i can't tell how much the concentrated cruelty i experienced was just because sonic 2 was like that [haven't played in ages, can't tell] or because of screen crunch. probably moreso the latter mixed with the secret third thing of new dr. suess logic. get the 7th emerald by making sure to bump it off the final boss even after the torture of the downscaled special stages? you have to step on tiny atomic explosions to reach eggman? applying sonic 1's special stage access method to a game that doesn't have three acts in a zone, in a game that otherwise is just Mini Sonic 2?? oh brother.