Better than the first one with all its improvements!
Story: 9/10
- The storyline is really nice! 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 leads 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 does not take the blue hero three guesses to figure out who's behind the disruption: Dr. Robotnik, who had discreetly followed Sonic onto West Side Island, is now tearing the place apart in search of the 7 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 Chaos Emeralds before Robotnik and squash his evil ambition once more.
Gameplay: 10/10
- The gameplay has improved very nicely from the first one! 1 improvement that is easily noticing is that Sonic can run faster than the first game. The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 builds upon the basic set-up of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. The player finishes each level, generally moving from left to right; within a time limit of 10 minutes (Sonic dies one second after the timer reaches 9:59, though it does not actually click up to 10:00). 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 1. When the player has collected at least 50 rings, star posts can be run past for an optional Special Stage. At the end of act 2 of each zone, Sonic confronts Dr. Robotnik, although there is an exception in the Metropolis level in which there are 3 acts. In addition, both Sky Chase Zone and Wing Fortress Zone have one act, and Sky Chase Zone does not have a boss.
Graphics: 9/10
- The graphics have gotten a lot better from the first game. Everything looks more detailed!
Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects are in the same league as the first game, but the only sound effects that are different is of course all of Tails moves. The music is so much better than the first one! In fact, I think this game has the music in the series!
Overall, I give this game a 9 1/2 out of 10. When I played the first Sonic the Hedgehog game after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, I was confused as to why Sonic was going so slow compared to the second game. That was very funny indeed. Yeah, this game is better than the first one.