Oddly enough, 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 lacks the resurrected Hidden Palace Zone that featured in the game’s recent iOS port, a stage that was left on the cutting room floor during the games.

. WW: February 13, 2020Mode(s),Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a developed and published by for the console, released worldwide in November 1992. It is the second main entry in the series, and introduced 's sidekick, controllable by a second player. In the story, Sonic and Tails must stop series antagonist from stealing the to power his, the Death Egg.Development of the game began in November 1991. The game was developed by both Japanese and American staff at. The game was directed by Masaharu Yoshii and produced by, with game design led by and music composed.

Art director Tim Skelly designed the appearance of the new 3D special stages based on a created. The staff increased the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in comparison to its predecessor.Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sold over six million copies, making it the second-bestselling Genesis game behind the original.

Cited as one of the, it received acclaim for its level design, visuals and music, although its multiplayer mode was criticized. It has been rereleased on various platforms; a remastered version developed using the released on and in December 2013. Two direct sequels, and, were released in 1994. Sonic and Tails hopping across pillars in the third stage, Aquatic Ruin ZoneSonic the Hedgehog 2 is a. The game stars and his sidekick, who is described as having idolized Sonic as a child and wanting to keep up with him. At the game's start, the player can select to either play as Sonic, Tails, or both.

The difference between the two is purely cosmetic; the two both have identical abilities. In the dual mode, players control Sonic while Tails runs along beside him. A second player can join in at any time and control Tails separately. The game takes place over a series of levels, each divided into one, two, or three acts with a fight with Robotnik at the end of the last act. Certain levels have features that are unique to them; for example, Emerald Hill has corkscrew-like loops, and Chemical Plant has boost pads that instantly put Sonic at his top speed. The character can jump on enemies to defeat them; the game also introduces a new move, the 'spin dash' or 'Super Dash Attack', by which the player curls in a ball and spins while stationary, resulting in a speed boost. When the player is attacked by an enemy without rings, is crushed, falls off-screen, drowns, or exceeds the act's ten-minute limit, they lose a and return to the start of the act or from the most recently passed.

Dying with zero lives gives the player a. The game's special stages, in which the player collects rings in hopes of obtaining a Chaos Emerald, are presented in 3D, unlike the rest of the game.When the player collects at least 50 rings and passes a checkpoint, they can warp to a 'special stage'. In these stages, the player runs through a pseudo- course, collecting rings and dodging bombs. A set amount of rings must be collected to pass through each of three checkpoints and in turn to obtain the emerald itself. If Sonic collides with a bomb, he loses ten rings and is immobilized momentarily. The stages rise in difficulty, and the player cannot enter any stage without passing the previous one. After finishing, the player is transported back to the star post they used to enter the special stage, with their ring-count reset to zero.

When all Emeralds have been collected, Sonic can transform into Super Sonic by collecting 50 rings and jumping. Super Sonic is invincible to attacks, runs faster, and jumps further; however, he loses one ring per second and reverts to regular Sonic when his rings are depleted.The game also has a competitive mode, where two players compete against each other to the finish line, as either Sonic or Tails, in a split-screen race through three of the regular levels and a special stage. After one player finishes one of the regular levels, the other player must finish the zone within 60 seconds, or the level ends instantly. In the regular levels, players are ranked in five areas (score, time, rings held at the end of the level, total rings collected, and the number of item boxes broken). The player with wins in the most number of categories wins the level.

In the Special Stage, players compete to obtain the most rings. The mode ends when all stages have been completed, or if a player loses all their lives, in which their opponent will automatically win.

Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. See also:Sonic & Knuckles was released in 1994, two years after Sonic 2.

The Sonic & Knuckles features a special 'lock-on' port into which the player can insert other Genesis cartridges. Attaching Sonic 2 unlocks Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a variation of Sonic 2 whereby the player plays as, a character introduced in and not playable until Sonic & Knuckles. Though the game is largely identical to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles is able to glide and climb walls, allowing him access to areas previously inaccessible to Sonic or Tails. However, he cannot jump as high, making some parts of the game, such as certain boss fights, more difficult. In addition, Knuckles restarts with the amount of rings he collected at checkpoints (if he loses a life), the options are unavailable, the special stages have slightly fewer rings required to collect than before (for example, ten rings fewer than in the special stages with Sonic and Tails), and the two-player mode is removed.

Plot The game's premise is similar to that of the original. Sonic's nemesis, is planning world domination through the power of the and an army of robots powered by trapped animals. Specific to this game, he is additionally constructing an armored space station known as the Death Egg (an homage to the ), also for the means of world domination.The events of the game see Sonic and Tails chasing Robotnik through West Side Island, and eventually up to the Death Egg, pursuing him with Tails' biplane, the Tornado. The plane is damaged after being shot at, but Sonic still manages to infiltrate the Death Egg, alone. Once there, he battles a robotic imposter before taking on Robotnik, who is piloting a giant.

Sonic manages to defeat the robot and it explodes, damaging the Death Egg and knocking it out of orbit. Sonic falls to the ground and is saved by Tails in the Tornado. If the player has collected all of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic, in his form, flies alongside it. Development Following the release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, creator quit due to disagreements over corporate policy., who had recently founded (STI) in California, met with Naka in Japan and offered him a higher salary and more creative freedom if he joined STI. Naka agreed, and, the lead level designer of Sonic the Hedgehog, also decided to move to STI. Yasuhara had been assigned to help Cerny establish STI in 1990, but the outbreak of the delayed his move to the United States by three months, during which he joined and became part of the original Sonic project.Development of Sonic 2 began in November 1991, two months later than Cerny had intended, as Sega of America initially felt it was too soon for a sequel.

STI handled development; both American and Japanese staff contributed, although, according to team member Tim Skelly, 'Everyone attached to Sonic 2 ultimately worked for Yuji Naka. I think Naka would have been much happier if he was working with an all-Japanese team, but just because of the language barrier and some cultural differences.' Skelly designed the appearance of the pseudo-3D special stages, based on a created by Naka. The special stages were created out of, video of which was compressed and halved vertically and horizontally to fit in the. Sonic 2 also introduced Sonic's sidekick, a flying two-tailed fox, inspired by Japanese folklore about the and created by level artist. Sega of America objected to the character's name, Miles Prower (a on '), so he was given the nickname Tails as a compromise. Masaharu Yoshii served as director.

The staff increased the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 compared to the first game. Music Like the previous game, the music was composed by, bassist and songwriter of the band. Nakamura began composing early in development with only concept images for reference, taking a similar approach to his method for Sonic 1. Nakamura treated Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as a film and designed the music around the atmosphere that he felt from the images of the stages. Except for the graphics and some discussion with Sonic Team, Nakamura was given freedom, which he believes was the reason why he was able to create 'such melodic tunes and unusual rhythm patterns'. Nakamura created the music while he was recording with Dreams Come True in London, working on their fifth album.

As a gift to Sonic Team, Masato produced an alternate version of the ending theme with Dreams Come True, included on The Swinging Star.In 2011, the stage music from Chemical Plant and Casino Night Zone were remixed by for use in. That October, a three-disc compilation of the music from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in Japan. It compilation includes comments by Naka and an interview with Nakamura. The first disc contains original tracks from both games, and the second contains Nakamura's recordings produced during the games' development.

The third disc contains ' by Dreams Come True, its English-language version 'Sweet Dream', and 2006 remixes of both songs by singer, used in (2006). Release launched a $10 million advertising campaign for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sega sought a global release date to make the game available in all stores on the same day, a fairly novel concept at the time. This required Sega to reconfigure its distribution system to ensure that games were available in all major stores. The release date, Tuesday, November 24, 1992 was marketed as 'Sonic 2s day'.

While the Genesis release in North America and the release in Europe both released the game on this day, Sega made the game available a few days before in Japan on November 21, 1992. 400,000 copies of Sonic 2 were sold in the first seven days after release and over 6 million in the lifespan of the console (only 180,000 of which were in Japan ). Cut content Sonic 2 is believed to have been planned to have aspects and was originally developed alongside as the same game, but Sonic CD eventually became a separate game. A demonstration cartridge of Sonic 2 was stolen at a toy show early in 1992. The theft was attributed to a lack of security. The prototype ROM was rediscovered by fan Simon Wai on a Chinese website, and features playable sections of two cut levels: Wood Zone and Hidden Palace Zone.Hidden Palace Zone was planned as a secret stage accessed by collecting Chaos Emeralds. According to Naka, the stage would explain where the Chaos Emeralds came from and grant Sonic his Super Sonic powers.

It was removed for lack of time and cartridge space, and a different version was used in. The 2013 remastered port includes a redesigned Hidden Palace Zone as an optional stage. During development, Sega released mockup images of a cut desert-themed level, and the stolen 1992 prototype features an unused level slot titled 'Genocide City'. According to Naka, the third act of Metropolis Zone was planned as a different stage, but was cut. Feeling it would be a shame to waste the finished map, the team redesigned it as an additional act for Metropolis Zone. Other versions and rereleases 8-bit version. Super crate box hacked.

Main article:A separate version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was developed by and released for the 8-bit and systems. Though based on the original game, it has different and a different plot, in which Tails is kidnapped and Sonic must rescue him. 2013 remaster A mobile port was released for, and on December 12, 2013. It was developed from scratch by and Simon 'Stealth' Thomley of Headcannon using the, previously used in the 2011 remaster. This version adds enhancements such as widescreen graphics, Knuckles as a playable character, time and boss attack modes, online multiplayer, additional multiplayer stages, Tails's flying and swimming abilities from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the previously unreleased Hidden Palace Zone, and a which depicts the Death Egg crash-landing on. Shaun Musgrave of declared it the 'definitive version' of the game.

The iOS version was updated in 2016, adding compatibility for. Compilations. See also:The game has been rereleased on compilations including (1995) for Genesis; (1997) for; (2002) for; (2004) for, and PC; (2006) for PlayStation 2 and; (2009) for and; and (2010) for. Digital ports The game was made available for download on 's on June 11, 2007, via the on April 19, 2011, and via, the latter having enhancements such as online leaderboards, achievements, and online play. Various mobile phone versions exist as well, including the iOS release. The game was released as part of the line in Japan on July 22, 2015, with a release in North America and Europe initially slated for September 2015, before being pushed back to October 8.

This version of the game is enhanced using the stereoscopic 3D technology of the 3DS. In 2018, Sega announced a port would be released as part of the product line. It includes most of the features added to the 3DS version, and added the option to use Sonic's Drop Dash ability from and a mode, plus the lock-on game Knuckles in Sonic 2.

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Nakamura, Masato (2011), Interview with Masato Nakamura (Album Booklet), DCT Records, When I started writing the music, 'Sonic the Hedgehog 1' was just still images.' Sonic the Hedgehog 2' started off the kind of the same.

Sonic the Hedgehog is here to save the day, and this time he's got helpfrom his friend Miles 'Tails' Prower! Eggman (AKA Dr. Robotnik) isback and is planning on building his ultimate weapon, the Death Egg.

Todo so, he's going to turn the animal inhabitants of Mobius into his ownpersonal army of Badniks. Can Sonic obtain the 7 Chaos Emeralds and stophim once and for all?3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is remastered in 3D and full of new features! Isthe Chemical Plant Zone your favorite stage?

Use 'Stage Select' andstart running wherever you want! Run fast without worrying about yourrings.

Cut your losses by choosing Ring Keeper Mode—only half your ringswill be lost after taking damage!Keeping your rings and stopping Dr. Eggman's evil scheme is important,but don’t forget to take some time off from saving the world to playagainst your friends in the 2 Player VS and CO-OP Mode using Local Play!