Sonic 2...For Android

[size=+1]Sonic 2...For Android[/size]​

Yep! 2014 and I'm still messing around with my weird little Chinese Android tablet. It was broken yesterday for some reason. So, in my effort to fix it, I know more about this little thing than I ever cared to know.

It's hopes, it's dreams and it's model number. Lucky, lucky me! I brought a device that turned out to be a real pain in the flank to fix.

Lucky, lucky me!

Anyway, Sonic 2. Sonic 2 is awesome. Sonic 2 is one of my earliest gaming experiences and it's one of my favourites. It's just fun, challenging and so simple to pick up and play. It basically made me buy a Mega Drive years afterward. It's a highly acclaimed game, so highly that it's also getting a HD version.

Sonic 1? Meh. OK. Good but no Sonic 2.

So, when you think 'Remake', you can't think of anything that great. Especially on Android. I mean, translating a set of physical buttons to a virtual version is hilariously/frustratingly annoying. They're either too sensitive or not sensitive enough. Or taking up too much of the screen. Some are just too difficult to find without a physical button there to use. Some emulators seem like that. Trying to play an N64 emulator with a tablet is guilty of most of these control sins. If it's not the fact that you can't see the game for all the semi-translucent buttons, your prodding your thumbs around the screen uselessly looking for the 'Z' button. Generally, try and find something physical to control stuff with and everything will be hunky-dory.

And...Oh, Sega. Your PC Ports can be absolute crap. Don't get me wrong, you make cool games. Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Generations? Good games. They're fine but their all coded horribly! The options menu has been known to do absolutely nothing for the Dreamcast Ports. And the menu for trying to get a controller to work is as easy to use as a missile launcher console. Oh! And Sonic Generations has optimisation that reminds me of a brick being fed into a paper shredder.

That could also be my Intel graphics card but they're not that new. A quick check would be nice, you know?

Anyway, thank Celestia's Unmentionables for Christian Whitehead.

​

This is the man that has taken Sega's old 2D Sonic games and brought them into the 21st century. I am staggered on how well this man has recreated this game. This man, who resembles a stunt double for Alice Cooper, has made an engine I would love to tinker with.

It's called The Retro Engine. It emulates 32bit and lower era graphics tricks and effects but with updated technologies and modern memory sizes to make the age old graphics come to life as vibrant, poppy visuals. It does this wonderfully. This version of Sonic 2 is amazing looking. Not only does it incorporate 3D elements in a way that makes sense to enhance the game, it's even got new additions to the original.

So, same stuff as Sonic CD which was also made with the same engine. So, Japanese and USA and European box art. Woo? Eh, it's a small touch. Then there's all these 3D menu options, which I'll get to but let's talk about the game itself.

You have the curious choice of Sonic, Sonic and Tails, Tails alone and Knuckles. Yes, they built into this as standard what you'd ordinarily need the cartridges for Sonic 2 and Sonic and Knuckles to play. I like this addition. It really knows how to harness any nostalgia it possibly can.

The controls are decent for a touch screen controller set. They're programmed well enough to register your button presses as long as their on the correct side of the screen. Considering all you need is a D-Pad and 1 button for jumping, Sonic 2 translates rather well because of it's simplicity. While they're not perfect and physical buttons are still far, far better but they're perfectly serviceable. They're nice and loose, almost all pickiness has been taken out of them. It seems to work best if you adopt a play style of never keeping your thumb on the screen if you don't need it to be there. That seems to gel well with these virtual controls. It works decently.

Now, here's something interesting: Tails can fly. Now, Knuckles has always been able to glide or climb when in Sonic 2 but Tails doesn't get to let the player fly until the third game. Does it break Sonic 2? No. It makes it slightly less annoying to get to places but it doesn't really take away much challenge. You still have to actually dodge enemies and attacks, which can and will get you if your not paying attention.

I put it to you that, just like how flying made Sonic CD's insane time travel mechanics possible to actually attempt without much frustration, flying lowers the bar enough for someone to attempt to collect the Chaos Emeralds as long as they have the patience.

Speaking of, Special Stages look gorgeous in my opinion. I'll let you see one for yourself so you can guess why.

OK...Maybe you can't...​

What that was supposed to show is the 3D rendered special stage. The old gameplay is back from the original, it's just all in a 3D rendered magic. It really does look good.

However, I will say that the controls here are very fiddly. They're not at their best here. In fact, being able to drag Sonic or whoever across the screen with your finger would have been awesome. Or even made more sense but...ah well!

Yeah, there's a little sprinkling of modern gaming conventions that we've really gotten used to in 2014. They range from small to rather massive. Like save files. You can turn the feature off and play the game just as 1992 intended but that is so, so welcome for people that just want to play Sonic 2 comfortably. I like that there's the choice of switching it off. It's thought for the hardcore gamer there that sticks their nose up at any reduction in challenge in their games.

Next up are alternative modes. This is Sonic so it's mainly Time Trial Mode. It's unlocked completely by finishing the game itself as a whole. On top of a time trial level for every stage you have a save saying you've gotten through, you also have a Boss Attack mode. I haven't tried it yet but I'm rather pleased with the amount of stuff present in this thing.

And it get's better. They included Hidden Palace - an originally scrapped Sonic stage that was finished and then put into this game. I am all for this. Perhaps when we get the Android and iOS Sonic 3, they'll do the same thing. Afterall, they all must have had some levels left over when they chopped it in half to make Sonic and Knuckles.

Then, there's Achievements. Sacrilege? In all honesty, I don't care. It's pleasant if you ever get one but most of them seem way, way too hard for a dirty casual like myself just playing this for fun. 'Get Every Ring in a Stage', 'Collect all Seven Chaos Emeralds before Chemical Plant'. Yeash! I can barely manage to get three of them! You want me to get them in the first few stages? Some of them are simple enough, sure, but otherwise, they don't factor. But I don't mind them being there. They're pleasing as well as very interesting suggestions for gameplay in an old classic.

Seriously, I never knew you could get all seven in the first couple of levels.

Finally, the most bafflingly awesome part of this: Online Capabilities! The slightly dull one is that your Level Times are saved, letting you compete with everyone around the world.

Or you can take them on directly, because it has online multiplayer too!

First time I played this, it just made me smile near constantly. It was lovely. Seemed smooth, easy to set up, very little fuss involved with the random player match up. Best of all, you can now play eight stages in the game in multiplayer rather than the now pitiful four stages of 1992's version.

This is awesome. It's not ruined with a little text box or a voice chat, it's literally just like someone has plugged a controller into your machine from miles away. It's pretty satisfying.

I had my flank handed to me but it was satisfying.

A few problems did emerge. Like any multiplayer game, you can get some strange lag spikes if you're playing people far away. There also seems to be no 'Skip Level' or 'Surrender Option'. A couple of times, I found that I had reached the other end of a stage and beaten my opponent to the finish line. However, it seems the countdown timer for hurrying you to the end of the stage will not murderfy you if you choose to hang back and relax. So, if you're not careful, you could get some munchkin that seems to want nothing more than either waste your time or simply cannot figure out what he's doing. I wouldn't mind if there was a way of countering this but I can't find any other way other than just quitting.

At it's very, very worst, the mod is farcical to play. Your opponent jerks along and can even vanish from the screen while the game searches for them. It's just kind of baffling how bad this mode can get considering everything else. In special stages, an opponent would be reacting to things happening a minute ago. Exploding on their own accord, picking up magical pixie rings that only exist for them but still register on the ring count...then vanish again. When it is broken, it is seriously broken! It's like this 20 year old game contracts Dementia suddenly.

So, multiplayer is cool and easy to set up but seems to run into a few awkward hiccups that can ruin the experience if you're unlucky. Perhaps try and play with people sitting next to you on the same network than people miles and miles away.

'Would I recommend this?' is the ultimate question. By the Pinkiest of Pies, yes I bloody would! It's portable Sonic 2 that does nothing but attempt to add to the experience with everything it can do confidently. It's a good, solid package. I've played it on my 7" tablet and my titchy little Motorola Defy you might remember I used to review something in one of my few video reviews. Both work fine. In fact, you loose nothing between each version other than screen space.

The price? I payed on Google Play £2. That is fantastic. That is about $3.31. That is excellent worth for the money.

Christian Whitehead, please stop Sega from making any more ports. You do a fantastic job at it. Sonic 2 and Sonic CD work perfectly on PC and Android. Just take their tools away or even make them use your Retro engine to make Sonic 4: Episode 2. Otherwise, Sega making games for anything other than a console is just...is just...

Obvious joke is obvious. Ah well, still mildly amusing.​