Game Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mobile)

Now what gamer hasn’t played Sonic the Hedgehog 2? IN my opinion it is the best Sonic game made to date & I must have completed it more times then I can count. It’s a game I always go back to & it blows my mind that I first played it on the Sega Megadrive & most recently I was earning achievements in it on the Xbox 360.

Now here I am again playing Sonic 2 but this time on my iPad. Why? For Hidden Palace Zone that’s why.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain…

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was rushed to cash in on the huge popularity of the first Sonic game. It was out within a year & that rush meant certain things ended up on the cutting room floor such as more zones. This was backed up by an article in publications before its release showing a screenshot of a zone that wasn’t in the final game…Hidden Palace Zone.

Over time folks on the internet discovered a way to access the hidden zone using a game genie but it was a mess filled with glitches…completely unfinished & with no way to advance past it.

In 2013 the iOS version of Sonic was Remastered by 2 fans (SEGA had been so impressed by their own re-mastering of Sonic CD that they got them to carry on) & they put Hidden Palace zone back in fully playable. To get to it you need to drop down a hole in the 2nd act of Mystic Cave zone or use a level select cheat. Do that & you get to finally play a new Sonic 2 zone!

As well as that the game is brighter & much prettier to look at, Knuckles is a playable character, a new mode called Boss Rush is included as is online multi-player & there are also additional new multi-player stages.

All this for £1.99? It is so worth it even just to play Hidden Place zone. The level has a prehistoric theme to it with enemies taking on similar forms. It also has a unique boss battle that takes a moment to work out.

To make the whole experience even better there is a now a save system that saves at the start of an act. Should you lose all your lives that save is sitting pretty for you or you can play using the old style with no saving.

The touch-screen controls are excellent with your thumbs doing all the work & it never feeling any worse for it.

This is the most definitive version of Sonic 2 I have ever seen & the loving handiwork that has gone into it is clear from the off. They’ve taken what was great about it, made it even better then before & then added loads more content. This is how you do an iOS game!