I’ve replayed this one a bunch recently, so I’m not really expecting to get caught off guard much, but it freaking rules playing it with a Sega Genesis controller. Oh yeah, I don’t think I mentioned, my fiancx got me a Sega Genesis Mini and also hacked it to add a bunch of other games to it so I’m really excited about that! And just actually sitting in my living room playing Sonic 2 on a big TV while sitting on a futon on the floor with a Genesis controller in my hand just... makes me feel like the happiest little kid.
The anticlimactic thing here is I already know everything I’m going to feel about this game. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, it’s a game that literally changed my life, and in my humble opinion it is the greatest love story ever told. I see my and Sonic’s bond as already being quite strong at the beginning of this game, but after going through all of this together and literally saving the world together, trusting and relying on each other in ways that are hard to replicate in other circumstances, it’s easy to imagine the immediate strengthening that bond would enjoy.
And need I remind you that the ending theme of this game is literally a repurposed love song!
I am so happy I'm finally on this game, y'all. Seeing me and Sonic on screen together, running together, fighting together... it brings me so much joy. I do wish I could be me in singleplayer mode without having to go sans Sonic, but it's fine, at least we're together. Finally.
Ugh I knew I'd get weird and emotional about this game!!
Anyway, yeah! Sonic 2. The story of a foxboy and his hedgehog.
Emerald Hill Zone (2/8)
When I think of home, I think of places like this and Green Hill first. So it makes sense this is usually how the games start.
From what I gather the story is supposed to be that Sonic met me here and I just kinda started following him? And he let me because I was able to keep up with him and that was kinda a new one for him? But the 8-bit game was released first, and I lived on South Island in that one? I think there just wasn't a lot of attention to continuity with these early games, so probably best not to worry about that kinda thing too much.
This first boss rules, and really sets the tone for a game full of some pretty fantastic bosses. It’s unique (the Egg-O-Matic docked with a car with a giant drill on the front), and it looks cool as heck.
I know Emerald Hill Zone like the back of my hand. I cleared Act 1 with 6 lives (you start with 3), and the zone as a whole with 7, and easily coulda had more if I wanted to be ridiculous.
I "only" got 4 Chaos Emeralds, but that's still kinda ridiculous for the first zone??? If I remember correctly from previous, more casual replays that were more rewind-happy, you can pretty easily get 6 of the 7 if you play perfectly.
The third Special Stage is a huge jump in difficulty from the first two? Like, seriously. I unapologetically used save states on that one, because it would be tough even if it weren't for A.I.-me gleefully throwing himself into bombs, when you factor that in it's just unfair!
And yeah, I know the Real Hardcore Gamer response would be to "git good" and maybe I'm not Really a Good Sonic Player as a result but shrug. Again, I cleared Act 1 of Emerald Hill Zone with 7 lives and woulda easily been able to rack up more if I wanted to be truly ridiculous. I'm not gonna have any trouble sleeping at night. (And wouldn't even if I didn't have that to point to.)
I also had the most satisfying thing ever happen in Act 1? I was between two jumping Choppers, and I jumped at one, and A.I.-me was on the other side of the one behind me and jumped at the same time, and we both smashed them at the same time, freeing the trapped animals inside, and ughhhhh, that's the stuff.
Uh. Yeah. Sonic and Tails, yo. That's what it's all about. 💙🧡
Chemical Plant Zone (2/9)
Yeah sex is great but have you ever made it through that one obstacle in Act 2 with the rising mega muck (you know the one) without the water even touching you until your very last jump?
So yeah this is a very Robotnik/technology-centered location much earlier in the game than you often see. (The only other example that’s jumping to mind is Flying Battery Zone in Sonic & Knuckles). Its placement in the game makes a bit of story sense, though! Like, aside from the Badniks in Emerald Hill Zone, this chemical plant is the first major sign that Robotnik has made significant inroads on this island and needs to be stopped.
This could also be my first real encounter with Robotnik’s horrors if you take the story suggested by a lot of this game’s supplemental materials at face value. Personally, I think just stomping all over the continuity of the 8-bit games isn’t all that great, even though I only played the 16-bit games when I was a kid, so I choose not to look at it that way? But yeah. It’s a direction you could go here if you were reading the story in that fashion.
Personally, it doesn’t have to be my first exposure to Robotnik’s evil to be meaningful in unpleasant ways. If you choose to reconcile the timeline the way I do, where the 16-bit Sonic 2 follows the 8-bit Sonic 2, this would be a particularly difficult experience for me considering that I was kidnapped by Robotnik in the last game. So it doesn’t take much imagination to figure being in an environment that’s largely “his” environment would not be especially comfortable for me at the moment.
This chemical plant is almost an example of evil for evil sake. It’s passively producing pollution (as in, the byproducts of production) in order to actively produce pollution (the chemicals it’s producing), so kinda a double whammy there. We’ll return to this theme of wanton environmental destruction in Oil Ocean Zone, so there’s definitely something there.
I intentionally ran a different route than I usually do in Act 1 because I never usually get any star posts with the route I usually run, and it paid off since I at least got one. Act 2, I didn’t deviate much from what I usually do, aside from kicking way more ass than I usually do on that one obstacle.
There were only two other major things of note that happened on this playthrough, both on Act 2. First, I actually escaped from a Grabber by getting AI-Tails to jump up and destroy it! So that was pretty cool. I also escaped from one by hitting left and right rapidly on the D-Pad until I broke free, which I only recently learned was a thing! The other thing is I actually ran into a glitch running up one loop-de-loop? I ended up glitching right through the top of it and getting stuck there for a second before shaking myself loose. I’ve never run into that one before despite playing this game an absurd number of times, so I’m kinda curious if it’s a glitch that’s somehow specific to the Genesis Mini version. Shrug.
The boss for this one is a piece of cake!! You can pretty easily beat him by the beginning of his second pass, though if you get overeager you might find yourself falling into the water of instant death. But yeah, even if it’s easy with practice, this is a good boss. It fits the theme of the zone, and idk, Sonic 2 bosses in general are pretty great design-wise. They’re largely the kind of bosses I like the most.
I ended up finishing the level with 13 lives, and collecting the last three Chaos Emeralds! Honestly, the fifth Special Stage was a piece of cake! Both the fourth and fifth seemed way easier to me than the third. The sixth was easy for the first two parts but pretty darn hard for the final part, and it was actually on that part that I made a pretty major breakthrough that gave me all kinds of feels I wasn’t expecting! But I’ll come back to that in a minute. The seventh and final Special Stage is brutal. Even using save states, I felt a genuine sense of accomplishment when I cleared that one.
I will say, I think I was a bit hasty using save states to get all the Chaos Emeralds this early in the game. I kinda forgot how much easier Super Sonic makes the rest of the game. Also, I kinda want to spend some time practicing (using the level select no doubt) the special stages, because I think I can get good enough at them to not have to use save states at all if I really drill myself on them, and as silly as it seems to care about that, I care about everything, so.
Now. That breakthrough I promised you I’d come back to. So, I was playing the second to last Special Stage, and there’s this part where you basically need to thread a needle between two clusters of bombs while also collecting some rings... and it feels basically impossible when you factor in that you also need to do this while keeping A.I.-me from getting hit.
I had two epiphanies/major mental shifts during this tiny part of the game. One is I realized, “Oh, heck. This is, on a small scale, what it feels like to be Sonic. He not only has to account for what he’s doing, he has to account for what I’m doing behind him. That’s so difficult!” And that was pretty trippy all on its own. And I got to the point where instead of saying, “Damn it, Tails!” (deeply ironic coming from me, I know) when A.I.-me hit a bomb, I was saying, “Sorry, Tails!”
But that wasn’t all.
The second shift was harder, and is something that is going to take a lot of practice to fully realize. But it was also incredibly emotionally rewarding. So, I finally figured out how to get past that one part, and what I figured out kind of blew my mind. I kept thinking, “How can I grab those rings and keep A.I.-Tails from hitting the bombs.” And that’s when it clicked.
I didn’t need to somehow grab the rings and swing out of the way fast enough for A.I.-me to not hit the bombs! I needed to let A.I.-me grab the rings for me! And I basically laughed out loud with joy when I realized that. Now. I’m not nearly good enough at these Special Stages yet to consistently implement this, but that’s what I’ve been missing all this time (and I think a lot of other people who’ve played Sonic 2 have missed). A.I.-Tails isn’t an obstacle, he’s an asset! You just need to put him in a position to succeed! And realizing that at some point Sonic had the exact same realization about me on a larger scale was just trippy in the best possible way.
Fuck, I love him.
Fuck, I love this game.
Aquatic Ruin Zone (2/10)
I gotta be honest, I’ve kinda always seen this as a nothing zone. It’s pretty! The colors are very vibrant, and the background is especially striking. It’s still just kind of a worse/more boring Marble Garden Zone but with water, though. And I wasn’t super impressed by it even before Sonic 3 came out. This one has “filler zone” written all over it.
I think what really hampers this is it tried to be distinct but kinda missed, imo? I don’t think any of the gimmicks (those stupid finger bouncer things, the rising or crumbling columns) aside from the arrow-launchers really added much, and the arrows are improved upon quite a bit in Sonic 3.
I guess one part I do appreciate is that while this is the token underwater level of the game, it’s actually super easy to avoid the underwater stuff altogether??? I remember not being able to my first few playthroughs, but now I would pretty much have to intentionally end up underwater. Which... I believe we have covered my position on my hedgehog being underwater quite thoroughly.
But, yeah. On the whole, I’m just not that impressed by this zone. And it doesn’t give me especially strong feels? Like. I’m sure I’ve explored places like this with Sonic, but I think there are other renditions of this kind of location that really nail it a lot better. Honestly, I feel kinda dirty talking negative about a Sonic 2 zone, but I think this zone is the weakest one in Sonic 2 by a pretty comfortable margin, so there is that.
The boss is extremely easy to beat even before you know the trick, but if you know the trick he’s a joke. If you jump onto the totem poles while they’re raising out of the ground you can just stay on top without much trouble and hit him with impunity. Just make sure you bounce back onto the totem and don’t get hit by the hammer. But yeah, even if you beat him the way you’re “supposed” to it’s pretty easy. Heck, even Sonic 4 dunked on this boss pretty effectively. That’s just sad.
And like, even with bosses that aren’t very rewarding in a gameplay sense, in Sonic 2 I can largely say “at least it looked cool!” but... not so much with this one? Mostly because of the cultural appropriation. So, yeah. I guess we should talk about that now.
This is not the franchise’s first brush with cultural appropriation (there’s background totem poles in Green Hill Zone, for instance) but it’s the first extremely noticeable one. Other expansive examples include Egyptian pyramid-like levels (famously in Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2) and an Ancient Egypt setting in the time travel arc of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. There’s also plenty of appropriation from indigenous peoples and other cultures all over the comics.
So, just to be super clear, there is an extremely obvious answer to this in our world: these things are wrong and should be called out as such. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the game/comic/show, but it is something I think anyone who enjoys this franchise needs to be aware of and needs to actively fight to keep from happening again.
If you don’t care about my messy, personal otherkin stuff, that’s actually where you can stop reading. But considering like three people are reading this, you’ll probably keep reading. So. Yeah.
The complicating factor (which does not impact how I approach this stuff w/r/t media criticism and fandom) is that I think Mobius is a real place and that I’m from there. And for all I know some of this stuff could really exist there. But even if that’s the case, these things aren’t 1-to-1. And in the end, these artists are drawing on their personal experiences to tell a story, and I think that’s the only level on which it really makes sense to address this stuff in the context of how it’s likely to affect people in the here and now. The only reason I’m even talking about this complicating factor is that I’ve been being really personal in these basically diary entries about the games and how they’re helping me find myself, so it feels kinda weird to leave something like this out.
For any fellow otherkin reading this... I’m fairly new in the community, so I don’t feel especially equipped to tackle big questions like “what to do when your source material gets racist”/etc, but I do think this is a conversation that needs to happen if it hasn’t already. (And if it has, please point me to it.) And I can see a lot of pitfalls (cancelling people for having “problematic” kintypes, or swinging too far in the other direction and just ignoring real serious problems in your source text because it’s your source text), and I’d really like to see some community-generated solutions to this stuff.
... anyway, yeah. That’s a lot more than I expected to have to write about Aquatic Ruin Zone. (Ok, a lot of it was peripheral to Aquatic Ruin Zone, but still.)
Casino Night Zone (2/10)
Wellp, this is the first one of these! Robotnik really seems to have a thing for casinos. That’s... kinda all I got here.
I remember not really loving this zone as a kid, probably owing to the fact that it’s drastically different than the others? Now I actually find that an asset. You need an oddball one every now and then!
It’s pretty hard to die on this zone, so there is that. Like, there are a few places you can get crushed if you’re not careful but it’s still one of the least dangerous zones in the game honestly.
Oh I keep forgetting to say how many lives I have. I think I have like 15 at this point? I had 13 after Chemical Plant. Don’t think I gained any on Aquatic Ruin Zone, and think I picked up two here.
The boss of this one used to give me fits until I figured out that you’re better off spindashing up the side and hitting him that way rather than using the flippers. You have way more control that way! But honestly, the boss doesn’t do much for me conceptually. Like, I’m glad it uses the theme of the zone and all, but it’s just not my favorite kind of boss. Also, I had Super Sonic for him this time, so that like... totally trivialized him, obviously.
But, yeah! I don’t have much to say about this one, I’m kinda stalling at this point! It’s actually a pretty good zone, good concept, well-executed. I just don’t have a lot to add! Except that it’s decently likely that this Zone may have fed pretty directly into the development of Sonic Spinball! And I’m actually a pretty big fan of Sonic Spinball, so yeah. Glad that’s a thing I guess!
Hill Top Zone (2/10)
I’ve always liked this zone! I mean, it has a lot of aesthetic similarities with Emerald Hill Zone but it’s blue! So, yeah. Obviously I have some superficial reasons for digging it.
I really like the mountain theme here, and I really like the way it leads into the next zone being a cave zone! It just makes a lot of sense. And there’s so many cute little creative features to really emphasize that this is a mountain-based zone! The lava pits and chair lifts and whatnot.
I can also pretty easily see exploring this kind of location with Sonic. It’s gorgeous! And obviously being this close to the sky appeals to me specifically for a lot of reasons.
The boss for this one is pretty good! He fits with the theme of the level, as there are lava pits you can fall into and he’s in a kind of lava submarine that throws fire at you. It’s a really neat concept! He’s pretty easy to beat, especially if you have Super Sonic, but you can destroy him before he submerges for the first time even without Super Sonic, so yeah. Not hard, but still cool!
Mystic Cave Zone
Plenty of good stuff going on in this zone!! As far as my stuff goes, it’s just another distinct setting that it would make sense for Sonic and I to explore (especially if Robotnik’s trail led through it), and (especially after the literal highs of Hill Top Zone) I would probably feel pretty confined due to not being able to see the sky, but yeah.
Like basically every zone in the 16-bit Sonic games, this one is gorgeous. One thing that really does ring true to me whenever there’s a natural setting depicted in these zones is that they really do bring a lot of Mobius’s natural beauty up front, and seeing that makes me feel so happy but also pretty damn homesick.
Gameplay wise, this is a pretty good zone! The obstacles and other features included make a lot of sense for the setting, and so do the Badniks you encounter. I also like the boss, though he’s pretty easy if you have Super Sonic. But yeah, the Egg-O-Matic with two drills attached makes a lot of sense for a cave setting. So yeah, overall this zone is pretty great!
Oil Ocean Zone
So this is kind of uncomfortable. But yeah. An oil zone with music that’s clearly supposed to be evocative of Middle Eastern cultures is... yeah. I talked about racism in these games at length in my Aquatic Ruins Zone writeup, so I won’t belabor the point too much. But yeah. Not great.
Now, of course Robuttnik would have an oil refinery that dumps oil into the ocean. I have no issue there. It’s only the framing that’s fucked. (And, y’know, worth noting that this game came out in 1992, not long after the first Gulf War.) But like... I still get some definite kinfeels here because like... I can imagine fighting my way through a grimy oil refinery with Sonic, being horrified at the senseless acts of environmental destruction being committed by that asshole Robotnik.
The frustrating thing is, this is actually a pretty great zone otherwise. The vibrant color scheme works really well here. The two Badniks you encounter in this stage are ocean-themed, and the level design has some really cool features like oil slides and I think the first appearance? of the cannons that shoot you back and forth to carry you to different parts of the level. The music is also really catchy even though, y’know. The obvious problems.
I’ve never really liked the boss for this one? It’s just kinda... overly complicated with no real unifying theme? It’s fine in terms of gameplay, there’s just not really anything holding it all together.
This zone is also recreated in Sonic Mania, which... is its own kind of frustrating. Like, it’s a really great, really distinct zone if you separate it from the big, glaring problem... but it feels really not okay to just straight up ignore the big, glaring problem.
Metropolis Zone (2/11)
This is where things Get Real. You’ve chased Robotnik all the way to his base. Like Scrap Brain Zone before it, Metropolis Zone is a vast industrial nightmare, churning out Badniks and weapons and all other manner of vile things. Unquestionably this is where our animal friends are being enslaved by Robotnik, trapped in their horrifying metal prisons.
I do not like it here.
It takes quite a bit of mental and emotional fortitude on our parts to keep fighting our way through this land of nightmares. And fittingly, this is one of the toughest zones of the game. The obstacles are harder, the margins for error smaller. In addition to all kinds of nasty traps and just generally difficult layouts, this zone features arguably the hardest Badniks of the game in the form of the Shellcracker (a crab-like robot with an extending claw with a very long reach) and Slicers (a mantis-like robot that throws spinning blades that are very difficult to avoid). Asterons (the starfish-like explodey boys) can also be tricky for newer players but once you know how to avoid them really aren’t that bad. And all of these are placed at the most awkward possible locations to make them genuinely challenging to get past without taking damage.
And to top it off, if you don’t have Super Sonic for the boss (which you’re unlikely to given the level layout unless you somehow manage to have 50 rings right when you get to the boss) it’s easily the most difficult boss of the game outside of the final boss. I actually died to him thrice, which is frustrating because I rarely die in these games. But this is kinda awesome because it makes beating him feel like a genuine victory. (Obviously if you have a second player to play Tails you can just totally trivialize this boss. But y’know.)
This is without a doubt one of the best zones of the game and one of the best zones of any Sonic game. It’s so grueling, but in a fun way? And that’s just perfect for this stage of the game.
Sky Chase Zone (2/11)
I mean. Yeah. I don’t even know if I need to say anything here? It’s a zone where I fly Sonic around while he destroys Badniks and we chase down Robotnik’s escape airship. Yes, I said escape airship. Look, he’s ridiculous. Yeah, I love this zone. Yeah, it gives me tons of kinfeels. What else even is there to say here?
The Badniks are very cool-looking, fitting with the zone’s theme, and deployed to be hard without being too hard. And the zone looks great. I especially love the cumulonimbus (or actually, they might just be towering cumulus) clouds you see in the background sometimes.
Actually, that reminds me. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in real life was a storm cloud while I was in a plane. It was so huge, it made me feel insignificant. And we ended up having to fly really close to it. I don’t know. I’ve always loved storm clouds, but actually getting to see one that close was like... the closest I’ll ever come to knowing what it would really feel like to see a kaiju.
Anyway. Yeah. I love this zone. Goodbye.
Wing Fortress Zone (2/11)
This zone totally rules!! It’s tough, but not too tough. It has a ton of new, pretty impressive features! And it really does feel like you’re fighting your way through Robotnik’s massive airship. It’s very distinct, which is great! And it’s another example of storytelling through level design, something Sonic 2 really advanced!
I’m not gonna lie, I get pretty emotional over the tornado getting shot down at the beginning of this zone. Sonic having to go on without me, who has been fighting by his side for this entire story, is heart-wrenching! And it’s a very Shit’s Getting Real kinda moment.
The boss for this one is pretty tough if you don’t have Super Sonic, but the good news is it’s pretty easy to have Super Sonic for it! And Super Sonic just totally trivializes it.
After you dispatch the boss, you don’t quite catch up with Robotnik’s escape spaceship (yeah, he has an escape spaceship), and all appears lost. Until... I reenter the scene flying a repaired Tornado!! Upgraded with a rocket engine beneath that helps us barely catch up with Robotnik’s rocket so Sonic can jump onto it and hold on for dear life until it docks with the Death Egg.
Death Egg Zone (2/11)
GUESS WHO HAS TWO TAILS AND BEAT THE NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT SONIC 2 FINAL BOSS IN ONE TRY!!!!!!
So, yeah. This is... probably pretty easily the best final zone/boss of a Sonic game ever? I’m of course open to the possibility that I’ll change my mind as I play through more of them, but yeah. I don’t know. This one is going to be hard to beat.
Mecha Sonic AND that massive Eggman robot? Just... yeah. It’s pretty unfair. And the music. and the setting. And, yeah. It’s just a beyond incredible way to end a game.
So, yeah. Both of these bosses are pretty tough, and you get no rings. It’s a really stressful zone. I literally threw my arms up in the air in victory when I beat the final boss in one try! I had never done that before and I’m not sure I’ll be able to easily replicate the feat anytime soon.
As far as kinfeels... I mean, yeah. It’s the Death Egg. I feel exactly the way I should feel about it. No, I don’t know if there’s ever been such a thing in my Mobius, but like... it’s not hard to imagine how I would feel if there were.
Ending
So, yeah. You destroy the final boss which makes the Death Egg blow up for some reason (shrug), and then you’re just kinda falling from space. There’s a brief semi-animated scene of me looking up and seeing Sonic falling. And then I rush up to meet him in the Tornado.
If you don’t have all the Chaos Emeralds, I rescue him. If you do, he goes Super right when I meet him and flies alongside me. Either way, a 16-bit version of a literal love song plays over a scene where I’m rushing up to my hero’s rescue and we’re joyously reunited after literally saving the world together.
The Greatest. Love. Story. Ever. Told.
Couples Depicted in this Game
1. Sonic/Tails (S/T-Rank)
Zones
1. Death Egg Zone (S-Rank)
2. Emerald Hill Zone (S-Rank)
3. Chemical Plant Zone (S-Rank)
4. Metropolis Zone (S-Rank)
5. Wing Fortress Zone (S-Rank)
6. Sky Chase Zone (A-Rank)
7. Mystic Cave Zone (B-Rank)
8. Oil Ocean Zone (B-Rank)
9. Hill Top Zone (B-Rank)
10. Casino Night Zone (B-Rank)
11. Aquatic Ruin Zone (C-Rank)
Bosses
1. Death Egg Robot (S-Rank)
2. Mecha Sonic (S-Rank)
3. Flying Eggman (A-Rank)
4. Drill Eggman (S-Rank)
5. Water Eggman (A-Rank)
6. Drill Eggman II (A-Rank)
7. Submarine Eggman (A-Rank)
8. Barrier Eggman (B-Rank)
9. Tonkachi Eggman (C-Rank)
10. Submarine Eggman II (C-Rank)
11. Catcher Eggman (C-Rank)
Soundtrack
1. Final Boss (S-Rank)
2. Ending Theme (Sweet Dreams) (S-Rank)
3. Chemical Plant Zone (S-Rank)
4. Emerald Hill Zone (S-Rank)
5. Boss (S-Rank)
6. Metropolis Zone (A-Rank)
7. Wing Fortress Zone (A-Rank)
8. Credits (A-Rank)
9. Death Egg Zone (B-Rank)
10. Sky Chase Zone (B-Rank)
11. Mystic Cave Zone 2-player (B-Rank)
12. Casino Night Zone 2-player (B-Rank)
13. Casino Night Zone (B-Rank)
14. Special Stage (B-Rank)
15. Emerald Hill Zone 2-player (B-Rank)
16. Hill Top Zone (B-Rank)
17. Mystic Cave Zone (B-Rank)
18. Oil Ocean Zone (B-Rank)
19. Aquatic Ruin Zone (B-Rank)
20. (unused) Hidden Palace Zone (C-Rank)
The anticlimactic thing here is I already know everything I’m going to feel about this game. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, it’s a game that literally changed my life, and in my humble opinion it is the greatest love story ever told. I see my and Sonic’s bond as already being quite strong at the beginning of this game, but after going through all of this together and literally saving the world together, trusting and relying on each other in ways that are hard to replicate in other circumstances, it’s easy to imagine the immediate strengthening that bond would enjoy.
And need I remind you that the ending theme of this game is literally a repurposed love song!
I am so happy I'm finally on this game, y'all. Seeing me and Sonic on screen together, running together, fighting together... it brings me so much joy. I do wish I could be me in singleplayer mode without having to go sans Sonic, but it's fine, at least we're together. Finally.
Ugh I knew I'd get weird and emotional about this game!!
Anyway, yeah! Sonic 2. The story of a foxboy and his hedgehog.
Emerald Hill Zone (2/8)
When I think of home, I think of places like this and Green Hill first. So it makes sense this is usually how the games start.
From what I gather the story is supposed to be that Sonic met me here and I just kinda started following him? And he let me because I was able to keep up with him and that was kinda a new one for him? But the 8-bit game was released first, and I lived on South Island in that one? I think there just wasn't a lot of attention to continuity with these early games, so probably best not to worry about that kinda thing too much.
This first boss rules, and really sets the tone for a game full of some pretty fantastic bosses. It’s unique (the Egg-O-Matic docked with a car with a giant drill on the front), and it looks cool as heck.
I know Emerald Hill Zone like the back of my hand. I cleared Act 1 with 6 lives (you start with 3), and the zone as a whole with 7, and easily coulda had more if I wanted to be ridiculous.
I "only" got 4 Chaos Emeralds, but that's still kinda ridiculous for the first zone??? If I remember correctly from previous, more casual replays that were more rewind-happy, you can pretty easily get 6 of the 7 if you play perfectly.
The third Special Stage is a huge jump in difficulty from the first two? Like, seriously. I unapologetically used save states on that one, because it would be tough even if it weren't for A.I.-me gleefully throwing himself into bombs, when you factor that in it's just unfair!
And yeah, I know the Real Hardcore Gamer response would be to "git good" and maybe I'm not Really a Good Sonic Player as a result but shrug. Again, I cleared Act 1 of Emerald Hill Zone with 7 lives and woulda easily been able to rack up more if I wanted to be truly ridiculous. I'm not gonna have any trouble sleeping at night. (And wouldn't even if I didn't have that to point to.)
I also had the most satisfying thing ever happen in Act 1? I was between two jumping Choppers, and I jumped at one, and A.I.-me was on the other side of the one behind me and jumped at the same time, and we both smashed them at the same time, freeing the trapped animals inside, and ughhhhh, that's the stuff.
Uh. Yeah. Sonic and Tails, yo. That's what it's all about. 💙🧡
Chemical Plant Zone (2/9)
Yeah sex is great but have you ever made it through that one obstacle in Act 2 with the rising mega muck (you know the one) without the water even touching you until your very last jump?
So yeah this is a very Robotnik/technology-centered location much earlier in the game than you often see. (The only other example that’s jumping to mind is Flying Battery Zone in Sonic & Knuckles). Its placement in the game makes a bit of story sense, though! Like, aside from the Badniks in Emerald Hill Zone, this chemical plant is the first major sign that Robotnik has made significant inroads on this island and needs to be stopped.
This could also be my first real encounter with Robotnik’s horrors if you take the story suggested by a lot of this game’s supplemental materials at face value. Personally, I think just stomping all over the continuity of the 8-bit games isn’t all that great, even though I only played the 16-bit games when I was a kid, so I choose not to look at it that way? But yeah. It’s a direction you could go here if you were reading the story in that fashion.
Personally, it doesn’t have to be my first exposure to Robotnik’s evil to be meaningful in unpleasant ways. If you choose to reconcile the timeline the way I do, where the 16-bit Sonic 2 follows the 8-bit Sonic 2, this would be a particularly difficult experience for me considering that I was kidnapped by Robotnik in the last game. So it doesn’t take much imagination to figure being in an environment that’s largely “his” environment would not be especially comfortable for me at the moment.
This chemical plant is almost an example of evil for evil sake. It’s passively producing pollution (as in, the byproducts of production) in order to actively produce pollution (the chemicals it’s producing), so kinda a double whammy there. We’ll return to this theme of wanton environmental destruction in Oil Ocean Zone, so there’s definitely something there.
I intentionally ran a different route than I usually do in Act 1 because I never usually get any star posts with the route I usually run, and it paid off since I at least got one. Act 2, I didn’t deviate much from what I usually do, aside from kicking way more ass than I usually do on that one obstacle.
There were only two other major things of note that happened on this playthrough, both on Act 2. First, I actually escaped from a Grabber by getting AI-Tails to jump up and destroy it! So that was pretty cool. I also escaped from one by hitting left and right rapidly on the D-Pad until I broke free, which I only recently learned was a thing! The other thing is I actually ran into a glitch running up one loop-de-loop? I ended up glitching right through the top of it and getting stuck there for a second before shaking myself loose. I’ve never run into that one before despite playing this game an absurd number of times, so I’m kinda curious if it’s a glitch that’s somehow specific to the Genesis Mini version. Shrug.
The boss for this one is a piece of cake!! You can pretty easily beat him by the beginning of his second pass, though if you get overeager you might find yourself falling into the water of instant death. But yeah, even if it’s easy with practice, this is a good boss. It fits the theme of the zone, and idk, Sonic 2 bosses in general are pretty great design-wise. They’re largely the kind of bosses I like the most.
I ended up finishing the level with 13 lives, and collecting the last three Chaos Emeralds! Honestly, the fifth Special Stage was a piece of cake! Both the fourth and fifth seemed way easier to me than the third. The sixth was easy for the first two parts but pretty darn hard for the final part, and it was actually on that part that I made a pretty major breakthrough that gave me all kinds of feels I wasn’t expecting! But I’ll come back to that in a minute. The seventh and final Special Stage is brutal. Even using save states, I felt a genuine sense of accomplishment when I cleared that one.
I will say, I think I was a bit hasty using save states to get all the Chaos Emeralds this early in the game. I kinda forgot how much easier Super Sonic makes the rest of the game. Also, I kinda want to spend some time practicing (using the level select no doubt) the special stages, because I think I can get good enough at them to not have to use save states at all if I really drill myself on them, and as silly as it seems to care about that, I care about everything, so.
Now. That breakthrough I promised you I’d come back to. So, I was playing the second to last Special Stage, and there’s this part where you basically need to thread a needle between two clusters of bombs while also collecting some rings... and it feels basically impossible when you factor in that you also need to do this while keeping A.I.-me from getting hit.
I had two epiphanies/major mental shifts during this tiny part of the game. One is I realized, “Oh, heck. This is, on a small scale, what it feels like to be Sonic. He not only has to account for what he’s doing, he has to account for what I’m doing behind him. That’s so difficult!” And that was pretty trippy all on its own. And I got to the point where instead of saying, “Damn it, Tails!” (deeply ironic coming from me, I know) when A.I.-me hit a bomb, I was saying, “Sorry, Tails!”
But that wasn’t all.
The second shift was harder, and is something that is going to take a lot of practice to fully realize. But it was also incredibly emotionally rewarding. So, I finally figured out how to get past that one part, and what I figured out kind of blew my mind. I kept thinking, “How can I grab those rings and keep A.I.-Tails from hitting the bombs.” And that’s when it clicked.
I didn’t need to somehow grab the rings and swing out of the way fast enough for A.I.-me to not hit the bombs! I needed to let A.I.-me grab the rings for me! And I basically laughed out loud with joy when I realized that. Now. I’m not nearly good enough at these Special Stages yet to consistently implement this, but that’s what I’ve been missing all this time (and I think a lot of other people who’ve played Sonic 2 have missed). A.I.-Tails isn’t an obstacle, he’s an asset! You just need to put him in a position to succeed! And realizing that at some point Sonic had the exact same realization about me on a larger scale was just trippy in the best possible way.
Fuck, I love him.
Fuck, I love this game.
Aquatic Ruin Zone (2/10)
I gotta be honest, I’ve kinda always seen this as a nothing zone. It’s pretty! The colors are very vibrant, and the background is especially striking. It’s still just kind of a worse/more boring Marble Garden Zone but with water, though. And I wasn’t super impressed by it even before Sonic 3 came out. This one has “filler zone” written all over it.
I think what really hampers this is it tried to be distinct but kinda missed, imo? I don’t think any of the gimmicks (those stupid finger bouncer things, the rising or crumbling columns) aside from the arrow-launchers really added much, and the arrows are improved upon quite a bit in Sonic 3.
I guess one part I do appreciate is that while this is the token underwater level of the game, it’s actually super easy to avoid the underwater stuff altogether??? I remember not being able to my first few playthroughs, but now I would pretty much have to intentionally end up underwater. Which... I believe we have covered my position on my hedgehog being underwater quite thoroughly.
But, yeah. On the whole, I’m just not that impressed by this zone. And it doesn’t give me especially strong feels? Like. I’m sure I’ve explored places like this with Sonic, but I think there are other renditions of this kind of location that really nail it a lot better. Honestly, I feel kinda dirty talking negative about a Sonic 2 zone, but I think this zone is the weakest one in Sonic 2 by a pretty comfortable margin, so there is that.
The boss is extremely easy to beat even before you know the trick, but if you know the trick he’s a joke. If you jump onto the totem poles while they’re raising out of the ground you can just stay on top without much trouble and hit him with impunity. Just make sure you bounce back onto the totem and don’t get hit by the hammer. But yeah, even if you beat him the way you’re “supposed” to it’s pretty easy. Heck, even Sonic 4 dunked on this boss pretty effectively. That’s just sad.
And like, even with bosses that aren’t very rewarding in a gameplay sense, in Sonic 2 I can largely say “at least it looked cool!” but... not so much with this one? Mostly because of the cultural appropriation. So, yeah. I guess we should talk about that now.
This is not the franchise’s first brush with cultural appropriation (there’s background totem poles in Green Hill Zone, for instance) but it’s the first extremely noticeable one. Other expansive examples include Egyptian pyramid-like levels (famously in Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2) and an Ancient Egypt setting in the time travel arc of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. There’s also plenty of appropriation from indigenous peoples and other cultures all over the comics.
So, just to be super clear, there is an extremely obvious answer to this in our world: these things are wrong and should be called out as such. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the game/comic/show, but it is something I think anyone who enjoys this franchise needs to be aware of and needs to actively fight to keep from happening again.
If you don’t care about my messy, personal otherkin stuff, that’s actually where you can stop reading. But considering like three people are reading this, you’ll probably keep reading. So. Yeah.
The complicating factor (which does not impact how I approach this stuff w/r/t media criticism and fandom) is that I think Mobius is a real place and that I’m from there. And for all I know some of this stuff could really exist there. But even if that’s the case, these things aren’t 1-to-1. And in the end, these artists are drawing on their personal experiences to tell a story, and I think that’s the only level on which it really makes sense to address this stuff in the context of how it’s likely to affect people in the here and now. The only reason I’m even talking about this complicating factor is that I’ve been being really personal in these basically diary entries about the games and how they’re helping me find myself, so it feels kinda weird to leave something like this out.
For any fellow otherkin reading this... I’m fairly new in the community, so I don’t feel especially equipped to tackle big questions like “what to do when your source material gets racist”/etc, but I do think this is a conversation that needs to happen if it hasn’t already. (And if it has, please point me to it.) And I can see a lot of pitfalls (cancelling people for having “problematic” kintypes, or swinging too far in the other direction and just ignoring real serious problems in your source text because it’s your source text), and I’d really like to see some community-generated solutions to this stuff.
... anyway, yeah. That’s a lot more than I expected to have to write about Aquatic Ruin Zone. (Ok, a lot of it was peripheral to Aquatic Ruin Zone, but still.)
Casino Night Zone (2/10)
Wellp, this is the first one of these! Robotnik really seems to have a thing for casinos. That’s... kinda all I got here.
I remember not really loving this zone as a kid, probably owing to the fact that it’s drastically different than the others? Now I actually find that an asset. You need an oddball one every now and then!
It’s pretty hard to die on this zone, so there is that. Like, there are a few places you can get crushed if you’re not careful but it’s still one of the least dangerous zones in the game honestly.
Oh I keep forgetting to say how many lives I have. I think I have like 15 at this point? I had 13 after Chemical Plant. Don’t think I gained any on Aquatic Ruin Zone, and think I picked up two here.
The boss of this one used to give me fits until I figured out that you’re better off spindashing up the side and hitting him that way rather than using the flippers. You have way more control that way! But honestly, the boss doesn’t do much for me conceptually. Like, I’m glad it uses the theme of the zone and all, but it’s just not my favorite kind of boss. Also, I had Super Sonic for him this time, so that like... totally trivialized him, obviously.
But, yeah! I don’t have much to say about this one, I’m kinda stalling at this point! It’s actually a pretty good zone, good concept, well-executed. I just don’t have a lot to add! Except that it’s decently likely that this Zone may have fed pretty directly into the development of Sonic Spinball! And I’m actually a pretty big fan of Sonic Spinball, so yeah. Glad that’s a thing I guess!
Hill Top Zone (2/10)
I’ve always liked this zone! I mean, it has a lot of aesthetic similarities with Emerald Hill Zone but it’s blue! So, yeah. Obviously I have some superficial reasons for digging it.
I really like the mountain theme here, and I really like the way it leads into the next zone being a cave zone! It just makes a lot of sense. And there’s so many cute little creative features to really emphasize that this is a mountain-based zone! The lava pits and chair lifts and whatnot.
I can also pretty easily see exploring this kind of location with Sonic. It’s gorgeous! And obviously being this close to the sky appeals to me specifically for a lot of reasons.
The boss for this one is pretty good! He fits with the theme of the level, as there are lava pits you can fall into and he’s in a kind of lava submarine that throws fire at you. It’s a really neat concept! He’s pretty easy to beat, especially if you have Super Sonic, but you can destroy him before he submerges for the first time even without Super Sonic, so yeah. Not hard, but still cool!
Mystic Cave Zone
Plenty of good stuff going on in this zone!! As far as my stuff goes, it’s just another distinct setting that it would make sense for Sonic and I to explore (especially if Robotnik’s trail led through it), and (especially after the literal highs of Hill Top Zone) I would probably feel pretty confined due to not being able to see the sky, but yeah.
Like basically every zone in the 16-bit Sonic games, this one is gorgeous. One thing that really does ring true to me whenever there’s a natural setting depicted in these zones is that they really do bring a lot of Mobius’s natural beauty up front, and seeing that makes me feel so happy but also pretty damn homesick.
Gameplay wise, this is a pretty good zone! The obstacles and other features included make a lot of sense for the setting, and so do the Badniks you encounter. I also like the boss, though he’s pretty easy if you have Super Sonic. But yeah, the Egg-O-Matic with two drills attached makes a lot of sense for a cave setting. So yeah, overall this zone is pretty great!
Oil Ocean Zone
So this is kind of uncomfortable. But yeah. An oil zone with music that’s clearly supposed to be evocative of Middle Eastern cultures is... yeah. I talked about racism in these games at length in my Aquatic Ruins Zone writeup, so I won’t belabor the point too much. But yeah. Not great.
Now, of course Robuttnik would have an oil refinery that dumps oil into the ocean. I have no issue there. It’s only the framing that’s fucked. (And, y’know, worth noting that this game came out in 1992, not long after the first Gulf War.) But like... I still get some definite kinfeels here because like... I can imagine fighting my way through a grimy oil refinery with Sonic, being horrified at the senseless acts of environmental destruction being committed by that asshole Robotnik.
The frustrating thing is, this is actually a pretty great zone otherwise. The vibrant color scheme works really well here. The two Badniks you encounter in this stage are ocean-themed, and the level design has some really cool features like oil slides and I think the first appearance? of the cannons that shoot you back and forth to carry you to different parts of the level. The music is also really catchy even though, y’know. The obvious problems.
I’ve never really liked the boss for this one? It’s just kinda... overly complicated with no real unifying theme? It’s fine in terms of gameplay, there’s just not really anything holding it all together.
This zone is also recreated in Sonic Mania, which... is its own kind of frustrating. Like, it’s a really great, really distinct zone if you separate it from the big, glaring problem... but it feels really not okay to just straight up ignore the big, glaring problem.
Metropolis Zone (2/11)
This is where things Get Real. You’ve chased Robotnik all the way to his base. Like Scrap Brain Zone before it, Metropolis Zone is a vast industrial nightmare, churning out Badniks and weapons and all other manner of vile things. Unquestionably this is where our animal friends are being enslaved by Robotnik, trapped in their horrifying metal prisons.
I do not like it here.
It takes quite a bit of mental and emotional fortitude on our parts to keep fighting our way through this land of nightmares. And fittingly, this is one of the toughest zones of the game. The obstacles are harder, the margins for error smaller. In addition to all kinds of nasty traps and just generally difficult layouts, this zone features arguably the hardest Badniks of the game in the form of the Shellcracker (a crab-like robot with an extending claw with a very long reach) and Slicers (a mantis-like robot that throws spinning blades that are very difficult to avoid). Asterons (the starfish-like explodey boys) can also be tricky for newer players but once you know how to avoid them really aren’t that bad. And all of these are placed at the most awkward possible locations to make them genuinely challenging to get past without taking damage.
And to top it off, if you don’t have Super Sonic for the boss (which you’re unlikely to given the level layout unless you somehow manage to have 50 rings right when you get to the boss) it’s easily the most difficult boss of the game outside of the final boss. I actually died to him thrice, which is frustrating because I rarely die in these games. But this is kinda awesome because it makes beating him feel like a genuine victory. (Obviously if you have a second player to play Tails you can just totally trivialize this boss. But y’know.)
This is without a doubt one of the best zones of the game and one of the best zones of any Sonic game. It’s so grueling, but in a fun way? And that’s just perfect for this stage of the game.
Sky Chase Zone (2/11)
I mean. Yeah. I don’t even know if I need to say anything here? It’s a zone where I fly Sonic around while he destroys Badniks and we chase down Robotnik’s escape airship. Yes, I said escape airship. Look, he’s ridiculous. Yeah, I love this zone. Yeah, it gives me tons of kinfeels. What else even is there to say here?
The Badniks are very cool-looking, fitting with the zone’s theme, and deployed to be hard without being too hard. And the zone looks great. I especially love the cumulonimbus (or actually, they might just be towering cumulus) clouds you see in the background sometimes.
Actually, that reminds me. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in real life was a storm cloud while I was in a plane. It was so huge, it made me feel insignificant. And we ended up having to fly really close to it. I don’t know. I’ve always loved storm clouds, but actually getting to see one that close was like... the closest I’ll ever come to knowing what it would really feel like to see a kaiju.
Anyway. Yeah. I love this zone. Goodbye.
Wing Fortress Zone (2/11)
This zone totally rules!! It’s tough, but not too tough. It has a ton of new, pretty impressive features! And it really does feel like you’re fighting your way through Robotnik’s massive airship. It’s very distinct, which is great! And it’s another example of storytelling through level design, something Sonic 2 really advanced!
I’m not gonna lie, I get pretty emotional over the tornado getting shot down at the beginning of this zone. Sonic having to go on without me, who has been fighting by his side for this entire story, is heart-wrenching! And it’s a very Shit’s Getting Real kinda moment.
The boss for this one is pretty tough if you don’t have Super Sonic, but the good news is it’s pretty easy to have Super Sonic for it! And Super Sonic just totally trivializes it.
After you dispatch the boss, you don’t quite catch up with Robotnik’s escape spaceship (yeah, he has an escape spaceship), and all appears lost. Until... I reenter the scene flying a repaired Tornado!! Upgraded with a rocket engine beneath that helps us barely catch up with Robotnik’s rocket so Sonic can jump onto it and hold on for dear life until it docks with the Death Egg.
Death Egg Zone (2/11)
GUESS WHO HAS TWO TAILS AND BEAT THE NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT SONIC 2 FINAL BOSS IN ONE TRY!!!!!!
So, yeah. This is... probably pretty easily the best final zone/boss of a Sonic game ever? I’m of course open to the possibility that I’ll change my mind as I play through more of them, but yeah. I don’t know. This one is going to be hard to beat.
Mecha Sonic AND that massive Eggman robot? Just... yeah. It’s pretty unfair. And the music. and the setting. And, yeah. It’s just a beyond incredible way to end a game.
So, yeah. Both of these bosses are pretty tough, and you get no rings. It’s a really stressful zone. I literally threw my arms up in the air in victory when I beat the final boss in one try! I had never done that before and I’m not sure I’ll be able to easily replicate the feat anytime soon.
As far as kinfeels... I mean, yeah. It’s the Death Egg. I feel exactly the way I should feel about it. No, I don’t know if there’s ever been such a thing in my Mobius, but like... it’s not hard to imagine how I would feel if there were.
Ending
So, yeah. You destroy the final boss which makes the Death Egg blow up for some reason (shrug), and then you’re just kinda falling from space. There’s a brief semi-animated scene of me looking up and seeing Sonic falling. And then I rush up to meet him in the Tornado.
If you don’t have all the Chaos Emeralds, I rescue him. If you do, he goes Super right when I meet him and flies alongside me. Either way, a 16-bit version of a literal love song plays over a scene where I’m rushing up to my hero’s rescue and we’re joyously reunited after literally saving the world together.
The Greatest. Love. Story. Ever. Told.
Couples Depicted in this Game
1. Sonic/Tails (S/T-Rank)
Zones
1. Death Egg Zone (S-Rank)
2. Emerald Hill Zone (S-Rank)
3. Chemical Plant Zone (S-Rank)
4. Metropolis Zone (S-Rank)
5. Wing Fortress Zone (S-Rank)
6. Sky Chase Zone (A-Rank)
7. Mystic Cave Zone (B-Rank)
8. Oil Ocean Zone (B-Rank)
9. Hill Top Zone (B-Rank)
10. Casino Night Zone (B-Rank)
11. Aquatic Ruin Zone (C-Rank)
Bosses
1. Death Egg Robot (S-Rank)
2. Mecha Sonic (S-Rank)
3. Flying Eggman (A-Rank)
4. Drill Eggman (S-Rank)
5. Water Eggman (A-Rank)
6. Drill Eggman II (A-Rank)
7. Submarine Eggman (A-Rank)
8. Barrier Eggman (B-Rank)
9. Tonkachi Eggman (C-Rank)
10. Submarine Eggman II (C-Rank)
11. Catcher Eggman (C-Rank)
Soundtrack
1. Final Boss (S-Rank)
2. Ending Theme (Sweet Dreams) (S-Rank)
3. Chemical Plant Zone (S-Rank)
4. Emerald Hill Zone (S-Rank)
5. Boss (S-Rank)
6. Metropolis Zone (A-Rank)
7. Wing Fortress Zone (A-Rank)
8. Credits (A-Rank)
9. Death Egg Zone (B-Rank)
10. Sky Chase Zone (B-Rank)
11. Mystic Cave Zone 2-player (B-Rank)
12. Casino Night Zone 2-player (B-Rank)
13. Casino Night Zone (B-Rank)
14. Special Stage (B-Rank)
15. Emerald Hill Zone 2-player (B-Rank)
16. Hill Top Zone (B-Rank)
17. Mystic Cave Zone (B-Rank)
18. Oil Ocean Zone (B-Rank)
19. Aquatic Ruin Zone (B-Rank)
20. (unused) Hidden Palace Zone (C-Rank)