[Sodaholic]

I've been thinking about this for a bit, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a poorly designed game. Most of the level designs feel pretty short and uninteresting, the other 8-bit games managed to have more interactive level designs. Many of the bosses were really simple and boring designs. For example, the ALZ boss. It does nothing but blows a balloon up for you to pop in its face, and it just stands there doing this the entire time, never attacking you. The SHZ boss just moves back and forth, shooting pseudo-homing projectiles. The GHZ boss moves back and forth quickly. The UGZ boss just sits there taking damage while you dodge the marbles coming down.

Also, the physics suck. I understand that it's less capable than the Genesis, but they could've done better, as this has more to do with tweaks than radical function changes. The acceleration and friction is twice as fast as the 16-bit games, and deceleration is 2.5 times slower. Also, horizontal velocity is not affected by jumping on slopes, and there's friction in midair.

[SpeedStarTMQ]

I was kinda thinking about this recently. I have played them all on my Adventure DX and Gems collection anyway, but I just bought a MS Converter for my Mega Drive I and I bought Sonic the Hedgehog for it ratehr than opting for Sonic 2 because it's just poorly made. Everything's a death trap, it's unforgiving, but it's also ininteresting. Enemies aren't as fun to battle and the whole thing is a chore to play and find your way around, especially in later levels.

[ICEknight]

Agreed. When I was little I was left wondering why Sonic 2 got wrong so many things that Sonic 1 had gotten right, in difficulty balance, boss fights, sound department (the jumping sound in Sonic 1 was almost identical to the Mega Drive sound) and overall prettyness.

Now I see that they probably should have let Ancient handle it rather than Aspect. Loved Sonic Chaos, though.

[The Growler]

This about sums up Sonic 2 for GG.



And this I guess:



I agree that S2 GG was IMO probably one of the worst of the classic, 'main' games - with some pretty dull, frustrating levels.

This post has been edited by The Growler: 24 August 2012 - 11:14 AM

[steveswede]

8-bit Sonic 2 is brilliant, decent challenge, loved the art direction and the tunes (Crystal Egg music sucked in my mind) and the final boss is one of the best boss battles out of all the classic boss battles. The only criticism I have for it is that it's shouldn't be played on the Game Gear as it was designed for the Master System with that resolution in mind.

[Tanks]

Pretty sure there's a hack out there that makes Sonic 2 8-bit a decent game to play. But christ, I have to agree, the vanilla version is playing underground zone 10x over until you develop reflexes ala megaman to keep going.

[TmEE]

I prefer the SMS game over MD game

[Black Squirrel]

It's pretty much impossible on the Game Gear. But you would never play the Game Gear version in this day and age.

Sonic 2 on the Master System is a lovely game. The best music of the 8-bit series, the most iconic, and a nice breath of fresh air from the established norm of GREEN ZONE FIRST. When things go underwater life gets tedious, but such is the case with many early Sonic games. Sonic Chaos offers no real challenge at all.

This post has been edited by Black Squirrel: 24 August 2012 - 12:07 PM

[ashthedragon]

Sonic 2 for master System is my favourite game ever. The zone are beautiful, the music is heaven like, the bosses are original, silver sonic is SO BADASS and the battle against him is the best battle I've ever played in a sonic game, the vehicle gimmick works very well and I love it for it's originality...


I love it very much

[Billy]

To me Sonic 2 8-bit is like if Sonic 2 on the genesis had a baby with an 8-bit Mega Man game. It's challenging and frustrating but not necessarily bad, in my mind. It took me many years to beat Sonic 2 8-bit, and it felt like a huge accomplishment when I did so. I do see what you mean, the game does feel a bit rushed. Hell, it probably was to meet the holiday season; I don't really hold it against it.

I do agree that the other 8-bit games are definitely better, though.

[steveswede]

Black Squirrel, on 24 August 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

Sonic Chaos offers no real challenge at all.

That's what really annoyed me about Sonic Chaos all those years back when I got it. Also the change in art style made it look like it was done on a real cheap budget.

[Metal Man88]

Yeah, some of the 8-bit games really suck. People like to pretend Sonic was perfect back then, but in truth there were only about 4 good games and a TON of bad side games... and some half-decent 8 bit ones, but just as many bad 8 bit ones.

[ashthedragon]

To me..

Sonic 1 8 Bits--> Very Good Game
Sonic 2 8 bits--> Very Good Game
Sonic Chaos---> half good game
Sonic Triple Trouble--> good game

Sonic Labyrinth--->Half good game
Sonic Blast---> Bad game

Sonic drift---> half good game
Sonic Drift racing---> good game
Sonic Spinball---> decent game
Mean Bean Machine--> Decent game

Tails Skypatrol----> bad game
Tails Adventures---> Very good game

[Bostwick]

I still say they should attempt to revive Tails Adventure. The original game isn't perfect, but it's definitely got a hell of a foundation for a Sonic Metroidvania/Tails solo game. I can even see them attempt it in 3D.

[Sodaholic]

Speaking of Tails Adventure, I thought it was awesome, and it'd be pretty neat to see it remade as a MD game. Another thing I forgot to mention about S2 8-bit was the engine felt pretty sloppy. Like if you walked to the edge of the screen, you'd kinda jitter around, and the camera seemed to sync every 2 frames instead of one, so whatever it was trying to center on looked like it was jittering back and forth by one pixel, it was a very annoying effect.

Still, it had great potential, and it's music was kickass. I've been fooling around with a disassembly, trying to make the controls a little better, dunno if it'll get anywhere, though.