Top 200 Sega Genesis/CD/32X Games Results Thread

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

yeah.....kinda anti-climactic....but nothing I can do.

[Black Hammer Rocks the AssWhip]

Nah, no problem with that. I figured so anyways, but meh...i'm cool with it.

[Gopher Mod]

faded said:

Sonic 1-3 in the top five? You serious? Damn.

Actually, it's Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles (or so I think).

[Black Hammer Rocks the AssWhip]

coolrunner87 said:

faded said:

Sonic 1-3 in the top five? You serious? Damn.

Actually, it's Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles (or so I think).

Actually I forgot about S&K. Sonic 1 is #5..."The Fastest Thing In Life".

[Gopher Mod]

faded said:

coolrunner87 said:

Actually, it's Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles (or so I think).

Actually I forgot about S&K. Sonic 1 is #5..."The Fastest Thing In Life".

The Two-Tailed Fox is Sonic 2 (Miles "Tails" Prower)

The Guardian of the Master Emerald is Sonic 3 (first appearance of Knuckles the Echidna)

The Sega Dream Team is Sonic and Knuckles (for quite obvious reasons)

This leaves just one game missing: This Time, It's Personal. What is this game?

[Above Average]

Streets of Rage 2 was the best game in Sega Megadrive history whether this ranks it as such or not.

[Above Average]

coolrunner87 said:

faded said:

Actually I forgot about S&K. Sonic 1 is #5..."The Fastest Thing In Life".

The Two-Tailed Fox is Sonic 2 (Miles "Tails" Prower)

The Guardian of the Master Emerald is Sonic 3 (first appearance of Knuckles the Echidna)

The Sega Dream Team is Sonic and Knuckles (for quite obvious reasons)

This leaves just one game missing: This Time, It's Personal. What is this game?

This time it's personal - could it be SOR2 as I alluded to? Something tells me it is, as in this game well uh... it's personal.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

5. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Genesis)

Sonic the Hedgehog 3, often abbreviated and literally known in Europe as Sonic 3, is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and was published by Sega. The game debuted worldwide in the first half of 1994.

The game is closely tied to its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, as the two games were originally one until time constraints and cartridge costs forced the game to be split into two interlocking parts. Combined, both games have sold over 4 million copies.

In the Sonic chronology, Sonic 3's storyline commences shortly after the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Dr. Robotnik's[3] space station, the Death Egg, has fallen out of orbit after his mech suit exploded in his final showdown with Sonic, causing critical damage to the ship.

However, instead of impacting the planet, the Death Egg crash-landed on Angel Island, a mystical floating landmass that had previously been reputed only by legend to exist. As Dr. Robotnik repairs the ship he meets up with the Island’s sole inhabitant, Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles is the last surviving member of an ancient civilization, whose ruins and relics are scattered throughout the island. He is also the guardian of a set of Chaos Emeralds, jewels that grant the island its levitation powers.

Knowing Sonic and Tails will try to track him down, and realizing he can use the Chaos Emeralds to power the ship, Robotnik tricks Knuckles into believing Sonic is trying to steal his Emeralds, and he's come to help him. Shortly after, Super Sonic and Tails land on Angel Island in their bi-plane, the Tornado, in search of Robotnik. No sooner than they have arrived, Knuckles ambushes Sonic from underground with such force, he knocks the Chaos Emeralds from him, returning him to normal. Stunned, Sonic can only watch as Knuckles steals the Emeralds and disappears inland. Once recovered, Sonic and Tails set off in a race against time to stop Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik and the re-launch of the Death Egg.

Based on a faster, more flexible game engine that was modified and adapted from the Sonic 2 game-engine, Sonic 3 included more scope than any other game in the series to date: The play fields were three times larger than previous games, with multiple paths for different characters (each character would play the same level, but their particular abilities, e.g. flying/gliding/wall-climbing, would allow them to access certain paths, or preclude and restrict paths if they lacked the abilities). Also, there were more environmental elements with which to interact, faster maximum speeds, more end-of-level bosses, and more set pieces, all without any of the framerate issues that plagued certain parts of Sonic 2.

The game introduced many staples to the series, such as an increasingly story-driven game, multiple shield types, several musical idents and themes used in most subsequent games, and introduced Jun Senoue to the series, who would later become sound director of the 3D Sonic games, lending them their signature rock-inspired soundtracks.

Each stage seamlessly connects to the next, via continuation or a cutscene, to convey spatial relation between the levels and add interest and special-effects. This helps the game convey the sense of existing in a real geographical location, as opposed to separate, disconnected zones. With these transitions between the levels, the game developer expanded the idea initiated in the 8-bit version of Sonic 1. Knuckles has also become a firm fan favorite, alternating roles between rival, antagonist, and partner.

In single player mode, the player can choose to play solo, as either Sonic or Tails, or as a team, controlling Sonic, with the AI or a second player controlling Tails, which is the default configuration (a second player may take control of Tails by simply using a controller plugged into port 2). The object of the game is to progress through six zones, each comprised of two acts, an act 1 robotic mid-boss, and an act 2 main boss, piloted by Robotnik. In order to completely finish the game, seven Chaos Emeralds must also be collected from the special stages.

The gameplay builds on the formula laid down in Sonic 2. Sonic and Tails are now equipped with special moves that are activated by pressing the jump button a second time while in mid air. Tails will fly if he’s out of water, or swim if he’s in water, both for a limited amount of time. In a team game, a second player can use Tails to "airlift" Sonic for a short amount of time. If Sonic has no shield equipped, he will generate an Insta-shield by tapping any controller button twice, giving him a split second burst of protection from projectiles and increasing Sonic's attack radius. Tails retains his ability to fly regardless of whether or not he has a shield.

Instead of a single shield power-up, there are now three elemental shields, each with special abilities that can be used only by Sonic:

* Lightning Shield: Absorbs all electric and charge-based attacks, and will draw in any rings near to the player (a predecessor to Sonic Adventure's Magnet Shield). Sonic can generate a Boost Blast; a double jump, which acts like a mid-air normal jump. This shield shorts out upon contact with water (although it destroys any on-screen badniks when it does so), or any damage taken.

* Flame Shield: Absorbs all fire-based attacks, and allows the player to walk on lava or fire without taking damage. Sonic can generate a Fireball Spin Dash: a fast, near horizontal dive across the screen as a fireball. This shield extinguishes upon contact with water, or any damage taken. The blast jump is a lot like Sonic's Jump Dash move from the Sonic Advance series and the Homing Attack used in all 3D Sonic titles from Sonic Adventure onwards (though it does not home in on enemies, and can't link attacks together consecutively like the Homing Attack can).

* Water Shield: Being the only shield that sustains itself underwater, it allows the player to breathe freely underwater (i.e. it eliminates the default-imposed time-limit before drowning). Sonic can use it to generate a Bubble Bounce jump, similar to the one Sonic gains from the Bounce Bracelet from Sonic Adventure 2; the closer Sonic is to the ground when he makes the second jump, the higher he bounces. This shield pops with any damage taken.

All three shields have the ability to deflect small projectiles, such as the shots from badniks in Hydrocity Zone and Marble Garden Zone.

As in previous Sonic games, star posts are scattered throughout each act to save the player's progress. Furthermore, if Sonic has collected at least 50 rings (20 in Sonic 3 & Knuckles) and he hits a checkpoint, a bright halo of stars will float above it, which Sonic can then jump through to access a bonus stage based on a gum-ball machine. Note that star posts in Sonic 3 are used to enter bonus stages this time instead of Emerald stages, as in Sonic 2. The Emerald stages are once again entered by jumping through a large golden ring, as they were in Sonic the Hedgehog. Contrary to the original Sonic the Hedgehog, these rings are hidden in the scenery, and multiple can be found in each act. In addition, the player is not required to collect any amount of rings to enter the emerald stage. Each special stage is based on a 3-dimensional, chequered sphere (topologically a torus, as its surface is a square with the edges wrapping around) of which only a small surface portion is visible at any given time. The surface of this sphere is covered in blue, red, gold, and white with red star spheres, and rings. As players collect blue spheres, they will turn into red spheres behind him. However, if the player goes around the outline of a square of spheres with at least a 3x3 size, all the spheres in that square, including the centre ones will turn into rings. The stage ends when all the blue spheres are collected, a feat that results in the player being awarded with a Chaos Emerald. However, if a red sphere is touched, the player loses their chance to obtain chaos emerald, and the special-stage is terminated with the player retaining their existing score. During the levels, continues can be obtained by collecting 50 rings; collecting all the rings will result in a 50,000 point bonus (and thus a 1-Up). There are seven stages, one for each Emerald. If the player has all of the emeralds, finding and jumping in a big ring will give him 50 rings, instead of teleporting him to a special stage.

Sonic 3 retained head-to-head racing introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, although instead of using levels from the single player game with interlaced graphics, five entirely new tracks, as well as special character sprites, were created for competitions and Knuckles was added as a selectable character, albeit without his gliding and climbing abilities which were not unveiled until Sonic & Knuckles (despite the presence of multiplayer sprites). Players can select to play a Grand Prix of all five tracks, a single track to race on, or race the clock in time trial mode.

Although Sonic 3 did not perform as well as Sonic 2 in terms of sales, the game was almost universally well-received by fans and critics alike. Sonic 3 received criticism for a particular puzzle in Act 2 of Carnival Night Zone with the infamous barrel. At the time, puzzles generally were not a part of Sonic titles, and the seemingly unsolvable puzzle involved a rather unconventional and unintuitive solution, where the player had to jump then alternatively press up and down on the D-pad, without any visual cues to do so. This has caused tremendous frustration in many fans, especially since at first glance, it appears to be an error in level design.

[Gopher Mod]

aboveaverage said:

coolrunner87 said:

The Two-Tailed Fox is Sonic 2 (Miles "Tails" Prower)

The Guardian of the Master Emerald is Sonic 3 (first appearance of Knuckles the Echidna)

The Sega Dream Team is Sonic and Knuckles (for quite obvious reasons)

This leaves just one game missing: This Time, It's Personal. What is this game?

This time it's personal - could it be SOR2 as I alluded to? Something tells me it is, as in this game well uh... it's personal.

Ayep. It's Streets of Rage 2.

So, the top five are as follows: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and Streets of Rage 2. But, what goes where?

[viscera]

Oh geez, I remember that blasted barrel puzzle. I think I remember getting past it once by some kind of fluke.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

4. Sonic The Hedgehog (Genesis)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis system. It is the inaugural game in Sega's flagship Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, and was the first title developed by Sonic Team. It was first released on June 23, 1991 in North America, and the next day in Europe. The Japanese Mega Drive version was released on July 26, 1991.

This game propelled the Genesis into mass popularity in North America. After it was released, it eventually replaced Altered Beast as the game bundled with the console, and was later replaced with its first sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The game featured many novel elements which contributed to its popularity and helped to promote the uptake of 16-bit consoles.

Sonic the Hedgehog added the element of speed to the standard platform formula and introduced other unique elements as well, such as the loops, springboards, high-speed devices, and the rings now permanently associated with the game series.

In the game, Sonic has to prevent Doctor Robotnik from collecting six of the Chaos Emeralds in an attempt to rule South Island. He must traverse six "zones", each comprised of three stages or "acts", until he confronts Robotnik for the last time in the Final Zone.

The gameplay centers around elements that exploit the increased performance of the 16-bit console over its 8-bit forebears. It is notable for being both simplistic and engaging for players.

At the time of its release, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the fastest platformers that had yet been released. Sonic could run, jump and roll at significantly higher speeds than most platformers of the time. Unlike other platformers, the game's levels were designed to encourage the player to progress quickly. Springs, slopes, high falls and loop-de-loops were all available to both boost and challenge the player to reach high speeds. This was all accomplished without any slowdown in framerates, adding to the experience.

Sonic's method of attack was also novel. As a hedgehog, he can curl up into a ball by either jumping or by rolling along the ground, a state in which he can damage most enemies by simply colliding with them. This was a change from most other platform games, where the player could damage enemies only by shooting or jumping on top of them. While rolling along the ground, Sonic can roll down slopes, gaining speed as he goes. Most slopes are irregular, as opposed to the fixed angles seen in previous platform games, and the game has the physics to match. Sonic's acceleration down a slope depends on its steepness; if traveling fast enough, he can run up and around 360‹ loops; and he suffers from drag underwater.

Essential to the gameplay are the golden rings Sonic collects along his way in each level; a feature which would become one of the defining characteristics of the series. These items are regularly placed around the map and serve multiple functions. First, Sonic collects rings to protect himself. As long as he has at least one ring, he will not die when injured. Instead, when he's hit, all rings has Sonic collected will fly outward and scatter around the immediate area, some of which can then be retrieved before they disappear. If Sonic runs into an enemy without a single ring, he will die and lose a life. If Sonic manages to collect 100 rings he will gain a life, and gain an additional life for every 100 rings after that, provided he doesn't lose his rings in the process. If Sonic has at least 50 rings at the end of an act, a giant golden ring will float above the finishing sign which Sonic can then jump through to enter one of the special stages. At the end of each act, the total number of rings Sonic has is multiplied by 100 and added to the player's score. During the score tallying Sonic can also jump through the air to find hidden emblems which can range from 100 to 10,000 points. This was the only console Sonic game until Sonic Adventure where Sonic could get more lives by collecting over 200 rings (if he gets 300 rings in the later 16-bit titles, he gets nothing).

Also scattered throughout each act are monitors which, when broken, reward Sonic with one of a variety of bonuses. These include a shield which will protect Sonic from a single hit, a 10-ring bonus, an extra life, temporary invincibility (accompanied with a temporary change in music), and "Super Sneakers", which give Sonic a temporary speed boost (and increase the tempo of the music for the duration). The item monitors have become another long lasting feature in the series, though they have changed to bubble-like containers in later games.

Despite the various types of protection available, neither the shield, rings, or invincibility will protect Sonic against instant death by getting crushed (by a trap or between a wall and a moving platform), drowning, running out of time (each act has a ten-minute time limit), or falling into a bottomless pit. Originally there was to be a big boulder to chase Sonic, as a homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was cut, but the boulder became part of the boss for the first zone. The Progress through the game is made easier by lamp posts that act as checkpoints. When Sonic passes a lamp post, its color changes from blue to red, and the next time he loses a life, he will restart at that point rather than at the beginning of the act. However, unlike later 16-bit Sonic games, if Sonic touches a checkpoint and dies as a result of running out of time, the time at the checkpoint will reset to 0:00.

Hazards Sonic comes across along the way include a wide variety of "badniks" - animals trapped inside mechanical bodies which are released the moment Sonic hits them. Each badnik takes one hit to destroy, but they vary greatly from Zone to Zone; some will walk in a set path, others will try blasting Sonic, and some can't be avoided at all, such as the Bomb enemies in Star Light Zone. Sonic also has to look out for rows of sharp spikes, cliffs, and elaborate death traps. There is also the threat of drowning, as he can only survive 30 seconds underwater without drawing breath, either from the surface, or from the large air bubbles that regularly seep out of the ground in certain places.

The game features no game saves or passwords. This means that the game has to be restarted from the beginning when the player runs out of continues or turns off the system.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

3. Streets Of Rage 2 (Genesis)

Streets of Rage 2 is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1993, it is a sequel to Streets of Rage. It is known as Bare Knuckle II in Japan and Streets of Rage II in Europe. It is the second game in the Streets of Rage series. Streets of Rage 2 met with critical acclaim and vast commercial success. It features a critically acclaimed soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, inspired by early '90s club music. It has been released for the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console on May 21, 2007 for the USA and June 1, 2007 for Europe as well as Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) on August 29, 2007.

The game also introduced two new characters: Max Thunder (known as Max Hatchett in Europe) and Eddie "Skate" Hunter (known as Sammy Hunter in Japan), brother of Adam Hunter from the original game.

According to the game's Instruction Manual:

This time it's personal

One year had passed since ex-police officers Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding had broken the Syndicate's hold and destroyed it's leader, the mysterious "Mr X". Peace had returned to the streets, people were moving back to into the once vacant city neighbourhoods, and the city had returned to prosperity.

On the anniversary of the Syndicate's destruction, Adam, Axel and Blaze met at their favourite nightspot to commemorate the occasion and catch up on the latest news. Both Axel and Blaze had moved out of the city; Axel working as a bodyguard, and Blaze teaching dance.

Adam had rejoined the police force, and moved to a small house on the edge of the city with his kid brother. The three celebrated until late in the night, and made plans to meet at the same place next year.

As he was planning to check out of his hotel the next day, Axel received a frantic phone call from Eddie "Skate" Hunter. He had arrived home from school to find the place a total ruin. He'd called the police department, but nobody there had seen or heard from his brother since early that morning.

Both Axel and Blaze rushed to Adam's house. Windows had been shattered, furniture smashed. Stuck on the remains of the splinted front door was a photo: Adam in chains lying at the feet of a man they knew only too well.

Adam's disappearance marked the beginning of the nightmare. Criminal elements swarmed out to reclaim the streets. Gangs roamed the parks, and bomb-wielding bikers made the roads deadly to travel at night. Beatings and lootings took place regularly and in broad daylight. Chaos reigned in the city, far worse than before.

Axel and Blaze tried to contact their old friends at the force, the ones who'd provided backup with heavy artillery. But everyone they knew had either been fired or transferred elsewhere. This time the Syndicate was in complete control and the two ex-cops were on their own.

Assisted by Adam's brother Skate and Axel's friend Max, Axel and Blaze set out to rescue their friend and destroy Mr X once and for all. Standing in their way is the nastiest collection of punk and brawlers ever assembled. Add to that a force of professional fighters specially groomed to take them out of the picture!

As one of the 4 young vigilantes - or together with a friend - you'll battle with your fists and feet, and attack with whatever weapon you come across, as once more you walk the Streets of Rage!

The city that the Streets of Rage games are set is unnamed, but it seems to be based on New York. The box art of the US/Euro release of Streets of Rage features the Empire State Building in the background, and in the Round 2 of Streets of Rage 2, one can see the Twin Towers of the now-destroyed World Trade Center in the skyline. The Twin Towers can also be seen in the box art of Streets of Rage 3.

Though Streets of Rage 2 plays very similar to its predecessor it improved and refined much of the gameplay. The biggest change was the replacement of the original special attack, which was calling a police car to damage all on-screen enemies, with special attacks performed by the character, that depleted some of their health. Each character's move list was expanded and edited to make them very individual to play instead of similar with different handicaps.

Enemies were also improved, all were given Life Gauges (previously only Bosses used them) and names, and like the selectable characters, given bigger and more individual movesets. There are many new enemies, including Bikers, which speed across the screen in certain levels, running over the Player, tossing grenades and / or leaping off their bikes to attack, there are new Ninjas, which are excessively fast and sometimes deadly to fight due to their avoidant tactics, ranged weapons and special moves, Kickboxers and Robots.

A welcome sight from the first game are the "suicide stabbers" - weak enemies, invariably a Galsia, who hold a Knife in front of themselves and literally run at the Player in the hope of impaling them. Since these "stabbers" usually arrive only when the Player is involved in mortal combat with other enemies, and their only attacks are fast strafing attacks, they can often be a lethal, but highly amusing, nuisance.

There were changes to the weapons that could be picked up also. The Pepper Shaker and the novel (but ultimately underwhelming) Bottle from the original game have been removed. The Knife has been tweaked, so the Player can choose to throw the Knife when he or she pleases, whereas in the first game the Knife could be thrown seemingly by accident by the Player, with all the hazards it implies. As a tradeoff, the Knife does much less damage when thrown in Streets of Rage II. A Kunai has also been added, with the same functionality as the Knife.

The Baseball Bat from Streets of Rage is replaced by a Katana, which is the most deadly weapon in the entire game.

A much needed piece of functionality, as already hinted, is the ability to throw all weapons at will by holding down jump (C) and pressing attack (B). When not holding a weapon, this combo allows the Player to lash out behind him or her to take out an enemy sneaking up from behind.

Aside from the differences in weapons and enemies, the characters themselves are given some special abilities and handicaps. In addition to their traits and individual moves, the characters now have a "semi-special move"; a powerful, non-energy-draining attack delivered by double-tapping a direction and pressing attack (B).

[Gopher Mod]

Down to Sonic 2 and Sonic and Knuckles... who will be #1?

[Black Hammer Rocks the AssWhip]

Pretty much that guarantees that Sonic 2 is #1.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

2. Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis)

Sonic & Knuckles is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994. It is the direct sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which was released earlier that year. The game features unique "lock-on technology" which enables another cartridge to be plugged in via the socket on top.

This time the game focuses on Sonic and Knuckles, who was not playable in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, when Knuckles was against Sonic and Tails. Instead however, Tails has now been removed from play. Essentially there are two separate games to tackle, depending on which character is selected at the start of the game. Although the appearance of the zones is the same for either character, their layout and some of the bosses' tricks differs noticeably at a number of points in the game (another noticeable difference is the Knuckles fights EggRobo who has different (particularly smarter) strategies), increasing from the Lava Reef Zone onwards. However, the style of play does not differ significantly from one character to the next as it does, for example, in Sonic Adventure.

Despite no save file slots, gameplay is much more expanded, as Sonic and Knuckles do not play all of the same levels. And a significant differential between them is that they don't have all of the same moves. Sonic can jump higher and run a little faster than Knuckles, and he has the "insta-shield." Knuckles can climb walls and break through some of the blocked entry ways. And just as Sonic has the gift of speed, Knuckles can glide through the air with the greatest of ease.

As in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, there are two types of special stages: bonus stages and emerald stages. The bonus stages are entered by collecting at least 20 rings, and at least 50 to access the second bonus stage. and jumping through the bright ring of stars that appears above each lamppost in the zones. This time however, the gumball stage has been replaced by two new bonus stages. The first combines the slot machines of Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Casino Night Zone and the 360° tumbling labyrinth special stage (to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds) of the first Sonic the Hedgehog. If three Robotniks appear on the slot machine, you lose 100 rings, or all your rings below 100. The second bonus stage is a large vertical course, with magnetic orbs that Sonic can use to propel himself upward. Along the way he can pick up shields, rings or lives. He is chased by a horizontal force field that slowly moves up and, when Sonic is caught in it, ends the stage, and reaching the top of the stage ends it as well.

Sonic & Knuckles carries on from where Sonic the Hedgehog 3 left off. At the end of Sonic 3, after Dr. Robotnik's defeat at Launch Base, the rebuilt Death Egg fell back onto Angel Island and crashed on top of Lava Reef's volcano (retconning the ending of Sonic 3, in which the Death Egg is destroyed). Now the evil doctor attempts once again to repair the Death Egg, this time by trying to use the Master Emerald to fuel its engines. This all-powerful jewel, upon which the Chaos Emeralds base their powers, is guarded by Knuckles. In Sonic 3, Dr. Robotnik was able to fool the echidna into working for him and against Sonic. In Sonic & Knuckles he betrays Knuckles in order to obtain the Master Emerald. Knuckles then realizes that Dr. Robotnik has been playing him all along. Sonic and Knuckles then reluctantly work together in order to stop Robotnik and save Angel Island. In this way Sonic & Knuckles resolves the feud between the two characters, and ties up the plot of Sonic 3.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

1. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2, or simply Sonic 2, is a platform game developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog, and was originally released in November of 1992. The game introduces Miles "Tails" Prower for the first time as a playable character. On June 11, 2007, this game was made available on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, and on the Xbox Live Arcade on September 12, 2007.

At the end of Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik's Scrap Brain facility was destroyed, but the evil doctor narrowly escaped.

Now Robotnik is back and plans to conquer the world once more. He secretly follows Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, to his vacation spot, Westside Island. According to legend, an ancient civilization once abused the power of seven "power stones" on Westside Island. Sonic meets a peculiar two-tailed fox named Miles Prower, better known as "Tails". The two become good friends. Meanwhile, Robotnik begins his search for the Chaos Emeralds to fuel his new Death Egg warship. One afternoon, he launches his full-scale attack on the island. He imprisons all of the animals of the island and turns them into mindless worker drones. Fortunately, Sonic is determined to thwart the Doctor at all costs. This time, he isn't alone, as Tails decides to aid him. Together they must locate the Emeralds before Robotnik does, and stop him before the Death Egg is complete.

The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 builds upon the basic set-up of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. The player finishes each level, generally moving from left to right, within a time limit of ten minutes. Along the way, rings are collected and robots (known as "Badniks") are defeated. Star posts serve as checkpoints, where if the player were to lose a life then he or she would return to one. When the player has collected at least 50 rings, Star posts can be run past for an optional Special Stage. At the end of Act 2, Sonic confronts Dr. Robotnik.

Although zones have grown significantly in size since Sonic the Hedgehog, they now consist of two acts instead of three (with the exception of the Metropolis Zone, which has three acts, and the three final zones, which each have one), and there is greater emphasis on variety between levels. The gameplay has also become even faster; to that end, Sonic is able to perform a new special move referred to as the Spin Dash Attack. The Spin Dash attack allows Sonic to spin in place, as if revving an engine, before taking off at high speeds from a stationary start.

Special Stages track Sonic from behind while he runs through a (semi-) three-dimensional half-pipe course filled with rings and bombs. A set amount of rings must be collected to pass through three checkpoints and eventually obtain the emerald itself. The order of stages is fixed in rising difficulty, and Sonic cannot enter the next stage without passing the previous (unlike Sonic 1). Whether the player is able to obtain the emerald or not, Sonic is transported back to the last Star post he hit in the zone when the special stage is over and has zero rings.

From the options menu, players can select to either play as Sonic alone, Tails alone or Sonic and Tails. By default, players control Sonic while Tails tags along unhindered. However, a second player may control Tails separately. Should Tails move off-screen, he will eventually return.

Obtaining all seven Chaos Emeralds by clearing all of the special stages will unlock a new feature; Sonic's ability to change into Super Sonic. Sonic changes into his Super alter-ego when he has collected at least 50 rings and jumps into the air. At this point, he glows yellow and is virtually invincible, although he can still get killed by drowning, getting crushed, falling off the screen, or running out of time. His speed, acceleration, and jump height are all increased as well. This means that it is much more difficult to control Sonic in this form, especially when the player needs to make precise jumps. However, his Spin Dash Attack is decreased in effectiveness as the initial velocity is decreased speedily. Super Sonic consumes one ring per second, and when he has no rings left or he reaches the end of the act, he reverts to his normal state. There was a bug with this feature in the first two versions of the game - when the player reverted back to "normal" Sonic after passing the signpost or pressing the switch on the capsule, if they jumped again (with 50 rings or more) before the "Sonic has Passed Act #" screen appeared, they would briefly transform into Super Sonic but almost instantly revert back to "normal" Sonic and they would be stuck in midair, usually walking or running on the spot. They would not be able to move and the Act would not end.[1]. Later versions of the game featured in collections of old Sonic or Sega games fixed this bug.

In two player versus mode, players compete against each other - either as Tails or Sonic - in a split-screen race through three regular zones and one special stage. Regular zones include Emerald Hill, Casino Night and Mystic Cave and have different music from their one player counterparts, while the Special Stage is similar to the Emerald Stage in single player. In the regular levels, players are ranked in five areas (score, time, rings held at the end of the level, total rings collected, and number of item boxes broken), with the player scoring highest in the most levels winning the round, while in the Special Stage, players compete to obtain the most rings. Once one player finishes, the other player must finish the zone within 60 seconds or lose a life.

In case of a tie, an additional Special Stage round must be completed. Also, to heighten the stakes, there are two unique items in versus-mode: a teleport item that instantly switches positions between players in a zone, and a Robotnik item that damages the unlucky player. Furthermore, an optional setting allows that all item boxes in two-player mode are only teleports.

[gsguy]

zillawrath said:

1. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2, or simply Sonic 2, is a platform game developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog, and was originally released in November of 1992. The game introduces Miles "Tails" Prower for the first time as a playable character. On June 11, 2007, this game was made available on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, and on the Xbox Live Arcade on September 12, 2007.

At the end of Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik's Scrap Brain facility was destroyed, but the evil doctor narrowly escaped.

Now Robotnik is back and plans to conquer the world once more. He secretly follows Sonic's biplane, the Tornado, to his vacation spot, Westside Island. According to legend, an ancient civilization once abused the power of seven "power stones" on Westside Island. Sonic meets a peculiar two-tailed fox named Miles Prower, better known as "Tails". The two become good friends. Meanwhile, Robotnik begins his search for the Chaos Emeralds to fuel his new Death Egg warship. One afternoon, he launches his full-scale attack on the island. He imprisons all of the animals of the island and turns them into mindless worker drones. Fortunately, Sonic is determined to thwart the Doctor at all costs. This time, he isn't alone, as Tails decides to aid him. Together they must locate the Emeralds before Robotnik does, and stop him before the Death Egg is complete.

The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 builds upon the basic set-up of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. The player finishes each level, generally moving from left to right, within a time limit of ten minutes. Along the way, rings are collected and robots (known as "Badniks") are defeated. Star posts serve as checkpoints, where if the player were to lose a life then he or she would return to one. When the player has collected at least 50 rings, Star posts can be run past for an optional Special Stage. At the end of Act 2, Sonic confronts Dr. Robotnik.

Although zones have grown significantly in size since Sonic the Hedgehog, they now consist of two acts instead of three (with the exception of the Metropolis Zone, which has three acts, and the three final zones, which each have one), and there is greater emphasis on variety between levels. The gameplay has also become even faster; to that end, Sonic is able to perform a new special move referred to as the Spin Dash Attack. The Spin Dash attack allows Sonic to spin in place, as if revving an engine, before taking off at high speeds from a stationary start.

Special Stages track Sonic from behind while he runs through a (semi-) three-dimensional half-pipe course filled with rings and bombs. A set amount of rings must be collected to pass through three checkpoints and eventually obtain the emerald itself. The order of stages is fixed in rising difficulty, and Sonic cannot enter the next stage without passing the previous (unlike Sonic 1). Whether the player is able to obtain the emerald or not, Sonic is transported back to the last Star post he hit in the zone when the special stage is over and has zero rings.

From the options menu, players can select to either play as Sonic alone, Tails alone or Sonic and Tails. By default, players control Sonic while Tails tags along unhindered. However, a second player may control Tails separately. Should Tails move off-screen, he will eventually return.

Obtaining all seven Chaos Emeralds by clearing all of the special stages will unlock a new feature; Sonic's ability to change into Super Sonic. Sonic changes into his Super alter-ego when he has collected at least 50 rings and jumps into the air. At this point, he glows yellow and is virtually invincible, although he can still get killed by drowning, getting crushed, falling off the screen, or running out of time. His speed, acceleration, and jump height are all increased as well. This means that it is much more difficult to control Sonic in this form, especially when the player needs to make precise jumps. However, his Spin Dash Attack is decreased in effectiveness as the initial velocity is decreased speedily. Super Sonic consumes one ring per second, and when he has no rings left or he reaches the end of the act, he reverts to his normal state. There was a bug with this feature in the first two versions of the game - when the player reverted back to "normal" Sonic after passing the signpost or pressing the switch on the capsule, if they jumped again (with 50 rings or more) before the "Sonic has Passed Act #" screen appeared, they would briefly transform into Super Sonic but almost instantly revert back to "normal" Sonic and they would be stuck in midair, usually walking or running on the spot. They would not be able to move and the Act would not end.[1]. Later versions of the game featured in collections of old Sonic or Sega games fixed this bug.

In two player versus mode, players compete against each other - either as Tails or Sonic - in a split-screen race through three regular zones and one special stage. Regular zones include Emerald Hill, Casino Night and Mystic Cave and have different music from their one player counterparts, while the Special Stage is similar to the Emerald Stage in single player. In the regular levels, players are ranked in five areas (score, time, rings held at the end of the level, total rings collected, and number of item boxes broken), with the player scoring highest in the most levels winning the round, while in the Special Stage, players compete to obtain the most rings. Once one player finishes, the other player must finish the zone within 60 seconds or lose a life.

In case of a tie, an additional Special Stage round must be completed. Also, to heighten the stakes, there are two unique items in versus-mode: a teleport item that instantly switches positions between players in a zone, and a Robotnik item that damages the unlucky player. Furthermore, an optional setting allows that all item boxes in two-player mode are only teleports.

Nice! That's my #1 also.

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Sonic kicked ass in this countdown.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Here is the complete list.

200. John Madden NFL 98 (Genesis)
199. John Madden Football (Genesis)
198. The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare (Genesis)
197. Star Wars: Rebel Assault (CD)
196. Cool Spot (Genesis)
195. Urban Strike (Genesis)
194. Bass Masters Classic (Genesis)
193. Slam City With Scottie Pippen (CD)
192. The Secret of Monkey Island (CD)
191. Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (Genesis)
190. Toy Story (Genesis)
189. James Bond: The Duel (Genesis)
188. Kriss Kross: Make My Video (CD)
187. European Club Soccer (Genesis)
186. RBI Baseball 3 (Genesis)
185. John Madden NFL 94 (Genesis)
184. Truxton (Genesis)
183. NFL Quarterback Club (32X)
182. Phantasy Star (Genesis)
181. Fantastic Dizzy (Genesis)
180. Mickey Mania: The Timless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (CD)
179. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Genesis)
178. Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing (Genesis)
177. NFL Quarterback Club (Genesis)
176. Barkley Shut Up And Jam (Genesis)
175. FIFA Soccer 96 (32X)
174. Space Harrier II (Genesis)
173. Cyborg Justice (Genesis)
172. The Death And Return Of Superman (Genesis)
171. Chuck Rock (Genesis)
170. World Cup USA 94 (Genesis)
169. California Games (Genesis)
168. Animaniacs (Genesis)
167. NHL Hockey (Genesis)
166. Popful Mail (CD)
165. Golden Axe 3 (Genesis)
164. Road Rash (Genesis)
163. Alien Storm (Genesis)
162. The Terminator (Genesis)
161. Clay Fighter (Genesis)
160. Super Hang On (Genesis)
159. Tecmo Super Bowl 2 (Genesis)
158. Dark Wizard (CD)
157. Ecco: The Tides Of Time (Genesis)
156. Crue Ball (Genesis)
155. Disney's Pinocchio (Genesis)
154. Alisia Dragoon (Genesis)
153. Super Battleship (Genesis)
152. Mad Dog McCree (CD)
151. The Punisher (Genesis)
150. Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament 96 (Genesis)
149. Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
148. Battletoads (Genesis)
147. Bubsy II (Genesis)
146. Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold (CD)
145. Mutant League Hockey (Genesis)
144. Jaguar XJ220 (CD)
143. King Of The Monsters 2 (Genesis)
142. Lethal Enforcers (Genesis)
141. Boogerman: A Pick & Flick Adventure (Genesis)
140. Virtua Racing (Genesis)
139. Star Wars Arcade (32X)
138. Brutal: Above The Claw (32X)
137. Sta Wars Arcade (CD)
136. Tecmo Super Bowl (Genesis)
135. Puggsy (Genesis)
134. Mega Turrican (Genesis)
133. James Pond 2: Codename Robocod (Genesis)
132. Thunderforce IV (Genesis)
131. Double Dragon (Genesis)
130. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (Genesis)
129. NBA Jam (Genesis)
128. FIFA International Soccer (Genesis)
127. Columns (Genesis)
126. Kick Off 3 (Genesis)
125. College Football USA 96 (Genesis)
124. Al Michaels Announces Hardball III (Genesis)
123. NFL Sportstalk Football 93 Starring Joe Montana (Genesis)
122. Virtua Fighter (32X)
121. The Adventures of Batman & Robin (CD)
120. Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis)
119. Spider-man & X-Men: Arcade's Revenge (Genesis)
118. Pete Sampras Tennis (Genesis)
117. Coach K College Basketball (Genesis)
116. NHL 95 (Genesis)
115. FIFA Soccer 96 (Genesis)
114. Pirates! Gold (Genesis)
113. Toejam & Earl In Panic On Funkatron (Genesis)
112. Battletoads & Double Dragon (Genesis)
111. Jurassic Park (Genesis)
110. WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game (Genesis)
109. The Simpsons: Virtual Bart (Genesis)
108. Earthworm Jim: Special Edition (CD)
107. Mega Bomberman (Genesis)
106. Silpheed (CD)
105. Robocop Vs. Terminator (Genesis)
104. Madden NFL 96 (Genesis)
103. Eternal Champions (Genesis)
102. 3 Ninjas Kick Back (CD)
101. Super Street Fighter II (Genesis)
100. Beyond Oasis (Genesis)
99. Sensible Soccer (Genesis)
98. NHL 94 (Genesis)
97. Wings of Wor (Genesis)
96. Wonder Boy III: Monster's Lair (Genesis)
95. World Series Baseball 95 (Genesis)
94. Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II (Genesis)
93. Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle (Genesis)
92. RBI Baseball 93 (Genesis)
91. World Series Baseball 98 (Genesis)
90. Rocket Knight Adventures (Genesis)
89. NHLPA Hockey 93 (Genesis)
88. Night Trap (CD)
87. Lunar: Eternal Blue (CD)
86. Pit-Fighter (Genesis)
85. The Haunting Starring Polterguy (Genesis)
84. Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters (CD)
83. Metal Head (32X)
82. Phantasy Star IV: The End Of The Millenium (Genesis)
81. Madden NFL 95 (Genesis)
80. Thunder Force III (Genesis)
79. Super Baseball 2020 (Genesis)
78. Vectorman 2 (Genesis)
77. General Chaos (Genesis)
76. Madden NFL 97 (Genesis)
75. Buck Rogers: Countdown To Doomsday (Genesis)
74. Vay (CD)
73. Target Earth (Genesis)
72. Batman (Genesis)
71. FIFA Soccer 95
70. Desert Strike: Return To The Gulf (Genesis)
69. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (Genesis)
68. Primal Rage (Genesis)
67. Ghosts N' Ghouls (Genesis)
66. The Lion King (Genesis)
65. Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Genesis)
64. Greatest Heavyweights Of The Ring (Genesis)
63. Micro Machines (Genesis)/Micro Machines 2 (Genesis) (tie)
62. Knuckles Chaotix (32X)
61. Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis)
60. WWF Raw (Genesis)
59. Shining In The Darkness (Genesis)
58. Eternal Champions: Challenge From The Dark Side (CD)
57. WWF Raw (32X)
56. NBA Live 95 (Genesis)
55. Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention (Genesis)
54. Doom (32X)
53. X-Men (Genesis)
52. Lunar: The Silver Star (CD)
51. World Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck (Genesis)
50. Mortal Kombat II (32X)
49. Toejam & Earl (Genesis)
48. Saturday Night Slammasters (Genesis)
47. Revenge Of Shinobi (Genesis)
46. Phantasy Star III: Generations Of Doom (Genesis)
45. Dinosaurs For Hire (Genesis)
44. Quackshot Starring Donald Duck (Genesis)
43. Mortal Kombat III (Genesis)
42. Golden Axe II (Genesis)
41. Troy Aikman NFL Football (Genesis)
40. Shining Force (CD)
39. Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master (Genesis)
38. Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Genesis)
37. Dynamite Headdy (Genesis)
36. Ecco The Dolphin (Genesis)
35. NBA Jam Tournament Edition (Genesis)
34. Shadow Dancer: The Secret Of Shinobi (Genesis)
33. Road Rash 2 (Genesis)
32. Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Genesis)
31. Snatcher (CD)
30. Beavis & Butthead (Genesis)
29. Kid Chameleon (Genesis)
28. Mutant League Football (Genesis)
27. Sonic Spinball (Genesis)
26. Shining Force: Legacy Of Great Intention (Genesis)
25. Spiderman & Venom: Maximum Carnage (Genesis)
24. Ristar (Genesis)
23. Herzog Zwei (Genesis)
22. Vectorman (Genesis)
21. Splatterhouse 2 (Genesis)
20. Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis)
19. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (Genesis)
18. WWF Royal Rumble (Genesis)
17. Sonic CD (CD)
16. Disney's Aladdin (Genesis)
15. Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)
14. Earthworm Jim (Genesis)
13. Phantasy Star 2 (Genesis)
12. Shining Force 2 (Genesis)
11. Altered Beast (Genesis)
10. Mortal Kombat (Genesis)
9. Golden Axe (Genesis)
8. Comix Zone (Genesis)
7. Streets Of Rage (Genesis)
6. Mortal Kombat II (Genesis)
5. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Genesis)
4. Sonic The Hedgehog (Genesis)
3. Streets Of Rage 2 (Genesis)
2. Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis)
1. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)

Thanks to everyone who voted.

[Black Hammer Rocks the AssWhip]

I have no problem with Sonic 2 being #1 on this list. It truely is an amazing game. I think I placed it third on my list. Should've been #2.