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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

From Sonic Retro

Revision as of 10:37, 20 November 2009 by MathUser (talk | contribs) (Also Released On)
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and "Sonic 2" redirect here. For the 8-bit version, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit). For the arcade version, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (arcade game). For the LCD game, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (LCD game).

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Sonic the Hedgehog 2
System(s): Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
ROM size: 1 Megabyte
Genre: 2D Platform

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the second outing of Sonic on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and the first game to feature Miles "Tails" Prower as a playable character (Tails was seen in the 8-bit version of Sonic 2 prior to the 16-bit version). The game has longer levels, more levels, and a faster pace than its predecessor, Sonic the Hedgehog. The game eventually went on to be the best selling game on Mega Drive. The essential plot is that Robotnik is creating a spaceship of doom, the Death Egg. Sonic and Tails must stop this superweapon. This game is thus the start of the Death Egg Saga, which is concluded in Sonic & Knuckles.

Sonic 2 had a worldwide release date, which was uncommon at the time. November 24, 1992, was dubbed Sonic 2sday, and the game was released across all markets. This is referenced in the game by the order in which you need to play the sound effects to activate the debug mode. It was included as a pack-in for the Mega Drive 2.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 builds upon the basic set-up of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. Players move sideways through the levels collecting rings along the way eventually reaching the end level sign. A new move is introduced, the Spin Dash, where Sonic spins in place as if revving up an engine before taking off at high speeds. It was also the first game to feature 3D special stages, in the form of a half-pipe filled with rings and bombs. These stages are accessed from hitting a checkpoint with 50 or more rings. Unfortunately for some, Sonic 2 removed the bonus points available from jumping at the end level sign, which could be done in Sonic 1.

From the options menu, players can select to either play as Sonic alone, Tails alone or Sonic and Tails. If the Sonic and Tails is used Tails can move through the levels on his own, but at any time a second controller can be used to control his movements. If Tails moves off-screen for a long period of time or is killed, he will eventually return. When a second player controls Tails his flying ability is not able to be controlled and he moves exactly like Sonic.

Scoring

Hitting bumpers: 10 points for each of the first ten hits on any given bumper; after that no more points can be gained from that bumper

Hitting enemies: (a chain refers to all enemies destroyed until the next time Sonic lands on some form of ground)

  • First enemy in a chain = 100
  • Second enemy in a chain = 200
  • Third enemy in a chain = 500
  • Fourth through 15th enemies in a chain = 1000 each
  • 16th and all subsequent enemies in a chain = 10,000 each

Destroying a Dr. Eggman boss robot: 1000 points

Ring bonus at end of level: 100 points for each ring held

Perfect Bonus at end of level: The game stores a list of how many rings are present in each level. Each time you get a lone ring, the game subtracts one from this value (debug rings and Super Ring boxes do not affect this counter). If this value is 0 when you pass the endpost, you receive a 50,000 point bonus. As long as you get all the actual rings in the level, you don't need to get any Super Ring boxes to receive this bonus--you can even get hit and still be eligible.

Time bonus at end of level:

  • Game clock reads 0:29 or less = 50,000
  • Game clock reads 0:30 to 0:44 = 10,000
  • Game clock reads 0:45 to 0:59 = 5000
  • Game clock reads 1:00 to 1:29 = 4000
  • Game clock reads 1:30 to 1:59 = 3000
  • Game clock reads 2:00 to 2:59 = 2000
  • Game clock reads 3:00 to 3:59 = 1000
  • Game clock reads 4:00 to 4:59 = 500
  • Game clock reads 5:00 or more = 0

Special scoring in Casino Night Zone:

  • There are certain slots which aren't connected to Slot Machines. If you enter one of these, you don't trigger any machine spins indeed, but instead you get 8x100 points. (At one point in act 2, there are five such slots placed directly above one another, so landing in one triggers the rest in sequence for 4000 points.)
  • There are also green, yellow, and red bumpers in sets of three. Hitting one is worth 10 points and causes the bumper to change color (green -> yellow -> red -> disappear). Destroying the third red bumper in each set of 3 is worth 500 points instead of 10.

Special stage: 100 points for each ring held (Sonic's rings as well as Tails', if applicable, both count in this total. An additional 10,000-point bonus is awarded by getting enough rings for the Emerald.

Two Player Mode

In two player versus mode, players compete against each other 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 which have different music from their one player counterparts. 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 or lose a life.

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

Cultural References

Numerous cultural references can be found that have become a staple of the series. The Death Egg is a nod to Star Wars' Death Star. The newly added seventh Chaos Emerald is an analog to the search done in the Chinese fable The Golden Warrior (or Saiyuki), as illustrated by the seven dragonballs in the Dragon Ball series. In it, the hero Son Gokuu (aka The Monkey King) fights hordes of diabolical villains, generally in order to protect the universe by keeping their hands far away from the seven dragonballs; when they are all kept in the same place at the same time, and after a brief summoning, a giant Dragon-like creature (known as Sheng Long) grants the summoner a wish, whichever this might be. The hero and other few characters are saiyajin, an alien warrior race that, in certain situations, can explode in a burst of energy, transforming into the legendary Super Saiyajins. Super Sonic is also like a Super Saiyajin both in the graphical design and concept.

Sonic 2 Manuals

Also Released On

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Hayao Nakayama
Producer: Shinobu Toyoda
Directors: Hirokazu Yasuhara, Masaharu Yoshii
Chief Programmer/Project Manager: Yuji Naka
Game Planner/Project: Hirokazu Yasuhara
Programmer: Mark Cerny
Character Design: Judy Totoya
Chief Artist: Judy Totoya
Assistant Programmer: Masanobu Yamamoto, Bill Willis
Object Placement: Hirokazu Yasuhara, Yutaka Sugano, Takahiro Anto
Special Stage Object Placement: Yutaka Sugano
Zone Artist: Reiko Kodama, Craig Stitt, Brenda Ross, Jina Ishiwatari, Tom Payne, Judy Totoya
Special Stage Art and CG: Tim Skelly, Peter Morawiec
Composer: Masato Nakamura
Sound Programmer: Tomoyuki Shimada
Sound Assistant: Hiroshi Kubota, Yukifumi Makino, "Milpo", Izuho Takeuchi, "S.O", "OYZ", Naofumi Hataya
Development Support: Mark Cerny, Al Nilsen
Project Assistant: Takahiro Hamano, Syuichi Katagi, Yoshiki Ooka, Steve Woita
Game Manual: Carol Ann Hanshaw, Youichi Takahashi
Executive Supporters: Tom Kalinske, Fujio Minegishi, Daizaburou Sakurai, Hisashi Suzuki, Takaharu Utsunomiya
Special Thanks To: Kunitake Aoki, Tsuneko Aoki, Cindy Claveran, Masaaki Kawamura, Broderick Macaraeg, Deborah McCracken, Locky P, Daisuke Saito, France Tantiado, Tatsuo Yamada, Jinya Ito, "Papa"

Miscellaneous

GoodGen Versions

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Beta) - Beta version of Sonic 2.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (W) [!] - Revision 01 of Sonic 2.
  • Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (W) (REV SC02) - Probable revision 02 of Sonic 2, extracted from Sonic Compilation.

Note: A fourth version, Sonic 2 Rev. 00, was recently dumped by Rika Chou, though it has not been recognized in the GoodGen library yet.

Sound Test

Here is a list of the music featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, as it is located in the sound test, which can be accessed by going to the options screen or by entering the zone select code (Genesis Version).

Resources

Sonic 2-Specific Hacking Utilities

(For more standard tools such as ESE II and SonED, see Sonic Hacking Utilities.)

Hacking Guides

Original Sound Version Recordings

See Sonic the Hedgehog 2 OSV for a download page.

Box Art

Artwork

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See Also

Template:Sonic2Levels

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems
Sega Mega Drive

Sega Mega-CD
Sega 32X
 1991  Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Eraser     1992  Sonic the Hedgehog 2     1993  Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic Spinball     1994  Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic & Knuckles     1995  Chaotix | Sonic Classics     1996  Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island