Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was first released on November 21, 1996. Ever since its release, the game has revolutionized the gaming industry as it overhauled everything from its predecessor and truly showcased the power of Sega Genesis at that time. At the time of this review, the game will be 31 years old in a few days, so why not look back and see how it holds up today? Before I begin, do note that I will be reviewing the SEGA Mega Drive & Genesis Classics version of the game.

Story and Gameplay

The story is simple: you play as Sonic, stop Dr. Eggman from stealing the chaos emeralds, and save the day. Now, onto the gameplay. The gameplay is as great as anyone can remember. You can play as both Sonic and Tails or just go solo, depending on your choice. Once you have selected your character, you have to defeat Eggman’s robots and spin-dash your way to the goal.

Each act is divided into two parts, with the second act including a boss battle once you reach the end of the stage. Also, let’s not forget the special stages. Collecting 50 rings and reaching a checkpoint will enable you to enter a special stage where the goal is to avoid obstacles and collect as many rings as you can to clear the requirements. However, what’s annoying is that Tails tends to screw up everything you do, so you’ll have to respond faster; otherwise, no chaos emerald for you.

Overall Performance

Depending on which version you’re playing, the performance can vary. Personally, the only issue I faced was the sound test. While testing for the wonderful debug mode, I encountered an issue where selecting a sound and going back to the main menu or starting a game would only play the sound I selected. In addition, there’s no sound effect or anything, and the only way to fix it is to restart the game, at least in my scenario.

Other than that, the game worked as it should. It was a great, memorable experience that I remembered from my childhood days and still enjoy to this day. In conclusion, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is still the great game you’ll remember from the old days, as long as the new ports don’t include major bugs. Speaking of Sonic, check out our review on Sonic Frontiers where we look at how its last DLC upgraded many things the game needed.