Title:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Genre:
2D Platformer

Platform:
Mega Drive/Genesis

Developer:
Sonic Team & STI

Release Dates:
Japan: 21/11/92
North America: 24/11/92
Europe: 11/92

Memory:
None

Players:
1/2

Zones:
11

Playable:
Sonic, Tails

Re-releases:
Sonic Compilation (MD)
Sonic Jam (Sat)
Sonic Mega Collection (GCN)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (RealOne Arcade)
Sonic Mega Collection Plus (Xbox/PS2)

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Intro:
Sonic the Hedgehog was a big success, and fans wanted more hedgehog-related shenanigans. Sega was pleased to oblige, and this bundle of blue was the result. The originally titled Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a worthy sequel, and really helped catapult ol' green eyes into stardom. But this time, he brought someone along with him for the ride - Miles "Tails" Prower. Although it was not his first appearance (Sonic 2 on the Game Gear first saw the fox's bushy features), it certainly was his big break.

Story:
After beating Eggman for the first time, Sonic decided to get back to what he enjoyed most - adventuring. Enter 'Westside Island'. This place had got a reputation for being mysterious, and had picked up such monikers as 'The Island of Illusion'. The place was also said to have a strong connection to those pesky Chaos Emeralds. Never one to leave a mystery to the imagination, Sonic set off on his new plane, the 'Tornado'.

Having landed on the mysterious island, Sonic left his plane behind and went off to see what the place was all about. Unknown to Sonic, a young fox had been watching him. Sonic had gained quite a reputation for saving South Island not long before, and word had reached the inhabitants of Westside. This young fox, called Miles, had become one of Sonic's greatest fans - He couldn't believe his hero had come to his home!

This was no ordinary fox of course - Miles had an interesting anomaly - Two tails! Freaky as this was, the other animals on Westside used to make fun of the poor kid, calling him "Tails". The name stuck, and that's what he went by. Thing is, the two tails were a blessing in disguise. Having some kind of weird joint where his tails met, they could be spun like a helicopter blade - Tails was able to fly! Seeing his hero got Tails really excited... If only Sonic knew he existed. As the blue blur speeded past, Tails took his chance. He ran as fast as he could, starting to spin his tails behind him, giving him a big boost in speed.

Sonic noticed the little kid doing a good job in keeping up with him, and instead of zooming off leaving the fox in a cloud of dust, he decided to let him tag along. Tails, being a bit of a whiz with mechanics, couldn't contain his excitement when he saw the Tornado. Over time, the two animals became good friends.

However, all was not well on Westside. Dr. Robotnik, still furious at his defeat, had been building a huge, copyright infringing space station, the Death Egg, capable of mass destruction! Capturing more animals than before, his badnik army was back up to full strength searching for the seven (yes, seven) Chaos Emeralds, and he was ready to defeat him nemesis once and for all. But Sonic was ready too, and with his new chum Tails, they set off to free the animals and save the world!

The Game:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the sequel to the original Sonic game, and continues the series in style and in playability. This time, you can choose to play as either Sonic or Tails, or both at once! Playing as both characters, player one will take control of Sonic and player 2 (or the computer) will play as Tails. The game now only has two acts per zone, with a boss at the end of act 2 (excluding Metropolis zone, which has 3 acts, and the last three zones, which only have one). The game has 11 zones, compared to the 7 of Sonic 1, but only has one more level over all (excluding special stages). This said, the acts are longer and the zones more varied, so this is a much larger game.