I remember spending countless hours playing 2P in Sonic 2 with my brother and other friends. Often so much that I would become used to seeing a ovoid jumping Sonic and Tails and when going back to the main game seeing everything as obscenely large in comparison. Emerald Hill, Mystic Cave (my brother's worst nightmare), and Casino Night were a great balance between one another, despite having identical layouts to the 1P version of the zones. I think if they included one more, Metropolis would have made an exciting candidate. Sure there were only 3 zones and Special Stages...but as minimal as they were, I've always felt they were more wholesome compared to those in Sonic 3. Sure, Sonic 3 had exclusive levels and power-ups, but I didn't appreciate the whole "lap" method. For me it was a great disappointment despite the wonderful music and strange power-ups/items. One thing in particular, you can't glide as Knuckles, you only have Sonic's (invisible but audible) insta-shield. I can probably count using my two hands how many times I've actually played through Sonic 3's 2P mode...I found it that boring and frustrating. Most of the time I would play it by myself, just I could listen to the music when I was younger. I was only amused by how graphically different the levels were in comparison to the actual zones in the game. Sure, they had their one gimmick each, but each area felt rather bland, leaving the whole thing feel tacked on as an afterthought. Although partially touched within other topics, I feel we've yet to have an in-depth discussion regarding these differences. What are your thoughts?
While I liked the 2P mode in Sonic 2, I REALLY liked the different zones in Sonic 3. They were supposed to be different due to the whole racing aspect, and I believe they did it well. I do love the Sonic 3 2P music. Those tracks seem to stick out in my mind for some reason, even moreso than some of the main zone tracks. as well It was nice in Sonic 2 to do two player, and those transport boxes made it a blast to try and trip up your opponents. I did like running through zones you had already played, so you knew the best routes when racing. It is kind of hard to pick one I like better, as they both have their pros and cons, but for me I have to go with Sonic 3 due to making it a very unique Sonic experience.
Oh Sonic 2 absolutely, the levels are real and they are so many options for how to win. Sonic 3's 2 players are unique, but they're kind of lazy.
Sure the Sonic 3 Competition levels did have some cool music and looks, but as a game, the Vs. mode in Sonic 2 was a much better experience to me. Had they made full levels out of those with their enemies, rings, item boxes and end signpost, some of them might have become instant favorites of mine (mainly Chrome Gadget).
The Sonic 3 multiplayer stages would've been better if the stages actually had full layouts rather than being simple loops. That, and for some reason, the player physics were highly gimped.
I haven't played either in a while, but I recall something feeling kind of off about 3's physics in the 2P mode. I'm not sure how I feel about the circuit-style stages, either. They're short but I like how they change between every lap. 2's were a true 2-Player version of the actual levels in the game, though, more like SA2's 2-Player mode. Shame Chemical Plant and the other stages didn't make the cut, probably due to hardware limitations. I really wish we could get a full-blown mainstream Sonic racing game someday using the Unleashed gameplay. Boost naysayers begone, Sonic was always a racing game to me.
Sonic 2s by a LONG way. All Sonic 3s Competition mode does is make you long for full length zones to be made out of the pretty, but sparse and featureless levels. The great music doesn't help on that score either. It's like Sonic Team saying "look folks, look what might have been". INTERESTING FACT: The Sonic 1/2 spinning sprites are used in S3 competition.
I'm fond of the Sonic 3 2P levels, primarily because their design is based around a completely different concept from the levels. The main levels in Sonic 3 do not respond well to time attacking due to how long they are, and due to those bosses at the end of each level. However, the 2P levels are well-geared to time-attacking as they are shorter, simpler, and the jumping-in-loops mechanic works better there. I suspect this is a major reason why only those levels actually have a time-attack mode.
I think I might have preferred Sonic 3's more if the physics were fixed. IIRC they have the exact same values as their single player counterparts, despite being half the size, and it's just... weird. Sonic 2, however, is pretty much the perfect example of what you'd expect from a Sonic 2-player experience. It's just sad that there's only a few levels. I know there were issues in the Simon Wai beta when it came to levels with water, but Oil Ocean and Metropolis don't strike me as insanely difficult levels to convert.
There's a lot to love from Sonic 3's 2P mode. As mentioned, good music, new, loveable zones (which deserve a port dammit), and, back then, the only way to play as knuckles. It had some major flaws though. The levels were too short and the physics blew chunks. Now I do understand that that the levels were short to fit into what I find to be a very enjoyable mechanic. I still feel as if they could have been, if anything, a bit longer, just to make it not feel like, say, a race in Mario Kart. I have to side with Sonic 2 on this one simply because it felt like you could take on your friends and be like "I know the full game better than you!" It really was a prideful 2P mode, and I shoved into everyone's face that I beat.
Sonic2's 2P is an actual version of the full-size game; Sonic 3's is some sort of unusual purpose-built racetrack mode. I'd go with Sonic 2's but that's just my opinion.
I never really liked the Sonic 3 2 player levels. They never really felt fun to me, just repetitive. I could play Sonic 2's 2P mode for hours on end with my brother. In fact, I still can. I still find it fun.
Sonic 2 for sure. Teleport only, jumping in front of the other player in special stage, getting the most points in Casino Night Zone, trapping the other player in Mystic Cave Zone, what a classic. Sonic 3 is kinda meh, though those stages have great music.
Sonic 2 no doubt, while 3 has it's snazzy music 2 is just more fun overall. That and if you play the arcade version in an emulator it runs both players in full screen, so if you have two monitors then it is no longer split screen but lovely full size proper dimentioned lovelyness~
Wat? I was not aware of this. As for the topic, the levels in S3 seem far too short to provide anything besides a passing novelty. S2 definitely seems to offer much more potential, but I never gave it a proper try. Wasn't there an online tournament of that recently? I ought to try something like that. if it turns out that none of my friends know/like the game enough.
I'm pretty sure it didn't, it's more likely just a bug in MAME when it came to running it, freaked me out the first time as it loaded up in the middle with both screens going off the top and bottom.
There are emulators that allow playing that stuff at pixel aspect; Xe is one of them, which has the benefit of being cross-platform and multiple-machine. I just wish Sonic 3's 2P stages were maybe twice as long. Running through one of them in 18 seconds is quite likely and easy to do.
