Sonic Drift 2 (ソニックドリフト２ Sonikku Dorifuto Ni?), also called Sonic Drift Racing in Europe, is a kart racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Game Gear, developed and released by Sega. The game is the sequel to Sonic Drift that, unlike its predecessor, was released internationally in 1995. Featuring more race courses and additional items, the game also added more playable characters.
Gameplay
Title screen of the game.
Sonic Drift 2 is a racing game with nearly identical gameplay elements compared to Sonic Drift. In gameplay, the player races along a courses against three other characters for a top position in the race. Like in the previous entry, the game's single player mode has three Chaos GP circuits with different difficulty settings (purple, white and blue) to win, with each circuit featuring six race tracks for the player to complete. Clearing all three circuits grants access to the Final Cup. The game also has same the features and difficulty options from the previous title, while also allowing the player to turn race track obstacles on or off.
The game's controls are closely similar to those in Sonic Drift with only small changes. Monitor power-ups are not triggered automatically upon contact, but are instead saved at the top corner of the screen to be used. Alternatively, the player can a character's Special Ability after getting two Rings. Certain Monitor items or Special Abilities can as well hamper opponents' progress. The game is more challenging than the Sonic Drift, as the courses include more tricks and obstacles and a more advanced A.I. that has an easier time competing against the player. The player also has to worry about moving outside the roads' borders, which may hold pits or off-road tracks that slows down the racers.
Like in Sonic Drift, the player starts out in the fourth place at the beginning of a Chaos GP circuit. As the player completes a race course, they and each other racer are awarded with points based on their finishing positions, allowing the participants to improve their place:
- 1st Place: 3 points
- 2nd Place: 2 points
- 3rd Place: 1 points
- 4th Place: 0 points
Sonic and Tails in Emerald Hill.
In gameplay, Chaos Emeralds are awarded for winning races. If Sonic, Tails, Amy or Knuckles collect all six in the Blue GP, they will face Dr. Robotnik in a "Final GP" race around the Death Egg. If Robotnik, Metal Sonic or Fang collect all six in the Blue GP, they will face Sonic in the "Final GP" race. When the player wins the Final GP in first place, they will have cleared the game.
Controls
| Button formation | Action |
|---|---|
 left and right
|
Move |
|
Accelerate |
|
Break |
| up
|
Use the power-up item or Special Ability. |
| START button | Pauses the game |
| START, +
|
Pauses the game, exits the Free Run mode |
Objects
Items
Sonic Drift 2 has more items and power-ups than in Sonic Drift, most of which included multicolored Monitors.
| Item | Name | Despriction |
|---|---|---|
|
Ring | The traditional Ring which can be collected over the course of a race. If a racer has two Rings (three in Metal Sonic's case), the racer can perform their own unique Special Ability. |
|
Dash | A red Monitor that grants a small burst of speed. |
|
Jump | A yellow Monitor that bounces the racer into mid-air similar to the Spring. Press up on to trigger it.
|
|
Mine | A gray Monitor that contains a mine. Pressing up on drops the mine on the race course. Touching the mines makes a racer screech to a complete stop.
|
|
Invincible | A blue Monitor which makes the racer invulnerable to obstacles and Special Abilities for a few seconds. The melody heard while using this power-up is an faster, 8-bit variation of invincibility theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. |
|
Spring | Red Springs that will bounce the racer into mid-air. Several race courses have Gorges, that the racers have to cross by using Springs. While flying via a Spring, power-ups or Special Abilities cannot be utilized. |
|
Flash | When a racer drives into a Flash Star, the entire screen momentarily whites out. In the Versus multiplayer mode, this will happen to both players, regardless of user. |
|
Reverse | Passing though a Reverse ball reverses a racer's movements momentarily, meaning pressing left on turns to right and vice versa.
|
Gimmicks and obstacles
|
Characters
| Driver | Vehicles | Special Ability | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Cyclone | A High-Speed Dash that greatly increases Sonic's speed for about five seconds. | 
|
| Miles "Tails" Prower | MTP-02 Wheelwind S7 | A Flying Jump, similar to the jump given from driving over a Spring. | 
|
| Eggman | Egg Typhoon | Throws Land Mines onto the track, which explode and immediately stop any racers that drive into them. | 
|
| Amy Rose | Breeze | Summons and throws small Hearts on the track, which do not do damage, but greatly slow down and reverse the controls of any racer that drives into them. | 
|
| Metal Sonic | Blue Devil | A High-Speed Dash similar to that of Sonic's, but with greatly increased Power and Acceleration. However, it is so powerful, it requires three Rings to use, instead of the usual two. | 
|
| Fang the Sniper | Marvelous Queen | Tosses Oil Balls onto the track, which cause any racers that drive over them to slip, lose control, and eventually spin out. | 
|
| Knuckles the Echidna | Tempest | Lets Knuckles Punch any nearby racers, causing them to drop a Ring, and grind to a complete stop. If none are in the vicinity, a Flying Jump, similar to Tails' is triggered, making Knuckles the only playable character in the game with two Special Abilities. | 
|
Courses
Each Chaos GP circuit in Sonic Drift 2 has six race courses, each with its own obstacles and items related to their theme. Like power-ups and Special Abilities, many obstacles can affect course of the race by knocking racers off the race track or slow them down.
Several of the courses in Sonic Drift 2 are named after Zones from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (like the Emerald Hill Zone and the Casino Night Zone). In addition, Ice Cap is a reference to IceCap Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 which was released a year earlier. Iron Ruin serves as a heads up to the Scrap Brain Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog which was released four years earlier.
| Chaos GP | 1th course | 2th course | 3th course | 4th course | 5th course | 6th course |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purple | Emerald Hill 1
|
Hill Top 1
|
Dark Valley 1
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Casino Night
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Desert Road 1
|
Iron Ruin
|
| White | Desert Road 2
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Rainy Savanna
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Ice Cap
|
Hill Top 2
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Mystic Cave
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Emerald Hill 2
|
| Blue | Dark Valley 2
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Quake Cave
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Balloon Panic
|
Emerald Ocean
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Milky Way
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Death Egg
|
Re-releases
After the original Game Gear release, the game along with other Game Gear titles became unlockable games in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut for the Gamecube and PC. Along with other Game Gear games, it also became available in Sonic Gems Collection for Gamecube and PlayStation 2. The game has also been ported to Coleco Sonic, Playpal Plug and Play for Coleco and Tectoy Master System 3 for Tectoy. On July 1, 2013, Sonic Drift 2 was re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in Europe at the price of £3.59 (€3.99). This includes the original game, except it can be played in 3D. The Virtual Console description is as follows:
- "Start your engines and prepare for the race of your life! Choose from seven of your favorite Sonic characters including Sonic, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman (AKA Dr. Robotnik) and race your way to the finish line. Use each racer’s special ability to gain an edge over the competition and win the fabled Chaos Emeralds! Race across 17 courses in the ultimate Chaos Grand Prix! Challenge a friend via local two-player multiplayer! Choose between seven classic Sonic characters including Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, and the nefarious Dr. Eggman!"
Trivia
- Sonic Drift 2 was the first game to feature Metal Sonic and Fang the Sniper as playable characters.
- This is the first game released outside of Japan to identify the character of Dr. Robotnik as Eggman.
- Despite that the original Sonic Drift was only released in Japan, this game was still released in the US as a sequel without any change in the title whatsoever (probably confusing many American gamers). Also, despite the game being sold with different title on the European market, the title screen of the game still refers the game as Sonic Drift 2.
- Due a space limitations, Knuckles' and Metal Sonic's names are spelled "Knucles" and "M.Sonic".
- Sonic's car might be based off a 1992 Ferrari F40 or 1993 fourth generation Chevrolet Camaro.
- Tails' car is based off various Caterham models-
- Knuckles' car is based on AMC General's Hummer H1.
- All of the vehicles, with the exception of the Blue Devil and Marvelous Queen, have names related to wind or air.
- Fang is the only character to not appear on the North American and European box art, although a part of his vehicle can be seen.
- During the final one-on-one race, an 8-bit mix of the standard boss theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles is played.
- Amy's shirt is colored as Blue due palette limitations.
External links
- Sonic Drift at MobyGames
- Sonic Drift 2 at GameFAQs
- Sonic Drift 2 at The GHZ
| Playable characters | Sonic · Tails · Knuckles · Amy · Eggman · Metal Sonic · Fang | |
| Courses | Purple GP | Emerald Hill 1 · Hill Top 1 · Dark Valley 1 · Casino Night · Desert Road 1 · Iron Ruin |
| White GP | Desert Road 2 · Rainy Savanna · Ice Cap · Hill Top 2 · Mystic Cave · Emerald Hill 2 | |
| Blue GP | Dark Valley 2 · Quake Cave · Balloon Panic · Emerald Ocean · Milky Way · Death Egg | |
| Enemies | Mecha Vulture · Moto Bug | |
| Vehicles | Blue Devil · Breeze · Cyclone · Egg Typhoon · Marvelous Queen · Tempest · Whirlwind S7 | |
| Gimmicks and obstacles | Balloon · Bumper · Goal Plate · Heart Attack · Jump Panel · Meteorite · Mine · Spring · Triangle Bumper | |
| Items | Flash · Item Box (Dash, Invincible, Jump, Mine) · Reverse · Ring | |
| Other | Chaos Emerald · Chaos GP · Death Egg | |