Sonic The Hedgehog 2 – how does it compare to the games?

metro.co.uk:

It may indulge in its human side characters a bit too much, but Sonic The Hedgehog 2 draws on just enough from the games to satiate diehard fans.

The first Sonic The Hedgehog was better than it had any right to be, and became a deserved box office hit, but many (including ourselves) felt it was a Sonic movie in name only. The plot was a very typical road trip movie, about a fish out of water alien befriending a human, and very few elements from the source material of the games was included.

With the sequel, there were signs as early as the first trailer from The Game Awards 2021, that this issue would be addressed. Classic series iconography like Tail’s red biplane and the Master Emerald were on full display, with Jim Carrey’s Dr Robotnik completely bald and sporting the traditional red lab coat and more game accurate moustache. Not to mention Tails and Knuckles looking near identical to their game appearances, as opposed to horrific mutants like Sonic’s initial design.

There was a very clear effort to make this movie more appealing to fans of the games. One of the posters even recreates the box art for the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Mega Drive game. Having now seen the movie for ourselves, we can confidently say that while it’s still not the most game accurate adaptation, it’s far more comfortable embracing its source material and sets a good precedent for inevitable follow-ups.

Let’s get the sore spots out of the way first. Anyone hoping that the clips of Sonic snowboarding down an icy mountain (an obvious nod to Ice Cap Zone from Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic Adventure) and the ancient temple housing the Master Emerald would mean we’d be properly exploring Sonic’s world will be disappointed.

In an almost worryingly similar