of the zones and music just don't gel. SCZ was obviously gonna be the winter level's music, WFZ was likely DEZ original theme, and the music that ended up being used in DEZ would definitely fit Genocide/Cyber City. The 2P music were meant for unique levels with only MCZ2P returning home to HPZ in the 2013 mobile release.
For the other classic games, each theme was composed for its respective level. For Sonic 2, a lot the music fits because it has to. Kinda ruins the submersion for me.
9:34 "Eeeeeeeeexcept foooooooooor that viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!"
That enemy in the picture of the video is a Slicer from the Japanese manual of sonic 2 😊.
Sonic 2 is a great game for sure that’s definitely why it’s a classic. This video gave me some new perspectives about some problems with the game, and even tho I’ve been able to get past these issues they were mainly from trial and error which is kinda of an excuse and not a problem solver like the death egg or special stages. Still this game is great beating the death egg for the first time was legendary for me I still think Sonic 3 is better but hey can’t really beat one of the best, another great review keep it up!
Please play sonic 1 forever, sonic 2 absolute and sonic 3 air PLEASE I BEGO OF YOU
Hey just a question you gonna review mania and wh n you review every game can you make a top 10 sonic games?
Yes, I will review Mania when I get to it. As for a top 10, I'll be ranking every 2D game in the compilation video, which I think is close enough.
Thanks mania is not just a favorite sonic game but my favorite video game but sa2 comes close
Let's face it, a perfect Sonic game doesn't exist
Sonic 3 and Knuckles is as close as you will probably ever get.
Mania is pretty close. Sonic 3&K as well
Because it was never good
@@TheSultan1470based, the ring system makes the game boring af
Sonic 2 was everything a sequel was meant to be and set higher standards for all games/movies/media for me. S3&K took it even further.
Title for next video:
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is Perfect
Buuuuut...
Awesome Video Bro! And Sonic and Tails's Nintendo Counterparts are Link and Tulin.
In sonic origins. the special stages from Sonic 2. are harder..
I dunno why.
Can you make the full super sonic song?
Maybe someday...
Two mistakes in this video:
1) Tails couldn't fly in the original release of Sonic 2, it was a Sonic skin and meant primarily as a companion for Sonic. This was added through romhacks first and in re releases after.
2) The special stages weren't remade for Sonic Origins. They exist since the early '2000 retro engine port of Sonic 2 made by Whitehead.
I generally like your videos, but this are important points that should have been properly researched
Just made a pinned comment with addendums to these points.
A skin with a slightly smaller hitbox
@@EWOODJ Did he had a smaller hitbox, really? I didn't remember it
The special stages and Mecha Sonic fight are easy just don’t suck at them.
Agreed on the special stages! Even 30+ years on, it was far too difficult to the emeralds in Sonic Origins even after playing this game most of my life.
WHERE IS PROFESSOR PICKLE IN THE THUMBNAIL!?
I see him. He's in the door to the right of the slicer.
As a kid I hated the chemical plant because I always ended up either drowning or dying because of the moving platforms during the boss
One of the most overrated games of all time, imo. I wish I liked it more.
that drum n bass was such a nice touch. subbed
What song is in the background at the 7:08 mark and do you have a Playlist for all the songs used in the video
Good video and overall analysis for Sonic 2.
Now for the "Angry" part of the comment lol. (Although I think this is more about personal taste)
I personally find the Sonic 2 special stages the best in the series. They are exhilarating an fast pace requiring quick reflexes. Although I did memorize them when I was younger and had my little brother to play as Tails to help with the difficulty.
Here is an incomplete list of my special(emerald) stage rankings from most favorite to least favorite:
A rank
-Sonic 2
B rank
-Sonic 3 & K
C rank
-Sonic 3D Blast
D rank
-Sonic 1
-Sonic Mania
-Sonic CD
Love the drum and bass background music.
I like the game just fine, only it's overrated when they say this is the best Sonic game of all. For me, Sonic 3 (plus Knuckles as a upgrade). Sonic 2 may not be in my childhood memory, but it does fit for everyone who owns a Genesis like this, I was in the Nintendo era. The biggest flaws what Sonic 2 is the new special stages and Metropolis Zone has 3 acts.
Great video! I like all of these videos (I've been watching since 2023; I've been watching since the "Super Mario 64 VS Sonic Adventure" Video)
Three questions:
1- What do you use to edit?
2- Do you ever think that you'll do retrospectives on other games, like Mario?
3- Why did you unlist the "VS" videos? You can still watch them, though why did you unlist them anyways?
Anyways, great channel! I hope to see your videos grow and grow! :)
1 - Shotcut.
2 - Yes!
3 - In retrospect I felt the quality of the VS videos was not up to the standards of the rest of my content. I unlisted them mainly because I didn't want them to be anyone's first impression of my channel. I kept them unlisted rather than privating them because, while I don't want them being put into recommendation feeds anymore, I also don't want to deny anyone access to my old content.
Thanks for watching!
@@spontman Cool, dude! Great vids, keep it up!
Hard disagree on the Sonic 2 special stages, out of all the special stages we've had in the classic games (not counting the Saturn version of 3D Blast), i think Sonic 2's special stage is actually the best one. I personally dont feel like it hampers the experience of the game at all getting them in the first few levels, not that you have to get them that early. I never had a problem with the "camera" as you put it either, because i just memorized the stages, and Tails never gets in my way on those because i never let him collect enough rings to put me at a detriment should he get hit.
😂😂😂 Tails fell off the platform and he drowned
Sonic 2 is perfect except for oil ocean, metropolis zone, the entire special stage gameplay, and the death pit in mystic cave, and the fact there’s no save system and
Mystic Cave death pit got fixed in later versions. Leads to secret zone as intended now.
@@CovertOwl and?
@@robertwyatt3912 Just letting you know in case you were not aware. I thought it was pretty cool because I hated the death pit in the original
Everybody remembers the Emerald Hill and Chemical Plant zone parts of Sonic 2. They forget about Metropolis, Sky Chase, Wing Fortress... the game really falls flat on its face towards the end
I truly think mystic cave is the last good level while oil ocean>metropolis>sky chase>wing fortress>death egg are the worst set of last levels back to back.
I like Metropolis.
My no deaths run of Sonic 2 is one of my greatest gaming accomplishments because of that last damn level. Even though I’ve gotten pretty consistent with not dying there, it still causes me to die sometimes unlike most other levels. So even though I literally have TG recognized world records in multiple Game & Watch games, a no deaths run of Sonic 2 is definitely my greatest gaming accomplishment, along with a no deaths run of the original Super Mario Bros no warps.
I'm pretty sure they tidied up Tails AI in the special stagesin the green stage theres this bit were a trail of rings snakes through several groups of bombs which Tails can easily hit losing you rings and potentially cost you the stages. My methods were to be extra greedy with the rings so Tails only has a very amount or the more extreme version plug in a second controller and move Tails to side . His AI takes about 5 seconds to kick back in which is just enough time to complete the ring snake with hopefully none lost. In most of the newer ports I've player I don't really notice this issue or at least it's far subtler. Or maybe I've just got used to compensate for Tails in the half pipe stages.
Wetting my trousers for the Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles videos
I've never understood why people consider 2 so great and criticise 1. 1 alternated between good and bad levels, while 2 front loaded the fun stages, and had a poor second half. Both end up with about the same ratio of good and bad stages. Yes, 2 had spin dash and Super Sonic, but it also had the worst special stages in gaming history and getting them required you to not engage with the game's momentum mechanics properly. Sonic 1 looked much better, and both had a great soundtrack.
Honestly think most of the classic Sonics were about equal in terms of quality, they all had their strengths and weaknesses. The only one I really don't like is CD.
I replayed Sonic 2 recently and I couldn't agree more about Metropolis zone. It's not difficult at all (I didn't even die once) but it's just so tedious and it goes on and on and on. Plus, the enemies in the stage are cheaply placed and their purpose seems to be just to slow you down rather than to pose a challenge.
Wing Fortress, on other hand, kicked my ass quite a few times but I still found it more enjoyable than Metropolis. If nothing else, at least you're out in the open air.
Also, as someone who loves challenge, I always avoided going for Emeralds. Yes, Super Sonic is amazing but there's no real fun in playing the game in invincible mode (at least for me). Not to mention that "bad" ending of the game is much better than "good" ending, because Tails at least matters there.
Kinda wanna throw my hat into the ring on my opinion of Sonic 2, because I can and I am petty about it =)
I can see why people like it. It has the elements people like in a Sonic game and definitely focuses on momentum mechanics more than Sonic 1 did. And the following isn't meant to shame you for liking it, because like I said, I see what people like about it. However...I just cannot look over how much was left on the cutting room floor for this game. Like, over half the game was essentially shafted for lack of time, because No Single Sonic Project Can Ever Have A Sufficient Amount Of Time For Development, Right? =)))))
I admit, the grand time travel adventure proposed in the concepts was a bit too ambitious for a sequel to a then-new IP, but...c'mon, they couldn't have at least finished SOME of the zones?! Hidden Palace, Sand Shower, Wood - these zones got scrapped when all the assets for them were pretty much finished, but they just...never got around to implementing them into the game, Because Why Would They Do That? It's August 1992 And They Don't Even Have Title Cards Implemented Yet, Bloody Brilliant. =))))
Apologies for my cynicism, but I am just eternally petty to how hard Sonic 2 got screwed over. I'm grateful Sonic 3 & Knuckles was able to revisit those initial ideas and become one of if not the best Classic Sonic game, but...geez, I just feel bad for Sonic 2. It feels sad to play when you know how much better it could have been.
The Sonic 2 special stage was always my favorite. 3D Blast was the worst, but I hated Blue Spheres. I could never beat them as a kid, but I was able to memorize the stages in Sonic 2 and get the emeralds, usually by Hilltop Zone. (In the Genesis game you didn't keep your rings after going into the special stage, so it made getting Emeralds slower)
Tails doesn't get his single-player flying ability until Sonic 3 by the way. In Sonic 2 he only flies to catch up with Sonic. He does gain flying in the Christian Whitehead remakes though, which is probably why a lot of people get this mistaken. 😉
Still one of my favorites and in my opinion better than 3&K, no joke.
The Special Stages are painful with Tails dropping all his rings after running into spike bombs but I always found those levels to be fun nonetheless.
Especially in two player versus mode where I used to play it a lot with my mom when I was still a kid.
What I find interesting about Sonic 2 on the MegaDrive in particular is that the game is actually region free. At least emulators allow you to change to any region and still allow you to play the game.
Huh. Been playing this game since 92. Never could beat it as a kid. I dusted off the genesis later in life as a "grown up" so my kids could try it. First game i put in was sonic 2 and a few days later i managed to conquer it. I never knew about supersonic. I used to always play the special stages but guess i never got all the emeralds. Ill have to revesit this game again sometime in the future. Sega genesis was an amazing part of my childhood, soooo many fun games.
Another great review; although I’d say Sonic 2 gets worse after Oil Oceans (Also Same 2:45)
8:59
Of all the critiques made, this is by far the most unfair of all.
This stages could be better? Yes.
Is sonic 1 bonus stages better? Absolutely not. For god sake.
As much as I love this game, I absolutely hated the special stages. At least in the collection, you can have multiple retries. But yeah glad I'm not the only one who hates the special levels. It's the only thing holding me back from giving it a perfect 10 score.
i remember getting really defensive when people critiqued 2 when i was younger, especially a review that, well, you probably know about, but now im older, sonic 2 is very very flawed, the special stages are pretty horrible and the final boss is unfair, also id say oil ocean is my least favourite, perhaps ive just gotten used to metropolis, but oil ocean is very boring and doesn't give you much time to go fast, anyway, i do still love , but it is a very flawed game, and definitely not as good as 3 or mania
It was the first sonic game I owned and I loved it but Sonic 3 kinda became my baby. It was shorter and easier but it felt cooler somehow. The music was top notch and the levels were so distinct. Plus Tails could actually fly which was a plus!
my biggest problem with the original is the lack of unlimited continues. its really hard for me to convince myself to keep going whenever i have to go back all the way to the start.
The difficulty of the final boss isn't really apparent using emulators and save states or playing modern ports. I don't even know how many times I got to that boss as a kid only to run out of lives and continues and had to replay the whole game from the beginning again. But the sense of accomplishment when I finally did beat it was pretty great. It wasn't just about beating the final boss. You had to be good enough to get to the end of the game with as many lives and continues as you could and after your first death, you had to try and beat two bosses without getting hit and you only had a limited number of tries. The whole fight both robo sonic and eggman are genuinely stressful the whole time because of that but the feeling of relief and satisfaction you get when you do win is worth it.
If you reset the console you will keep all your collected chaos emeralds. So you can collect them all, reset, and play through the whole game with Super Sonic. This only works once though. If you reset again you'll have to collect all the emeralds again.
Sonic 2 is almost perfect, but S3&K actually is perfect
Unfortunately, S3&K also isn't perfect.
Hydrocity's rotating columns causing crushing if you happen to catch an off-screen Spin Dash at the wrong time, various cutscene glitching with mid bosses and Robotnik, off-screen crushers in Marble Garden, the Barrels of Doom in Carnival Night not also being executed by jumps, Sandopolis' agonizing level design, Sky Sanctuary's potentially confusing layout, and the Special Stages not being accessible to folks with motion sickness.
And, while not at all its fault and more on the designers, started a Power Creep that has caused us a bunch of....strange....alternate Super Sonics, instead of just only having the Super Emeralds come into play when the Floating Island is accessible. Hyper Sonic was excellent, and Super Tails wasn't perfect but was fun, and Super Knuckles/Hyper Knuckles should have offered more.
@rogercameron6912 I wasn't being totally serious, no game is truly perfect though I do love s3&K a lot more than any other Sonic game except Mania which is in a close second.
Not sure I've ever experienced the mini boss cutscene glitches you speak off. "Barrels of doom" is an overstated non-problem in this day and age. A 5 year old prr-internet me figured it out very fast. Sandopolis act 2 is a slight drag but still not an act I actively dislike or dread... like bloody metropolis zone ugh.
I absolutely adore all of the hyper/super (Tails) forms in this game, my only complaint is that they were never seen again, not even in Mania...
Blue Sphere is worse than the Sonic 2 special stages. You have to agree with me. Sonic is in my profile picture.
Even with all its flaws, I'd still say Sonic 2 is my favorite Sonic game, and even just game in general.
2 is still the best in my opinion. Especially, considering everything that's secretly locked away.
If Tails could fly in the original on the Genesis/Mega Drive, i never figured out, how.
They really should have used the big rings from sonic 1. Being able to speed through the level, collecting rings while still getting to play the special stage at the end.
i disagree it's almost perfect because sonic the hedgehog 2 is my favorite sonic game i think it's the best 10 out of 10 amazing perfect game to me this was my first sonic game i play back in the day on the sega genesis it made me a huge sonic fan but i respect your honest opinion on sonic 2
Honestly sonic 2 is awesome but i wonder if youll talk about the fan games like good video and all but i also thank the fans for making sonic what it is and what they contribute to it and it awesome when a fan project is made the magic and potential of the series is captured
Your video is great. 7:36-7:49 this part explains why sonic 2 is personally my least favorite classic 2d mainline sonic game ( i didn't play sonic superstars but i played the rest of the classic games) despite that issue sonic 2 is still a great game
I think your point about the pacing of special stage placement is absolutely excellent and surprisingly hard to put one's finger on. The last time I played Sonic 2 from start to finish, my tipsy ass decided "what if I just ignored the special stages" and honestly ... I had a MUCH better time, even without access to Super Sonic.
If they made sonic maker ….. All terrain sonic 123cdknuckles
Metropolis and Wing Fortress are two of my favorite Zones in the history of Sonic the Hedgehog.
8:26 does bro know that they were remade in 2013 and not 2021
10:09 and sonic superstars didn't know that
10:51 easy
Only ever acquired Super Sonic trough special stages in Sonic 2 ONCE.... and it involved abusing the hell out of emulator save states.
And most of the time I'd prefer NOT COLLECTING THE EMERALDS because the special stages interrupt the flow of the game, take you back to 0 rings after you complete them, and the Super Sonic theme song gets really annoying after a while. (Not to mention that some levels like Wing Fortress become OBJECTIVELY HARDER to complete with Super Sonic because of how much faster and thus harder to control he is. And you can't even use Super Sonic in the final boss, because the final level has ZERO RINGS!)
00:50 If you really, REALLY, want to grow your channel living on the edge of critics on good games the next in your list should 100% be Zelda OoT. I see a great potential here 😉
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JK, your name will became BillCosbyMan. ☠️
It is perfect. It’s a masterpiece of a game. The Soundtrack, stages, level designs, bosses, having tails, it’s ending story, etc. It’s my favorite Sonic game of all time.
Next to it is Sonic 1. It’s simple but a masterpiece.
Then Sonic & Knuckles.
Finally Sonic 3, which is the worst. Weird level designs, some animation changes , no ending story, bad soundtrack ( especially with Michael Jackson drama). It doesn’t have it bright warm charm that Sonic 1 and 2 had.
No. It added more variety over the first game (more zones but with 2 acts instead of 3) which was an improvement (although adding speed was a problem when automating certain parts). However, they should have added more length and difficulty (and if they didn't want to add save slots, at least infinite continues).
Play without tails. Always. The special stages are a case of learning where the rings are, so they aren't as bad as bad as you make out. Clearly personal choice. It's really not that difficult. You say mecha sonic is more difficult? Wrong. It's easier. Sonic 3 is absolute crap in comparison to 1 and 2. Sonic 1 is my favourite. The whole series has become stale, unlike Mario, who is still as popular today, and where is Sega than if Sonic is that good? As a kid I preferred Sonic but a I got older, i realised that Mario is way better than Sonic. Anyway I still like Sonic but Mario has 1000% more playability. It's better made, there is more content and I'll pick up and play Super Mario World without even considering Sonic. Yawnarama
Basing this on the title only, as I start to watch: I am sorry but I can't call Sonic 2 perfect. As a young child AND now as a middle-aged dude, S3K is, and likely always will be, peak Sonic.
Sonic 2 was great, but extremely flawed.
Sonic 2's biggest issue is that it's simply outclassed by Sonic 3. When you want to go back and play Sonic 2, you have to give up a lot of features like the instashield, tails being able to fly, a story with some actual lore, and a save feature(kinda moot with the rereleases). It's kind of like how Sonic 1 feels naked without the spin dash and super sonic. I think a lot of people cling to sonic 2 over 3 because Sonic 2 was a pack-in title with the model 2 Genesis. A lot of people didn't get to play Sonic 3 until much later, if at all, and by then, nostalgia for Sonic 2 had set in.
TL;DR: Nostalgia skews a lot of people's view in favor of Sonic 2 because more people played it than 1, 3, or CD.
One thing I'm in two minds about is that using the spin dash as Super Sonic acts as a brake. This can be handy for controlling speed, but I can see why they removed it in Sonic 3 - zones like Hydrocity wouldn't have worked if they kept it.
Careful when using the term spin dash, though - Sonic 1 had the spin dash (hitting down while moving), but Sonic 2 introduced the super spin dash (holding down and hitting a button). It's just semantics, but y'know.
Agreed, the special stages are annoying in S2 (more so in Origins) but CD special stages are so fucking annoying... might have messed up but I've never even completed one successfully. I hate them... they are just 'broken' and don't work. I got the perfect ending just by destroying all the time capsule things
Probably my favourite classic Sonic game (I'll go more into why when your Sonic 3 & Knuckles retrospective comes out). Music is great no further comments needed.
I agree that the special stages are awful (I've never really liked any special stages in the series and I don't think they should re-appear in the future). Although one defence I have for them is that they are completely optional and it doesn't change the ending much if you get all the emeralds (I really like that). The special stages being completely optional (and feeling optional) is something I commend the game for. I'll go more into special stages and why I dislike them once you get to Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
Yeah, probably my favourite Sonic game and classic styled Sonic game atm.
Sonic 2 is Perfect but if your skills aren't up to snuff, some parts can be tedious.
I fixed your video title.
The only thing you're criticizing during this video is your skill as a player.
It's not the games job to drop to your level. It's your job as a player to rise to the challenge.
Also, your complaint about Tails being required in later special stages is invalid. Plenty of us have completed the Game as Sonic only, Tails only and even Knuckles only, we were able to get all 7 Emeralds
Besides FF7 (original), Sonic 2 is the best game I have played ever. I finished it fairly recently again (roughly five years ago) and do not agree with you. The special stages are the best ever and the tedium is fine as the rewards pay off. Technically Hollow Knight is better I guess but it does not have Sonic 2's heart. I jumped on this to insult you but I'm simply not that guy. Thank you for helping to keep the buzz alive for Sonic 2.
Sonic 2 was a favorite of mine as a kid, and I've played it countless hours. Here's my take on the special stages. Because you access special stages at a checkpoint, you have multiple attempts to find a checkpoint while having 50 rings, which may have added some constraints but also forced more creative routing. You can also get Super Sonic by the third stage. Older games heavily emphasized memorizing stages, so after a few hours of playing it is very easy to grab the 50 rings before a particular checkpoint, meaning you can go fast AND get to the special stages. As for the stages themselves, I never disliked them. Some of the "surprise" moments, like going over a "hill" were fun and tested your reaction speed, and also again rewarded memorization. Overall, I think the video was great but the take on the special stages was under analyzed and catered to one opinion instead of taking a critical approach and finding both the upsides and downsides. Either way, I'll continue to watch the videos!
The Sonic 2 special stages are annoying. I was glad that they were replaced in Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Sucks that they brought them back for Sonic 3D on the Saturn though. The full-pipe special stages in Knuckles Chaotix are more fun and fair than the half-pipe special stages in Sonic 2. But hands down I would say the most chill out special stage design can be found in Sonic 3D for the Genesis.
Personally I loved Sonic 2's Special Stages, as with every game back in the 80s & 90s it was about Practice Makes Perfect, play those stages enough and you would memorize where the rings and bombs would be, Tails would still be a pain in the arse, but that just pushed you to get the required total on your own and just don't rely on tails at all, and also taught you how you could get tails to work better by timing your jumps right for the both of you as he has a delay in copying.
Please do a Sonic 3 & Knuckles, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, for me that is the best and most perfect Sonic game ever, actually it's my fav game of all time, and still play it on my Genesis to this day (I refuse to get the butchered Origins version)
The bonus stages are honestly quite tragic. Despite using prerendered backgrounds to give the illusion of 3D levels, they still look AMAZING. But it's completely squandered by the ridiculous ramp in difficulty. It isn't even a skill issue at that point but rather a memory problem. The trick to beating any of the later bonus stages is to memorize pretty much the whole pattern of rings and bombs on each stage. That's a pretty tall (and boring) order compared to Sonic 1's need to memorize a maze to not fall into exit traps or Sonic 3's that requires simple strategy and reaction time since they get faster.
Sonic 2 special stages just feel like a kick in the balls. Not to mention that Super Sonic is completely useless on Wing Fortress zone. Not just because rings on that level are scarce, but because the amount of death pits. Using Super Sonic on that level is almost certain death.
Well, my completely unrequestes opinion:
- I never collected the emeralds, because of the reasons you mentioned. The special stages are boring, kind of breaks the level design making it too easy, and it frustrated me losing all rings I had. I actually think the game was better without it.
- The final boss, after the Mecha sonic, is horrible. Never had an issue with the Mecha Sonic, in fact it is quite logical: don't hit where he has spikes. In the final giant robotnik, you can only hit in randomly selected areas. I remember the first time I reached it when I was a child where I lost all my lives merely trying to figure out where you can actually hit. Fighting it is exactly what you describe as "tedious attack cycles", waiting for your turn because otherwise the robot is completely invulnerable. You have to hit it damn FOURTEEN times. One miss, by hitting the leg instead of the butt (why can't you hit the legs when it doesn't have spikes, fire, field forces, nothing?) and you have to start all over again as there are no rings in the entire stage.
I would say this the only truly bad thing of this game.
I simply don't understand the complaint about relying on dithering. We need to stop normalizing the "sharp pixel" culture. Neither of the 8/16 bit consoles were developed to be played like that, specially the Sega ones. Just use a decent shader, we have a huge advantage these days that you can keep the pixel blendind and do color adjustment without the noise and artifacts of old CRTs.