[Mr Lange]

Sonic 2 frustrated the hell out of me, but this is probably because I had the game gear version. Of the main Sonic 8 bit titles, Sonic 2 was certainly the most displaced, and by that I mean its style and relationship is more vague and strange. Sonic 1 did a better job of that. However, Sonic Chaos and Triple Trouble were definitely the best. They completed the palette of aesthetic that was the spirit of the original Sonic games. The graphics, levels, music and gameplay were all wonderful and just as memorable as the main 16 bit games. They could have just as well been 16 bit titles right alongside the rest.

[Thousand Pancake]

Cooljerk, on 24 August 2012 - 06:35 PM, said:

My opinion on Sonic 2 8-bit is that it makes a terrible first impression. I really do believe this makes all the difference in the world. Both Sonic Team and Shigeru Miyamoto have spoken at length about the importance of starting strong, and I believe that Underground Zone is actually the most boring, weakest zone in the game, with Sky High Zone being the next most boring.

Had the game began with Green Hills Zone, I think a lot of the perception about the game would have changed. Past the first two zones, the game is ace IMO, especially on the Sega Master System. It's really not that different from the first game. Those first two zones are just garbage.

I thought it was decent. Maybe not a good Sonic game, but quite okay in it's own right. It played more like a standard platformer that happened to have a Sonic-like spin attack than an actual Sonic game.

[Kampfer]

I decided to play the Master System version again last night because of this thread, and I have to say its much, much better than the Game Gear version on account of the screen size. The first boss wasn't nearly the monster that it was in the Game Gear version (I played them back to back for comparison). I got to the second act of Gimmick Mountain before calling it a night.

One of the things that caught my attention was just how bare some zones were. Underground Zone, beyond the mine carts, didn't have a lot going for it. Yeah, there are some lava pits, but after the first playthrough or two a smart player knows to stay on the upper path, where you run into a token badnik or two. I honestly think, besides the difficult boss, Green Hills would have made a better first zone choice and I second the notion that Underground Zone makes a bad first impression on the game. Even so, Green Hills is another zone that needs more gimmicks (although it is kinda a fun zone to run through, despite some of the bareness). I think Sky High 2, Aqua Lake 1 and 2, and Gimmick Mountain 1 and 2 do a good making the zones interesting on the limited hardware the system has.

[Palas]

I'll have to agree, thinking it over now. It has a bunch of great, fantastic ideas... scattered around as if this could ever work. Sonic Chaos suffers even more from this.

Indeed, it starts slow. Sky High has good ideas (the hang glider and the rain, for instance), but has a bizarre level design. Underground Zone doesn't even exist to me. Each act has, like, 30~50 rings! I also dislike the method for getting the Chaos Emeralds. Poor excuse for a replay factor, even if the bad ending is bad indeed.

[Hybrid Project Alpha]

man
I beat it on Game Gear when I was like 8
It's not that hard

[doc eggfan]

@ all the haters: philistines, the lot of you.

[SpeedStarTMQ]

I really like Sonic Chaos, yeah, it's easier, but it's only as easy as the Mega Drive games, and it looks better and has a lot more going for it.

[Dakt]

My favorite aspect of Sonic 2 8 Bit is the soundtrack - particularly the first 3 levels. Even after 15 years since I first played it, I wondered why these 3 tracks in particular were burned into my brain.

Then it hit me.

It's because my 7 year old self could only get past the first 3 levels, and became frustrated with the Spring-into-instant-death in Green Hills zone. I do agree that it feels like there wasn't enough care put into the game, and there seems to be a lot of lazy pit falls where the game could have added additional content.

[Borogove]

Jimmy Hedgehog, on 25 August 2012 - 06:46 AM, said:

Also GHZ boss's spring/spike locations.

Cooljerk, on 25 August 2012 - 04:41 PM, said:

The much easier way to reach that emerald is to grab the first hang glider in the level and ride it all the way to the end. If you do it correctly, you can catch every piece of wind in the level which will easily push you to the very top of the screen (to the point where your main concern is going too high and thus falling to the ground).

These two sequences define Sonic 2 for me, especially if (when( you died on the fairly easy GHZ boss and had to risk the springs over again. It was an act of sadism. And the game picks up enough in places (the seal boss was a wonderful change of pace, if anything) to make you wonder why they didn't make these bits a bit more forgiving.

This post has been edited by Borogove: 03 September 2012 - 11:43 AM