Sonic 2: 25 Easter eggs and video game references from Sonic’s history

gamesradar.com:

As to be expected, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is crammed full of Easter eggs, winks, and nods to the Blue Blur’s past. From deep cut references to pop culture parodies, Sonic 2 is almost fit to burst across its two-hour runtime.

To help fill you in on this extensive love letter to Sonic, we jotted down and tallied up all the Sonic 2 Easter eggs that we could find. We even cracked open a Sonic encyclopedia – yes, such a thing exists – to really drill down into some of the hidden corners of the franchise’s history.

So join us as we loop-the-loop our way through Sonic’s illustrious career, one Easter egg at a time.

Let’s start off with one of the more difficult-to-place Sonic 2 Easter eggs. Sonic crashes through a ‘Splash Hill’ truck early on in the movie. No, that’s not a cute side joke for Green Hill Zone. It’s actually a level in its own right: Splash Hill Zone was the opening act for the much-maligned Sonic 4.

This is one of a handful of Sonic Easter eggs returning from the original movie. Sonic’s racecar bed in Tom’s attic looks similar to his ride in the Sonic Racing series, but it’s also a nod to Sonic’s time in print. In the Archie comics, he sleeps in a racing car bed. 

The blue-hued nightmare fuel is back. ‘Sanic’ is a terrible fan-drawn recreation of Sonic the Hedgehog that has entered into pop culture folklore. When Sonic sneaks out for the night to play superhero as Blue Justice, he puts together a stand-in with a blue head that looks remarkably similar to Sanic. You’re not fooling anyone.

What’s the best thing to do when you’re home alone? Get your mind out of the gutter – it’s recreate Tom Cruise’s iconic dance scene from 1983’s Risky Business, of course. In that movie, Cruise’s Joel Goodson struts his stuff in a