Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Embraces Both Modern and Classic Sonic

gamerant.com:

When it comes to video game movies, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 now stands with its predecessor as a great video game movie in the eyes of fans. With plenty of video game movies failing to deliver to an audience of moviegoers and gamers alike, the Sonic the Hedgehog movies have managed to fill that niche. Unlike other similar movies that try to grab their audience by doing something different from the games, Paramount's latest box office hit has instead profited from embracing its source material wholeheartedly.

With the trailer shown at the Game Awards last December, it was made rather clear Sonic 2 was going to be more like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles. While Tails had a larger role in the trailer than Knuckles, imagery such as Robotnik piloting a giant robot shaped like him as well as Sonic snowboarding made it rather clear which game the movie would borrow its story from. However, the fans who watched Sonic 2 were treated to more than just references to the Sega Genesis titles.

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While the second Sonic movie did lean more into Sonic 3 and Knuckles than Sonic 2, it makes sense that this was the approach the filmmakers took considering Sonic's second title had next to no story. It merely explained how Sonic and Tails met, and that story could be only found in the game's manual. This story was also kept rather short, varied depending on what region players got the game in, or was completely left out of certain manuals entirely. Sonic 3 and Knuckles, meanwhile, had its story within the game itself, making it a good basis for the second Sonic movie.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ended up being a rather faithful, almost note-for-note adaption of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, which excited many