July
2, 2005
Sonic
the Hedgehog 2 is the most successful videogame ever released for
the Sega Genesis, and one of the most successful games ever made.
I don't think there is another game that is as well-loved or admired
in the entire system's library, and chances are if someone you know
has only played one game, it's Sonic 2.
The
First Four Sonics - they deserved to be titled as a group, like
the Four Marx Brothers - revolutionized 16-bit console games, and
represented an artistic and commercial triumph for Sega. While it's
true that all platform and adventure games owe their existance to
Super Mario Brothers, it's Sonic that everyone steals from.
The
irreverant lead characters, the loose and jazzy level designs, the
bursting speed and energy; they all point back to the hedgehog.
I find that a bit odd, since it's well over a decade later and game
designers should have the horse sense to come up with some new ideas.
But, still, you can't argue with greatness.
I
can never make up my mind whether I enjoy this one or Sonic
CD more. Most of the time I give the slight edge to Sonic CD,
just because it has that mammoth, trippy anime-inspired quality
to it. But if I just want a quick rush, I'll go for this one.
Isn't
this really the most heated of all the Sonic debates? One game becomes
one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, while the other one
fades into legend. Rubber Soul or Revolver? Are You Experienced
or Axis: Bold As Love?
Why
am I always making rock analogies with this series? Sonic the Hedgehog:
the world's first videogame rock star.
---
Here's
what I take out of my experience from Sonic 2: speed. It's an absolute
rush. Even when I'm playing a quick game, darting around for ten
minutes or so, the sheer kinetic energy is gripping. It's all so
expressionist, like Jackson Pollack's paintings or Jimi's guitar.
Even
if you just play for a moment, you're left with a spark - what a
moment! The First Four Sonics just zap out of your fingers.
This
game is just bursting at the seams to prove itself. Sonic seems
taller, a little leaner, and a lot faster. The worlds are far better
suited to his movements, and still invite curiosity; like a child
at the playground, you're eager to run back to the beginning of
the course for another run, this time to take one of those other
paths. Should we barrel through the lower waterfalls, or try to
reach those upper islands?
No
more standing around, patiently waiting for something to happen.
No more getting stuck in traffic like the first
time. This entire game is a never-ending collection of roller
coasters.
It
in the second zone that Sonic vertigo really kicks in. You know
these moments. When he starts spinning down a slope, and just flies
up, down, back around, through a half loop, and then dropped off
three screens away. It's an extended run where you're just carried
along, and it's all you can do to hang on.
And
when it's all done, you fall into some tube and start off again.
What a crazy kick to see the television barely catch up to the action.
This
is where the modern, three-dimensional Sonics really fail. The basic
camera is overhead, behind the shoulder. Anytime you run through
a loop, the camera pans back. It takes you out of the action, and
treats you like a distant spectator. I never could explain this
change. Did Sonic Team lose its nerve? They already created the
perfect three-dimensional Sonic game. It's called Nights:
Into Dreams.
Ah,
well. Forget it. You can either worry about the present, or kick
back for another turn through the Mystic Cave Zone.
---
Having
grown up with Batman and Robin, I've always found it strange how
very few games featured a sidekick. The best thing Sonic Team ever
did was give Sonic that plucky little fox, Tails. He's a great character,
full of spark, unique in his own little way. It's great to see him
shadow Sonic everywhere he goes, mimicking every move.
I'm
sure some people get annoyed when he causes them to crash and lose
precious rings during the spectacular bonus rounds. I'd tell 'em
to get over it. It's not every day you get to race through bobsled
tubes inspired by Atari's STUN Runner with a blue hedgehog and a
twin-tailed fox. If he crashes into a mine, who's fault is it. You're
the one holding the controller.
I
remember the first time my friends and I played the original Sonic,
and discovered the rotating bonus round behind the giant ring. It
was a terrific thrill because we had no idea such a thing would
ever happen. It just popped up out of nowhere. The Sonic 2 bonus
rounds gave me that same feeling. The halfpipe race is more fun
than most full games to slither down the pike.
Have
you ever noticed that none of the newer Sonic games on today's consoles
or Gameboy Advance have decent bonus games like these? What's the
story with that? You just want to grab the creative people responsible,
and shake them down with a whiffle bat and a fly swatter. What's
your deal? Bad toad! Bad toad!
---
There's
something about the bright color tones, and all those quasi-abstract
designs, in Sonic 2. It's all drawn with an eye towards early CGI.
Cone-shaped pine trees, bushes composed of square blocks, enemy
robots made out of spheres and oddly shaped animal heads. Those
checkerboard patterns in Emerald Hill and Hill Top contrast perfectly
with the smooth curves in Chemical Plant; the forest and swamp approach
of Aquatic Ruin, set against the dry industrial angles of Metropols.
I still somehow get lost in the middle of Oil Ocean; I'm still convinced
there's another hidden cache of rings that I haven't found.
And
then there's that whole final act, when Sonic and Tails fly past
the turtle air force en route to the Death Egg. The pacing just
changes, almost a reprieve before the final two thrilling battles
against Mecha Sonic and Robotnik in his enormous Eggman machine.
The development team must have been passing around some great drugs.
Coming
this summer: Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests at the Sega Technical
Institute. Be there or be square, baby. Dreams Come True will bring
the tunes, and they do it better than anyone else on the scene.
Am
I thinking too hard about a console videogame from 1992? Maybe.
But it sure beats reading the paint-by-numbers drivel from any issue
of Gamepro or Game Informer. You weren't expecting me to simply
hand out gameplay tips?
---
It's
interesting to note that Yuji Naka, the brilliant programmer for
Sonic the Hedgehog and one of the game's primary talents, quit Sega
after a pay dispute and left for America before his creation became
a success. He found a friend named Mark Cerny, who created the brilliant
Marble Madness at age seventeen, to work with him in California
at Sega Technical Institute. The STI was a training ground for American
game designers who were learning from the Japanese.
As
it just so happens, the visiting developers from Japan included
Hirozaku Yasuhara, Sonic's game planner. With two of the three top
minds from Sonic Team in the States, STI was given the honor of
creating Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with Naka in charge.
He
took the opportunity and ran with it. You can see the skid marks
all throughout the game.
What
a long, strange trip it's been. |
