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SAGE 2022 - Demo AS2R: Another Sonic 2 Remake (SAGE '22 Demo)

Oh my god this is amazing! It's so unique and full of quality in the style and music WOW!
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I love this!

i appreciate everything that this person was doing with this project and im looking forward to see more!
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The game is neat, though I'm giving it 3 because of such drawbacks:
1. The level design is decent, having a good balance between challenging and entertaining tracks and loops. However, I'd suggest naming this game not a remake, because isn't the remake's purpose to recreate the game in the fresh code of paint, but also to maintain the original game's feel? This fan game is too different from the original. Perhaps name it "Sonic 2 Reimagined" or 'Sonic 2 Remixed"?
2. The hand-drawn sprites are not bad, but cause a clash because, on one hand, you have Sonic's and background sprites, which are hand-drawn, while the level itself is pixelated. Also, they can be inconsistent, for example, Sonic becomes bigger when he gets hit.
3. The levels can drag for too long, taking in a range of 4 to 12 minutes. The 3-1 level took me the whole 12 minutes, which I guess is not intentional, since it has even caused the timer to count like it's from 1 minute. I don't know how you can fix that, but it's just something I didn't like since I felt burnt out while playing this demo.
4. The bosses are questionable at best. The 1-1 boss doesn't have something called "the laws of physics" since the ball shouldn't just jump on the hill that goes up, just because Sonic is there. The 1-2 boss doesn't tell the player what to do. I was lucky enough to spindash just because I wanted to, but I can see this boss being confusing for other players. 2-1 was fine, 3-1 was too easy and 3-2 was just ass. I was so confused why didn't he pull up his ball after he bounced under me? He was just standing there, waiting to bounce on again and repeat the same process 'till I died because I fell in the water. I was about to rage quit, but fortunately for me, I was able to cheese this boss fight by just moving my camera so he would be on the corner of the screen and only then he pulled up his balls. Please replace it or fix it..
5. Personal preference, but I'm not a fan of some remixes you chose.
6. And finally, the bugs. There were there from time to time. I can't recall what I encountered, since I can't remember anymore, but I remember that doing a peel-out on some clouds can cause Sonic to slowly go down.

Anyway, it's a hit-and-miss fan game to me right now. You can take my criticism into consideration or not, it's up to you. But my opinion will stay the same until you do.
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JustJohn43
Thank you very much for writing this detailed review. This will certainly help me going forward!
1. Thank you. Level design flow is important to me. I will be sticking with the name AS2R as it has more layered meaning. I have been honest in the credits and said "based on the original" XD
2. Absolutely everything (barring a handful of OG opensurge sprites for effects) has been hand drawn on the ipad app procreate and then converted to sprites on a PC, including the backgrounds. I am still learning but if you could give me any art tips going forward, that would be great. Sonic's sprites clash as some of them are the original pencil & paper ones. Are there any animations in particular you really liked that I should use as a foundation?
3. I can only apologise for burning you out. I am also sorry that there is no save feature. I am making some key considerations for the final game because the last thing I want to do is upset a player
J
JustJohn43
4. Now boss design. I apologise for ALZ. They are incomplete as they were made a month before the event, I hope to make the ALZ bosses more exciting and easier to figure out. Interesting cheese. Each boss does indeed have a cheese method. I am an enjoyer of patience and animation based combat like Dark Souls & Monster Hunter. I find 2D sonic bosses to be boring and I wanted the Master Robots to be memorable. I like Dimps. I hope this helps explain my thinking. This will be a point of contention for sure and I expected it. Your comments are all fair!
5. Music taste is all subjective, but what were your favourite and least favourite tracks?
6. If you encounter any bugs please get in touch and show me exactly what happened so I may fix. You can take a screenshot with +

Sounds like I do not even deserve this review! But you did it anyway! Thank you very much for your time.
I grew up with the sonic gems collection and never made it past act 2 of the first stage back then.
This game gives me a chance to retry the game in a new light.

pros:
+the music goes hard! especially act 2 songs, very impressive
+thanks for adding the video game youtubers you learned from to make your game!
+you drew the graphics with an Ipad and that alone is impressive
+fun gameplay and such
+spin dash and peelout are always welcome additions

improvements:
-no save states so I can't continue progress
-I'm surprised the jump button on joypad isn't the A button (xbox one) took a while to get used to
-i bugged the sound by clearing south island with the goal post but then spindashing just before the results screen came in, it spammed the spindashing sound extra loud!

thank you for remaking this game!
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SAGE 22 - Sonic Fan Game 3 out of 69 - AS2R: Another Sonic 2 Remake (SAGE '22 Demo)
A charming remake of S2 for the Master System/Game Gear

This game is pretty swell for a remake of a Master System classic.
I have a feeling some might say the graphics might be a turn off, but I find it adds charm to the game.
The controls don't feel 1-on-1 with the classic games but that's not about expected anyways. It serves its purpose and makes the game playable (for the most part).

Though question is, why am I giving this game a 4-star instead of a 5?
Well, it's frankly because of the level design. The first 2 Acts are fine (South Island and Underground Act 1); But the others, while still playable, have a thing with punishing the player for obstacles that are not possible to react to in time. For example, a spike in front of you when you're running.
I also have to say, with Sky Hill Act 2, there is a part where it seems confusing at first but then there's a hidden spring behind a rock. I wish this was communicated better with the player, so I knew to look for spring to get on top of the beanstalk.

Besides the level design is hit or miss, for the most part, I had a good time with this.

Now, I would also like to report a bug and a suggestion.
I encountered a bug I found funny. So when you pass a goalpost, if done correctly, Sonic will just stand in midair doing his victory pose. I'm pretty sure this isn't intentional so, instead of fixing this, here's a suggestion. Make a separate sprite in case this happens, that would be very neat, I think.
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JustJohn43
The most concerning thing about your review is "Sky High Act 2 is impossible to complete". Nobody has ever encountered an issue like this. When you refer to beanstalks I presume you are talking about the thick spiral descent ones? There is only one other possibility and you may kick yourself. The theme of this level is "environmental puzzles".
SpiffyRuffleroni
SpiffyRuffleroni
Yes, I am talking about those. Also, huh, strange. On my playthrough, I couldn't get past being upside down when it appears necessary, because, again, kept falling off no matter what.