It's Sonic 2's 16th birthday!

Wow, two anniversaries in two days, with Doctor Who being 45 years old yesterday.

I'll probably play through the game tonight, or see if I can find anyone online on the 360 version so I can get that last achievement by winning some versus matches. :p

 

No, I don't remember the debug code.

I don't even remember the level select code ;_;

Guess that means my only option left is to go play the entire game straight through, right now. Maybe whip out the 'ol Wai Beta for some additional nostalgia (I did join this place in November, after all).

Happy Anniversary, blast processing!

 

1992-11-24 XD, I love that code. Sonic 2 was not only a game to me, it was my first game. My dad gave me his old genesis one day, and the first game that caught my eye was sonic 2. I plugged it in and started playing, and I loved it. I remember that my favourite level was Metropolis Zone, and it still is, namely for the music.

 

FUCK

Are you serious. Are you serious

 

Woah, and 16 years ago I had just learnt to walk. So excuse me if I didn't play it first thing.

Also, today is suppose to be the official release for Sonic Unleashed, of course wal mart ruined that by releasing it early. But all the same, a reference to the classics from Sonic Team no doubt.

 

I can remember myself playing Chemical Plant Zone on the MegaDrive. Good times.
I was just playing S2 right now until I got fed up of Mystic Cave Zone for some reason (no, I didn't go into the pit of doom). No wonder they call this one of the best Sonic games ever made.

 

...ooh I'll play as Tails with no spindash. I kinda like playing as Tails because to all intents and purposes there's no benefit at all to collecting the emeralds as him.

 

I'm playing Sonic 2 normally at the moment, since that's how I love to play: MY way. Well, by "normally", I mean "without any special challenges". I tend to play without Tails if I WANT to get the Chaos Emeralds, because sadly, he ALWAYS ruins my chances when I get around the 4th Chaos Emerald...

I'm also assuming I can post my little embarassing screw-ups I've done in Sonic 2, so I'll post some:

-I almost ALWAYS hit the monkey near the first (?) Lamppost in Emerald Hill Zone Act 1. (It's the lamppost near the triangular formation of Rings, up on a floating platform.) The spring almost ALWAYS launches me into it, and I always see it coming... And this is usually where I lose my Rings, because I tend to hit ANOTHER monkey earlier in the level...
-In the past, I could never get past the point of Chemical Plant Zone Act 2 where the water level first rises. I'd ALWAYS miss my jumps around the blocks, and thus, I'd fall to the bottom and die...
-I'd always have a problem with the final boss, because I could never figure out how to time my jumps right so I hit the boss, but not its spikes. And now I know how to safely do it. Geez...
-Getting a LITTLE too greedy for Rings in Casino Night Zone...
-I think I got crushed by one of the green caps on the wind tubes in Oil Ocean Zone once.

You know, I think I once got Tails trapped in a wall in Emerald Hill Zone once... Anyone else have any embarassing or silly moments to share?

 

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was actually my first real video game. At the tender age of 5, the daycare I was at had a Sega Genesis with Sonic 2 running. Instantly enamored, I somehow maneuvered my way through Emerald Hill Zone Act 2 and promptly got murdered by Robotnik (yes). Those 5 minutes changed my life.

The following Christmas I was the owner of my very own Sega Genesis with a copy of Sonic 2 and Jurassic Park, which came with the console. Sometime later on, I got a Game Gear for my birthday. With Sonic 2, no less. And boy do I feel shitty for all the batteries my parents must have bought for that thing

Years and years later I discovered Simon Wai's Sonic 2 Beta page and just about shit bricks all over creation. Pelord was running the site at that point, so I fired him off a very humorous email (mistakenly thinking he was Simon) explaining that I very much wanted to play Hidden Palace Zone and wondered if he could help guide me to where I would be able to find a copy of this Sonic 2 Beta.

Eventually I worked out what emulators and roms were. Until that happened, I ran around the net visiting practically every single Sonic site that mentioned anything about prototypes and wild theories.


Anyway, that's my story. I played through Sonic 2 as a kid more times than any other games in my lifetime combined.

 

This game represents a huge part of my childhood. When I was 6 or 7—I don't remember how old—I used to go to one of my mom's best friends' house, where she always had a Genesis and a copy of Sonic 2. I was never very good at the game, but I became engrossed in it—I would play Emerald Hill Zone again and again, because I could never make it past the Chemical Plant boss (it kept killing me ). Still, despite only being able to play the first two levels of the game, I absolutely loved it! The music was fantastic, the levels were rich and colorful, and the game was extremely fun to play. I would always hate having to leave, because we didn't have our own Genesis at home—just a NES with a bunch of Mario games, which required shoving a tape over the top of the cart to work. Joy.

Later on, I would start going to a local dentists' office (which still remains to this day... I should go visit it) which had a huge multi-game Genesis cabinet. I was overjoyed! I would continue to play the game obsessively there whenever I had the opportunity. I would also play Cool Spot (which was fun), and play a Sonic game which to this day I believe to be a prototype of Sonic 3 or something. I was never quite able to match up the distinct level I played... but that's another story.

And then, one day, something happened—I actually beat the Chemical Plant boss! This was a huge accomplishment for me, and I took my first step into Aquatic Ruin Zone. I thought the level was absolutely fantastic, and I marveled at how awesome the water sections looked. What was even more enchanting was how, finally, there were air bubbles like in Sonic 1! Unfortunately, I was too caught up in my admiration of the level, and I drowned. And then I got a game over. Mother fuck.

As time went on, I would later go on to play Sonic 3D Blast at a friend's house. I also played Sonic 1, thinking that if you beat the game with all of the Chaos Emeralds, you'd be able to unlock Tails. Needless to say, it didn't work. But I did have my first experience with debug mode! The kid and his father found it out totally by mistake. God knows that was weird as hell at the time.

When I moved to New York in 2000, I no longer had the ability to go to friends' houses and play the game, which made me sad. Thankfully, I met up with a friend who not only had a Genesis (and the short-lived Genesis 3 unit), but a copy of Sonic 3! He showed me Super Sonic, and I was amazed at how absolutely badass the form was. This would become relevant as my mother bought me a Genesis and Sonic 2 from a Garage sale (model 1 :D). The game case had a small note in it full of cheats—something I had never known about before! One thing that caught my eye was a code that allowed you to use Super Sonic. I almost didn't believe it—I thought it was a sick joke—but when I finally put all the codes in, I realized you could use Super Sonic in Sonic 2! That was a serious victory day for me, because I didn't have a copy of Sonic 3 yet. A whole new level of playability opened to me, as I was able to not only play the other levels in the game I could never get to before, but I could do it with Super Sonic! Awesome.

A couple of years later, serious personal issues would go down and I would eventually discover a website called Sonic United. This particular website had a plethora of info on Sonic games, which was awesome, but what it also had was a section on "Sonic secrets." I was absolutely flabbergasted at how many things I did not know about Sonic 2, and all of this information eventually led me to this very community. I would continue to pursue my Sonic-related aspirations, leading me to where I am today. In great part, this game is responsible for that. As a result, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

My plans for today are to do a standard run from start to finish. I plan on doing so whilst being on Skype, so if anyone wants to join me, let me know! It should be fun.

 

Shit, sonic 2 came out like 4 days after I was born.
Also tweaker I too will be doing the same on my nomad later, hopefully on skype.

 

That reminds me, my first big "hurdle" in Sonic 2 was Casino Night's boss. It was AGES before I finally beat that fucker.

And then of course, I'll never forget when I saw these two kids at that daycare turn Sonic into a fucking ring. And start moving around and pasting rings all over Death Egg Zone.

 

Holy Shit good point. That will make it feel a little different to play the game, I'ma play all the way through it on the PSP as tails. 2 different ways =)
Hahaha, Sonic 2, pretty much my favorite ever game.

 

Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, Sonic 2, what else?

Well, as far as I can remember, Sonic 2 was the first game I ever played. Seeing how I play them regularly now, including Sonic 2, it obviously changed my life for the better.

 

Man oh man I must have been like 2 or 3 when I first played this game, though.

I would usually play 2P games because I felt EHZ looked better with the split-screen applied and because I didn't like getting hit in 1P mode and would freak out when that happened. Little wonder that Genesis has a reset button that doesn't work at all.


Man, that Wing Fortress Zone boss is hell if you don't have Super Sonic...

 

If you need to know I'm the one who has been idle in irc all day with the username Happy_Bday_Sonic2 :P

So many people say that, but he in fact gives you an advantage despite running into bombs all the time.

Tails (unless controlled by player 2) will always be behind you unless you hit a bomb and tails jumps but that is extremely rare, tails will only drop rings he grabs so even if he has only 1 ring, it's 1 more then you would have playing sonic alone. and finally he doesn't interrupt sonic at all in a bonus stage and just follows you.

So it's basicly impossible for tails to make you worse unless you glitch him to the front, which happens in such a low chance it doesn't matter.

Sorry, just need to vent a bit.

 

Sonic 2, ah the memories. I remember comming out of Hospital after having my appendix removed and buying it from a resale shop for £18... back in 1997. The first copy I actually owned, before that I would always borrowed it from my mate. Good times.

I'm amazed that even today people find so much enjoyment out of this game. Far be it from me to say why, but it is pretty obvious I suppose. Long live Sonic 2 and here's hoping it's legacy doesn't get tarnished as well, like the original has so many times before.
(Looks at Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA and Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3/360)