Some of these were difficult to master the controls - the hang glider especially, but gave Sonic 2 a unique identity in my opinion. Another unique feature to Sonic 2 is a number of fun movement gimmicks that were leagues above Sonic 1's offerings in terms of complexity and excitement: minecarts, hang gliders, skimming across water, ascending bubbles and zoom tube mazes. This was also the only 8-bit game to give a significant reward for collecting all six emeralds - a whole extra seventh zone. A couple were almost unfairly hidden or even guide-dang-it-worthy difficulty in terms of locating or even collecting once spotted, I admit. Special Stages weren't present at all here, with all emeralds hidden in levels again, like in Sonic 1. Unlike Sonic 1, this game had entirely different tropes and music from the 16-bit version, and a fabulous soundtrack to accompany them by some of the team behind Sonic CD JP/EU's music. Released just before the Mega Drive game, the story saw Sonic solo due to Eggman kidnapping Tails. It's certainly worth checking out both versions of the game. Sonic's sprite was reduced in size, and many stage layouts and bosses were tweaked or even majorly overhauled to accomodate the smaller field of view. Of all the 8-bit titles, this is one of the only ones that scales down very nicely onto the Game Gear. Unusually, the Special Stages, while present, were entirely optional and offered Continues as their prize. Chaos Emeralds were hidden in the actual stages, some later ones quite fiendishly. There were several high speed moments making use of slopes and springs, but that's about it. Physics play was very low, with the game handling much more like a traditional platformer. There were much fewer alternative routes, many levels having none at all, but the level design was solid and fun despite this. The game shared three zones with the 16-bit version, but had totally different level designs and bosses. While Sonic was busy making his name with mind-blowing physics-based platforming on the Mega Drive, his 8-bit self was off having much more shallow but respectably engaging separate adventures on the Master System and Game Gear.
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