Follow up one of the biggest platformers of the 90s with something bigger.
The plot of the game follows similarly to that of the first game. Sonic is once again trying to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik from turning the woodland animals into animals and obtaining the seven chaos emeralds and taking over the world. However, this time he is not alone, for he is accompanied by Miles "Tails" Prower, a young fox that looks up to Sonic like an older brother and becomes his sidekick.
If you have ever played the first game, you'll be instantly getting into familiar territory. The game is presented as a 2D platformer with an emphasis on speed. In fact, the game has a bigger emphasis on speed than the first game. Your goal for each level is to simply reach the goal ring. At the end of the second act of each stage you must face Dr. Robotnik. Unfortunately, like the first game, these battles are incredibly easy. The controls are still incredibly simple and remain spot on throughout the game. The game even introduces a new move for Sonic, the super sonic spin dash, which can allow him to rev up in place to gain more speed. Tails, being Sonic's sidekick, follows you around (unless you select the option to just play as Sonic) and can be used to help destroy enemies, collect rings, or just simply soak up damage. Plugging in a second controller will actually allow you to control Tails and keep his AI invulnerability. Another new addition is the inclusion of a multiplayer race mode, where one can play as I either Sonic or Tails and simply have a race. It's a nice little touch in the end.
Returning from the first game are special stages, but these are a lot different from the first game. You still collect 50 rings, but instead of holding on to them until you get to the goal you simply hold on to them until you reach a check point and you jump into a spinning portal. The special stages go into a 3D perspective in which you need to maneuver a long and colorful tube and collect a certain amount of rings to obtain one of the seven emeralds. However you will also need to dodge bombs which can cause you to lose rings. These special stages can get to be a bit frustrating, especially if you have Tails since he can easily wonder off into a trail of bombs, and the controls feel a bit slippery here. So unless you know the layouts for each special stage you are going to find some trouble with these.
Collecting all of the emeralds will unlock Super Sonic (think of Dragon Ball Z's Super Saiyans). Not only can it unlock the good ending, but you can use him in regular levels (collect 50 rings and jump). Super Sonic is invincible (even though he can still get crushed and fall into pits) and can run faster. He is a lot of fun to use in the game and it's another reason to back once you completed it. Just be sure to keep collecting rings or you'll lose your super form.
The graphics are much more colorful than the first game and it is simply great to look at. The levels are bright and colorful and are very well designed and allow a much bigger emphasis on speed. The character models look top notch as well. The music in this game is also incredible. The sound quality is improved from the first game and it is just as catchy and memorable.
To sum things up:
PROS:
-Brighter, more colorful graphics
-Fantastic music
-Good control
-Great level design
-A great sense of speed
-Multiplayer is a nice little feature
-Super Sonic is fun to use
-Using Tails in single player
CONS:
-Easy boss fights
-The special stages
So it's obvious why Sonic 2 is such a great success. This is a great game that is easy to pick up and can be recommended to almost anybody, even to people that aren't that big of fans of Sonic. I highly recommend this game, whether it be the original cartridge, Wii Virtual Console , XBLA, or from a compilation disk.