Unlike the first game, I have previously completed the 8-bit Sonic 2, although on the Game Gear which made it rather more tricky. The first boss, for example, rolls balls down a slope in an effort to hit Sonic, and on the Master System you have plenty of time to react, whereas the Game Gear's limited window means balls appear all too suddenly.
On the Mega Drive, there was a clear progression to the second game. You lost some of the pureness of the platforming, yes, and the spin dash meant that there were fewer momentum-based puzzles, but the variety in stages, brightened colour palette, and more imaginative boss battles meant that Sonic 2 was definitely the better game. On the Master System, I'm not sure that's the case.
At the time, it probably was. Sonic's abilities have increased massively, with vehicles, the ability to skip across water, and hidden routes. The problem is that when revisiting it many years later, a lot of this just seems a bit gimmicky.
It is almost as if the game's coders were more interested in seeing what they could cram in to create set pieces, and hide stuff away, that they forgot to make the main linear route in the game as good as it could have been.
That's not to say it's a bad game; far from it. There are some objective improvements, like the way that Sonic can recapture at least one ring after being hit, and the controls are a little tightened up - even if only marginally (I had to go back and play Sonics 1 and 2 in quick succession to tell the difference). Also, like the Mega Drive games, the added variety and colour in stages is welcome, even without the gimmicky bits.
No, it makes no sense to me how Sonic can float in a bubble.
It's a game that sits well in a list of "best Master System games", and maybe near the bottom of a "best platform games ever" list. But to pretend it's as good as the Mega Drive games is just wrong.
For a start, the best games ever should never have a section in them which can only be accomplished by trial and error - and yet in the last few stages, Sonic 2 expects you to memorise a sequence of directional presses to move you along the correct pipes, which you can only work out by constantly going wrong, since the direction of the entrance and the overall direction of the pipe are not connected. This led to many deaths (and many lost rings).
Good game, would mostly recommend.
On the Mega Drive, there was a clear progression to the second game. You lost some of the pureness of the platforming, yes, and the spin dash meant that there were fewer momentum-based puzzles, but the variety in stages, brightened colour palette, and more imaginative boss battles meant that Sonic 2 was definitely the better game. On the Master System, I'm not sure that's the case.
At the time, it probably was. Sonic's abilities have increased massively, with vehicles, the ability to skip across water, and hidden routes. The problem is that when revisiting it many years later, a lot of this just seems a bit gimmicky.
It is almost as if the game's coders were more interested in seeing what they could cram in to create set pieces, and hide stuff away, that they forgot to make the main linear route in the game as good as it could have been.
That's not to say it's a bad game; far from it. There are some objective improvements, like the way that Sonic can recapture at least one ring after being hit, and the controls are a little tightened up - even if only marginally (I had to go back and play Sonics 1 and 2 in quick succession to tell the difference). Also, like the Mega Drive games, the added variety and colour in stages is welcome, even without the gimmicky bits.
No, it makes no sense to me how Sonic can float in a bubble.
It's a game that sits well in a list of "best Master System games", and maybe near the bottom of a "best platform games ever" list. But to pretend it's as good as the Mega Drive games is just wrong.
For a start, the best games ever should never have a section in them which can only be accomplished by trial and error - and yet in the last few stages, Sonic 2 expects you to memorise a sequence of directional presses to move you along the correct pipes, which you can only work out by constantly going wrong, since the direction of the entrance and the overall direction of the pipe are not connected. This led to many deaths (and many lost rings).
Good game, would mostly recommend.
