Issue 19 Reviews

 Every month you can watch reviews and read our thoughts on the games we've been playing, old and new. This month Joe tasked with Scott with reviewing Sonic 2, one of his all-time favourites. Be gentle, Scott…

My life has become misery.

To make matters worse, Joe has kidnapped my dog and is refusing to walk or even feed her until I’ve reviewed the recently released Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog 2. So that’s what I’m going to do, because that poor dog shouldn’t have to suffer.

When you load up this new version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which I’ll now refer to as StH2 for the rest of this review, the first thing you’ll notice is they’ve added Knuckles to the game. I would advise against playing this version first, as Knuckles has a very negative attitude and his gliding ability is an affront to gravity. It would be like starting your meal in a restaurant by driving home.

I made my first - of many - mistakes when loading up my first play-through: I chose to be accompanied by that scoundrel, that low-born snake and stealer of valour, Tails the Fox. When he’s not serving as a distraction or falling into pits, he’s losing essential coins in the bonus vortex or, unforgivably, getting the last undeserved hit on a boss. Later in the game when it appeared that his plane had crashed, I was not sad, I did not shed a tear.

Sorry, I had to pause a minute because Joe has sent me a video of him teasing my dog with a string of sausages.

Where was I?

The most impressive thing about playing this new release of StH2 is how it feels the same as your memories of playing it for the first time on the Mega Drive: it’s fast, colourful and the level design was unlike anything else at the time. Maybe they aren’t as huge or intricate as they feel, but the point is that they do feel huge and intricate, with each run through a level feeling distinct and different. That’s the key to Sonic and the reason these older games are still as revered as ever - nothing has ever felt as fast as a 2D Sonic game. Sure the 3D games look good, but too much gets in the way.

The bosses should get a special mention because, apart from that bullshit terrible one with the purple goo, they are imaginative and just the right level of challenging. While Bowser is arguably more iconic, Robotnik is far more varied and fun in 2D than the Lizard King ever managed. The Robotnik Mecha at the end is such a big balls move that you can’t help but pour one out in respect.

Otherwise, the new additions are fun, but slight; playing as Knuckles is interesting but doesn’t add much; the Super Sonic mode is a great laugh but it practically plays itself and the Challenge Mode is so slight that it feels like a last minute addition. While it involves getting up to 100 coins before crossing the finishing line and is set in the games most iconic level, only having one level available limits the appeal especially when some of the recorded times are practically unbeatable.

The shadow (wink wink) of past glory has long haunted the Sonic series and the series hitting such a peak so early has lead to years of disappointment and half-hearted enthusiasm.

It’s good that rather than try and rush out a movie tie-in to capitalise on nostalgia purchases and add to the pile of pish, the first game that’ll come up for prospective buyers is one of the best games of its generation. While the extra bells and whistles might not appeal to everyone, the core game is an essential.

Hopefully I’ve said enough nice things about StH2 and Joe will give me back my dog and if I’ve not then he can keep the fucking thing. The pet insurance is due to go up again soon and to be honest, I’m sick of how she watches me when I’m on the toilet or showering.

So yeah, 10/10 - give me back my dog, or don’t. 

From the very first frame of the title screen there's something unique about this game. The style is simultaneously retro and fresh; trendy and trend-setting. The low-poly, neon-lit vapourware trappings might hint at a game following the crowd but there's a lot of depth and uniqueness to how Horizon Chase looks while actually playing.

This is very specifically a modern update to the pre-3D era of racing games, when any and all technological smoke and mirror tricks were used to make it look like you were driving into the screen. Think Pole Position to Outrun rather than Virtua Racing onwards. It means there's less of an emphasis on racing lines and perfect cornering and more of a focus on dodging traffic, staying on the road and using boosts to fly past the competition.

Races in World Tour mode have you facing off against twenty or so other cars. It's a clever choice by the developers; although these are race tracks rather than public roads, the packed field really brings those open highways of Outrun to mind, where you'd be dodging traffic constantly.

Added to the mix are collectible tokens, nitro boosts and fuel. Getting gold and collecting all the tokens on a stage paves the way for unlocking more features in the game over and above the warm glow that comes with the bragging rights. Fuel is what you need to keep your eye on, because you can be the fastest on the track but if you're tank ends up empty you'll slow to a halt before you know it. A nice touch is that you can still use nitro on an empty tank to get a couple of extra miles in, hopefully enough to net you a win or a petrol tank.

The move from weird pseudo-approximations of driving cars to actual physical objects in 3D space worked wonders for racing games, and it's why Ridge Racer, Daytona USA, Gran Turismo and Sega Rally have such longevity. Even at the extreme end of super-arcadey racing games, they still feel much more like the real thing than what Horizon Chase is trying to emulate.

Here, as in Outrun and all the greats from back in the day, the road in front of you curves and bends, guiding your car by itself.

It's all an illusion and all you're really doing is stopping yourself from sliding off the track. Which is fine! It's great fun and it's very addictive; but it doesn't really feel like racing. What brings you back for one more go here isn't the thrill of perfecting a racing course and eking out valuable tenths of a second, but of getting that magic run where you pick up all the blue coins and win that trophy.

It might not be racing, but it's exhilarating.