Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Nov. 28th, 2024 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marchionessofmustacheSonic 2 time! This is my friend's fav. Here's the story synopsis from GHZ again:
While cruising over the ocean in his antique biplane, the Tornado, Sonic notices a small island particularly lush with greenery. He flies down for a bit of vacation time, closely followed by an unseen figure that lands on the opposite end of the island... The tiny resort turns out to be West Side Island, which, as the folklore goes, was once the home of a flourishing civilization. The people of the island utilized the power of seven mysterious stones for the advancement of their society. However, their prosperity lead to avarice, which did not sit well with the gods. The displeased deities reclaimed the stones and sealed them away.
After a few days on the island, it occurs to Sonic that he's being followed. His pursuer is a young fox with two tails who, upon being discovered, dashes into the shade of a nearby tree. Sonic ignores him and zooms off, but the fox whirls his two tails like a propeller and follows the blue stranger at full speed. Sonic is impressed both with the fox's tenacity and his ability to keep up, so he decides to let him tag along. He learns that his new companion is named Miles Prower, though the animals of the island call him "Tails" after his unique mutation.
Early one afternoon, Tails discovers the Tornado sitting on a beach. Being fascinated by all things mechanical, the young fox eagerly runs up to the machine for a thorough investigation, but shyly pulls back when he spots Sonic snoozing in the shade of a wing. His awkward moment is interrupted by a huge explosion from the island's interior. Sonic snaps up to see the forest ablaze and robots scouring the area. It doesn't take the blue hero three guesses to figure out who's behind the disruption: Dr. Eggman, who had discreetly followed Sonic onto West Side Island, is now tearing the place apart in search of the seven Chaos Emeralds. He needs fuel for his Death Egg, a planet-sized space station with unthinkable power. Sonic and Tails take off to locate the Emeralds before Eggman and squash his evil ambition once more.
I like the little details about Sonic snoozing under the wing and stuff???? LOL Kinda weird, but it's cute. So it looks like Sonic has now met Tails, and we learned that the Tornado is actually Sonic's plane (I always thought it was Tails's). But yeah, seems like other than the setup, the story is basically the same as the first game. Eggman on an island after the Emeralds, but Sonic's gotta catch 'em first.
There's mixed information about Tails online, including rumors that Tails was originally intended to be a girl, and that she was going to be Sonic's girlfriend; however, according to this extensive history of Tails, it seems like this is not the case, and Tales was male from the beginning of concept design.
Anyway, the Death Egg is a planet-sized space station?! Is it already built and needs powering up, or is it under construction or still in the planning phase and he needs the Emeralds to build it...? I guess we'll find out as we go through the game. Eggman has really advanced since his appearance in the first game just building a little base on an island... now he's building entire planets...?!
(Also, I want to note that there are tons of people who refuse to call him Eggman and vehemently stick to "Dr. Robotnik" as he was called mostly in the western cartoon show. But these same people will use the name "Bowser" and not "King Koopa" which I find odd lol...)
Oh and speaking of names, apparently the pun name "Miles Prower" was originally the Japanese name, while Tails was the English name. Well, in concept at least. In the end they decided to combine the two ideas and make Tails the nickname. I just feel like Miles Prower sounds more like a joke the English-speaking team would come up with, hahaha.
Mechanically, the game plays pretty much the same as the first one, except with the addition of the "Super Spin Dash" which lets you 'rev up' in place and then go super fast. Because I'm not trying to go super fast, I won't use this much. And actually in the Origins collection (and the 2013 mobile version), the Super Spin Dash was added to Sonic 1, so I actually had access to it there as well. I maybe used it like 2 times.
Apparently now you can get to the bonus stage (which is different this time) by having 50 rings when you cross a Point Marker (checkpoint), rather than needing 50 when you cross the Bonus Plate at the end of an Act.
Anyway, let's journey to West Side Island! I'm going to guess this is the place the Emeralds flew off to at the anime outro to the first game...? Will we see the Death Egg at all or is it just blueprints for now?
The anime intro from the Origins collection has tails being bullied by some one-tailed foxes, then Sonic runs by and happens to smash them. Does Sonic just indiscriminately damage whatever he runs across...? Then Tails, enamored, chases Sonic. When Sonic notices him catching up, he winks, and the two run/fly off into the distance.
Emerald Hill Zone seems a little less graphically impressive than Green Hill Zone. I guess they were not going to overdo it with the 3D CG thing this time. But instead of that, we get 3D minigames for the special stage! It's so much more fun and way less stressful than the Sonic 1 bonus stage... I got my first Chaos Emerald easily!
Act 2 was fun, too, I managed to get a second Chaos Emerald. Then I tried my hands at a third (I had 150 rings when I hit my second checkpoint) but I got blown up a lot by the bombs and wasn't even close to saving the Emerald XD
Unlike the first game, there seem to only be 2 Acts per Zone now. The boss came at the end of the second Act.
COOL MUSIC. Love the city skyline background, too.
In Act 1, I amassed 100 rings but never found a checkpoint :,)
Act 2 was pretty fun, I got another Chaos Emerald! I didn't appreciate one of the slow block climbs but it wasnt nearly as bad as some of the stuff in Sonic 1.
I know I'm not saying much this time around, but that's because a lot of the mechanics and stuff aren't new anymore. But I actually am enjoying the level design a lot more so far. Also, Tails just like runs and flies around all over the place, and if he happens to bop an enemy, he'll defeat it, or if he runs into rings, he'll collect them. Very weird lol.
Neat aesthetic. There are little Eggman faces on trees that shoot arrows at you; I almost didn't notice them at first. There's also a point where it tries to trap you in a hallowed out log with one shooting at you! I ran ahead and collected 50 rings then went back to the checkpoint but wasn't able to secure the Emerald. The minigames are getting harder XD The worst part is Tails collects rings in addition to Sonic, and he tends to bash into the bombs easily even when Sonic doesn't hit them, so he loses his rings -_- I guess I need to jump more ???
The music isn't as cool and catchy as Chemical Plant Zone. Going from a nature zone to an industrial zone and back to a nature zone is a little weird, but I guess there could be nature on both sides of the plant. Yeah, not so crazy I guess XD
I got a second try at the Emerald in Act 1 but failed again. This time Sonic didn't get hit, but I missed some rings and Tails lost all of his rings :\
The boss at the end of Act 2 was pretty cool. I like how the bosses are all quite different from each other, even if they're all just fighting Eggman in his little flying buggy thing (no idea what it's called).
Already love the aesthetic of this Zone. I love neon lights and stuff.
Ugh, I don't like stages where you bounce around on stuff in any game. It's not nearly as obnoxious as the Bounce Man stage in Mega Man 11, but it's still a bit worse than Spring Man's stage in Mega Man 7. I found that the best solution was just to fall and not try to get anything. Even though I accumulated a whopping 100+ rings, I never found a checkpoint in Act 1 :(
In Act 2 now, I noticed that in the background there are neon signs that say "SONIC" and "MILES," but I haven't seen any that said Tails as far as I can remember. Guess the level designers liked Tails's Japanese name better :P
I missed the Chaos Emerald by ONE ring. And it's all because I bumped a bomb too :( I'm getting the hang of the 4th bonus stage but I don't think I'll have enough time to collect the rest of the Emeralds by the end of the game...
Bouncy bosss... did not appreciate. I eventually got it down where I could bounce on one of the flippers pretty much repeatedly then wait for him to appear under me. But it was not fun. I'm glad that zone is over, though I'll miss the colorful look.
Act 1 was pretty nice. I kinda like how they're breaking up the nature zones with industrial zones, honestly. It makes it feel like bigger variety. I missed a checkpoint, but I only had 49 rings anyway. I just flew right over it. But if I hadn't I might have been able to collect a ring before I got there.
In Act 2, I got the fourth Chaos Emerald! It's pink!
I'm quite enjoying this game. When you take your time and explore the Acts, they are very fun! It's not JUST about going fast.
I don't even know what the boss was about because I just damage-boosted through it. I just jumped on him, fell in the lava, and kept jumping at him while making sure to collect at least one ring. Oh well :D Another Eggman match down, let's go on to the next Zone~~~
Oh yeah, I wanted to mention a thing. In this game both Sonic and Tails have idle animations and cliff-walking animations, and Sonic's are actually different from the first game! Neat!
My friend warned me about this one. Let's see if it's really hell :) Again, another cool aesthetic, though! Sonic games are so pretty~~~
Part of the music here sounds like "Entry of the Gladiators" and it's so funny.
Act 1 was pretty fun. I like hanging from the vines/levers. Hasn't been too much trouble so far.
DANG, the 5th Emerald minigame is hard! I didn't hit any bombs and felt like I was doing pretty well, and I was like 40 rings away from the goal at the second checkpoint...
Wow, I got two more tries at it in this Act and wasn't even CLOSE to clearing it. Are there even enough rings to win?! I feel like I got MOST of them and was still like 20 away.
Fun little boss, though. I like stuff where things rain at you bullet-hell-ish style and you have to be careful to watch for them and dodge around. Reminds me of Stone Head from Jewel Man stage in Mega Man 9. (I know I compare things to Mega Man a lot, but it's just because I've played those games SO MUCH)
How many zones are there O_o?! I was expecting another 6, maybe 8... let's go count how many we've seen so far...
Oh, this is only 7. Maybe there are 8. Anyway, another cool aesthetic (let's be real, they've ALL be cool aesthetics so far).
OK, the number of rings I needed was different than what I thought for the special stage. This time I was only 4 off (it takes 120, not 140 XD) which means I was probably really close last time, too. Boo.
The green shooty things reminds me of Donkey Kong Country's floating barrels. Sonic did it first!!
I was going to say "This one is pretty easy. Is it the Star Light Zone of this game?" and then it got much harder XD
In Act 2, I had 70 rings and then a stupid Octar shot me and I lost them all RIGHT BEFORE a checkpoint >:(
OK, a little note that I learned while fighting the boss of this Zone -- Sonic TAKES A WHILE to crouch. It doesn't happen immediately upon pressing the Down button like in Super Mario. So if a laser is shooting at you, for example, you don't have time to duck unless you were already ducking beforehand pretty much. Which means if you need to jump, you'll end up Super Spin Dashing instead... Better to just jump over the lasers, even the medium-high ones.
OMG, Tails was like annoyingly bouncing around in the oil stuck under a platform, then when I went to bounce on Eggman, Tails jumped that way and hit him instead. Sonic went through him because of the i-frames and hit something as I was jumping out (no idea what) and I died -_-; This boss is like really simple, should NOT have taken me 3 times.
What the heck -- we're still not done yet?! This is the 8th zone! Is it the last one...? In a lot of modern Sonic games the final zone is actually Eggman's metropolis, so maybe this is where the trend started? Are we actually aboard the Death Egg now? I'm confused :)
Again, the aesthetic is cool. The music is kinda eh, though.
Act 1 wasn't too bad. I feel like in the first game, the challenge was just getting through the zones and clearing the game. This game is a bit easier, but the challenge comes from maintaining your ring count and acquiring all the Chaos Emeralds. Interesting change of pace.
Oh yeah, there's this cool thing where you run through these like... spiraled fencing things??? It's really fun, even though there's not much to it lol.
There's also parts where you hop on screws and run to screw them up a bolt. Reminds me a little bit of the screws in Super Mario Bros. 3. Very cute.
Oooh, there's an Act 3! Maybe this is the final zone after all! I'm going to take a break and eat some Doritos lmfao. Can't fight Eggman on an empty stomach! Too bad I didn't have some hot dogs XD
I wonder if Sonic liking hot dogs was a thing introduced by the western cartoon and then adapted into Japanese canon, or if there was a minor character note about him liking hot dogs somewhere in the Japanese media and they adapted that into the western cartoon...? Because I can remember multiple scenes of Sonic scarfing hot dogs in later games (I think in Generations someone even gives him a gift of a hot dog??? Like a hot dog with a bow on it?? I might be misremembering though LOL) and Unleashed had a whole hot-dog-eating sidequest (and man did I try hard to get all the hot dogs in that game, but some of them were impossible, I swear!! XD)
Anyway, I finished my snack. Back to the game. And yes, I washed my hands :P
Well, the boss was kind of annoying to time the jumps, but thankfully I kept grabbing my one ring after being hurt and was able to cheese through it :P
9th Zone! We're still going! But this time we're on the Tornado in the air?! I'm a little afraid of what this is going to entail...
Uh, OK, that was pretty simple...
Where even are we? We're not on the Death Egg, which is an entire planet in outer space. We're on some kind of floating fortress...? What is this??? LOL
Either way, I'm glad we're off the Tornado. That was REALLY awkward to control.
This zone is kind of annoying. I get that it's building up to something big, but it's not particularly fun. The problem I have is it's hard to tell what things will hurt you, what things you can stand on, etc. So sometimes I think I see a platform, jump to it, and then I'm just falling through the background and die, and have to go all the way back to a checkpoint. Then other times it looks like a way forward, but a background object will hurt me. Quite frustrating.
The part where you're holding on to the panels that break off the side of the ship was kinda cool though. But why does the movement of the ship/air current only seem to affect Sonic there?
Oh yeah, Tails got shot down in the Tornado and is gone now lmao. IDK what happened to the poor guy.
Also, the music suddenly sounds like something out of a DOS game. This is a really anticlimactic and annoying part of the game TBH... We went through the metropolis and we're supposed to be infiltrating a ship or something, but it's... this...
OK, the boss of this area was kind of annoying but kind of cool at the same time. You basically HAD to kill it really fast or you couldn't avoid damage. Anyway, Eggy gets away again and goes on a rocket? And Sonic hangs on to it for way too long. I thought the game bugged out because nothing was happening. But then we go into space (how... did Sonic survive this????) and now we're finally... ON THE DEATH EGG!!
You know, I was really enjoying the game up through the Metropolis Zone, and the sky chase and ship infiltration zones REALLY soured the game... let's see if Death Egg can make up for it.
Oh, it just goes straight into boss fights.
IS THIS METAL SONIC? Is this where he's from...? I'm used to him being blue, but this is pretty interesting.
OK, I beat him on the first try. Then Eggman got into some kind of mecha thing and I somehow got myself trapped behind it before it even started moving and then died with nowhere to go lol x_x; Now I gotta fight Metal again.
OK, my next couple of attempts at Metal didn't go so well. I was getting double hits on him easily my first time, but now I seem to be hitting him too late or something XD Then Eggman surprised me by shooting thorns out of the center of the room. Oh well, I took it slower on my fourth try and got him.
OK, next try at Mecha Egg... I tried to bump him when it looked like he could be hit. No go. I just died. Dunno what I'm supposed to do. maybe hit him in the butt? But I feel like his legs will stomp me. I'll just sit and wait next time and see if I can see a better opening.
OK, second time... he shot a rocket arm at me (I guess this is the 3rd time actually?) and killed me. Didn't see it coming, and it was way too fast to react to. This is annoying. I think I saw an opening though.
Can you imagine getting to this with limited lives as a kid?
OK, I found a really fast way to defeat Metal. When he is floating down, you can't be hurt by him, but as soon as he touches the ground, you can. If you stand at his face and jump before he touches the ground, you'll be able to bounce 3 times off his head. Then you dodge the big roll attack. Then you can bounce on his head twice before he starts his dash attack. After that, stand where he's going to end up and charge up your Super Spin Dash. It will hit him 3 more times, defeating him. Lemon squeezy. Now it won't be as tedious getting back to the mecha form.
OK, hitting the belly during the arm attack didn't work. Maybe I have to actually hit the head?! He does lean over a little bit... I don't really see a good opening though.
Walking through the legs doesn't work lol.
Hitting the body during the arm attack worked, but the arm hit me while I was bouncing off. I think you have to time the jump JUST right so the arm goes down first and then you jump?????
Jumping into the body after the first arm returns gives damage, too. You HAVE to attack once the first arm is off...
Spin dashing into the legs doesn't work either.
OHHH you can bump the top of the body even while the arms are there. So you just hop at the body as soon as he bends over. Maybe can even get two hits in?!
Also, Eggman can run as fast as Sonic even when Sonic is moving at max speed. Tails moves as fast as Sonic, too. I thought he was the "fastest thing alive" ???
If you Super Spin Dash on Metal at the first go, you can actually get 4 hits in, then dash away, then you can get 3 hits in if you jump just at the right time before he finishes his first dash. Then you can just Super Spin Dash and defeat him. Speedrun strats! I don't know if this is how the actual speedrun goes, but I'm at least defeating him fairly quickly and having fun figuring out how to do it faster and faster...
Now if I can just score one more hit on Eggy before dying :,)
OK you can score 4 hits on Metal by jumping at the right time before he starts the dash attack.
OK, when Eggy lands after a homing jump thing, he bends over for a second. That's another opportunity to hit. I mistimed a jump and died, but I think I can hit him twice each rocket arm cycle and once each walking cycle. This SHOULD be easy from here on out. I've just been really dumb about it so far hahaha.
OK it took me a couple more tries thanks to mistimed jumps, but I finally beat it. He took like 12 hits or something! It took forever. Waiting through the walking cycle was torture. I had time to take the cap off my water bottle, drink a few swigs, and put it back on before I even had to think about picking up the controller again.
There's probably a way to score 3 hits during the arm-launching cycle but I couldn't figure it out and decided to just take the safe route and finish the game XD
The outro showed the animals looking up at something bright in the sky. The explosion of the Death Egg perhaps? Wait, is the Death Egg Saga over already? Or does he rebuild it or something? Also, the anime outro created for the Origins collection showed the Death Egg on fire crashing into the island?! Well, it was headed for the island and then the screen blacked out for a few seconds. Did it explode there and they didn't want to animate the explosion or what? XD
Let's read up on the Sonic Wiki and see if it clarifies the ending to this game. We'll also figure out about the 'good ending' as I only got 4 of the Chaos Emeralds this time around.
Ah, OK, that was "Mecha Sonic," not Metal Sonic. Maybe he's a prototype of Metal.
The good ending has Sonic turn into Super Sonic and fly around instead of tails carrying him on the Tornado. Otherwise it's pretty much the exact same thing. I don't know what shows after the credits (on the bad ending, it's Eggy juggling the Emeralds with "TRY AGAIN" again...) but probably just him stomping on END or something again.
And that's Sonic the Hedgehog 2! I have to say, the flight and plane infiltration was a huge let-down, even though I appreciate them trying to build up and show the progression of Sonic getting to the Death Egg... but the final boss fight being fun and requiring lots of tries to figure out made up for that boring segment. Overall, I think I liked the majority of this game better than the first one, but that annoying part near the end was making me think I liked the first one better :P Once you get better at it, it probably goes by really fast though.
Next up is Sonic CD, which takes place after Sonic the Hedgehog but before Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I guess it wasn't immediate that Sonic went from South Island to West Side Island, and some other stuff happened in between, giving Eggman time to build the Death Egg. I'm guessing there's no strict timeline to the events so that we know how much time passed between each game. And I guess the canonical timing of Sonic CD is why it's listed second in the collection despite releasing after Sonic 2.
I don't know much about Sonic CD at all, other than people find it "janky." We'll see!
ETA: Oh yeah, I'm still wondering about the Metropolis. Is there like a civilization and city on the island, or did Eggman really try to build a Metropolis here? If so, how much time passed over the course of the whole game?! Surely he couldn't have built a whole city here in that short time? Unless a huge amount of time passed since Sonic and Eggman landed on the island and Eggman actually started looking for the Emeralds prompting Sonic to go after them...? IDK lol.
While cruising over the ocean in his antique biplane, the Tornado, Sonic notices a small island particularly lush with greenery. He flies down for a bit of vacation time, closely followed by an unseen figure that lands on the opposite end of the island... The tiny resort turns out to be West Side Island, which, as the folklore goes, was once the home of a flourishing civilization. The people of the island utilized the power of seven mysterious stones for the advancement of their society. However, their prosperity lead to avarice, which did not sit well with the gods. The displeased deities reclaimed the stones and sealed them away.
After a few days on the island, it occurs to Sonic that he's being followed. His pursuer is a young fox with two tails who, upon being discovered, dashes into the shade of a nearby tree. Sonic ignores him and zooms off, but the fox whirls his two tails like a propeller and follows the blue stranger at full speed. Sonic is impressed both with the fox's tenacity and his ability to keep up, so he decides to let him tag along. He learns that his new companion is named Miles Prower, though the animals of the island call him "Tails" after his unique mutation.
Early one afternoon, Tails discovers the Tornado sitting on a beach. Being fascinated by all things mechanical, the young fox eagerly runs up to the machine for a thorough investigation, but shyly pulls back when he spots Sonic snoozing in the shade of a wing. His awkward moment is interrupted by a huge explosion from the island's interior. Sonic snaps up to see the forest ablaze and robots scouring the area. It doesn't take the blue hero three guesses to figure out who's behind the disruption: Dr. Eggman, who had discreetly followed Sonic onto West Side Island, is now tearing the place apart in search of the seven Chaos Emeralds. He needs fuel for his Death Egg, a planet-sized space station with unthinkable power. Sonic and Tails take off to locate the Emeralds before Eggman and squash his evil ambition once more.
I like the little details about Sonic snoozing under the wing and stuff???? LOL Kinda weird, but it's cute. So it looks like Sonic has now met Tails, and we learned that the Tornado is actually Sonic's plane (I always thought it was Tails's). But yeah, seems like other than the setup, the story is basically the same as the first game. Eggman on an island after the Emeralds, but Sonic's gotta catch 'em first.
There's mixed information about Tails online, including rumors that Tails was originally intended to be a girl, and that she was going to be Sonic's girlfriend; however, according to this extensive history of Tails, it seems like this is not the case, and Tales was male from the beginning of concept design.
Anyway, the Death Egg is a planet-sized space station?! Is it already built and needs powering up, or is it under construction or still in the planning phase and he needs the Emeralds to build it...? I guess we'll find out as we go through the game. Eggman has really advanced since his appearance in the first game just building a little base on an island... now he's building entire planets...?!
(Also, I want to note that there are tons of people who refuse to call him Eggman and vehemently stick to "Dr. Robotnik" as he was called mostly in the western cartoon show. But these same people will use the name "Bowser" and not "King Koopa" which I find odd lol...)
Oh and speaking of names, apparently the pun name "Miles Prower" was originally the Japanese name, while Tails was the English name. Well, in concept at least. In the end they decided to combine the two ideas and make Tails the nickname. I just feel like Miles Prower sounds more like a joke the English-speaking team would come up with, hahaha.
Mechanically, the game plays pretty much the same as the first one, except with the addition of the "Super Spin Dash" which lets you 'rev up' in place and then go super fast. Because I'm not trying to go super fast, I won't use this much. And actually in the Origins collection (and the 2013 mobile version), the Super Spin Dash was added to Sonic 1, so I actually had access to it there as well. I maybe used it like 2 times.
Apparently now you can get to the bonus stage (which is different this time) by having 50 rings when you cross a Point Marker (checkpoint), rather than needing 50 when you cross the Bonus Plate at the end of an Act.
Anyway, let's journey to West Side Island! I'm going to guess this is the place the Emeralds flew off to at the anime outro to the first game...? Will we see the Death Egg at all or is it just blueprints for now?
The anime intro from the Origins collection has tails being bullied by some one-tailed foxes, then Sonic runs by and happens to smash them. Does Sonic just indiscriminately damage whatever he runs across...? Then Tails, enamored, chases Sonic. When Sonic notices him catching up, he winks, and the two run/fly off into the distance.
Emerald Hill Zone
Emerald Hill Zone seems a little less graphically impressive than Green Hill Zone. I guess they were not going to overdo it with the 3D CG thing this time. But instead of that, we get 3D minigames for the special stage! It's so much more fun and way less stressful than the Sonic 1 bonus stage... I got my first Chaos Emerald easily!
Act 2 was fun, too, I managed to get a second Chaos Emerald. Then I tried my hands at a third (I had 150 rings when I hit my second checkpoint) but I got blown up a lot by the bombs and wasn't even close to saving the Emerald XD
Unlike the first game, there seem to only be 2 Acts per Zone now. The boss came at the end of the second Act.
Chemical Plant Zone
COOL MUSIC. Love the city skyline background, too.
In Act 1, I amassed 100 rings but never found a checkpoint :,)
Act 2 was pretty fun, I got another Chaos Emerald! I didn't appreciate one of the slow block climbs but it wasnt nearly as bad as some of the stuff in Sonic 1.
I know I'm not saying much this time around, but that's because a lot of the mechanics and stuff aren't new anymore. But I actually am enjoying the level design a lot more so far. Also, Tails just like runs and flies around all over the place, and if he happens to bop an enemy, he'll defeat it, or if he runs into rings, he'll collect them. Very weird lol.
Aquatic Ruin Zone
Neat aesthetic. There are little Eggman faces on trees that shoot arrows at you; I almost didn't notice them at first. There's also a point where it tries to trap you in a hallowed out log with one shooting at you! I ran ahead and collected 50 rings then went back to the checkpoint but wasn't able to secure the Emerald. The minigames are getting harder XD The worst part is Tails collects rings in addition to Sonic, and he tends to bash into the bombs easily even when Sonic doesn't hit them, so he loses his rings -_- I guess I need to jump more ???
The music isn't as cool and catchy as Chemical Plant Zone. Going from a nature zone to an industrial zone and back to a nature zone is a little weird, but I guess there could be nature on both sides of the plant. Yeah, not so crazy I guess XD
I got a second try at the Emerald in Act 1 but failed again. This time Sonic didn't get hit, but I missed some rings and Tails lost all of his rings :\
The boss at the end of Act 2 was pretty cool. I like how the bosses are all quite different from each other, even if they're all just fighting Eggman in his little flying buggy thing (no idea what it's called).
Casino Night Zone
Already love the aesthetic of this Zone. I love neon lights and stuff.
Ugh, I don't like stages where you bounce around on stuff in any game. It's not nearly as obnoxious as the Bounce Man stage in Mega Man 11, but it's still a bit worse than Spring Man's stage in Mega Man 7. I found that the best solution was just to fall and not try to get anything. Even though I accumulated a whopping 100+ rings, I never found a checkpoint in Act 1 :(
In Act 2 now, I noticed that in the background there are neon signs that say "SONIC" and "MILES," but I haven't seen any that said Tails as far as I can remember. Guess the level designers liked Tails's Japanese name better :P
I missed the Chaos Emerald by ONE ring. And it's all because I bumped a bomb too :( I'm getting the hang of the 4th bonus stage but I don't think I'll have enough time to collect the rest of the Emeralds by the end of the game...
Bouncy bosss... did not appreciate. I eventually got it down where I could bounce on one of the flippers pretty much repeatedly then wait for him to appear under me. But it was not fun. I'm glad that zone is over, though I'll miss the colorful look.
Hill Top Zone
Act 1 was pretty nice. I kinda like how they're breaking up the nature zones with industrial zones, honestly. It makes it feel like bigger variety. I missed a checkpoint, but I only had 49 rings anyway. I just flew right over it. But if I hadn't I might have been able to collect a ring before I got there.
In Act 2, I got the fourth Chaos Emerald! It's pink!
I'm quite enjoying this game. When you take your time and explore the Acts, they are very fun! It's not JUST about going fast.
I don't even know what the boss was about because I just damage-boosted through it. I just jumped on him, fell in the lava, and kept jumping at him while making sure to collect at least one ring. Oh well :D Another Eggman match down, let's go on to the next Zone~~~
Oh yeah, I wanted to mention a thing. In this game both Sonic and Tails have idle animations and cliff-walking animations, and Sonic's are actually different from the first game! Neat!
Mystic Cave Zone
My friend warned me about this one. Let's see if it's really hell :) Again, another cool aesthetic, though! Sonic games are so pretty~~~
Part of the music here sounds like "Entry of the Gladiators" and it's so funny.
Act 1 was pretty fun. I like hanging from the vines/levers. Hasn't been too much trouble so far.
DANG, the 5th Emerald minigame is hard! I didn't hit any bombs and felt like I was doing pretty well, and I was like 40 rings away from the goal at the second checkpoint...
Wow, I got two more tries at it in this Act and wasn't even CLOSE to clearing it. Are there even enough rings to win?! I feel like I got MOST of them and was still like 20 away.
Fun little boss, though. I like stuff where things rain at you bullet-hell-ish style and you have to be careful to watch for them and dodge around. Reminds me of Stone Head from Jewel Man stage in Mega Man 9. (I know I compare things to Mega Man a lot, but it's just because I've played those games SO MUCH)
Oil Ocean Zone
How many zones are there O_o?! I was expecting another 6, maybe 8... let's go count how many we've seen so far...
Oh, this is only 7. Maybe there are 8. Anyway, another cool aesthetic (let's be real, they've ALL be cool aesthetics so far).
OK, the number of rings I needed was different than what I thought for the special stage. This time I was only 4 off (it takes 120, not 140 XD) which means I was probably really close last time, too. Boo.
The green shooty things reminds me of Donkey Kong Country's floating barrels. Sonic did it first!!
I was going to say "This one is pretty easy. Is it the Star Light Zone of this game?" and then it got much harder XD
In Act 2, I had 70 rings and then a stupid Octar shot me and I lost them all RIGHT BEFORE a checkpoint >:(
OK, a little note that I learned while fighting the boss of this Zone -- Sonic TAKES A WHILE to crouch. It doesn't happen immediately upon pressing the Down button like in Super Mario. So if a laser is shooting at you, for example, you don't have time to duck unless you were already ducking beforehand pretty much. Which means if you need to jump, you'll end up Super Spin Dashing instead... Better to just jump over the lasers, even the medium-high ones.
OMG, Tails was like annoyingly bouncing around in the oil stuck under a platform, then when I went to bounce on Eggman, Tails jumped that way and hit him instead. Sonic went through him because of the i-frames and hit something as I was jumping out (no idea what) and I died -_-; This boss is like really simple, should NOT have taken me 3 times.
Metropolis Zone
What the heck -- we're still not done yet?! This is the 8th zone! Is it the last one...? In a lot of modern Sonic games the final zone is actually Eggman's metropolis, so maybe this is where the trend started? Are we actually aboard the Death Egg now? I'm confused :)
Again, the aesthetic is cool. The music is kinda eh, though.
Act 1 wasn't too bad. I feel like in the first game, the challenge was just getting through the zones and clearing the game. This game is a bit easier, but the challenge comes from maintaining your ring count and acquiring all the Chaos Emeralds. Interesting change of pace.
Oh yeah, there's this cool thing where you run through these like... spiraled fencing things??? It's really fun, even though there's not much to it lol.
There's also parts where you hop on screws and run to screw them up a bolt. Reminds me a little bit of the screws in Super Mario Bros. 3. Very cute.
Oooh, there's an Act 3! Maybe this is the final zone after all! I'm going to take a break and eat some Doritos lmfao. Can't fight Eggman on an empty stomach! Too bad I didn't have some hot dogs XD
I wonder if Sonic liking hot dogs was a thing introduced by the western cartoon and then adapted into Japanese canon, or if there was a minor character note about him liking hot dogs somewhere in the Japanese media and they adapted that into the western cartoon...? Because I can remember multiple scenes of Sonic scarfing hot dogs in later games (I think in Generations someone even gives him a gift of a hot dog??? Like a hot dog with a bow on it?? I might be misremembering though LOL) and Unleashed had a whole hot-dog-eating sidequest (and man did I try hard to get all the hot dogs in that game, but some of them were impossible, I swear!! XD)
Anyway, I finished my snack. Back to the game. And yes, I washed my hands :P
Well, the boss was kind of annoying to time the jumps, but thankfully I kept grabbing my one ring after being hurt and was able to cheese through it :P
Sky Chase Zone
9th Zone! We're still going! But this time we're on the Tornado in the air?! I'm a little afraid of what this is going to entail...
Uh, OK, that was pretty simple...
Wing Fortress Zone
Where even are we? We're not on the Death Egg, which is an entire planet in outer space. We're on some kind of floating fortress...? What is this??? LOL
Either way, I'm glad we're off the Tornado. That was REALLY awkward to control.
This zone is kind of annoying. I get that it's building up to something big, but it's not particularly fun. The problem I have is it's hard to tell what things will hurt you, what things you can stand on, etc. So sometimes I think I see a platform, jump to it, and then I'm just falling through the background and die, and have to go all the way back to a checkpoint. Then other times it looks like a way forward, but a background object will hurt me. Quite frustrating.
The part where you're holding on to the panels that break off the side of the ship was kinda cool though. But why does the movement of the ship/air current only seem to affect Sonic there?
Oh yeah, Tails got shot down in the Tornado and is gone now lmao. IDK what happened to the poor guy.
Also, the music suddenly sounds like something out of a DOS game. This is a really anticlimactic and annoying part of the game TBH... We went through the metropolis and we're supposed to be infiltrating a ship or something, but it's... this...
OK, the boss of this area was kind of annoying but kind of cool at the same time. You basically HAD to kill it really fast or you couldn't avoid damage. Anyway, Eggy gets away again and goes on a rocket? And Sonic hangs on to it for way too long. I thought the game bugged out because nothing was happening. But then we go into space (how... did Sonic survive this????) and now we're finally... ON THE DEATH EGG!!
Death Egg Zone
You know, I was really enjoying the game up through the Metropolis Zone, and the sky chase and ship infiltration zones REALLY soured the game... let's see if Death Egg can make up for it.
Oh, it just goes straight into boss fights.
IS THIS METAL SONIC? Is this where he's from...? I'm used to him being blue, but this is pretty interesting.
OK, I beat him on the first try. Then Eggman got into some kind of mecha thing and I somehow got myself trapped behind it before it even started moving and then died with nowhere to go lol x_x; Now I gotta fight Metal again.
OK, my next couple of attempts at Metal didn't go so well. I was getting double hits on him easily my first time, but now I seem to be hitting him too late or something XD Then Eggman surprised me by shooting thorns out of the center of the room. Oh well, I took it slower on my fourth try and got him.
OK, next try at Mecha Egg... I tried to bump him when it looked like he could be hit. No go. I just died. Dunno what I'm supposed to do. maybe hit him in the butt? But I feel like his legs will stomp me. I'll just sit and wait next time and see if I can see a better opening.
OK, second time... he shot a rocket arm at me (I guess this is the 3rd time actually?) and killed me. Didn't see it coming, and it was way too fast to react to. This is annoying. I think I saw an opening though.
Can you imagine getting to this with limited lives as a kid?
OK, I found a really fast way to defeat Metal. When he is floating down, you can't be hurt by him, but as soon as he touches the ground, you can. If you stand at his face and jump before he touches the ground, you'll be able to bounce 3 times off his head. Then you dodge the big roll attack. Then you can bounce on his head twice before he starts his dash attack. After that, stand where he's going to end up and charge up your Super Spin Dash. It will hit him 3 more times, defeating him. Lemon squeezy. Now it won't be as tedious getting back to the mecha form.
OK, hitting the belly during the arm attack didn't work. Maybe I have to actually hit the head?! He does lean over a little bit... I don't really see a good opening though.
Walking through the legs doesn't work lol.
Hitting the body during the arm attack worked, but the arm hit me while I was bouncing off. I think you have to time the jump JUST right so the arm goes down first and then you jump?????
Jumping into the body after the first arm returns gives damage, too. You HAVE to attack once the first arm is off...
Spin dashing into the legs doesn't work either.
OHHH you can bump the top of the body even while the arms are there. So you just hop at the body as soon as he bends over. Maybe can even get two hits in?!
Also, Eggman can run as fast as Sonic even when Sonic is moving at max speed. Tails moves as fast as Sonic, too. I thought he was the "fastest thing alive" ???
If you Super Spin Dash on Metal at the first go, you can actually get 4 hits in, then dash away, then you can get 3 hits in if you jump just at the right time before he finishes his first dash. Then you can just Super Spin Dash and defeat him. Speedrun strats! I don't know if this is how the actual speedrun goes, but I'm at least defeating him fairly quickly and having fun figuring out how to do it faster and faster...
Now if I can just score one more hit on Eggy before dying :,)
OK you can score 4 hits on Metal by jumping at the right time before he starts the dash attack.
OK, when Eggy lands after a homing jump thing, he bends over for a second. That's another opportunity to hit. I mistimed a jump and died, but I think I can hit him twice each rocket arm cycle and once each walking cycle. This SHOULD be easy from here on out. I've just been really dumb about it so far hahaha.
OK it took me a couple more tries thanks to mistimed jumps, but I finally beat it. He took like 12 hits or something! It took forever. Waiting through the walking cycle was torture. I had time to take the cap off my water bottle, drink a few swigs, and put it back on before I even had to think about picking up the controller again.
There's probably a way to score 3 hits during the arm-launching cycle but I couldn't figure it out and decided to just take the safe route and finish the game XD
Ending
The outro showed the animals looking up at something bright in the sky. The explosion of the Death Egg perhaps? Wait, is the Death Egg Saga over already? Or does he rebuild it or something? Also, the anime outro created for the Origins collection showed the Death Egg on fire crashing into the island?! Well, it was headed for the island and then the screen blacked out for a few seconds. Did it explode there and they didn't want to animate the explosion or what? XD
Let's read up on the Sonic Wiki and see if it clarifies the ending to this game. We'll also figure out about the 'good ending' as I only got 4 of the Chaos Emeralds this time around.
Ah, OK, that was "Mecha Sonic," not Metal Sonic. Maybe he's a prototype of Metal.
The good ending has Sonic turn into Super Sonic and fly around instead of tails carrying him on the Tornado. Otherwise it's pretty much the exact same thing. I don't know what shows after the credits (on the bad ending, it's Eggy juggling the Emeralds with "TRY AGAIN" again...) but probably just him stomping on END or something again.
Conclusion
And that's Sonic the Hedgehog 2! I have to say, the flight and plane infiltration was a huge let-down, even though I appreciate them trying to build up and show the progression of Sonic getting to the Death Egg... but the final boss fight being fun and requiring lots of tries to figure out made up for that boring segment. Overall, I think I liked the majority of this game better than the first one, but that annoying part near the end was making me think I liked the first one better :P Once you get better at it, it probably goes by really fast though.
Next up is Sonic CD, which takes place after Sonic the Hedgehog but before Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I guess it wasn't immediate that Sonic went from South Island to West Side Island, and some other stuff happened in between, giving Eggman time to build the Death Egg. I'm guessing there's no strict timeline to the events so that we know how much time passed between each game. And I guess the canonical timing of Sonic CD is why it's listed second in the collection despite releasing after Sonic 2.
I don't know much about Sonic CD at all, other than people find it "janky." We'll see!
ETA: Oh yeah, I'm still wondering about the Metropolis. Is there like a civilization and city on the island, or did Eggman really try to build a Metropolis here? If so, how much time passed over the course of the whole game?! Surely he couldn't have built a whole city here in that short time? Unless a huge amount of time passed since Sonic and Eggman landed on the island and Eggman actually started looking for the Emeralds prompting Sonic to go after them...? IDK lol.
