Are you up 2 it in 8-bit?!
"Sonic's back for another 2 fast, 2 cool adventure!"
— Back of the Game Gear boxart.
The second Sonic the Hedgehog game released for the Sega Master System and Game Gear, this version was actually the first to be released and thus technically Tails' official debut, although the 16-bit version is his formal introduction. It was anonymously developed by a game company called Aspect.
Bored after defeating Dr. Eggman (a.k.a. Dr. Ivo Robotnik) a little while back, Sonic leaves South Island in search of adventure. When he returns, he finds all of his animal friends are missing from the island. Puzzled, he returns to his "digs" to find a letter from his pal Tails, which states that Eggman is behind the kidnappings, and he's holding Tails hostage at a place called the Crystal Egg. Once again riled up, Sonic sets off to free his buddy, who requires the six Chaos Emeralds to reach.
This version of Sonic 2 builds on its predecessor with somewhat faster gameplay, even including loops in two Zones. Some of the gimmicks are unique from its 16-bit counterpart, such as rail carts and hang gliders. Notable omissions in the 8-bit version include the Spin Dash and relegating Tails to a helpless rescuee. It's also the only SMS/GG Sonic game to not include Special Stages.
Other oddities include the pre-level illustrations of Sonic and Tails, battling advanced Badniks (Master Robots) at the end of each level instead of Robotnik (which will recur in S3&K and become a regular feature from then on), and the strict difficulty.
Like its predecessor, the Emeralds are hidden in the second act of each Zone — apart from the sixth: it's the reward for trashing Silver Sonic (your robotic doppelgänger) after collecting the first five. Getting all of them grants access to the oddly-serene Crystal Egg and the True Final Boss, Robotnik himself.
Preceded by the 8-bit Sonic the Hedgehog and followed by Sonic Chaos.
This game provides examples of:
- Antlion Monster: The first Master Robot is a robotic antlion. To defeat it, Sonic must dodge the cannonballs that Eggman throws at him so that they will hit the robotic antlion. Eventually, Eggman flies down at Sonic and Sonic must dodge him as well so Eggman will inadvertently deliver the final hit. This boss is harder in the Game Gear version due to the reduced amount of space on the screen, as well as the randomization of the bouncing trajectories of the cannonballs.
- A Winner Is You: Subverted. Regardless of which ending you get, the game still slaps you in the face with the Game Over screen, complete with its losing jingle. Not exactly a great reward for beating the game.
- Ball-Balancing Seal: Balance Master, a Mecha Sea Lion and one of the bosses of the game, takes it further than most by using its own inflatable nose as the ball, which it then uses as an explosive weapon by bouncing it in the direction of Sonic.
- Big Storm Episode: Act 2 of Sky High Zone takes place during a rainstorm.
- Boss-Only Level: Act 3 of every Zone is shorter/more straightforward than the other two Acts and has no enemiesnote , only some platforming, and then the Master Robot boss. There are also no rings in Act 3.
- Bright Is Not Good: Crystal Egg Zone, the true final Zone of the game, is oddly bright colored and cheerful, with happy music. It is also the inner sanctum of Eggman, and while the zone is fairly easy, the boss isn't, and Act 3, which has said boss, is a lot darker and differently designed than the rest of the Zone.
- Bull Fight Boss: The Master Robot of Gimmick Mountain Zone is a spiked robot boar that charges at Sonic. He can only be damaged after he charges into the wall and his spikes retract. You can roll into him to stun him early, but the short stun window and falling rocks make it much riskier to get a hit in.
- Checkpoint Starvation: There are no checkpoints in this game, unlike the first 8-bit game and the 16-bit version, which is a big problem with several acts like Aqua Lake Zone Act 2 (a long act that's entirely underwater), Green Hills Zone Act 3 (which involves several blind jumps as you bounce over low-down spike pits using high-up springs at the top of various cliffs to get to a boss fight), and Scrambled Egg Zone Acts 1 & 2 (two decently-sized levels with spike-pipe puzzles that can be fatal toward the end).
- Climax Boss: Silver Sonic is the Master Robot of the second-to-last zone, and serves as the Final Boss if you haven't collected all the Chaos Emeralds.
- Collapsing Ceiling Boss: The Master Robot of Gimmick Mountain Zone is a spiked robot boar who causes boulders to rain down when he hits the wall.
- Covers Always Lie:
- The Master System and Western Game Gear box art depict Sonic and Tails adventuring together. In truth, Tails is kidnapped in the opening scene of this version, and only appears at the end of the final stage if you have all of the Chaos Emeralds. This even extends to the zone intro screens that show Sonic and Tails traveling together, even though Tails is supposed to have been kidnapped.
- Tails is also depicted as running with a Wheel o' Feet effect, but in reality he can't usually keep up with Sonic, at best running at a normal speed. Instead, he is able to surpass his natural running speed by using his tails for thrust and not running at all, simply gliding along the ground with his tails providing all the momentum.
- Darker and Edgier: Unlike Sonic 1, where Sonic is simply saving the island and its inhabitants from Eggman, here he's in a presumed life-or-death rescue mission of his friend. Also, many zones have a bleaker or more intimidating tone in both their environment and music theme than the previous game - there's nothing as persistently chipper here as the first three zones of 8-bit Sonic 1 were.
- Downer Ending: If you didn't get all the Chaos Emeralds, Tails is missing in the ending. Even worse, Sonic is shown looking up to the sky, in which Tails' image is visible, leading many to interpret it as the young fox having been killed by Eggman. Granted, this interpretation is contradicted by the good ending, which shows both Sonic and Tails' images in the sky. Even then, all you get is the Game Over screen regardless of the ending.
- Dramatic Disappearing Display: In the Game Gear version, the time/ring count disappear when you fight a boss. Not that you get any rings anyway.
- Dub Name Change: Eggman's name is changed to Robotnik in the western release, as always. Like the 16-bit version and the Death Egg, Scrambled Egg Zone and Crystal Egg Zone remain unchanged.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- This is just about the only classic Sonic game ever with no bonus stages. It also doesn't have any checkpoints, shield monitors, or Speed Shoes. Since this came before the Genesis version, there is no Spin Dash either.
- Gimmick Mountain Zone Act 1 stands out as the only level in Sonic historynote where the player travels left to reach the exit.
- Green Hills Zone is the fourth zone, not the first.
- Easter Egg: There is a 1-up hidden at the left side of Sky High Zone Act 1, in front of some trees. When Sonic pushes on the monitor from the left side as if trying to move it, groups of yellow ducklings will continue to spawn at intervals and head to the right. If the monitor is destroyed, they no longer appear since there's nothing to push against any more.
- Eternal Engine: Gimmick Mountain Zone.
- Evil Knockoff: For the first time in the series, Robotnik creates a robot modeled after Sonic to fight the real one, in this case, Silver Sonic.note
- Fake Difficulty:
- The Emerald in Sky High Zone requires you to bounce off clouds that look exactly the same as normal clouds. Rings placed above them clue you in to their function, but not to the fact that you're expected to travel a great horizontal distance using them too.
- Much of the first boss's extreme difficulty in the Game Gear version comes from the system's small resolution, as the cannonballs you have to dodge bounce so high that they go offscreen very frequently. Antlion is significantly easier on the Master System.
- Fan Remake: Has one in the form of the Sonic SMS Remake, which remakes this game along with its predecessor
. Unlike Sonic 1, however, the remake of Sonic 2 has far more differences from the original, a notable being a change in the story: instead of Eggman kidnapping Tails with Sonic in pursuit, Eggman steals the Master Emerald with both Sonic and Tails (or Knuckles and Amy, or Shadow and Metal Sonic, or Mighty and Ray) in pursuit. Beyond that, the remake is missing a lot of gameplay gimmicks and even entire stages, replacing them with new ones as well as adding in Oil Ocean from the 16-bit version, turning into more of a fan re-imagining than a straight upgrade for the original. - Floating in a Bubble: There are giant bubbles in the second act of Aqua Lake Zone, which Sonic can float in.
- Flunky Boss: The Master Robot in Sky High Zone Act 3 sends out a bunch of Mecha Hiyoko chick badniks at Sonic. The birds and the cannons they are shooting from must be destroyed to make the boss appear.
- Geographic Flexibility: This game (and Sonic Chaos) is set in South Island just like the last game. The last game also had a map detailing the entire island, so it is uncertain where Sonic 2's zones fit in.
- Green Hill Zone: A notable inversion for Sonic games — this version of Green Hills Zone is halfway through the game and has some challenging moments. Act 3 is particularly unforgiving, requiring near-perfect execution of blind jumps between springs surrounded by spikes with no rings.
- Guide Dang It!: To use the hang glider effectively, you have to tap left in approximately half-second intervals. Neither the game or the manual clarify this.
- Gusty Glade: Act 2 of Sky High Zone has gusts of wind, which can push Sonic up if he's riding a hang glider. These can come in handy in helping Sonic collect the stage's Chaos Emerald.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Eggman is holding Tails hostage in exchange for the six Chaos Emeralds.
- Level in the Clouds: Sky High Zone is a mix of this and Death Mountain, as the lower parts of its Acts appear to be a mountain peak and the upper parts are clouds, some of which can be stood on.
- Minecart Madness: Under Ground Zone and Gimmick Mountain Zone both have sections where Sonic rides mine carts.
- Mission-Pack Sequel: The gameplay is almost identical to that of the 8-bit predecessor, just with tweaks to the engine and some new gimmicks thrown in. You find the Chaos Emeralds the same way as well, and there's no Spin Dash like the 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog 2. One of the few changes of note is that rings can be recollected after Sonic takes a hit, in line with its 16-bit counterparts, and unlike in the first 8-bit game.
- Mood Dissonance: You finally collect all the Chaos Emeralds and make it to the secret final stage where Tails is being held captive, ready for a final confrontation with the Big Bad... only to find a crystal castle in a bright wonderland with blue skies, vibrant colors and cheerful music.
- Multiple Endings: Without collecting the first five Emeralds upon defeating the Scrambled Egg Zone boss (Silver Sonic), the game simply ends there, and you get a total Downer Ending. Unable to save Tails, Sonic runs along a trail alone, and after the staff roll ends, he halts to look at the sky, where he sees Tails's face in the clouds. The good ending is infinitely more satisfying. Sonic and Tails run along a trail (with happier music, if playing the Game Gear version), and after the staff roll ends, they halt to look at the sky, and see each other's faces in the clouds.
- Never Trust a Trailer: Each level intro segment features Sonic and Tails going through the trials of the upcoming level, but Tails is not a playable character; he's kidnapped.
- New Jack Swing: The themes for Sky High Zone, Aqua Lake Zone, and the bad ending are all of this genre.
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Nintendo Hard:- This is some of the most unforgiving level design Sonic has ever had to fight through. Notable parts include having to wrestle with unfamiliar hang-glider controls in Sky High Zone Act 2, navigating a course filled with nothing but springs and spikes and no rings in Green Hills Zone Act 3, and figuring out which pipes to go through in Scrambled Egg Zone.
- As with the first 8-bit game, the lack of Rings in the boss stages in both versions means a Flawless Victory is required against the boss (and the level in the case of Green Hills Zone Act 3) to proceed.
- Shields and checkpoints, concessions found in the vast majority of Sonic games, are absent here.note Notably, the first 8-bit game allowed you to keep shields between levels and even bring them into boss stages.
- Adding insult to injury, the Game Gear release is considered significantly harder than the Master System version due to a smaller resolution inhibiting players from being able to see what's ahead, resulting in cheap hits/deaths (this generally existed in the handheld ports, but it is particularly egregious here). In addition to this, some bosses were made hardernote , most notably the first one, where the boulders now bounce at random heights instead of all of them bouncing at a predictable fixed height. Due to the Master System version only ever getting a worldwide release once, on the Wii Virtual Console, the Game Gear version is what most people have played, unfortunately.
- No Fair Cheating: You need all the Chaos Emeralds after defeating the boss of the Scrambled Egg Zone to get to the Crystal Egg Zone to get the good ending. If you don't have them all, save the one you get from the boss, the game ends there with the bad ending. If you use the level select cheat to get to the Crystal Egg Zone, you'll rescue Tails, as he'll appear in the teleporter when Eggman retreats, but he won't be there in the ending.
- No Final Boss for You: Unless you collect all the Chaos Emeralds, you won't be able to access the final level and subsequently Eggman.
- No Name Given: The only enemies given English names were Bomb, Burrowbot, and Silver Sonic in the manual, and Bomber, Crabmeat, Mechano-Boar, and Robo-Sonic in 1993's Sonic The Hedgehog 1 & 2 SEGA's Official Player's Guide. 2021's Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia gave English names for the remaining enemies, based on Japanese material (also filling a gap with Flying Chopper).
- Non-Indicative Name: Scrambled Egg Zone sounds like it should be a food-themed level. Instead, it's a cave level with a bunch of transport tubes.
- Non-Standard Game Over: If you beat the game (with or without getting the Chaos Emeralds and beating the Crystal Egg Zone) after the end credits, it will give you the Game Over screen, which is technically true.
- Oddball in the Series:
- This is the first of very few classic Sonic games where Eggman is not the boss of every zone; in fact, after carrying Sonic to the boss of Under Ground Zone, the first zone in the game, he doesn't appear again at all until the final battle.
- This is one of few Sonic games that does not begin in a Green Hill Zone equivalent, and the only one to do so within the "Classic Sonic" catalogue.
- Unlike every other Classic Sonic game in existence, there are no bonus stages.
- There are no checkpoints or shields, and the only speed shoe power-up is in Aqua Lake Zone Act 2 (and even then, not only is it only in the Master System version, it doesn't actually increase Sonic's speed beyond letting him run underwater at normal speed - which is worthless as what follows the power-up is a zoom tube maze rather than normal gameplay).
- Orcus on His Throne: Played with; In the previous 8-bit game, as well as the 16-bit games on the Genesis, Sonic fights Eggman in a different variation of the Egg Mobile at the end of each world. In this game, the Master Robots serve as the game's bosses, while Eggman is fought as the game's Final Boss and not several times beforehand. Although he shows up in Under Ground Zone Act 3 for the purpose of saving Sonic from falling into the lava pit, Sonic does not directly fight him. Instead, he dodges the cannonballs that he throws at him and eventually Eggman himself when he flies down at him so that Eggman will inadvertently damage the Antlion Mecha, after which, Eggman is not seen again until Crystal Egg Zone Act 3, where he serves as the game's True Final Boss.
- The Points Mean Nothing: Unlike its predecessor and Genesis version, getting 50,000 points gives out nothing.
- Punny Name: Scrambled Egg Zone, which is one of Eggman's bases and consists of a scrambled maze of tubes. The pun is somewhat lost with Eggman's name change to Robotnik, though.
- Schizophrenic Difficulty: Everything up until Gimmick Mountain Zone is a constantly up-and-down, going from a relatively simple starter level to the single hardest boss in the game, to one of the hardest zones in the game with a relatively easy boss, to the much easier Aqua Lake Zone, to the Green Hills Zone being relatively easy until Act 3 cranks the difficulty way up again with lots and lots of blind jumps over spikes.
- Screen Crunch: The Game Gear port didn't even try to accommodate the Game Gear's smaller screen size. The worst example is the first boss. The bouncing balls are ridiculously hard to dodge, not helped by unpredictable heights they bounce at in the port.
- Sequential Boss: The Master Robot of Sky High Zone has three phases to it. First, Sonic must contend with two waves of Mecha Hiyoko chick badniks. Then, he falls to four cannons that are firing the chicks into the stage, and all four must be destroyed (the chicks will keep coming until the cannons are gone). Once the cannons are destroyed, the actual boss, a larger bird that breathes fireballs, will appear, and Sonic can destroy it to complete the zone.
- Sinister Swine:
- The Dohyo Master is a sumo wrestler-like Pig Robot who serves as the boss of Green Hills Zone. He attempts to beat Sonic at his own game by using roll attacks, and can only be damaged when he is standing still.
- Later in the game, Sonic encounters Butons, robotic pigs that resemble Ball Hog from the previous game. However, rather than toss bombs, Butons hop around, bouncing towards Sonic if they get close to him.
- Sky Face: Sonic 2 has both Sonic and Tails' face in the sky as the good ending.note However, in the bad ending, only Sonic is running, while Tails' face is in the sky.
- Soundtrack Dissonance:
- In the Master System version, what is the cheery title screen music in the Game Gear version plays in the opening cutscene where Tails is kidnapped by Eggman, and the melancholic music from the bad ending plays for both endings. The Game Gear version rectifies both cases by using the suitably foreboding Scrambled Egg Zone theme in the opening cutscene and providing happier music for the good ending.
- Crystal Egg Zone has remarkably upbeat and happy music for what is the final zone in the game. In other Sonic games of this era, the final zone always has depressing and foreboding music.
- Stellification: During the staff roll credits of the bad ending where the player doesn't collect all the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic looks up into the sky and sees an image of Tails among the stars. Interestingly, the game's good ending has a non-death example, as it shows Sonic and Tails running together, before looking up to a pair of constellations of themselves.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Many of the Badniks are basically the same as the previous game, just renamed and given a coat of paint. For example, Burrowbot for the first game's Burrobot.
- Trial-and-Error Gameplay: The very elaborate and confusing transportation pipe system Scrambled Egg Zone.
- True Final Boss: The first one in the Sonic series; the second and last encounter with Dr. Eggman and the Zone prior to it, Crystal Egg Zone, can only be accessed if the player collected all the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman's trap in the last act is a room with flying energy balls and electric currents, and you have to hit his control machine with him in it.
- Tube Travel: Present in Aqua Lake Zone Act 2, Acts 1 & 3 of Gimmick Mountain Zone, the entirety of Scrambled Egg Zone, and the last act of the game, Crystal Egg Zone Act 3. Scrambled Egg Zone exaggerates this with its emphasis on "pipe puzzles": only one puzzle in act 1 can dump you into spikes, but several puzzles in Act 2 have spikes under them, the last of which you cannot escape if you fail there. There are three pipes in the final stage; the first one takes you to the Final Boss, the second is needed the hide from Eggman's attacks, and the third is behind Eggman and can be entered after you destroy his machine, which takes you to the finish line and Tails.
- Uncertain Doom: Tails' fate in the bad ending is never explicitly shown, but it's strongly implied — from his only presence in the credits sequence being his stellification in the night sky — that he died as Eggman's captive.
- Underground Level: The aptly named Under Ground Zone, which is also a Lethal Lava Land.
- Under the Sea: Aqua Lake Zone plays with this; like the Aquatic Ruins in the 16-bit version, it's possible to stay out of the water entirely, but unlike the 16-bit version, this can only happen in Act 3, and only if one knows how to skip Sonic across the water. The goal post for Act 1 is in an underwater corridor and almost all of Act 2 forces Sonic through an underwater maze.
- Underwater Ruins: Aqua Lake Zone.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Eggman escapes after the final battle and isn't seen again.
- Villainous Rescue: Eggman surprisingly pulls this on Sonic in Under Ground Zone Act 3; when Sonic is about to fall into a pit of lava, he hastily grabs him with a claw machine, lifting him up...only to drop him into a boss battle.
