Sonic the Hedgehog 2

For the Master System and Game Gear version, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit).

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
File:Sonic2 European Box.jpg European boxart for Sonic 2 on Mega Drive
Developer(s)	Sonic Team Sega Technical Institute
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Masaharu Yoshii (Director) Judy Toyota (Character Design) Hirokazu Yasuhara (Director/Game Planner/Project) Yuji Naka (Lead Programmer/Project Manager) Mark Cerny (Programmer/Development Support)
Composer(s)	Masato Nakamura
Platform(s)	Mega Drive (Genesis), PS2, NGC, NDS, Xbox, Mobile, PC, Mac OS X, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS
Release	JPN: November 21, 1992 NA: November 24, 1992 EUR: November 24, 1992 Virtual Console Xbox Live Arcade WW: September 12, 2007 iOS April 20, 2010
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (or sometimes as Sonic 2) is a platform game that was developed in the United States by members of Sonic Team working at Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1992 and in North America and Europe three days later on November 24, 1992 (Sega nicknamed the American and European release date, a Tuesday, "Sonic 2sday"). It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog and was followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994. The game introduces Tails as a new playable character.

The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog and his new partner, Miles "Tails" Prower (in later games simply referred to as "Tails"), on their mission to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power the Death Egg. Sonic and Tails must defeat Robotnik's army and free their friends.

As of June 2006, it has sold six million copies, making it the best-selling Sonic game of all time, and 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 (a character who made his debut in Sonic 3, and playable debut in Sonic and Knuckles) in Sonic 2. It has been included in a number of compilations on many platforms; on June 11, 2007, the game was made available on the Wii's Virtual Console, and released for Xbox Live Arcade on September 12, 2007. It has also been featured on Sonic Classic Collection for the Nintendo DS, and appeared as a release for the iOS on April 20, 2010.

Gameplay

Single player

Aquatic Ruin Zone

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 10 minutes (Sonic dies a split second after the timer reaches 9:59, though it does not actually reach 10:00). Along the way, rings are collected and Badniks are defeated. Star posts serve as checkpoints, where if the player was to lose a life then he or she would return to one. When the player has collected at least 50 rings, star posts can be run past for an optional Special Stage. At the end of the last act of each zone (with the exception of Sky Chase Zone which does not have a boss), Sonic confronts Dr. Robotnik. In addition, Sky Chase Zone, Wing Fortress Zone, and Death Egg Zone each have only one act, and Death Egg Zone only has two short walkways to two bosses.

Name	Theme	Acts	2-player compatible
Emerald Hill Zone	Tropical island	2	Yes
Chemical Plant Zone	Industrial city, factory	2	No
Aquatic Ruin Zone	Ancient ruins, underwater, forest	2	No
Casino Night Zone	Casino, giant pinball machine	2	Yes
Hill Top Zone	Volcano, mountain	2	No
Mystic Cave Zone	Eerie caves	2	Yes
Oil Ocean Zone	Oil refineries	2	No
Metropolis Zone	Industrial machinery	3	No
Sky Chase Zone	Sky	1	No
Wing Fortress Zone	Airship	1	No
Death Egg Zone	Space station	1	No

The following levels were announced in pressed releases and shown in alpha & beta footage, but removed during programming and never officially released by Sega, although many traces of them appear within the game's coding :

1. Wood Zone *ACLA-AECY
2. Dust Hill Zone *
3. Genocide City Zone *
4. Hidden Palace Zone *ACLA-ATD4

Although zones have grown significantly in size since Sonic the Hedgehog, most zones (with the exception of Metropolis Zone which has three acts) now contain two or one acts instead of three, and there is greater emphasis on variety between levels. The gameplay has also become even faster; additionally, Sonic is now able to perform a new special and unique move referred to as the "Super Spin Dash". This attack allows Sonic crawl in a ball and spin while staying stationary, only charging forward along the ground when the player releases Down on the directional pad. Mashing A, B, or C will increase the velocity of the Super Spin Dash while charging; the faster the player revs up Sonic, the faster Sonic will travel.

From the options menu, players can select to either play as Sonic alone or Tails alone. By default, players control Sonic while Tails runs along beside him. However, a second player can join in at any time and control Tails separately. He can collect rings and attack badniks, but can't break open item boxes. Every time Tails dies, falls off screen, gets crushed or is out of bounds (except when playing as just Tails alone), he returns to the player by flying back down to the ground.

Super Sonic

Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds by completing all of the special stages will unlock a new feature; Sonic's ability to change into Super Sonic. Sonic changes into his Super Form when he has collected at least 50 rings and jumps into the air. At this point, he turns yellow and speeds up and becomes invincible. His speed, acceleration, and jump height are all increased as well. This means that it is much easier to complete the level with Sonic in this form. Super Sonic subtracts one ring per second; when the player reaches 0 rings or when he reaches the end of the act, he reverts to his normal state. This severely cripples the player if the former happens as they are left with no rings; if the latter happens the player's level bonus is reduced due to not having as many rings as they could have had. Trying to transform into Super Sonic after passing the signpost in the original game (final revision 01) may result in a game crash and was later fixed in the re-release as final revision 02 as part of Sonic Compilation.

Two player

In 2P VS mode, players compete against each other to the finish line, either as Sonic or Tails, in a split-screen race through three regular zones and one special stage. Regular zones include Emerald Hill Zone, Casino Night Zone and Mystic Cave Zone and have different music from their one player counterparts, while the Special Stage is similar to the Emerald Stage 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. A countdown starts at 12 seconds, and if the player still hasn't successfully completed the level then the player will lose a life.

In case of a tie, an additional Special Stage round must be completed. Also, there are two unique items in versus-mode: a teleport monitor that instantly switches positions between players in the zone, and a Robotnik item that damages or kills the unlucky player. There is also an additional setting in the options menu that allows you to turn all monitors in two-player mode to teleport monitors.

The mode ends when all three normal stages have been completed or when a player gets a game over. But in the case of a game over, his/her opponent will instantly win.

Special stages

Special Stages in Sonic 2

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 3D half-pipe course filled with rings and bombs. The half-pipe graphics were rendered off-line in true 3D and were sequentially displayed based on the position of the course. A set amount of rings must be collected to pass through three checkpoints and eventually obtain the emerald itself. When nearing a checkpoint a reminder will appear to inform the player how many more rings are required to pass the point. If Sonic rams into a bomb, he will lose several rings and will be immobilized for a few seconds. The order of stages is fixed in rising difficulty, and Sonic cannot enter the next stage without passing the previous (unlike the original). 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. However, any rings obtained prior to entering the Special Stage will be replaced on the level as if they were never collected.

Storyline

After Robotnik's latest defeat in Sonic CD, he secretly follows Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, to his vacation spot, Westside Island. According to legend, an ancient civilization once abused the power of seven "power stones" on West Island. Sonic meets a peculiar two-tailed fox named Miles Prower, better known as "Tails". The two become good friends. Meanwhile, Robotnik begins his search for the Chaos Emeralds to fuel his new Death Egg warship. One afternoon, he launches his full-scale attack on the island. He imprisons all of the animals of the island and turns them into mindless worker drones called Badniks. Fortunately, Sonic is determined to thwart the Doctor at all costs. This time, he isn't alone, as Tails decides to aid him. Together they must locate the Emeralds before Robotnik does, and stop him before the Death Egg is complete.

Normal Ending: After the Death Egg is destroyed, Tails is in Westside Island watching the explosions of the Death Egg, he comes to save Sonic using the Tornado. Sonic falls down to Earth and lands on the Tornado.

Special Ending: After the Death Egg is destroyed, Tails is in Westside Island watching the explosions of the Death Egg, he comes to save Sonic using the Tornado. Super Sonic is seen flying down to Earth, and follows Tails on the Tornado.

Development and Release

While Sonic the Hedgehog was designed by Sonic Team in Japan, development duties for Sonic 2 were handed over to Sega Technical Institute in the United States. However experienced Japanese Sonic Team 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. Masaharu Yoshii served as the game's director.

Taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of the predecessors, the designers of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 intended for the graphics to display the "natural beauty" and "mechanical texture of materials forming a clear contrast with each other." The staff introduced new graphic elements such as the special stages with 3D-like appearances. The crews responded to a comment regarding the predecessor by increasing the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in relation to its predecessor.

The game was originally planned to contain time travel and it was to be released on Mega-CD, but this idea was killed, and the Mega-CD port turned into Sonic CD and the time travel idea was also reused for Sonic CD.

Nick Arcade prototype

In 2006, a member of the Sonic Retro community nicknamed drx released a prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on his website. Many speculate that this is the prototype that was shown on an episode of the TV show Nick Arcade. This prototype has therefore been titled the "Nick Arcade prototype".

Simon Wai prototype

File:Sonic2 HiddenPalace.png

Hidden Palace Zone, as seen in the prototype version of Sonic 2

A prototype of the game was discovered on a Chinese GeoCities website and has been widely distributed on the Internet. Only four levels can be played without the level select code (those are, in order of the levels presented in the prototype, Aquatic Ruin Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Hill Top Zone and Emerald Hill Zone); the rest have to be accessed through a level select code. Genocide City Zone and Death Egg Zone are completely blank, making Sonic fall to his death as soon as the zone begins. There are three scrapped stages found in the prototype. When other versions were discovered, this version was named the "Simon Wai prototype", in honor of the person who found the Chinese site.

Many zones are not entirely playable but can be explored using the debug code. These levels include Wood Zone, Mystic Cave Zone, Genocide City Zone and Hidden Palace Zone. 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 if it were the final version by pirates who altered it slightly to stop the Sega logo and animation from showing when the game boots up, as was the common practice. However, the Sega logo still shows up after you get a game over or when you beat Emerald Hill Zone.

Later in development

On February 23, 2008, 464 Mega Drive prototypes were leaked. Five of these prototypes were later builds of Sonic 2, named beta 4, beta 5, beta 6, beta 7 and beta 8 respectively. These prototypes were near-finished and by this time, had been divested of the lost stages (Hidden Palace, Wood Zone, Genocide City, etc.).

One of the last minute changes to the game was the title screen - the old one even made it to the manual. This one is equivalent to the one seen in beta 4.

Alongside the old title screen was the old level select. This level select is of Sonic 1-style and lists the levels in a different order which was actually originally supposed order.

Unfinished levels

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had six known unfinished levels:

Hidden Palace Zone

This zone had Act 1 nearly finished, but not Act 2. Both the Simon Wai and Nick Arcade prototypes contain nearly identical versions of this zone. A re-imagining of Hidden Palace Zone was later included in Sonic & Knuckles. However, the palette, ring layout and monitor placement is still in the game, and via hacking the level can be seen in level slot 08, but it has garbled graphics, and the level layout is taken from the next level on the ROM, Oil Ocean Zone (level slot 0A). The music for this zone was also left in the final game, and can be listened to on the sound test in music slot 10, however it is unknown if the music from the final was supposed for another zone and the Mystic Cave 2P music originally being intended for this zone. There is also a Tails life monitor in this zone, and a large ramp which cannot be climbed normally, and at the end of the ramp it is nothing but a few rings.

Other zones

• Wood Zone had Act 1 partially completed (with a small, playable area at the start), but Act 2 remained completely empty. Two screen shots of this zone exists. Little programming for Wood Zone remains in the final game, however not enough to make it work properly; only the palette and music data still exists, and the zone as it is in the final is basically a duplicate of Emerald Hill Zone but with no objects. The zone uses Metropolis Zone music and the mechanics in it are also similar, so therefore it is possible that this was supposed to be a past version of Metropolis Zone.
• Genocide City Zone (also known as Cyber City Zone), an intended single act zone, never underwent level construction. As such, entering the zone results in Sonic falling to death. However, concept art has been discovered; and it was later revealed that the planned level design was adapted into the level that would take its place - Metropolis Zone Act 3.
• Dust Hill Zone, a desert zone, isn't found in any prototype. However, a single mock-up screen shot exists, and in all betas until Beta 6 it is mentioned in the level select menu. Contrary to popular belief, although Mystic Cave Zone has been misspelled as Dust Hill Zone several times in magazines, the name was not reused as a working title for Mystic Cave Zone.
• Rock Zone has had no screen shots released, and is not found in any prototype. It was supposed to be a past version of Dust Hill Zone, back when Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was planned to contain time travel, a concept later used in Sonic CD.
• Winter Zone also saw no released screen shots, and is not found in any prototype. This zone would have been a continuation of Dust Hill Zone, featuring an altered palette. Very little work was made on this zone before it was cancelled. Later games such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic Adventure would include zones based in snowy conditions.

Scrapped badniks

Sonic 2 was once also supposed to have the following badniks:

• A snail badnik appears in prototype versions of Emerald Hill Zone but was removed and replaced by the coconuts badnik in beta 4. It shares very similar behavior to the Redz badnik although it speeds up if it sees Sonic.
• The Redz badnik was to appear in Hidden Palace Zone. Its design was a simple dinosaur which would move back and forth. It can be seen in both the Nick Arcade and Simon Wai prototypes, and can be placed using debug mode as well. It can be seen in beta 4 via hacking, but it was removed from beta 5 and all subsequent versions.
• The B-Bat badnik was also to appear in Hidden Palace Zone, and it can be seen in both the Nick Arcade and Simon Wai prototypes, although it was removed from the final game altogether.
• The B-Fish badnik is an underwater badnik. It is a placeable debug object in the Nick Arcade prototype (along with Gator and Stego). It can also be seen in the Simon Wai prototype via hacking but it was completely removed from the final ROM.
• The Gator badnik was to appear in Dust Hill Zone. One mock-up shot of this badnik does exist, but other than that is mainly unseen (it can be hacked to appear in the Simon Wai prototype though). The badnik is also in the Nick Arcade prototype via Hidden Palace Zone's debug object list but its sprite is corrupted there.
• The Stego badnik was to appear in Hidden Palace Zone. One mock-up shot of this badnik exists. It is accessible in the Simon Wai and beta 4 prototypes by hacking. The artwork was later updated in beta 4 to use Sonic's palette, although, like the other scrapped badniks, it was completely removed in the final ROM.

There were many other scrapped badniks, such as the bubbler badnik, though only concept art for these badniks exists. It should also be noted that the Nick Arcade and Simon Wai protos also contain a beta of the Aquis badnik, which is quite different to the final version.

Releases

Sega launched a $10 million dollar advertising campaign for the Sonic 2's release. The game was the first game to be shipped worldwide on the same release day on the Mega Drive/Genesis on November 21, 1992. The Sega Mega Drive release in Europe and the North American Genesis release came three days later on November 24, 1992, a Tuesday, and the release day was dubbed "Sonic 2s day". 400,000 copies of Sonic 2 were sold in the first seven days after release.

Versions

The first version (nicknamed revision 00) has:

• Casino Night Zone Act 1's end-of-level signpost placed too low and it therefore sticks out of the ground below
• Wing Fortress Zone's checkpoints blink as if you hit them even though you may have not hit them
• A misspelling of the name "Thomas" in the credits
• If you get more than 999 rings then garbled numbers will show up in the counter, just like it does in Sonic 1.

The second version (nicknamed revision 01) fixes all of these problems. There is also a third version that is nicknamed revision 02, extracted from Sonic Compilation.

Re-releases

It has since been re-released as part of the following compilations:

• Sonic Compilation (1995 (1997 in North America), Sega Mega Drive)
• Sonic Jam (1997, Sega Saturn)
• Sonic Jam (1998 January 1, Game.com)
• Sega Smash Pack 2 (2000, PC).
• Real Arcade (PC).
• Sonic Mega Collection (2002, Nintendo GameCube)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004, PlayStation 2 and Xbox).
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2006, PC).
• Sega Genesis Collection (November 7, 2006, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable).
• Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (February 10, 2009, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3).
• Sonic Classic Collection (March 2, 2010, Nintendo DS).

The game was also released for the Wii's Virtual Console on June 11, 2007, and is available on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. Various mobile phone versions exist as well, most notably the iOS release.

Sonic 2 locked on to Sonic & Knuckles

See also: Sonic & Knuckles § Sonic the Hedgehog 2

File:Knuckles in Sonic 2 title screen.png

Knuckles in Sonic 2 title screen

Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a game which is the result of attaching Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to the passthrough cartridge of Sonic & Knuckles that was released later by Sega. The resulting game is almost identical to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, except a few minor level layout differences and that you play as Knuckles. As Knuckles has abilities and weaknesses that Sonic and Tails do not, the game is an overall different experience. Knuckles can glide and climb walls, which allows him to gain access to areas otherwise hidden or unreachable by Sonic and Tails, while his weaker jumping abilities make some situations, such as certain boss fights (particularly the final fight), more difficult. The two player mode and the options screen have also been removed. Players who are most familiar with the level layouts in Sonic 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. Also, Knuckles will retain the number of rings he had when he passes through a checkpoint, after a life is lost, while Sonic and Tails start each checkpoint with zero rings whenever they lose a life.

Reception

Due to the popularity of its predecessor Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2 already had an established fanbase 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 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. Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded it as the best Sega Genesis game of 1992. In 2000, Game Informer ranked Sonic 2 number 61 on its "Top 100 Games of All Time" list, calling it "the most challenging and finely polished Sonic the Hedgehog title."

The game's main criticisms were of the two player mode, a new introduction to the series. Sonic 2 achieved the split-screen display through a 448 line display mode, one of the few Mega Drive games to use it. This mode doubled the workload on the CPU, and caused interlacing-induced visual artifacts. Reviewers criticized the game's noticeable slowdown and prominent flickering, not to mention the squashed play area for each player. Finally, the game only allowed two-player mode in three different zones (Emerald Hill, Casino Night and Mystic Cave). William Burrill of the Toronto Star described the two player racing mode as the "only part of the game that can be faulted," citing that the mode and its split screen view "squeezes the graphics, plumps up the characters and slows down the action."

As of June 2006, it has sold six million copies altogether. Its ending theme song, "Sweet Dream", a fan favorite by Dreams Come True, was later remixed by Akon for the PS3 and 360 title Sonic the Hedgehog.

Xbox Live Arcade port

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Xbox Live Arcade is an updated port of Sega's original title, developed by Backbone Entertainment for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. The game was released on August 11, 2008 for 400 Microsoft Points.

The game features an almost exact conversion of the original 1992 game. It also has the standard Xbox Live Arcade features such as Leaderboards and Achievements. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also features multiplayer and online play, however lacks the option of a second controller having control of Tails in single player mode.

External links

• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 at Giant Bomb
• Sonic 2 at IMDb