Sonic the Hedgehog 2

"Welcome to Sonic Land!"

- From the Japanese trailers.


 * For the Master System and Game Gear game of the same name, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit).

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (ソニック·ザ·ヘッジホッグ2) is a platform game developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released in Japan on 20 November 1992 and in North America and Europe four days later on 24 November. It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog and was directly followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994. The game introduces Miles "Tails" Prower as an addition to the cast and a new playable character.

The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails on their mission to stop the evil Doctor Robotnik from obtaining the Chaos Emeralds to power his Death Egg. Sonic and Tails must defeat Robotnik's army and free their friends.

Six months after its release it had sold around six million copies and became the best selling game on the Mega Drive. The game was compatible with Sonic & Knuckles ' lock-on feature which allowed the player to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2. It has been included in a number of compilation packages on a range of platforms; on 11 June 2007, the game was made available on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, and released for Xbox Live Arcade on 12 September 2007. On 27 April 2011, it had came to the PlayStation Network.

Storyline
Sonic the Hedgehog was looking for new adventures following the events of the previous game when he discovered Westside Island and recalled its legend. A long time ago, the people of Westside Island used a mysterious stone to advance their civilization and achieve prosperity. However, when those people tried to use the stone for the wrong reasons, their prosperity vanished overnight. The Gods were said to have sealed away the stone within the island's depths. Sonic landed his plane, the Tornado, on the island to check it out and relax, not paying attention to the fact that Robotnik was following him and suspiciously landed on the other side of the island.

A few days later, Sonic noticed a shy orange fox following him. Sonic noticed that the peculiar fox managed to barely keep up with him, but decided he was harmless and became friends. The fox's name was Miles Prower, though he was known as "Tails" due to his two special tails. It turned out that Tails had heard of Sonic since he was a cub, and wanted to become cool like him. During this time, Tails gained the respect of the island's animals by being able to imitate Sonic's famous moves. He learned he could closely replicate Sonic's trademark speed by twirling his tails like a propeller along the ground, could roll into a Spin Attack, and even perform a Spin Dash.

One early afternoon, Tails discovered Sonic's plane at the beach. Being a fan of machinery, Tails admired it while Sonic was taking a nap under its wing. Suddenly, explosions shook the island and Tails took cover underneath it as he saw robots violently excavating the island. It turned out that Dr. Robotnik detected the presence of all Chaos Emeralds after following Sonic - including the lost seventh one spoken of in the island's legend. He took the opportunity to kidnap the island's animals to rebuild his Badnik forces and finish his ultimate weapon, the Death Egg. Robotnik now ruled the factories, refineries and cities. He's grabbed control of everything — except the seven Chaos Emeralds. Sonic went off into the forest to set things right, and Tails followed.

Playable

 * Sonic/Super Sonic
 * Tails/Super Tails (only through a special Debug Mode option)
 * Knuckles/Super Knuckles (only through locking on with Sonic & Knuckles)

Non-Playable

 * Dr. Robotnik
 * Mecha Sonic

Badniks

 * Buzzer
 * Coconuts
 * Masher
 * Grabber
 * Spiny
 * Chop-Chop
 * Grounder
 * Whisp
 * Crawl
 * Sol
 * Rexon
 * Spiker
 * Crawlton
 * Flasher
 * Aquis
 * Octus
 * Asteron
 * Shellcracker
 * Slicer
 * Balkary
 * Nebula
 * Turtloid
 * Clucker

Animal Friends

 * Becky
 * Locky
 * Wocky
 * Tocky
 * Flicky
 * Cucky
 * Pecky
 * Rocky
 * Ricky
 * Pocky
 * Rat

Bosses
Robotnik appears in his customized Eggmobiles at the end of each Zone. This means, he will usually appear at the end of each second Act, except in the Metropolis Zone (which has three Acts) and the Death Egg Zone (which has only one). Eight hits are required to defeat each boss.


 * 1) Drill Eggman (Emerald Hill Zone)
 * 2) Water Eggman (Chemical Plant Zone)
 * 1) Tonkachi Eggman (Aquatic Ruin Zone)
 * 2) Catcher Eggman (Casino Night Zone)
 * 3) Submarine Eggman (Hill Top Zone)
 * 4) Drill Eggman II (Mystic Cave Zone)
 * 5) Submarine Eggman II (Oil Ocean Zone)
 * 6) Flying Eggman (Metropolis Zone Act 3)
 * 7) Barrier Eggman (Wing Fortress Zone)
 * 8) Mecha Sonic (Death Egg Zone)
 * 9) Death Egg Robot (Final Boss)

Single player


The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 builds upon the basic set-up of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. The player finishes each level, generally moving from left to right, within a time limit of ten minutes. Along the way, rings are collected and Badniks are defeated. Star posts serve as checkpoints, where if the player were to lose a life then he or she would return to one. When the player has collected at least 50 rings, star post will have sparkles on top that the player can jump into for an optional Special Stage. At the end of Act 2, Sonic confronts Dr. Robotnik, although there is an exception in the Metropolis level in which there are 3 stages.

Although zones have grown significantly in size since Sonic the Hedgehog, they now consist of two acts instead of three (with the exception of the Metropolis Zone, which has three acts, and the three final zones, which each have one), and there is greater emphasis on variety between levels. The gameplay has also become even faster; to that end, Sonic is able to perform a new special move referred to as the Spin Dash Attack. The Spin Dash attack allows Sonic to spin in place, as if revving up an engine, before taking off at high speeds from a stationary start. Sonic's running motion also features longer strides.

Special Stages track Sonic from behind while he runs through a (semi-) three-dimensional half-pipe course filled with rings and bombs. A certain amount of rings must be collected to pass through two checkpoints and then obtain the emerald itself. If the player runs into one of the many bombs (increasing in number as the emeralds are captured) he will lose a set amount of rings, varying depending on the stage. The order of stages is fixed in rising difficulty, and Sonic cannot enter the next stage without passing the previous (unlike Sonic 1). Whether the player is able to obtain the emerald or not, Sonic is transported back to the last star post he hit in the zone when the special stage is over and has zero rings.

From the options menu, players can select to either play as Sonic alone, Tails alone or Sonic and Tails. By default, players control Sonic while Tails tags along unhindered. However, a second player may control Tails separately. Should Tails move off-screen, falls off in the void, or dies after getting hit above, he will eventually return. There is minimal difference when playing as Tails instead of Sonic. Tails cannot fly when played as in this game, though he is several pixels smaller than Sonic, meaning he may not have to duck in some instances.

Zones

 * 1) Emerald Hill Zone
 * 2) Chemical Plant Zone
 * 3) Aquatic Ruin Zone
 * 4) Casino Night Zone
 * 5) Hill Top Zone
 * 6) Mystic Cave Zone
 * 7) Oil Ocean Zone
 * 8) Metropolis Zone
 * 9) Sky Chase Zone
 * 10) Wing Fortress Zone
 * 11) Death Egg Zone

Super Sonic
Obtaining all seven Chaos Emeralds by clearing all of the special stages will unlock a new feature; Sonic's ability to change into Super Sonic. Sonic changes into his "Super State" when he has collected at least 50 rings and jumps into the air. At this point, he glows yellow and is virtually invincible, although he can still get killed by drowning, getting crushed, falling off the screen, or running out of time. His speed, acceleration, and jump height are all increased as well. This means that it is much more difficult to control Sonic in this form, especially when the player needs to make precise jumps (Wing Fortress Zone is notoriously difficult as Super Sonic, for this reason. This is possibly why in later games a double jump was the trigger to transform, giving the player more control over when to do so). However, his Spin Dash Attack is decreased in effectiveness as the initial velocity is decreased rapidly. Super Sonic consumes one ring per second, and when he has no rings left or he reaches the end of the act, he reverts to his normal state, severely crippling the player as they are left with no rings.

If the game is played with Tails only and the player manages to collect all of the Chaos Emeralds, nothing happens.

Two player
In two player versus mode, players compete against each other - either as Tails or Sonic - in a split-screen race through three regular zones and one special stage. Regular zones include Emerald Hill, Casino Night and Mystic Cave and have different music from their one player counterparts, while the Special Stage remains the same as in single player. In the regular levels, players are ranked in five areas (score, time, rings held at the end of the level, total rings collected, and number of item boxes broken), with the player scoring highest in the most levels winning the round, while in the Special Stage, players compete to obtain the most rings. Once one player finishes one of the regular levels, the other player must finish the zone within 60 seconds or lose a life.

In case of a tie, an additional Special Stage round must be completed. Also, to heighten the stakes, there are two unique items in versus-mode: a teleport item that instantly switches positions between players in a zone, and a Robotnik item that damages the unlucky player. Furthermore, an optional setting allows that all item boxes in two-player mode are only teleports.

Special Stages
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, there are 7 Special Stages. When Sonic has collected at least 50 rings and he hits a Star Post, a red halo of stars will briefly float above it, which Sonic can then jump through to get to a special stage.

Special Stages track Sonic from behind while he runs through a three-dimensional half-pipe course filled with rings and bombs. A set amount of rings must be collected to pass through three checkpoints and eventually obtain the emerald itself. Playing co-operatively with Tails (as seen in the screenshot) raised some of the ring targets in the early stages, for example in the beginning of the first stage 40 rings were required to pass rather than 30. The order of stages is fixed in rising difficulty, and Sonic cannot enter the next stage without passing the previous (unlike Sonic the Hedgehog). Whether the player is able to obtain the emerald or not, Sonic is transported back to the last lamp post he hit in the zone when the special stage is over and has zero rings.

thumb|300px|right|Special Stage On return from a Special Stage, the entire zone is reset (except the game timer) - the player is without rings but all the collected item boxes and rings reappear (although unfortunately so do the badniks). Also, if Sonic activates a Star Post, all the Star Posts before that one will be activated as well, whether or not with 50 rings in hand. This created a tactical element to getting the most out of each zone in terms of opportunities to grab Emeralds. It is possible to collect all seven within Emerald Hill Zone, provided the player is careful with the order in which Star Posts are activated (and indeed, very skilled at the Special Stages).

Development and Release
While Sonic the Hedgehog was designed by Sonic Team in Japan, development duties for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were handed over to Sega Technical Institute in the United States. However, experienced Japanese Sega members such as Yuji Naka and Hirokazu Yasuhara (the first game's lead programmer and game planner respectively) were brought in to work alongside the American developers.

Prototype versions
A prototype of the game was discovered on a Chinese GeoCities site and has been widely distributed on the Internet. Only four levels can be played in "normal" gameplay; the rest (including several incomplete stages) have to be accessed through the level select code. Many are not entirely playable, but can be explored using Debug Mode. The prototype is frequently examined by hackers to determine how Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was developed. It was recently stated in an interview with Yuji Naka that this prototype was from a demonstration cartridge that was stolen at a toy show in New York in 1992. Akinori Nishiyama has also stated that the leak was due to the lack of security at the time.

In Asia and Brazil, the prototype version was put on cartridges and passed off as the final version by pirates who have altered it slightly to stop the Sega logo from showing when the game boots up, as was common practice.

Reception
The game sold an overall of 6 million copies worldwide and is the best selling game for its respective console. Due to the popularity of its predecessor Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2 already had an established fan base anticipating its release. The release of Sonic 2 was the main reason that Sega caught up to Nintendo in the "console wars". It brought their market share up to 50% within six months of its release. It went on to be the best selling game for the Mega Drive/Genesis, selling around six million copies altogether. It was well received by most gaming reviewers. It was praised for its large levels, colourful graphics and backgrounds, increased cast of characters and enemies alike, and music. GameSpot stated that "Time may have eroded Sega's prominence, but it hasn't done much to diminish how sweet Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is." and, along with other reviewers, commented on how it is still a fun game to play.

The game's main criticisms were of the two player mode that was a new introduction to the series. It suffered from slow down and some visual problems such as flickering and the small area for each player. It only offered four different zones that could be played with two players.

Release
The game was released in Japan for the Sega Mega Drive on 20 November 1992. The Sega Genesis release in the United States and the European Mega Drive release came later on 24 November, a Tuesday and the release day was dubbed "Sonic 2's Day". Sega claims that they sold 400,000 copies of Sonic 2 in the first five days after release. It has since been re-released numerous times.

8-bit version
A game also entitled Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released for the Master System and Game Gear consoles shortly before the release of the Sega Mega Drive version. Although the names are the same, the storylines, zones, Badniks and gameplay are completely different. It also does not contain Super Sonic, Spin Dash and Tails is not a playable character.

Sonic 2 with Sonic & Knuckles
Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a game activated by locking Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to the pass-through cartridge of Sonic & Knuckles that was released later by Sega. The resulting game is almost identical to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, except that the player plays as Knuckles the Echidna. As Knuckles has abilities and weaknesses that Sonic and Tails do not, the game is an overall different experience. Knuckles can glide in the air and climb walls with ease, which allows him to access areas otherwise unreachable by Sonic and Tails, while his weaker jumping abilities make some situations, such as certain boss fights (particularly the final boss of Death Egg Zone), more difficult. The two-player mode and options screen have also been removed. Players who are most familiar with the level layouts in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will notice a few minor differences. Unlike in the default game, when a player activates a star-post and enters the special stage, the ring count remains upon returning to the regular stage, which as a result makes it easier to gain the seven Chaos Emeralds. The player will also retain their ring count when restarting the stage from that star post.

2013 Re-release
In 21 October 2013, Sega announces to re-release Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as downloadable game for iOS and Android in November 2013 with a price of US$2.99 (However, any iPhone user who owns an older version of Sonic 2 can get the update for free). The re-release of the game is developed by Christian Whitehead and Headcanon, as the game uses Whitehead's "Retro Engine" like previous re-releases such as Sonic CD from 2011.

Like the 2013 re-release of original Sonic the Hedgehog, it is known to have touch controls, higher 60 FPS frame rate and widescreen support. It is also confirmed to have re-mastered soundtrack and several graphic changes. The re-release also is known to have exclusive game content, while the multiplayer mode from the original game is not included.

Achievements
There are a total of 12 Xbox Achievements/PlayStation Network trophies, totalling of 200G (Xbox 360 only). Please note that these achievements are only from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, and cannot be obtained on any other port of the game.

Trivia

 * In the second trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, during the Sonic 2 section, Sonic's running animation from the popular prototype is seen instead of the final version.
 * The debug/character change and 14 continues codes can be accesed by putting the European version release date of this game (01,09,09,02,01,01,02,04 which is 24 November 1992) although the latter doesn't need the year.
 * On the cover for the game, Robotnik is seen with what appears to be black eyes, even though he usually wears blue glasses. This could be the reason why the older Sonic television shows and comics portrayed Robotnik with black and red eyes.
 * This is the first Sonic game to feature 2-player mode.
 * This is the first Sonic game to use the Spin Dash.
 * This game was the Genesis' best seller due to the success of its prequel and the fact that the game was packaged with the Sega Genesis.
 * In this game, there is a Super Sonic code that allows the player to obtain all Chaos Emeralds when inserting the level select code. This lets the player turn into Super Sonic with at least 50 rings without completing any special stages.
 * When playing as Tails, Sonic flies the Tornado instead of him.
 * This game is represented in Sonic Generations. Chemical Plant reappears as the second level of the Classic Era in the home version, while Casino Night appears as the second stage in the portable version. A remix of the 2-player results music can be heard while purchasing Skills in the Skill Shop. One of Sonic's wait animations, in which he looks at his wrist and lays on the ground, also returns as one of Classic Sonic's wait animations. Finally, the Death Egg Robot appears as the Gate Boss of the Classic Era in the home version. During the boss fight, a remix of the Death Egg Robot's theme can be heard.
 * The app icon for the iPhone version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 uses recycled artwork from Sonic Advance 2.
 * Players are awarded with a "Perfect Bonus" of 50,000 if they complete an act after collecting every ring in the act and losing none. This is extremely difficult from Chemical Plant Act 2 and onwards, as acts will have more paths, some of which become unreachable after a certain spot.
 * The ending theme of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, Sweet Dreams, sounds very similar to the ending theme of this game.
 * On the back of the American Sonic the Hedgehog 2 box, the screenshot of Sonic and Tails in the Oil Ocean Zone is actually a pre-release version of this zone. A switch can be seen on the right side of the screenshot. When pressed, it would release a large ball from the floor and roll right into the ocean. The switch and the ball did not appear in the final version of this zone but can still be accessed in the Debug Mode in the final version. The screenshot of Aquatic Ruin Zone is also from a beta version.
 * In the U.S. instruction manual of Sonic 2, page 7 has a screenshot of the title screen in its beta form. On page 9, the screenshot of the Oil Ocean Zone is also in its beta form. Its background is different from the final version (most notably, the silver silo in the background is on the right side in the screenshot, but it is located on the left side in the final version).
 * Interestingly, the sprite of Super Sonic used for the Super and Extended Super achievements is in fact a fan-made Sonic Battle sprite from a sprite sheet made by JoeTE.
 * This was the first main series game to have all seven Chaos Emeralds, the previous game only had six.