If he plays exactly like Sonic (and possibly slower?), why play as him? There is the cool effect of having Sonic fly the bi-plane instead of tails, but that's it. And you might as well not collect the rings if you can't achieve Super status.
Some people just like playing as Tails. They may like the character more even if he can't fly. Might as well ask why play as Luigi instead of Mario or why play as anyone in any Mario Party game besides Mario. Simple. The option's there and they feel like it.
Actually, there are a few differences between the two in Sonic 2. For instance, in the CPZ boss, if you're Sonic and you duck during Robotnik's ball of blue death attack, you won't be harmed. If you're playing as Tails and you try the same tactic, it harms you like it normally would. Tails also has a smaller hit box. Play ARZ's boss with both characters; Sonic will get hit in the head by the second lowest arrow, while it simply goes over Tails. Off to PA I go :D
If I remember correctly Mario Bros 2 (aka Doki Doki Panic sprite hack) had already been released at the time and featured all 4 characters sporting unique advantages (Luigi could basically flutter jump). You'd think Sega would have caught on and given Tails flight, especially considering he flies everytime he respawns in 2p mode. This is a null point considering Sonic3 but it makes me wonder what their thought process was
Perhaps the same laziness, er I mean time constraints, that made them cut out (the good?) half of Sonic 2.
Nah, I meant that sometimes—and IMHO—it seems as though the best parts of the game never made it out of, or even into, the early beta stage. HPZ and the associated Super transformation and cinematics would have been great; Dust Hill and Wood Zone had potential, and in any case might have been better than some of the somewhat boring, not to mention unpalatably coloured, levels in the final; and so on. When you weigh up how much was scrapped against how much made it in, it might have been a totally different game had the development taken a different path. Would it have been better? I don't know, really. But it's almost certainly my least favourite of the original trilogy (quadrilogy), in terms of gameplay and often visual design. Take this all with a giant helping of Binky's Facts and Opinions, of course. Ironically, Sonic 2 Retro Remix is probably my favourite hack of all evar. What can y'do?
I say why not? Shouldn't someone be allowed to just...look different but play the same game? I'm sure there is already a Tails flight hack lying about so just play that if you want something different about him :P
Did anyone ever make a Sonic 2 hack that gives Tails his flying ability? You would think that would be an obvious hack to make.
Why play as Tails in Sonic 2? Well it's always fun to change it up! I mean I always like playing as Sonic but taking a brake from the main character is always good once in awhile, sure he isn't as fast as Sonic but it's still always fun for a change of pace. As for Tails not able to fly under player control, either the programmers forgot to put it in or most likely they didn't put it in because Tails flying would break the first few levels in easy, well Emerald Hill especially but maybe I'm wrong here, but that's the only reason I can think of.
Yeah it's a great hack, kind of broken in that you can fly for unlimited amount of time but still fun. I just wondered why people would play as him if he can't fly
Because someone just happened to wonder why playing as Tails is even worth it in Sonic 2 when he can't do anything really different? If this was about Sonic 3 and Knuckles it'd be dumb, because he can actually fly there and get to places whereas in Sonic 2, he can't. He really is just like Sonic: run, jump, and spin dash. Like others have said though, people probably just like the character and will play as him regardless of the fact that it's just a sprite swap. Hell, I have a friend who always plays as Tails because he likes foxes (no, not in that way you perv).