➤ Run Sonic, run! 🎮

Rivers of ink have been spilled on the fall of a myth like Sonic The Hedgehog, and as much as one does not want to add further salt on the wounds, an occasion like the 3D Classics remake of the second episode of the series, for Mega Drive, dated 1992 ( 23 years ago), reveals in a plastic and merciless way the difference between what the blue hedgehog was "when he was young", and what he is today, mistreated and raped by a SAW who no longer seems to have the slightest idea where to take him, both from the point of view of presentation and gameplay. Which hurts even more since Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is here, concrete, still splendid despite the years, an example and model that, for some reason, no one seems to have the strength to follow.

The 3D Classics line for Nintendo 3DS is enriched with a new gem: Sonic The Hedgehog 2!

Run like a porcupine!

In an era in which Super Mario World had set new standards in the platforming genre (standards never exceeded, according to some, but that's another story), the response of the historical rival SEGA was a weird, but absolutely cool, porcupine. blue that made speed his winning weapon.

But Sonic The Hedgehog, as impressive as it was at first glance for how it ran, for spectacular touches like loops, for the graphics at the time incredible, it was a game much deeper than it appeared, with a level complex design that left a lot of space for exploration with its crossroads, its alternative roads and its Emeralds to collect to earn the complete ending. In Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Yuji Naka and his Sonic Team tread even more hand with the "double soul" of the saga: the frenetic phases made up of combinations of loops, dizzying loops, buffers, jumps, rings to collect and enemies to eliminate in a path to be learned by heart and that gives great exaltation, alternate with delicious more thoughtful but equally satisfying phases, in which to choose the path to take, to go and find secrets and hidden recesses, to deal with obstacles, moving platforms and enemies whose management requires more thought than quick reflexes. Every Sonic 2D fan has his favorite episode, this second one is still at the top of the chart in the hearts of many just for how he managed to combine his two souls in a very balanced way, and although perhaps in Sonic CD they have reached even more peaks. high, the speech still remains unassailable today. Of course, even at the time there were defects: an artificially increased difficulty through, for example, elements inserted on purpose - "cheap" as the English speakers would say - in the fast phases to make you lose 99% of all the hard-won rings, or some internships clearly not up to the others, and in general the whole final part of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 seems less studied than the first half. And again, the big news of the second episode, the introduction of Miles "Tails" Prower as a second character controlled by the CPU or by another player, both in cooperative and competitive mode, although very brave was certainly not the main attraction. . But ultimately in the 90s the whole saga, and this episode in particular, was a fantastic alternative to Super Mario, in some respects even superior.

The 3D effect

As we say in the body of the piece, there are two ways of exploiting the 3D effect: one that moves the backdrops in depth, another that creates that effect for which the elements in the foreground almost seem to "come out of the screen". In both cases, the stereoscopy is well implemented, and enhances the many levels of parallax that at the time, together with the speed, made the game incredible to see, without affecting the frame rate and gameplay at all.

Rogue nostalgia

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 has aged very well, but it cannot be said to be among those, indeed very few, titles that do not feel the weight of age at all. The limitations mentioned above, the artificially fueled difficulty and some less inspired levels, jump even more to the eye in light of what has happened in these 23 years.

One aspect that probably betrays our memories is the fake 3D bonus stages, which are accessed by arriving at checkpoints with at least fifty rings. At the time they made a sensation for their graphic impact and gameplay, today, with true 3D dominating the scene, they are little more than boring and imperfect intervals. A fortiori therefore the work, usually particularly complete, of conversion made by M2 shines. Particularly complete first of all for the whole usual series of goodies intended to best relive the experience: two different types of stereoscopic 3D, the possibility of simulating the effect of old CRT TVs, that of choosing between the Japanese version and the international one, and also to enhance the wonderful soundtrack of Masato Nakamura (one of the most refined aspects of the old Sonic), as well as the effects, emulating the audio chip of the Mega Drive 2, the second version of the 16-bit SEGA that in addition to a more captivating design showed off its greater sonic potential. But also on the gameplay front, some notable additions have been made that express the full understanding by the team of what are the limits of the game. The fully configurable controls, the ability to choose which level to play right away, a mode that starts you with ten rings at each stage and that with each shot only takes away half of the aforementioned, the option to get the invulnerable Super Sonic without going through the bonus stages are all very sensible and welcome changes, as the 3D Classics have accustomed us by now. A small lack in this sense is only the inability to eliminate the split screen in competitive multiplayer, to take advantage of which you will still need two consoles and two virtual copies of the product. An excellent job, which enhances a historical and very valid game. And which, mercilessly, reveals even more the misery into which a franchise that made history has fallen. Misery that, we may be granted a final controversial note, does not nestle only in the gameplay: here is Sonic, simple, in all its essence, a character from 25 years ago who, however, still remains undeniably cool and fascinating. Why it has recently been decided to change the design and "lore" by adding scarves and creating characters and stories bordering on ridicule, remains a sad mystery.

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Digital Delivery Nintendo eShop Price 4,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

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Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is a real school case. First of all, even with some small limitations, it is a sort of design bible on how 2D platformers were made in the 90s, when the genre was the most popular. And then it's a cruel touchstone to assess exactly the situation in which the poor blue hedgehog ended up, both in terms of gameplay and design. It's not a game on which time hasn't left any mark of its passage, but it remains excellent in itself, and M2's usual fantastic work makes this the definitive version. Add in the usual super low price and there's no reason not to recommend 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2 to nostalgics and newbies alike.