Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Unfinished game #1
Type of Game
An essential masterclass in ecology, with a frightening effectiveness; it's a pity it's far too fast for the human eye.
Release Date on our machines
November 1992, nearly at the same time all over the world. One of the most inclusive moves of the 20th century.
Developer
Sonic Team (Japan) and Sega Technical Institute (USA). One of the coolest collabs in history.
Publisher
Sega Enterprises Ltd. one of the most stylish companies in... Yeah, I think I'll stop there.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 : available on the Mega Drive Mini (for those who own it), on the Sonic Origins compilation on Steam and PSN, theSEGA Genesis Nintendo Switch Online (so many inconsistencies in this sequence of words), on the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.
I really liked the first Sonic. Even though it didn't become part of my Mega Drive game library until quite a few other cartridges, it made a real impression on me in many ways and kept me busy for months on end. My big sister Elena Vestibule can testify to this, as she took part in all my adventures with this game. As soon as we saw an advert on TV announcing the second opus, we did everything we could to get it. There's a good chance that we received it as a Christmas present, given its carefully planned release date. And inevitably, we immediately preferred the sequel to the original. If I could still take an ambiguous stance towards Nintendo with my friends or classmates before, this game turned me over to the SEGA team for good. And yet, the Super NES arrived in France the same year! From then on, I could finally take part in the console war with maximum investment. Well, in France in particular, it was easier to side with the Mega Drive, so I didn't have too much to be proud of.
New Blood
Sonic Squared
Two playable characters instead of one, both on the same screen or split-screen, new actions available, spins to be taken at full throttle, even more speeeeeeeed! This second opus does everything better than the first, while still having the disadvantage of often breaking the sound barrier. But you tend to overlook flaws when you're a kid, especially if you have to praise the merits of the blue hedgehog against the moustachioed plumber. Apart from these trivialities, Sonic used to appear in my head when I was racing with my friends at playtime, and I was sure that visualising him in my mind helped me go faster.
Just like I used to activate the Kaioken in my head to try and play better tennis (spoiler: it never worked). And frankly, what about the special 3D stages? 3D on the Mega Drive, guys! Without Mega-CD! Well, it already existed, but I didn't know about it. That said, there's nothing better than the introduction of spin and dash, which allows you to start off at full speed even when you're going uphill. This feature, combined with the convoluted level design, opened up a huge range of possibilities. In terms of graphics too, the different levels have exploded the limits of the imagination, which had already been shattered by its predecessor.
It alternates between wilderness settings, a giant multicoloured casino and a chemical plant with little coherence, but I don't think this detail ever bothered anyone. From that point of view, it's a lot like the first Sonic, but with flashy colours (you might not think it's as good, but at seven years old, new was inevitably better). Special mention goes to ‘Oil Ocean’, which depicts a port and industrial zone worthy of the worst apocalyptic scenarios ever written. My favourite all-time stage. Long live pollution, yeah.
The sensation of speed grips you at all times, sometimes a little too intensely, and you lose sight of your little avatar in the red trainers before throwing up. After some games, you'd end up in an advanced state of fatigue, but having recharged your batteries at the same time. On a child, it was an explosive cocktail that must have annoyed more than one parent. In any case, I recognise a big advantage in Sonic: you smash robots to free animals.
So close to the goal
And that, at a time when almost all platformers were about slaughtering flora and fauna without a sweat (with Mr. Nutz and Castle of Illusion topping the list), is a hell of a breath of fresh progressive air. Well, I apologise to all the little creatures trapped by Robotnik that I was never able to save. I kept getting stuck on Wing Fortress, losing myself in it, unable to find my way. Elena reached Death Egg once or twice, but never managed to beat the boss. How can you grow up without finishing Sonic 2, eh? Well, you can't.
Sound Consecration
The O.S.T.s of which I adore absolutely all the titles can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And Sonic 2 isn't one of them. Well, goodbye. On a more serious note, apart from Sky Chase and Wing Fortress, which I don't really like, the other songs bring tears of joy to my eyes. As much the ultra-charged anthems as the darker melodies, ALL these songs have hooked me for life, exploiting the console's sonic capabilities to perfection. It beats without screeching, it vibrates without dizzying, and I'm going to calm down right now before I nauseate myself with this wanker phrasing. You could almost guess which track corresponds to which level without ever having played the game. In my opinion, Sonic 2 surpasses its predecessor in this respect too. Masato Nakamura has come a long way in a year. More tracks, more arrangements, more hype, more frenzy! There are even special compositions for two-player stages! After a game, I'd always start humming the tunes as I ran around the flat, only to be told to knock it off for making too much noise; what better sign of quality, right? I was storing up the same kind of energy as when I played Psycho Fox, but with a triple dose of coolness. Here too, I can understand why people prefer the soundtrack of the first Sonic, which was a bit more humble and contemplative, compared to the sugar-coated overkill of its sequel. But seriously, who can sit still while listening to this kind of material?
poisoned gifts
My sister and I were thrilled when we found out we could play together at the same time! So at the beginning, we were fighting to play Tails, the little fox who does the helicopter with his two tails (sorry, there's no other way to describe it). The loser in the story, often me because I was three years younger, would get stuck with Sonic and take revenge by running as fast as he could to get the other one off the screen. The fox would then escape the player's control, which immediately made it less fun and led to recurring quarrels. A few days later, we were fighting to play Sonic and not Tails, which made sense.
In the event of a conflict that wasn't resolved on the spot, we'd go into versus mode and battle it out in the few exclusive levels, all distorted by the split screen. I remember we thought it was disgusting, but we loved it all the same. It's possible that this cruel lack of cooperation prevented us from finishing the game. Mind you, if we tried it on our own, the AI-controlled tails in the special stages would just drive us crazy with rage as we took all the bombs in the face. So I never collected all the chaos emeralds, nor saw Sonic transforming into a Super Saiyen back when we played at least one game a day; my childhood was 3% less happy because of that.
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