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| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 |
Overview
Story
Notes
Cheats / Secrets
Last Updated: 12.26.05 |
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Title:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Developer:
Sonic Team
Publisher:
Sega
Release Date:
11.24.92
Platform:
GEN(MD)
Players:
1-2
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 06.23.91
 Unknown
 06.23.91
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Rereleases
Sega Genesis:
Sonic 2 in 1
6-Pak
Sega MegaPlay:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega Saturn:
Sonic Jam
RealArcade (PC):
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega Dreamcast:
Sega Smash Pack Vol. 1
Nintendo Gamecube:
Sonic Mega Collection
Sonic Gems Collection
Sony Playstation 2:
Sonic Mega Collection +
Microsoft XBox:
Sonic Mega Collection +
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Staff Credits:.
Executive Producer:
Hayao Nakayama
Producer:
Shinobu Toyoda
Game Planners:
Hirokazu Yasuhara
Masaharu Yoshii
Chief Programmer:
Yuji Naka
Assistant Programmers:
Masanobu Yamamoto
Bill Willis
Character Design:
Yasushi Yamaguchi
Object Placement:
Hirokazu Yasuhara
Yutaka Sugano
Takahiro Anto
Special Object Placement:
Yutaka Sugano
Chief Artist:
Yasushi Yamaguchi
Zone Artists:
Yasushi Yamaguchi
Reiko Kodama
Craig Stitt
Brenda Ross
Jina Ishiwatari
Tom Payne
Special Stage Art & CG:
Tim Skelly
Peter Moraweic
Composer:
Masato Nakamura
Sound Programmer:
Tomoyuki Shimada
Sound Assistants:
"Jimita"
"Macky"
"Milpo"
"Ippo"
"S.O"
"OYZ"
"N.GEE"
Project Assistants:
Takahiro Hamano
Syuichi Katagi
Yoshiki Ooka
Steve Woita
Special Thanks:
Kunitake Aoki
Tsuneko Aoki
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Overview |
Art created by Fiz |
Sonic the Hedgehog 2, commonly referred to as "Sonic 2," is considered by many fans to be the best game of the entire series. It was the first game to feature Miles "Tails" Prower, Sonic's (mutated?) fox buddy. This by far the longest game in the Genesis/Megadrive series with a total of 11 zones. It features 3D special stage, the first of a trend that will appear throughout the series.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2's goal is no different than before: make it to the other side of the level in less than ten minutes. Sonic's movement (left, right, crouching, and looking up) is controlled by the D-PAD. The D-PAD on the Genesis/MegaDrive is not pressure sensitive, so Sonic's speed increases gradually as you held left or right for a period of time. Sonic can jump by pressing A, B, or C. His jump, just like the Mario games, is also his attack. However, Sonic can also hurt his enemies by rolling into them while in "ball mode," which you can get into by running quickly and then crouching. New to Sonic the Hedghehog 2 is the Spin Dash attack, which is used by crouching, pressing the jump button repeatedly, and releasing. This attack makes Sonic instantly reach top speed in ball mode, destroying all unarmored enemies and blocks in his path. Sonic also has a score meter. After reaching 10,000 points, Sonic earns a continue that allows you to continue the game after losing all lives from the zone you were last in. Points are added to the score meter every time you kill an enemy. Each enemy is worth 100 points, but that number is multiplied pseudo-exponentially whenever you kill multiple enemies with a single attack. Each zone boss is worth 1000. Bonus points are added at the end of each zone depending on the number of rings you collected and the amount of time you had left to complete the level.
Sonic's health is non-existant. If he gets hit a single time by an enemy or falls onto something sharp, he dies. However, Sega revolutionizes the traditional life system by turning the most common platformer cliché - collectible items - into a health-barrier. Rings are found everywhere throughout the game. After collecting rings, Sonic will not die after getting hit by an enemy. Instead, he'll lose all of his rings and stay alive, becoming invincible for about three seconds. You can recollect the rings after losing them, but they all disappear after 6 seconds from the time you were hit. There is also a collectible energy shield that allows you to get hit and keep your rings without dying, but you lose the shield each time you are hit and cannot regain it until you obtain a new shield. Shields are found in item boxes, along with rings, extra lives, speed shoes, and invincibility stars. |
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| Story |
The game takes place on "West Side Island" after Sonic's plane has made a crash landing. While on the island, Sonic meets a young fox named Miles. Miles is no ordinary fox, however - he has two tails, allowing him to reach very high speeds by using them as a propeller or even flying in the sky like a helicopter. Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik is putting the finishing touches on his enormous doomsday device, the "Death Egg." The Death Egg is a huge space station that requires a rediculous amount of power to operate...and what better power source than the island's seven Chaos Emeralds? Sonic learns of Robotnik's plan and gets ready for a new adventure...
There are 11 zones, with a total of 20 acts. Most zones have 2 acts each, but some have 1 and one has three. There is a zone boss (Robotnik in one of his mechs) at the end of each zone's final act, each taking 8 hits to defeat. |
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Emerald Hill Zone
Emerald Hill is essentiall a reprise of Green Hill. There are new enemies which pose very little difficulty and some hidden passages that show off the Genesis' processor. There are also a few corkscrew loops that you can cross if you're going fast enough.
Boss: Dr. Robotnik makes his return appearence in nothing other than the Eggmobile. He flies down and lands in a buggie equipped with a drill at one end as he tries to ram Sonic & Tails into pieces. After 6 hits, he'll fire the drill in whatever direction he's facing. Two more hits after that and he'll retreat. |
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Chemical Plant Zone
Originally titled "Chemical Factory," Chemical Plant is...well, a factory where chemicals are produced. The purple ooze floods the bottom of the level and affects Sonic and Tails just like water, except that you won't find any sources of air while submerged. Be careful of all the moving platforms - it's easy to get crushed.
Boss: The evil doctor will now try to poison Sonic & Tails with toxic chemicals from below by dumping containers of it on them. The middle platform is the only safe spot, so attack him while he refills. |
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Aquatic Ruins Zone
Aquatic Ruins is known for having some of the most annoying music out of any game in the series. The good part is that it's a quick and easy level. Just stay above the water the whole time and avoid the arrow-shooting panels, and you'll be fine.
Boss: When you enter the arena, you'll see two totem-poles rise out of the ground. Robotnik will randomly hit the totems with a hammer. As soon as he does, the totem he hits will randomly shoot an arrow from one of its "mouths." Jump onto the arrows after they stick into the opposite totem to get high enough to hit the Eggmobile. |
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Casino Night Zone
Casino Night Zone, a gambler's paradise. Just as stated, the place has slot machine areas all around, and pinball like setups. Though this is an easy board to get through, it can be a little tedious if you happen to get stuck in an pinball area, but its a nice way to rack up points. Beware though, slots may be away to get money, but its also a great way to lose it too.
Boss: Here comes Robotnik, great... Just flys in on an Eggmobile as usual, and just starts dropping little explosive, things on you... and you can't just jump up and hit him, instead, you have to roll along the sides and jump off the walls to hit him, or jump up onto the flippers and attack directly. (The Wall approach is much easiar and decreases your chances of getting hurt.)
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Hill Top Zone
Hill Top Zone is exactly what it sounds like: a giant hill with a really high elevation. The first thing you'll come to have an issue with is the pulley-lift in the first screen above: they break off of their supports, leaving you to plummet to your doom. Fun! Anyways, one of the most noticeable things about this level is the lava, and quite a few times throughout these two zones the lava will actually rise when you're in an enclosed room, leaving you scrambling through that room to escape your most painful end.
Boss: This boss battle is a little more trickier than others. It may seem simple, but it can be more difficult then you'd think. Robotnik will basically come out, and go straight into the lava... After a few seconds he'll pop out and shot a small fireball at you, simple enough to dodge yes? Well, after he does that, and you dodge, he'll go back into the pool of lava. So, when he shoots the fireball, attack as quickly as you can. The second he touches the lava when going back under, 1-3 huge flames shoot out onto the platform you're on and spread around. Just remember, eight hits and he's history! |
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Mystic Cave Zone
Mystic Cave Zone isn't that mystic at all - in fact, it's sort of spooky. It takes place in a darkened purple cavern with stalgmites and stalagtites all over the place that serve the same purpose as spikes. It's easy to incorrectly time jumps from the swinging vines of the cave and land on a pile of spikes, and it's even easier to get crushed by the *mystically* rotating boxes.
Boss: This boss is a fairly simple one to beat. Robotnik comes out from the ceiling in a driller. Avoid the sharp rocks that fall from the ceiling, and attack him when he comes on the ground. |
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Oil Ocean Zone
Oil Ocean is a slippery mess of petrol (ooh, fancy wording) and manufacturing devices. Half the time, you'll be treated to a water-slide like experience sliding through the oil, and the other half you'll be dodging spikes and pits for your dear life. There are some strange springs in this level, the green ones. You have to push them against the wall to activate them.
Boss: Robotnik will come out in a submarine this time. He'll attack with a claw and a laser periodically, but they aren't too difficult to avoid. He occasionally comes up for some fresh air from the oil, and that's your only chance to attack. |
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Metropolis Zone
Metropolis Zone has three acts because it was the producer's personal project, and thus, favorite zone. It's also by far the most difficult zone in the game. Be careful of all of the flaming obstacles and the flying enemies. The rotating tubes are fun to play around in, but if you don't time your speed correctly on exit, it could be a party trick gone horribly wrong. The nuts work like...nuts. Simply run to the left or right to move them up an down their screws.
Boss: The Eggmobile makes an encore appearence, but this time there are clones to spare. Robotnik's vehicle is surrounded by seven balloons that break off an turn into fake Robotnik blimp each time you hit him. It's easy to tell which ones are the fakes, and they each pop after one hit, but they can pose a threat when there are a lot of them on screen at once. After you've destroyed all seven of the pods, meaning seven hits, Robotnik will give his last effort by moving to the side and shooting huge lasers at Sonic & Tails. One more hit and you're on for the chase... |
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Sky Chase Zone
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a trend of being concise with the zone names, and Sky Chase is no different. On the opposite end of the spectrum from the previous zone, Sky Chase has just one act. You're stuck to the confines of the Tornado's platform while Tails pilots. It's impossible to fall off, however, as Tails happens to be an expert pilot and will always manage to catch you. Somehow. Destroy the airborne enemies as you go. Sky Chase has no boss. |
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Wing Fortress Zone
At the beginning of the stage, the Tornado will get shot down by the fortress' defense lasers. Tails goes down with the ship leaving you to jump aboard alone. This zone is difficult for most players because it's so easy to fall off - you're outside of a flying aircraft, what did you think it would be like? You can use the fans and dash pads to your advantage, but be careful that they don't end up meaning your death. The good news is that there's only one act of all of this. The bad news....
Boss: This arena has death written all over it. Two lasers block the sides, and three spike balls bounce around between them. There's a huge laser canon on the celing that will occasionally fire at you. The only way to beat this "boss" is to jump on top of the spike balls, on their flat surface, to reach the top and attack when the canon's hatch opens to charge for a shot. It's extremely difficult, so make sure you keep your rings. |
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Death Egg Zone
After chasing Robotnik into space, the final zone of the game takes place on the famed Death Egg. There are no rings in the zone, remniscent of Sonic the Hedgehog's "Final Zone." There are two boss battles to be fought. The first is with Silver Sonic, a robotic replica of Sonic. Silver Sonic will dash back and forth across the screen, occasionally jumping with his rotating blades. You have to hit him while he's standing and not moving his blades. Be careful to dodge the occasionally spikes he shoots while jumping, and after eight hits you'll go onto the grand finale: The EggMech. The EggMech is a huge robotic suit equipped with a variety of weapons. It's very slow moving, but it's invincible in the lower half. It will occasionally rocket up off the screen and a target will appear on Sonic. Run out of the way as soon as it begins to flash, as that's where he'll land. Right after he lands is the only chance you have to attack. Every other time he lands, he'll shoot off his arms at you, so be careful to dodge those too. Never get behind it, ever, because he'll shoot homing missles at you. After 11 hits, it's victory, and onto one of the game's three possible endings. |
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Special Stage
The special stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are reached through checkpoint markers by having 50 or more rings upon activating one. A ring of stars will appear over the marker - just jump in to be transfered to the special stage.
The goal of the special stage is to collect a certain amount of rings within a given distance to unlock the path to the Chaos Emerald. Hitting bombs causes Sonic to lose rings and the also slow him down, so be very careful to avoid them. After completing seven special stages, you will earn the ability to become Super Sonic.
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To become Super Sonic after collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, collect 50 rings and press the jump button twice. Super Sonic is much faster and invulnerable, but each passing second costs one ring. You can still be killed by getting crushed or falling into pits as Super Sonic, though, so it doesn't mean you can be completely careless!
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| Notes |
Random Facts
Yasushi Yamaguchi really wanted Tails' final name to be "Miles," but the supervisors voted on Tails because of its more friendly, comical approach. However, Yamaguchi was a sore loser and managed to fit "Miles" into many places in the game, eventually forcing Sega to have him named "Miles 'Tails' Prower" in the final version. Why "Prower?" It's a play on "miles-per-hour."
Super Sonic's concept is almost certainly a parody on the Dragonball anime series, in which the main character, Goku, collects the seven dragonballs to turn into a "Super Saiyan," turning his hair yellow and exponentially multiplying his power.
Song #10 in the Sound Test belongs to Hidden Palace Zone, one of the zones cut from the final game before release. You can learn more about Hidden Palace in our Sonic 2 BETA section.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was originally supposed to be built around the idea of time travel, à la Sonic CD. For more information, see the Sonic 2 Beta section.
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| Cheats / Secrets |
Level Select
From the main screen, select Options. Select Sound Select and play sounds 19, 65, 9, 17, then push C. Press Start to return to the main screen, and when Sonic and Tails appear, hold A and press Start. |
More Continues
First enable the level select. Then, at the options screen, play these sounds in this order: 1, 1, 2, 4. Now move the highlight to the "Player Select" field of the options screen and press Start. |
Super Sonic
To become Super Sonic without getting all the Chaos Emeralds, first enable the level select. At the level select menu, go to the sound test item, and play sounds in this order: 4, 1, 2, 6. You should hear the music you get when you win a chaos emerald. Now select any level, get 50 rings, and jump. |
Debug Mode
To enter Debug Mode, play these sounds from the level select screen: 1, 9, 9, 2, 1, 1, 2, 4. Press Start and hold A.
To start debugging, press B, then you can select any sprite in that level and put it on the screen. To select a different sprite, press A, and to place it on the screen, press C. Note that sprite selection is different from Zone to Zone. Also, instead of displaying the time elapsed, it displays the number of sprites currently on the screen. |
Super Tails
While in Debug Mode, create and position a "Transfer Box" monitor. When you hit it and you are Super Sonic, you lose all your powers but stay yellow. Tails looks the same but has invincibility (little stars flashing around him.)
To regain Super Sonic, let yourself get hit, then turn into a ring (press B) and place at least 50 rings on Tails. Exit debug mode (press B) and jump to become Super Sonic with Super Tails as a follower. |
Bonus Points
For extra points, pass any zone in a certain amount of time. For the best bonus, enter the Debug Mode code. The clock will freeze and you'll always score a 50,000 bonus!
Time Points
0:30 50,000
0:45 10,000
1:00 5,000
1:30 4,000
2:00 3,000
3:00 2,000
4:00 1,000
5:00 500
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