Top 50 Games - #25

Woah, we're halfway there.  Ah-ah, living on a prayer.

25: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Developer: Sega Technical Institute

Publisher: Sega

Year: 1992

Format: Mega Drive

It’s him again.  This is a strong contender for my most-played game of all time, and for many years I insistently declared it my favourite Sonic.  I’ve since altered my opinion, but I still have more subjective fondness for it than any other.  It was the first game I played on a Mega Drive – once, when my older brother was babysitting me, his then-girlfriend came over and brought her MD with a copy of Sonic 2 for me to set up in my room and entertain myself.  Which, now that I think about it, was a cunning way for them to organise some sexytime downstairs.  Clever!  Possibly ruined by the fact that I couldn’t work out how to pause the game and had to go and ask her (I was used to the Master System with its big button marked “PAUSE” right on the machine, how was I supposed to know it was the little button marked “START” on the control pad?) but hey.

   Anyway, Sonic 2 was arguably the defining point in Sonic’s evolution.  Tails and the Tornado plane, a robot Sonic to fight, the first of many space stations of evil, a wider variety in Zone design, including the first casino level, a seventh Chaos Emerald, Super Sonic – all here.  Also note the massive downhills in Chemical Plant Zone that really started to push the speed aspect of the game more firmly into the foreground.  A mini-epic without speaking, only a couple of minor points in level design let it down.  (It's worth pointing out that that YouTube video I just found to pop on the top here showed me a couple of bits of the Casino Night Zone that I didn't know about.  This game is stuffed.)

MAGIC MOMENT: the terrifying Death Egg Zone.