Sonic the Hedgehog 2

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2

General

Title: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Format: Megadrive (Genesis)
Developer: Sonic Team, Sega Technical Institute
Genre: Platform
Cart Size: 1Mb (8Mbit)

Release Dates

Japan: 21st November 1992
Europe: November 1992
N. America: 24th November 1992

Story (from European & N. American instruction manuals):

Miles "Tails" Prower, the fox, can't sit still when Sonic's around. Ever since Miles was a baby fox, he's dreamed of being like Sonic. He loves to run after Sonic, waving his 2 tails behind him, trying to keep up with his hero! Mostly, Sonic lets him trail along. But sometimes, just to show off, Sonic explodes in a burst of super speed and leaves him behind. But Miles doesn't give up. He whirls his tails like a helicopter rotor and takes off flying until he catches up! All the animals call Miles by his nickname, "Tails", because of his 2 special tails. And one day they saw an astonishing feat...
They were all together in the forest, watching Sonic perform. Sonic would run, spin and jump in his super spin attack. Then "Tails" would whirl like a turbo engine and blast off in his super dash attack. What a show-off! Suddenly "Tails" just couldn't help himself. He took a running start, curled up his tails, and - whoosh - he was spinning like Sonic! But now something frightening is happening. Sonic's friends are disappearing. In their place, nasty metal robots are popping up all over the island. The mad scientist Dr. Robotnik is at it again! This time, Robotnik's planning a global disaster. He needs workers to create a doomsday machine that can take over the world. So he's trapping all the animals, turning them into robots, and forcing them to build his ultimate weapon, the Death Egg!
Robotnik now rules the factories, refineries and cities! He's grabbed control of everything - except the 7 chaos emeralds. These magnificent gems are believed to hold exceptional powers. With them, Robotnik would have the entire world in his grasp. And he'd never let go! The chaos emeralds are buried somewhere on the island. Only one tough dude with spiky hair has the speed to find them first! Help Sonic stop the devious scheme of the demented scientist! Spin like a speedball through space. Grab power sneakers and loop 'til you're dizzy. Twirl over twisting speedways and rocket through tunnels. Balance and blast across a bubbling ocean of oil. Find the emeralds, free the animals and squash Robotnik forever!

Story (from Japanese instruction manual):

Sonic the Hedgehog is always searching for new adventure in his life. Today, luck was on his side; Sonic discovered a beautiful lush island, rich with greenery and pleasing to the senses. "All right!" Sonic thought to himself. "I'll rest here for a while." The white smoke escaping from Sonic's plane "the Tornado" drew a long arch in the sky, its shadow stretching out over the length of the island.

The legend of West Side Island, the Island of Illusion, tells that many years ago, a people here based the development of their civilization on a collection of strange stones, and employed their greatest philosophers to theorize on the true power of these stones. In order to gain these powers, some attempted to channel the energy of the stones for their own evil intents. These attempts, however, came to naught. Since, the legends tell that the stones have been sealed by the gods somewhere on this island.

Some days passed since Sonic landed on the island. One day, while Sonic explored a region of the island, he noticed that he was being watched by someone behind him. He turned around and saw that a small fox had been secretly following him. Seeing Sonic's face, the startled fox shyly hid in the shade of a coconut tree. Ignoring the fox, Sonic began to run, but the fox, seeing him leaving, started running after him with all his strength. Seeing the determination on its face, Sonic changed his mind about the little fox. "I may as well let him follow me," he said to himself, and stopped running. He decided to make friends with the young fox.

Miles Prower was a small kitsune, who sported two bushy tails instead of one. For this reason, the animals of West Side Island nicknamed him "Tails". Miles was happy with his life, but after meeting Sonic his view changed. He made a decision to improve his skills, and so he began to hang around Sonic all day long.

One early afternoon, Miles discovered a superb plane resting on the beach; he rushed to get a closer look at it. The curving outline of the plane's sleek, streamlined body impressed him. It was just the kind of vehicle Miles liked. He strolled towards the front of the plane, admiring its impressive fuselage. He stopped as he saw Sonic asleep in the cockpit. He quickly scampered back to the rear, hoping not to wake him.

Suddenly, Miles saw a brief flash of light coming from the direction of the nearby woods. Without any further warning, rumbling explosions and columns of flame rose above the trees, scattering stones, leaves and branches in all directions. Miles watched in terror as the spectacle unfolded before his eyes. From within the burning red forest, an army of robots marched forth, cluttering the earth.

Miles watched, stunned, as the explosions continued. But even Miles in his fear did not realize the full scope of the situation. Sonic watched the burning forest with anger in his eyes. "Eggman..." Sonic breathed, remembering his arch-enemy with contempt. He jumped down onto the beach and gazed up at the wood beyond. Something was beginning. Having fainted for a few seconds, Miles collected himself and ran to catch up with Sonic.

"Da - Ha ha ha ha!!" The loud laughter echoed around the wood; Doctor Eggman was nearby.

"Finally, my plan is underway! The CHAOS EMERALDS sleep somewhere on West Side Island, the Island of Illusion, so it will be easy to expel my adversary Sonic! Soon, my supreme weapon, The Death Egg, will be launched into space. Just you wait, Sonic, this time, THIS time I will gather the Chaos Emeralds, and with their power I will defeat you! Thus I, Dr. Eggman, shall become master of this world! Daa-HA HA HA!!"

The players are set. Here begins the adventure and emotion. Let's go!"

Translation by Mary Yamasaki

	Emerald Hill Zone Speed through this tropical bayside resort with palm trees, loop-de-loops and corkscrew speedways. Watch out for monkey business!
	Chemical Plant Zone Flash through a high-tech maze bult with pipes and ducts. Robotnik's flooded the factory with a pool of toxic liquid called "Mega Mack" that poisons Sonic in a few moments!
	Aquatic Ruin Zone Roaming Romans infest a beautiful forest and sunken lake. Explore an intricate maze. If you're underwater, breathe the air bubbles to keep from drowning. A countdown begins when your oxygen's running out.
	Casino Night Zone Sparkling neon lights and glittering gold fill the casino with razzmatazz. Play the machines with button A, B or C. Flip the levers and push down the springs to send Sonic reeling like a bouncing blue pinball!
	Hill Top Zone Lava boils from volcanoes and earthquakes shake the ground. Spring for the rings on teeter-totters and blast through underground tunnels and caverns.
	Mystic Cave Zone Robotnik's been digging for chaos emeralds in the eerie forest of flickering lights, glow-worms and stinging centipedes. Hang on to the ivy to discover escape routes.
	Oil Ocean Zone Robotnik's refineries are pumping at full steam. Crude oil has turned the ocean black. Can Sonic keep his footing on the slippery catwalks and bursting steam vents?
	Metropolis Zone Sonic's finally chased Robotnik to his own capital city. But he finds a fortress of iron and steel. Danger lurks in every spinning cylinder, pounding piston and rolling gear. Hold the D-button right or left to wind the nut up and down the screws.
	Sky Chase Zone Robotnik has escaped to the sky! Sonic's a wing-walker (and Tails is his pilot) in a perilous battle above the clouds!
	Wing Fortress Zone You've found Robotnik's secret stronghold - a flying battleship. Could this be Sonic's final fight?
	Death Egg Zone The final level is very short, consisting of two bosses. Unlike Sonic 1's final boss, this one is actually fairly hard to beat.
	Special Stage If you have 50 rings when you touch a star post, you'll see a star circle spinning around the star post. If you jump into the star circle, you'll go to the special stage. This is your chance to collect a chaos emerald.

European

Box cover
Manual cover
Cartridge

Japanese

Box cover
Manual cover
Cartridge

N. American

Box covers
Manual cover
Cartridge

Other

Asian box cover
Asian manual cover
Asian cardridge

Ending After destroying the final boss, Sonic jumps out of the exploding Death Egg. As Sonic falls to his apparent death, we see a sequence of b&w images. Then Tails comes to Sonic's rescue in the biplane, which is followed by credits.
Hidden Palace Zone If you've used the sound test, you may have noticed that sound #10 isn't used anywhere in the game. It's actually the music for a deleted level, Hidden Palace Zone. This zone is accessable with an Action Replay code, but is unfortunately unplayable.
Different on a Japanese Megadrive When running on a Japanese Megadrive, Sonic 2 has a number of small differences. The game actually detects what type of Megadrive it's running on.