3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2

"Sonic is here to save the day, and this time he’s got help from his friend Tails! Dr. Eggman (AKA Dr. Robotnik) is back and is planning on building his ultimate weapon, the Death Egg. To do so, he’s going to turn the animal inhabitants of Mobius into his own personal army of Badniks. Can Sonic obtain the seven Chaos Emeralds and stop him once and for all?

3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is remastered in 3D and full of new features! Is the Chemical Plant Zone your favourite stage? Use “Stage Select” and start running wherever you want! Run fast without worrying about your rings. Cut your losses by choosing Ring Keeper Mode—only half your rings will be lost after taking damage! Keeping your rings and stopping Dr. Eggman’s evil scheme is important, but don’t forget to take some time off from saving the world to play against your friends in the two-player Vs. and Co-op Mode using Local Play!

The standalone eShop downloadable release is being played here. The game is also available as part of the Japanese exclusive 'Sega 3D Reprint Archives 3: Final Stage (セガ3D復刻アーカイブス3 FINAL STAGE, Sega 3D Fukkoku Ākaibusu 3 FINAL STAGE).

The longplay makes use of Ring Keeper Mode. Not that I need it but interesting to show this difference in the 3ds release. It makes it so you only lose half your rings when taking damage as well as starting each stage with 10 rings. It takes away some of the frustration for the casual or new player. We have longplays of the original game to view if you wish to see the game as originally intended.

For Sonic 2, pretty much every aspect of the game has been improved over the original game. Much more graphically detailed and moves much faster while allowing sonic to actually run without an obstacle in the way every few steps. I play in the default Sonic&Tails mode but the option is there to play with just sonic or just tails although tails cant get the super form.

The Special stages are probably the most annoying parts of the game especially with both sonic and tails as you need to time movements that allows tails to move in time before running into bombs losing any coins collected. I get all seven special stages and emeralds out of the way at the start of the game during Emerald Hill. This unlocks super sonic for the rest of the game and I just aim to get out of the level by whatever means without worrying about collectables or routs although in hindsight this really cheesing the game as you become invulnerable and can make quick work of the bosses. I have consciously tried to not activate it to early so that the stage music gets a chance to play.

Upon completion with best ending, Super Sonic Mode is unlocked to use from the start. I show briefly the Japanese region version with screen filter and Mega-Drive 2 audio as well as Stage Select mode and the bad ending.

00:00:00 Emerald Hill (Unlock Super Sonic with all seven emeralds)
00:22:14 Chemical Plant Zone
00:26:15 Aquatic Ruin Zone
00:29:23 Casino Night Zone
00:34:57 Hill Top Zone
00:39:53 Mystic Cave Zone
00:43:30 Oil Ocean Zone
00:48:54 Metropolis Zone
00:57:18 Sky Chase Zone
01:02:20 Death Egg Zone
01:04:32 Good Ending
== JP ==
01:09:58 Wing Fortress Zone with Miles
01:16:11 Less Good Ending
01:20:30 Attract Mode (with screen filter)
01:24:09 Aquatic Ruins 2 (Show Waterfall with screen filter)
01:26:11 Game over followed by Credits