The GHZ Forum

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/12/11/remas ... rrow-with/

It seems Taxman and Stealth have outdone themselves. The mobile port of Sonic 2 is out tomorrow and it not only contains all the goodness of their earlier Sonic 1 port, but also has a complete version of Hidden Palace Zone.

Many of the goodies in the Sonic 1 port didn't surface until after release, so who knows what gems are waiting to be discovered in the sequel.

I wonder if this level will be based on more than what was in the Sonic 2 beta, like if they got access to some early map designs or something? It's cool if it's an extra stage, but if it's really a restoration of the stage as it would have been, then that's really cool.

While I am not expecting it, I wouldn't be surprised if Dust Hill appears (as Taxman had a desert stage planned for Sonic CD). It would be great if Wood Zone was also included, but I think that's probably outside the budget.

Just had a quick 5 minute go. This has everything I've wanted in a remake ever since Sonic Team announced Sonic Jam:
-Flying Tails
-Knuckles in 2P
-Sonic 3 shields in 2P mode
-2P mode in every level (with online multiplayer)
and the secret Hidden Palace Zone.

I wish I had more time, so I could spend all day playing. It runs brilliantly on the Xperia Play (which has a built in game pad).

Hopefully it will sell well and then the duo can move on to remastering Sonic 3 & Knuckles and maybe even produce an original Sonic 2D title.

I really hope these versions eventually make it to Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One.

Hopefully Sonic 3 & Knuckles will be next. The excellent "Sonic 3 Complete" ROM hack has most of the features we'd want from such a thing, but 2 Player Versus versions of the regular stages would make a worthwhile addition.

Having hidden palace in this game made me realize something. Instead of buying new sonic games, I would gladly pay money for just new sonic levels added to the genesis sonic games. If they made new sonic levels and sold them for 1 to 2 dollars, I think a lot of people would gladly buy them.

Hidden Palace and the new boss are cool and all, but what I love most of all is how one accesses them.

Let's just say that there's no longer any reason for Super Sonic to patiently wait for death's merciful release. I just love that little fan-centric nod.

Wombatwarlord777 wrote: Let's just say that there's no longer any reason for Super Sonic to patiently wait for death's merciful release. I just love that little fan-centric nod.

You couldn't mean what I think you mean.

Mystic Cave Zone? THAT pit?

Crazy Penguin wrote:I really hope these versions eventually make it to Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One.

Hopefully Sonic 3 & Knuckles will be next.

Agreed with all this, and I hope they all come to Steam too. I love these ports but playing them on my iPhone with touch controls is less than ideal.

They should really just let these guys make a direct sequel to the 2D games as well. Scrape Sonic 4 from the record and let them make Sonic the Hedgehog 5.

I'm not super thrilled about shoehorning in more features that don't really belong in the game (I feel like a Taxman remake of Super Mario Brothers would feature the Tanooki Suit and playable Luigi/Peach/Toad), but the restored content will be interesting to play through, if only to finally get some sense of closure.

Crazy Penguin wrote:I really hope these versions eventually make it to Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One.

This. A hundred thousand times THIS. Taxman did the excellent Sonic CD port/upgrade that was on PS3 and 360, right? Because I would SERIOUSLY pay money to get these new upgraded ports on consoles.

I'm really impressed by this. Though why the fuck they didn't use the proper Hidden Palace Zone music escapes me. Silv says it's depressing and I find that depressing.

We need an HD port of PSO1 to consoles.

It's mournful! Nobody wants to jump on a robot dinosaur or get launched out a water pipe listening to this!

On twitter, Stealth said that the song they did use (the Mystic Cave 2P music) was used in prototypes that had a working Hidden Palace Zone, and that Masato Nakamura's demos indicated the famous 0x10 song was intended for a cutscene. (Which would explain why it's such a short loop.) So there you go, I guess!

Oh right. I had it in my head that the 0x10 tune was labeled Hidden Palace on the Masa demo CD, but I guess I was wrong.

I still think the slower 6/8 thing is way more special and secret-sounding!

I wish they had stuck to the song everybody assumed was assigned to Hidden Palace. The stage itself is short and has only one act, so I don't think its slightly repetitive nature would really get grating.

Oh well. Does anybody know if the song in question is available from a sound test or anything?

It's in the regular Sonic 2 sound test. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT.

Popcorn wrote: We need an HD port of PSO1 to consoles.

fucking, RIGHT???

PSO1 HD on psn with online enabled would be somewhat of a perfect retro release. It's the kind of game that would really benefit from modern day online gaming infrastructure in a big way. Even a streamlined version of the game that did away with the lobbies (though they are lovely) and did all its match making via menus would be more than welcome. COME ON SEGA

I wish they would bring back PSOIII: card revolution. I have always been into card games and that game was a online multiplayer card game with a ton of strategy and very unique game mechanics that are not seen in a lot of TCG. It's a shame most people hate that game compared to the other ones because that may have been one of my favorite games on the gamecube.

Also, back on topic, Anybody check out the achievements for the sonic 2 port? Now those are some pretty tough achievements. I'm sure I'd be able to do most of them if I could somehow plug in a genesis controller into my phone. The game plays great, it's just that touch screen d pads will always fucking suck compared to a actual d pad.

Man, I forgot that card game even existed. Jesus.

I feel very sleepy just thinking about it.

This might be the biggest Sonic news in the last 10 years. =p

This was fun! There are aspects of the design that make it feel a LITTLE out of place compared to the rest of Sonic 2 -- a couple particularly brutal run-straight-into-a-badnik object placements, and a boss fight that doesn't really match the style of the others in the game (despite being very creative) -- but it's a big, cool level with a lot of really neat structural ideas and gimmicks. It appears to be a newly designed stage, with a few bits and pieces of the beta version chopped up and spread around here or there.

I'll agree about the boss fight but I think the rest of the level fits in pretty fine with the rest of Sonic 2, although I feel like the enemies underwater don't really match with the rest of the enemy designs. It doesn't seem to be under any of the "scrapped" enemies for the game like the bat, dinosaur and uh, wheeled triceratops, so I wonder where they even got it from?

And hey, turns out there's also a hidden special stage 8 that even has a corkscrew in it!

I've been playing this game all break and I got to say Sonic 2 still holds up after all these years. I've gotten better with the controls and it handles decent enough. One thing I don't like is since they are touch screen controls, your thumbs are constantly on the screen. This isn't bad during the levels because the screen scrolls so Sonic stays in the middle of the screen, but it is noticeable during the boss fights. There have been a ton of times (mystic cave, metropolis, and sky fortress) where I could not see what I was doing because Sonic was under my thumb. That really is not the programming's fault since it is just the hardware they are stuck with but it really shows a flaw that has always bothered me with a lot of touch screen games.

I really enjoy how the menu screens are designed and my favorite game mode right now is time attack. Time attack is the perfect mode for lunch breaks because it's fast and easy and I don't have to get obsessive about finishing a game.

Lastly, I really enjoyed hidden palace zone. I had like this strange joy when I was playing this "new" Sonic 2 level, it's hard to describe. It felt like I was a little kid again.

I had no intention of bothering with this. Partly because I really didn't feel much of a desire to own yet another version of Sonic 2(even with the addition of Hidden Palace) and partly because I don't think phones/tablets are really a very suitable format for classic Sonic games. However, I got a Kindle Fire tablet for Christmas and Amazon were giving away free apps over the Xmas period. One of the freebies on offer was Sonic 2 and with all the positivity surrounding this version I figured I should at least give it a try.

Much like Taxman's version of Sonic CD it's a very good port. It looks nice in widescreen. I think the thing that really stood out for me though was the special stages. They look really good and run very smoothly. I really liked the addition of the time attack mode as well. I had mixed feelings about Hidden Palace. It's a decent level but I don't think it fits in that well with the rest of the game. It is completely optional though and a nice bonus for what it is. I liked the extra special stage as well but it's very tough. I've had several attempts and still haven't managed to finish it. It really feels like something that's been added for veterans of the game. I thought the extra scene added to the ending was a nice touch as well and I liked how it linked to Sonic 3.

The one thing I felt did ruin the game slightly was the controls. I'm using touch screen controls and don't get me wrong I feel the developers have done the best they could with what they were given but they're just no substitute for a proper controller. With a bit of play time I found I got used them but those moments where you need precise controls can be a bit frustrating.

Ultimately, I do think this is a great port but I just wish it was on a proper games console of some sort. Hopefully, this version will be used for future re-releases.