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The StarSoldier
GAME OF THE MONTH COLLECTION! SONIC The HEDGEHOG 2 |
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| Artist
touch: The art here is nothing special but shows off Sonic's new ability
to hang glide. Cover art rating: 7/10 |
Month
it won: July 2006
(Sega, November 24, 1992) |
Special note: Bet
ya didn't know there was a Sonic 2 for the Master System, eh?!
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| Introduction and Story: |
| If
anybody knows their video games they have to know something about that
speedy rodent out there with the bad attitude and spiky blue hair. The
original Sega Genesis
classic Sonic the Hedgehog
has already won the a previous Game
of the Month award and even though it was released way
back in 1991 it still holds up well today. It's 2006 now and if you did
the math your right; the popular Hedgehog franchise is now 15 years old!
OK, some of the other games of the series have really sucked (Shadow
the Hedgehog anyone?) but who could forget when this little blue guy
here had the once unstoppable Nintendo going double digits in their
pants and one of the biggest games in the series was definitely Sonic
2.
Yes! Sonic 2 did arrive on the old Sega Master System as well..........
in Europe! Although this Master System game was only released in Europe, Sonic 2 like a lot of exclusive SMS titles like Bubble Bobble, Sagaia, Mortal Kombat 3 and many more are region free. That means you can import this one no problem and it will still play on a North American unit. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is just one of hundreds of great Europe-only games you can still play on that old Sega machine here. Here's the story now. Sonic's arch nemesis; the evil Dr. Robotnik is up to his old tricks again and the egg shaped doctor is capturing more innocent animals and turning them into vicious machines that do his bidding and that includes your sidekick buddy Tails the Fox. The super quick Sonic the Hedgehog is ready to stop the demented scientist all over again in this new adventure. |
| Controls and Game Play: |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 plays a lot like the first Sonic game, you can
still survive almost anything has long as you have at least one magic
Ring in your collection but you lose them once you get hit. Sadly you
can't do the Spin Dash like in the Genesis version of Sonic 2 but
you can use some of the game's different objects like mind carts and hang
gliders to help through some tough parts of the game. Believe me, there
are a lot spikes and well placed enemies here so this is a much harder
then the last Sonic. Don't expect to breeze through this game in other
words. This game plays just almost like the Game Gear game but now the action is more zoomed out so you can see more of the screen. This is a lot better for doing less risky jumps since you got a better view of the area. Also that title was still a solid and lightning quick platform game and some gamers may actually prefer the feel of the controller compared to the set on the GG. |
| Graphics and Sounds: | |
 Although the game is fun, there are still a few glitches. Yup, Sonic is in midair here. |
Other than the new effects, this game looks very familiar to the
first Master System Sonic. Sonic himself looks exactly the same other
than a few new animations. Sonic 2 does feature some great looking stages
like the Sky High Zone (insert drug joke here) which has tons of clouds
plus who could forget the colourful return of the Green Hill Zones, uh? The sounds in Sonic 2 are good enough but I can't help feel a little disappointed. Why? All the sound effects lifted from the original Sonic game and the last Master game didn't even sound all that great to begin with either. A lot of the music is pretty high energy stuff so at least it fits the game. |
| The Bottomline: | |
| Even though it's not quite as polished as the Sega Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 here, this edition is still a lot of fun for action freaks and this game isn't a complete remake either since there are new stages like lava filled mine shaft worlds and the detail scrambled egg zones. Some players may not like how hard the game is and lack of a Save feature is also pretty annoying but it's still amazing how Sega was able to do a advance game like that on a mere 8-bit machine. If you have the Master System around the house and you are looking for a good platform game why not get this intense title for it? Despite some minor problems Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is still an outstanding action game that any one can pick up and play. |
 This game looks pretty good...... I wish I could play it right now. |