I played this one a lot when I was younger. I think I just appreciated that it was still a Sonic game but it was a change of pace! It was also a lot shorter and felt a little less “serious” so it was a good game to play more casually. For instance, I beat this game in one sitting this morning without it making much of a dent in my day.
I don’t think it really makes sense for me to go through this one in depth like I do most of the standard games given that you’re effectively just doing one thing (using pinball mechanics to collect way more Chaos Emeralds than there have ever been before or since and then fighting bosses, also with pinball mechanics) over and over. So let’s just talk about it all briefly.
The game opens with me and Sonic flying towards a scary-looking mountain with a giant Robotnik face on it in our plane, the Tornado. Robotnik’s defenses open fire on us, and I manage to bank out of the way of the first volley but the second catches the tornado in the wing, knocking Sonic down to the water below. Oh, no!
According to the instruction book some of Sonic’s animal friends save him, and he emerges wet but no worse for the wear in the first zone, Toxic Caves. Toxic Caves is a pretty great opening level, and a unique setting! It makes story sense for his infiltration of Robotnik’s fortress to start in a sewer level. And this level does what any good first level of a Sonic game does: teaches you how to play the game. Its boss is a... kind of weird giant scorpion thing with Robotnik’s face. It’s a bit unnerving, but easy to beat.
If Sonic is still wet from falling in the ocean (or lake or whatever it is) and making his way through the toxic sewers, he’s sure to dry off in Lava Powerhouse. So, yeah, Robotnik’s base is on a volcano, so a geo-thermal powerplant makes perfect sense as the next progression after the initial infiltration through the sewers. The boss for this one is kinda nightmare fuel, and I gotta say the first two bosses make way less story sense than the second two. Like, I can accept the scorpion bot even if it doesn’t 100% seem like Robotnik’s style. I kinda don’t know why he just has a boiler with giant Robotnik heads floating around in it lying around. Not sure what practical purpose that one’s supposed to serve apart from being creepy af.
As Sonic gets deeper into Robotnik’s base he next finds himself in The Machine. This one has your usual “Robotnik’s base” sorta aesthetic, everything is metal and mechanized. This zone is pretty easy but its aesthetics rule. And releasing all the animals trapped in the cells in the animal prison is very cathartic. And it has easily the best boss of the game imo. And speaking of catharsis, literally blowing up a new, more powerful roboticizer certainly fits the bill.
And lastly you have The Showdown, which is honestly kinda a letdown imo? Like, it’s not bad, I wouldn’t call anything in this game bad, I just don’t think it integrates its theme as effectively as the other levels. A lot of the mechanics and obstacles in it feel pretty arbitrary. Its aesthetics totally work, though! Like the fact that you can just look down and see craters full of lava that you need to avoid falling into. And the final boss is pretty good, too! It’s thematically appropriate, as Robotnik is preparing to try to escape in his spaceship, and it also feels appropriately difficult as a final boss.
The bonus stages in this one aren’t as essential as they usually are in terms of what they reward you with, but given that most of them allow you to free me (and some Archie characters, randomly), they’re actually crucial! Don’t leave your two-tailed foxes in (non-consensual) captivity!!
Oh yeah, and the ending is Robuttnik and Sonic falling from the sky after Sonic destroys the spaceship, and I swoop in on the Tornado to rescue Sonic!! Yay!!! Always a good way to end a Sonic game imo.
So, yeah! My understanding is a lot of people complain about this one, and I get it. It is the result of Sega rushing to have a game out for the holiday season when they realized they weren’t gonna have Sonic 3 in time. But I’ve always been a fan of this game, and still am. It’s a nice little diversion! And it’s something different.
Zones
Toxic Caves (B-Rank)
The Machine (B-Rank)
The Showdown (C-Rank)
Lava Powerhouse (C-Rank)
Bosses
Veg-O-Machine (A-Rank)
Robotnik's Ship (C-Rank)
Scorpius (C-Rank)
Robo-Boiler (C-Rank)
Soundtrack
Boss Battle (A-Rank)
Toxic Caves (B-Rank)
The Machine (B-Rank)
Special Stage (B-Rank)
Lava Powerhouse (B-Rank)
The Showdown (B-Rank)
Credits (D-Rank)
I don’t think it really makes sense for me to go through this one in depth like I do most of the standard games given that you’re effectively just doing one thing (using pinball mechanics to collect way more Chaos Emeralds than there have ever been before or since and then fighting bosses, also with pinball mechanics) over and over. So let’s just talk about it all briefly.
The game opens with me and Sonic flying towards a scary-looking mountain with a giant Robotnik face on it in our plane, the Tornado. Robotnik’s defenses open fire on us, and I manage to bank out of the way of the first volley but the second catches the tornado in the wing, knocking Sonic down to the water below. Oh, no!
According to the instruction book some of Sonic’s animal friends save him, and he emerges wet but no worse for the wear in the first zone, Toxic Caves. Toxic Caves is a pretty great opening level, and a unique setting! It makes story sense for his infiltration of Robotnik’s fortress to start in a sewer level. And this level does what any good first level of a Sonic game does: teaches you how to play the game. Its boss is a... kind of weird giant scorpion thing with Robotnik’s face. It’s a bit unnerving, but easy to beat.
If Sonic is still wet from falling in the ocean (or lake or whatever it is) and making his way through the toxic sewers, he’s sure to dry off in Lava Powerhouse. So, yeah, Robotnik’s base is on a volcano, so a geo-thermal powerplant makes perfect sense as the next progression after the initial infiltration through the sewers. The boss for this one is kinda nightmare fuel, and I gotta say the first two bosses make way less story sense than the second two. Like, I can accept the scorpion bot even if it doesn’t 100% seem like Robotnik’s style. I kinda don’t know why he just has a boiler with giant Robotnik heads floating around in it lying around. Not sure what practical purpose that one’s supposed to serve apart from being creepy af.
As Sonic gets deeper into Robotnik’s base he next finds himself in The Machine. This one has your usual “Robotnik’s base” sorta aesthetic, everything is metal and mechanized. This zone is pretty easy but its aesthetics rule. And releasing all the animals trapped in the cells in the animal prison is very cathartic. And it has easily the best boss of the game imo. And speaking of catharsis, literally blowing up a new, more powerful roboticizer certainly fits the bill.
And lastly you have The Showdown, which is honestly kinda a letdown imo? Like, it’s not bad, I wouldn’t call anything in this game bad, I just don’t think it integrates its theme as effectively as the other levels. A lot of the mechanics and obstacles in it feel pretty arbitrary. Its aesthetics totally work, though! Like the fact that you can just look down and see craters full of lava that you need to avoid falling into. And the final boss is pretty good, too! It’s thematically appropriate, as Robotnik is preparing to try to escape in his spaceship, and it also feels appropriately difficult as a final boss.
The bonus stages in this one aren’t as essential as they usually are in terms of what they reward you with, but given that most of them allow you to free me (and some Archie characters, randomly), they’re actually crucial! Don’t leave your two-tailed foxes in (non-consensual) captivity!!
Oh yeah, and the ending is Robuttnik and Sonic falling from the sky after Sonic destroys the spaceship, and I swoop in on the Tornado to rescue Sonic!! Yay!!! Always a good way to end a Sonic game imo.
So, yeah! My understanding is a lot of people complain about this one, and I get it. It is the result of Sega rushing to have a game out for the holiday season when they realized they weren’t gonna have Sonic 3 in time. But I’ve always been a fan of this game, and still am. It’s a nice little diversion! And it’s something different.
Zones
Toxic Caves (B-Rank)
The Machine (B-Rank)
The Showdown (C-Rank)
Lava Powerhouse (C-Rank)
Bosses
Veg-O-Machine (A-Rank)
Robotnik's Ship (C-Rank)
Scorpius (C-Rank)
Robo-Boiler (C-Rank)
Soundtrack
Boss Battle (A-Rank)
Toxic Caves (B-Rank)
The Machine (B-Rank)
Special Stage (B-Rank)
Lava Powerhouse (B-Rank)
The Showdown (B-Rank)
Credits (D-Rank)