CombineBot's new website!

 Hey everyone! Another short post today but CombineBot now has his own website! It's another Blogger page made specifically for info and updates on the bot. The future of CombineBot posts and more will be live here and there.

https://combinebot.blogspot.com/

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Goodbye UltraBot, hello CombineBot!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to make a quick post that I have now changed UltraBot's name to CombineBot. This fits more with the Half-Life 2 branding and is less generic. (I found 6 other bots also called UltraBot... ouch.)

That's all. Everything has been updated. Expect more posts in the future!

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The future of UltraBot #2: It's python time!

 Alright, so my friend Damien as you guys may know at this point as a discord bot of his own, AlphaGameBot. His bot is entirely written in Python. But you guys probably know that I make my bot with BDScript on the Bot Designer for Discord platform. However, I have recently become fed up with their ad based hosting and how locked away they are. So I decided to learn the basics of Python and POOP (Python Object Oriented Programming, great acronym I know) to use pycord and make my own Python bot, UltraBot.py!

Now as of now UltraBot.py is very experimental and I still don't know a lot about Python. Don't expect this bot to feature advanced commands any time soon.

Hopefully I can stop using BDScript and start using Python!

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How I wrote an algorithm that converts DISC to MBTI (UltraBot Command)

 Hey everyone! Today I wanted to talk about something I made in UltraBot about a month ago at this point that converts your indigo DISC scores into MBTI personalities. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry. Everything will be explained!

What is DISC?

DISC is a personality score (yes, I'm a bit of a personality type nerd) given to you on the Indigo Assessment. My school recently had us take this test for a class, but sadly you'll have to pay $100 to take it on your own. However, it included personality scores in 4 catagories:

D - Dominance. How directly you talk to people and how much control you want.

I - Influence. Your influence on other people and how much you like them.

S - Steadiness. How much patience and planning you do for things.

C - Compliance. How analytical and observant you are of the things around you.

This is all measured in numbers. Here's my results:

Dominance - 72

Influence - 45

Steadiness - 18

Compliance - 71

Now intially I didn't care much about this until my friend Damien (yes, the same Damien who ran my old blog) said "What if we make an algorithm to convert DISC scores into MBTI?"

What is MBTI?

MBTI is a system of 16 personality types based on 4 traits you have:

Introverted or Extroverted (I or E)

Intuitive or Observant (N or S)

Thinking or Feeling (T or F)

Judging or Perceiving (J or P)

You take those letters and put them in order. For example, I'm an INFP. Since DISC also has 4 traits I decided to see what I could do to align your DISC scores with MBTI, so I got to work.

The Algorithm

The algorithm works like this:

High D = Thinking

Low D = Feeling

This one can defenitely be debated over whether it's true but considering how many thinking types tend to act and how low D people have more empathy and emotion, I think it's safe to say this is true.

Low I = Introverted

High I = Extroverted

This one is for sure true. It's said in the report that influence is based off introvert/extrovert so this is for sure true.

High S = Judging

Low S = Perceving

This is another debatable one but it's said that high S's are more patient and plan things out while Low S's are impatient and jump in immediatly, both very clear distinctions of P and J.

High C = Observant

Low C = Intuitive

This one is difficult and debatable, but considering high Cs are very observant but also very analytical (which yes, many people including me exist like that) I think it's most likely this after my research.

UltraBot

So there we go! I made a system to convert these scores. Basically, if you get 50 or higher on a score it will be counted as high, and 49 or lower will be counted as low. But of course, when I make a system like this, an UltraBot command is very much needed! So I got to work on a command, and this is the finished code:

$nomention

Your MBTI is:

$if[$message[i]>=50]

  E

$else

  I

$endif

$if[$message[c]>=50]

  S

$else

  N

$endif

$if[$message[d]>=50]

  T

$else

  F

$endif

$if[$message[s]>=50]

  J

$else

  P

$endif

This was written in BDScript 2 and is the first command in UB's history to include the $if function, which I might make a whole seperate post on once I make more commands that use it. Here's the command in action:

It uses slash command required options to input your scores, then the $if functions run and calculates your score. So if you have a DISC score, get UltraBot and start converting!

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) review

So, just so you know, these aren't gonna be professional reviews. I want to simply give my thoughts out on these games and why I like/dislike them. With that in mind, welcome to my fourth Sonic Review, for Sonic 3 & Knuckles from 1994!

Some Background Info

After the success of Sonic 2, Sega set out to make the biggest, baddest, most ambitious sonic game yet. And while that was happening, one thing got in the way of it. McDonalds. Yes, so Sega had a deal with McDonalds to sell Sonic 3 toys in early 1994, but there was no way the game could be finished by then, so it had to be split into 2 games: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

This is for sure an unfortaunate decsion. There are probably a lot of people out there who think "Sonic 3" is the full Sonic 3. In my opinion, I would have called these games Sonic 3: Part 1 and Sonic 3: Part 2. Sure it doesn't sound as nice but it's less confusing. Luckily, the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge contained what they called Lock-On Technology, where you can plug in other cartridges to the S&K one and get access to special content. Plugging in Sonic 2 allows you to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2. You might think plugging in Sonic 1 would allow to play as Knuckles in that game, but no. Due to palette issues, Knuckles in Sonic 1 (at least up until Stealth made his Knuckles in Sonic 1 rom hack) wasn't possible, so plugging in Sonic 1 gives you access to infinetely randomly generated Blue Sphere stages, which we'll talk about later.

But the real reason the Lock-On was included was to lock on Sonic 3 which gives you access to the full intended experience, combining both games: Sonic 3 & Knuckles. While I could look at these as two seperate games, I see no reason to as this was how the game was originally intended, and I like to play games the way they were intended.

How do I play Sonic 3 & Knuckles?

The best version of Sonic 3K by far is Angel Island Revisited, also known as Sonic 3 AIR, which is a full widescreen remaster of Sonic 3 with plenty of customization options and a huge modding community.

In the game, you can play as Sonic + Tails, Sonic Alone, Tails Alone, Knuckles Alone, and Knuckles + Tails.

For the sake of this review and the reasons I explained in my Sonic 2 Review, we'll be playing Sonic Alone for this. I'll do a review on Knuckles Story someday, once I play through all of it. Tails can fly and swim, so he's the easy mode, Sonic is normal and Knuckles is slower and has more difficult bosses and routes so he's the hard mode. I won't be talking about Tails because he has the same route as Sonic and is usually easier.

The Story

Sonic 3K has the biggest and most interesting story of all the games yet, so get excited!

After the destruction of the Death Egg from Sonic 2, it has landed on Angel Island, a floating island in the sky that is powered by the Master Emerald, guarded by the echidna Knuckles. Robotnik tricks Knuckles into thinking that Sonic is here to steal the master emerald, when really Robotnik wants it for himself. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails go to investigate Angel Island...

The Game - Special Stages

Alright, so this game has the best special stages in any of the classic games. They are PERFECT.

You run around collecting blue spheres, and if you touch a red sphere you die. But touching a blue sphere instantly turns into a red sphere, so you have to be careful. If you circle around a group of blue spheres they turn into rings which you can collect. Getting all rings in a stage guarantees a perfect bonus and gives you shit loads of points. There are also yellow spheres which bounce you, and the stage gets faster as you go on. These are so fun and so good. They aren't unfair and luck based like Sonic 1's were, they aren't overly difficult or have bad visibilty like Sonic 2's, they are just perfect. The only real issue I have with these stages is that the controls are a little delayed, but I've played these so many times to the point where I have very much gotten used to them.

You enter the stages through finding giant rings that you enter around the levels, which also makes these pretty easy? This is the only classic sonic game I've gotten super sonic in, but there's a good reason for that which you'll see later.

The Game - Angel Island Zone

We start off the game with a cutscene that shows Sonic and Tails flying into Angel Island on the Tornado and then Sonic jumping off and becoming Super Sonic. After flying into the zone, Knuckles pops out of the ground and PUNCHES sonic out of his super form knocking the chaos emeralds out of him, this shows that Knuckles is tough and not to be messed with. Knuckles collects the emeralds and runs off.

Now before I get into this game you guys need to know something, if I seem biased or constantly loving this game, it's because I am. Sonic 3K is my favorite Sonic game of all time, and is one of my most favorite games period. I'd argue it beats out a few of the Half-Life games (which HL1 is my most favorite game period besides Portal 2) in terms of quality. 

Now that that's over, I also want to talk about how this game presents itself, as it's very different from the style Sonic 1 and 2 go for. Now don't get me wrong, I think this game is beautiful. I still think Sonic CD looks better but damn, this game is wonderful and so pleasing to look at. But I honestly prefer the art style Sonic 1 and 2 go for. Sonic 3 was the first sonic game to use 3D models rendered in as some game sprites, like the title screen, and I really don't like this style. It hasn't aged super well compared to the hand-made cartoony look the other games have. Sonic 3 is more realistic and detailed, which I just don't think works for a game like this. I particularly do not like Sonic's sprite in this game. They made his pupils smaller which gives him more attitude, but I really miss the old expressive cute sonic from the older games. (Yes, I really like cute sonic.) and I don't like how fat and detailed everything looks. Also, Sonic 3 puts this weird blue tint on its sprites. It's not that I don't like old mature sonic, I think Sonic Boom has my favorite Sonic and Amy designs as well as my favorite versions of those characters in general.

I can look past most of this but it is an issue with the game for me. Anyway, Sonic has a new move here and its one of my favorites: the Insta Shield. If you jump while in the air, Sonic will for a split second put a shield on him which extends his hitbox, meaning you can nuke bosses and protect yourself from some attacks and I LOVE it. Since I'm a bit of an Insta Shield master I use it very often in this game. (I mean, not to brag but I'm kind of a classic sonic master as a whole...)

Anyway, Angel Island Zone is a GREAT first sonic level. In fact, it might be the best sonic starting level ever. There's lots of speed, platforming, and exploration all into one, which all levels in this game do perfectly. Halfway through the first act, Angel Island Zone becomes Angel Island Zone but in California! As in the whole zone catches on fire. (Hey, I live in California so I should be allowed to make this joke).

Act 1 of these levels now ends with its own mini boss which usually are pretty easy. I mean even the normal bosses in this game, in classic sonic fashion are usually pretty easy with a few exceptions. The miniboss in Act 1 is this ball thing that shoots fire, and the final boss starts with a pathetic bomb sequence and then switches to Robotnik shooting fireballs at you.

The Game - Hydrocity Zone

The second level in the game is Hydrocity, and is the best Sonic water level of all time. Not only is the music incredible (which goes for the whole game, Sonic 3 has one of the best Sonic soundtracks which is saying something since all Sonic music is usually amazing) but the speed in this stage is so damn fast! It's my second favorite level in the game, behind a level that's coming up. The miniboss is this ball thing you have to destroy, and the final boss is Robotnik shooting bombs at you, which you have to use their explosions to propel yourself up to hit. The bosses in this game are just amazing!

The Game - Marble Garden Zone

The third level in the game is Marble Garden, one of the more weaker zones. I don't think it's bad by any means but I just think it's kind of boring. Nothing that notable. The miniboss is this thing like the boss from Mystic Cave in the last game that goes into the celing and rains down hell on you. The final boss is very cool though. Tails grabs you and flies in the air while you try to hit Robotnik flying around.

The Game - Carnival Night Zone

The fourth zone in the game is not really an improvement. Probably my least favorite level in the game (though it's still good, which is saying something) is Carnival Night Zone. It's a pinball-ish level with boring music and annoying gimmicks. It also goes on for far too long, and, of course, you can't talk about Carnival Night in Sonic 3 without mentioning the barrel of doom. There are barrels across the levels that you stand on and press up and down on the d-pad to control. Sounds simple right? Well, the game never tells you how to do that and many people (myself included) got stuck here on their first playthrough trying to figure out how this thing works. The boss is cool though. The miniboss is this electric thing that shoots out a spiky platform that destroys the ground, and the boss (which is even easier) is Robotnik releasing an electric ball that draws you towards it.

The Game - Flying Battery Zone

For those of you that have played this game you might be a bit confused. Flying Battery in the game takes place way later on, why are we discussing it now? Well, it's simple. When this game was being made, this was where Flying Battery was supposed to take place in the zone order originally and it being here makes more sense to me that way. If you want to play the game like this you can grab the Original zone order mod for Sonic 3 AIR.

Anyway, I love flying battery! It's one of my favorite levels in this game because I love the aesthetic and music of it, it feels like what Wing Fortress Zone from Sonic 2 should have been. The bosses are... interesting. The miniboss is a repeat of Sonic 2's metropolis act 2 boss with this stupid animal cage thing that you get it to hit itself, and the final boss starts with Robotnik using an invincible laser (until he blows up himself) and you run out of that room to face him in this pill spike boss that shoots fire.

The Game - Ice Cap Zone

Here we are. My favorite level in the game, and one of the best experiences I've ever had with any game ever: Ice Cap Zone. This level starts with a wonderful snowboarding segment before going into this atmospheric deep cave level that uses some really cool gimmicks and some of the strongest exploration this series has to offer. Act 2 has you going outside with this beautiful background. The miniboss is this ball that fires snowballs and the final boss is actually difficult and interesting, with Robotnik shooting air that freezes you.

But I've been saving the best part of this level for last: the music. Ice Cap's music is lonely, nostaglic, and one of the best and most immersive game tunes I have ever heard. This zone is the best part of the game for me and is one of my favorite levels in gaming period.

The Game - Launch Base Zone

Launch Base Zone is the seventh zone in the game and is the last zone in the Sonic 3 half of the game, and I really love it. There's not a ton I have to say, it's another beautiful and fun zone overall. I do feel the exploration took a bit of a hit with this zone, I haven't ever found a single big ring here, but it's not that big of a deal. The miniboss is this thing that shoots balls you have to avoid and the final boss is this egg tower thing you slowly destroy. But since this is the final zone on the Sonic 3 half of the game, there's a special final boss on that game only, a big arm boss with Robotnik trying to grab you. It's a really good boss and while I tend to skip it these days for the sake of brevity, Sonic 3 AIR gives you an option to re-enable it.

The Game - Mushroom Hill Zone

After the Death Egg plummets down, the Sonic & Knuckles half of the game starts. Personally I enjoy the first half more but this one is really great too. Mushroom Hill Zone is a good new starting level and is especially strong in exploration. Not quite as good as Angel Island, but it's a great zone too. The miniboss is this lumberjack robot and the final boss is very cool. You have to run and hit Robotnik while jumping over spike bars in a 3D-like space. At the beginning of the zone you'll notice Knuckles closing a door and if you re-open it you'll gain access to a rainbow ring, where it will take you to the upcoming Hidden Palace Zone (no, not the one from Sonic 2) and take all of your current chaos emeralds and shoot them into the new Super Emeralds, where now you have to go through Giant Rings again to do more difficult blue sphere stages to unlock Sonic's final form, Hyper Sonic. A super flashing rainbow sonic that cannot drown and has a double jump dash that is a screen nuke and kills all enemies on screen. Now as much as I love hyper sonic, I am not a fan of how after the emeralds are taken from you at first, you cannot become super sonic until you have gotten the super emeralds which can take a while. If you could still be super while recollecting the emeralds, I would love this but having that taken away just isn't fun

The Game - Sandopolis Zone

Usually this is where Flying Battery would take place but since we did the original order we now are playing Sandopolis Zone, the ninth level in the game. It's my second least favorite level in this game but is still really good. Act 1 is a little too linear but has a great song and beautiful enviornment. Act 2... is where the problems start. Not only is the zone darker and loses character, but it's filled with annoying gameplay gimmicks the infinetely falling sand hill which I still have trouble figuring out to this day and the sand rising parts and the timed door parts, and the ghosts. The miniboss is really fucking weird and easy. It's this old rock statue that you can easily kill and the final boss is actually pretty cool. It's an egyptian statue that you jump on its hands to knock back his head and attack Robotnik.

The Game - Lava Reef Zone

Lava Reef is the tenth level in the game and is so, SO good. It has a great song and aesthetic, and since we're nearing the end of the game it gets you pumped. The exploration is perfect and Act 2 goes for a totally different crystal calmer aesthetic. The miniboss has these tentacle things that shoot you as well as a hand that tries to crush you, but also has the best final boss of the whole game besides Death Egg. It starts with this robot chasing you, and then these platforms fall into lava, and then at the bottom Robotnik appears switching from both sides and the platforms start feeding into him now as he shoots bombs on them. Pretty much all of the difficulty here can be removed if you have a fire shield but it's still really fun.

The Game - Hidden Palace Zone

As mentioned before, Hidden Palace is the eleventh zone and actually does have level design for it. Remember that asshole Knuckles who has been harassing you the entire game? Well now you get a fight with him which, while still being easy is better than anything the adventure games could dream up. Afterwards, we go to the Super Emerald room and we see something no mario game or platformer to this day usually does: actual character story. Robotnik swoops in and takes the Master Emerald, betraying Knuckles right in front of him. With Knuckles having no other option, he teams up with you and takes you to Sky Sanctuary.

The Game - Sky Sanctuary Zone

The twelfth zone in the game is Sky Sanctuary and even though it's only one act, it's really good! The platforming is great, and Robotnik's new sonic robot is your enemy: Mecha Sonic. Mecha Sonic is an amazing robot sonic that you fight in many moments using old bosses from Sonic 1 and 2 the green hill ball and chain boss, and the weird bubble thing from Sonic 2 Metropolis Zone, as well as Silver Sonic's fighting pattern. But with him out of the way you progress to the last and best final sonic zone...

The Game - Death Egg Zone

The thirteenth zone of the game is Death Egg zone, and this zone is very good, but it's got its problems. The first pro is just how many cool gameplay gimmicks are here, as well as the background (I think?) being a reference possibly to the Empire Strikes Back scene, where Luke and Vader are in that big mechanical side of the area and Luke gets his hand cut off. I don't know if that's what they were referencing but as a huge star wars fan I appreciate it. But this zone has a lot of bad too. There are some absolutely obnoxious gimmicks here like the light circles that take forever and the treadmill spike corridors. The miniboss is just ridicolous and I usually save my rings to become Super Sonic in that part. The final bosses are great though. It first starts with this machine that shoots bombs at you with the gravity changing, the next boss being 2 hands that try to crush you, and the final boss being a robot that chases you while you have to destroy the front of it and hit it, while it fires a big laser and some fire, all of which are fun.

The Game - Doomsday Zone

The fourteenth and last zone in the game is only accessible if you got all the chaos emeralds and consists of Super Sonic chasing down Eggman while flying through space and getting eggman's missles to hit him all while maintaining your ring count. (Looks like Sonic COULD transform even when he loses the emeralds at Hidden Palace...) this zone is nice with good music but overstays its welcome a bit.

The Game - Ending + My Final Thoughts

The ending can vary depending on if you collected the emeralds or not so I'll go over both of them. The bad ending is Sonic escapes but Robotnik still has the master emerald. The good ending is that Sonic escapes with the Master Emerald and gives it to Knuckles which then makes Angel Island floating again. Sonic strikes a pose while going super/hyper and the game ends with credits.

Now if it isn't obvious already, I love this game, It's my favorite Sonic game and is easily in my top 10 favorite games of all time. It's infinetely replayable and truly 100%ing the game with all of its content isn't easy. And it took me an eternity to write this review, so thank you and I promise more conistent content is coming your way! 

See you next time on Sonic Adventure... (no, we're not talking about 3D blast)

 

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The future of UltraBot #1: JSON parsing

 While procrastinating on my Sonic 3 & Knuckles review, I would like to introduce multiple new commands using APIs and JSON parsing!

I recently discovered that BDScript has the ability to parse JSON and then extract the key values into a message, which means APIs!

This uses BDScript 2 only. After performing a GET command on a URL (in the form of $httpGet[]) you can recieve text from there and since that text is usually JSON, you use $jsonParse to parse that code, which gives you access to the JSON keys which you can extract data from to use in a bot response. This is how most public APIs work and I'm constantly making new commands in UltraBot thanks to them. I always take that data and wrap it up in a neat functional little embed.

So, I'm starting something new. If there is a specific API you want (that does not require any API keys and is free and public) tell me and I'll do my best to implement it into UltraBot X!

The new commands for UltraBot X is:

/meme (use -meme if the slash command doesn't appear)

/dog (random dog image)

/jojostands (random jojo stand)

/jojocharacters (random jojo character)

I am definetely going to use way too many of these in the future, so get excited!

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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) Review

So, just so you know, these aren't gonna be professional reviews. I want to simply give my thoughts out on these games and why I like/dislike them. With that in mind, welcome to my third Sonic Review, for Sonic 2 from 1992!

Some Background Info

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (often called Sonic 2) is a 2D platformer game released for the Sega Genesis on November 21st, 1992. After the success of Sonic 1, two sequels for the game was in development. I won't get into it here as I already explained this back in my Sonic CD Review, but this is what the Sega Technical Institute in America made as their sequel to Sonic 1.

How do I play Sonic 2?

The best way to play Sonic 2 as of writing this is Sonic 2 Absolute by Team Forever. It has plenty of additions and tweaks to make the game so much better.

In the game, you can choose to play with Sonic+Tails, Sonic Alone, or Tails Alone. Sonic Alone is the best one as having Tails with you he can get in your way several times. Tails alone is just a Sonic clone with a smaller hitbox, which can be good or bad.

The Story

The story of Sonic 2 is pretty thin, like the previous games. Sonic is living his normal life but Tails, a fox that was born with 2 tails that allows him to fly, is impressed with Sonic's speed and begins tagging along with him throughout Sonic's adventures. But this time, Robotnik has created a new and menacing machine, the Death Egg that floats in space. Even though this is very obviously a Death Star parody it's never actually said what the Death Egg can do, I guess blow up islands or something like the source material. Sonic and Tails aren't happy about this and set out through the zones to reach the Death Egg and put an end to Robotnik's scheme!

The Game - Special Stages

Special Stages return from the first game for your chance to get a Chaos Emerald, which there are seven of this time. You access them by running past a checkpoint and if you have 20 or more rings stars will glimmer above the signpost and if you jump into the stars you'll get sent to the special stages. If you collect all 7 chaos emeralds, you unlock the all powerful Super Sonic. It's a glowing yellow super fast invincible version of Sonic with super saiyan quills pointed upwards. Just get 50 rings and jump and he'll be activated!

The special stages themselves are halfpipes that you need to run through to collect a certain amount of rings in the allotted time while trying not to touch the bombs that take away rings, and welcome to my biggest problem with Sonic 2: The god awful special stages.

These special stages are simply too difficult. Not only is the visibility awful on the genesis but if you have Tails on (which I normally don't for reasons you'll see why) then he has a slight delay to your movement in the special stages. And if he gets hit, you lose your rings. In the 2013 mobile ports and Absolute the special stages are significantly improved but it's still a massive downgrade from Sonic 1's special stages. Getting Super Sonic is not worth the effort.

The Game - Emerald Hill Zone

The first zone in the game is Emerald Hill Zone, which is Green Hill Zone but slightly more linear, faster, and beautiful. I still prefer GHZ because of its nonlinearity but I love Emerald Hill Zone. It shows everything about what Sonic 2 wants to be compared to the first game: faster. Sonic 2 is so much faster then Sonic 1, you can even outrun the screen at times! There's also a great new move Sonic can do, the spindash. Even though most rereleases of Sonic 1 include the spindash it was introduced here. And as mentioned before in my Sonic CD Review it's done much better here with you having the ability to charge the spin dash multiple times to get more speed. This is definetely a design choice for the better, but not all the level design in Sonic 2 is perfect.

I'm gonna say this now so I don't have to later, but Sonic 2's level design, in my opinion, has horrible balancing. Sometimes the game is piss easy like in Emerald Hill. Sometimes the game is straight up unfair like the Death Egg robot. Sonic 1 had good balancing and got harder the more you went on. Sonic 2 just keeps switching between hard and easy with no real sense of direction. The game is still very fun, but it has its problems. However, on the good side, zones now last only 2 acts instead of 3 acts from the last game, and I love this. Each act is more interesting and fleshed out, and zones did last too long in the original.

The music is, like the first game, amazing. It's one of the most famous 16-bit soundtracks and everyone I know loves it.

The boss is probably the most pathetic of the whole series. Robotnik gets in a drill car and his attack is so easy to avoid it's laughable.

The Game - Chemical Plant Zone

The second zone is my personal favorite zone in the game, Chemical Plant Zone. Not only does it look and sound beautiful but the speed is amazing! The zone is very fast and I never felt bored or angry at any of its design decisions. It's just wonderful. Of course, most people probably remember this zone for one thing - the pink water. There's a section in Act 2 where you have to move up on these moving blocks in the water which a lot of people thought was very difficult, including me when I first played this. Nowadays though I think it's easy.

The boss is Robotnik in a machine drawing the pink water from the floor and dropping it on you, but you can easily kill him while he's getting the water.

The Game - Aquatic Ruin Zone

The third zone is the game's water level, and don't worry it's much better than Labyrinth Zone. In fact, if you're skilled enough (and I've done this before!) you can get across both acts without touching any water! A very good zone, even if the underwater parts are pretty dreadful.

The boss is yet again, pathetic. (You noticing a pattern yet?) Robotnik hammers these statues that shoot arrows which you can climb to destroy him.

The Game - Casino Night Zone

The fourth zone is this game's pinball stage, like Spring Yard from the last game, and looks wonderful. But... I have a hot take. I know this is a fan favorite, and I like it too, but this zone is insanely overrated. Sonic and Pinball seem to go hand in hand (like with the disaster known as Sonic Spinball) but this stage is boring and relies on annoying pinball gimmicks than speed.

But, the boss is actually very cool. Still piss easy, but Robotnik shoots these spiky balls down at you that explode, and you have to spindash across the walls and jump down to hit him.

The Game - Hill Top Zone

And here for the fifth zone we have a pretty boring level with annoying music, Hill Top Zone. Even though it's boring I mostly say that for looks as it seems like recolored Emerald Hill in many places. It also has lava and volcano themes. A fun level, but not much to say.

The boss is Robotnik coming up from the lava and trying to shoot you.

The Game - Mystic Cave Zone

For the sixth zone we have a dark mystic cave with some really good music. This is where the game in my opinion gets into the more difficult levels. There's a lot of vine-related gimmicks here, not much to say.

The boss is this machine that goes into the top of the zone and rains down things that come at you.

But you can't talk about Mystic Cave without mentioning the pit. There's a pit with nothing but spikes in it and no way out. If you fall down there, you can kiss your sorry ass goodbye. But, in the 2013 mobile ports, the pit was changed to something breathtaking.

The Game - Hidden Palace Zone

Sonic 2 was originally a much larger game. Many zones had to be cut sadly though to meet the Christmas 1992 release date, and one of those levels was Hidden Palace Zone. But, in the 2013 mobile ports, the pit in Mystic Cave was changed to lead to a rebuilt Hidden Palace, the new seventh zone! But for the purposes of this review, I'll be going over the Prototype Palace version accessible through the level select as that actually uses the original level design made for the zone and fits better with the game because of that. 

The zone is fun and has a great song and aesthetic, but the boss is horrible. Robotnik is in this giant trumpet thing that makes noise with and all kinds of things come raining down on you, not to mention how long it takes.

The Game - Oil Ocean Zone

For the eighth zone we have Oil Ocean, a gimmick-happy zone with a good theme and nice colors. I like Oil Ocean a lot, there's a lot of cool gimmicks at play here, even if its boss is almost just a reskin of Hill Top's. For some reason, a lot of people online I've seen really do not like this zone, and I just don't understand why. I'd say it's better than Casino Night for sure. Speaking of overhated zones...

The Game - Metropolis Zone

Metropolis Zone is our next and ninth zone, and it's kind of the penultimate zone. It goes on for 3 acts, which is defenitely ridicolous and unessesary. But the level design and gimmicks are really fun, of course with great music. But the badniks in this zone... oh my god. They are just awful. We have these little star things that sometimes explode when you get close to them, slicers that throw knives at you, and the worst one, the shell cracker. A crab with an extendable arm. Those might not sound so bad on paper but in the zone they're all purposely placed in ways you can't avoid, and the rest of the zone is easy. You see what I mean? This game is just awful at difficulty balancing.

The Game - Sky Chase Zone

A much needed refresher from Metropolis Zone, our tenth zone comes flying in at Sky Chase. Tails flies the tornado while you stand on top and defeat enemies. It's very relaxing with good music, even if it drags a bit too long. This zone is also only 1 act.

The Game - Sky Fortress Zone

Another 1 act stage, Sky Fortress is the eleventh zone and consists of Sonic getting on a big ship to get to the Death Egg. The zone is very nerve racking and full of bottomless pits, which I'm not really a big fan of.

The Game - Death Egg Zone

We finally made it. The last and 1 act twelfth stage of Sonic 2, Death Egg Zone. There are no rings in this zone so 1 hit and you're dead. When you get into the first room, you have a fight with Silver Sonic, which is quite easy if you just spindash him as he comes down.

But then, the final boss. The Death Egg Robot. A giant Robotnik themed robot that tries to kill you. Now this fight isn't that good. Getting a reliable hit on him is random if you'll die by touching him or not. The only safe way to hurt it is by jumping on it when it lands down, and once it dies, Sonic runs out of the Death Egg as it explodes.

The Game - Ending

As Sonic falls from the Death Egg, we see something that Mario or any other platformer at the time could dream of, character development. In a 1992 pixel game. Tails sees Sonic falling and gets in the Tornado to go up and catch him, cementing their friendship. Or, if you got all the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic is Super Sonic and doesn't need Tails help to be OK, which doesn't make as much of an impact and is why the bad ending to me is better than the good ending. Sonic strikes a fist pose and the game ends.

My Final Thoughts

So, I really like Sonic 2. It's super fast and has very fun level design, it's an amazing game. But is it better than the first and CD? That's... not an easy question.

While Sonic 2 is faster, it's full of stupid design decesions in the levels and the unbalanced difficulty as well as the horrible special stages, it's safe to say this game is not perfect. I think Sonic 1, CD and 2 are equal in my opinion. Sonic 1 is easy to replay and is conistently fun besides Labyrinth, Sonic CD is short and looks great, and 2 is fast and long. So now, the only game left... is a big one. Sonic 3 & Knuckles. When that review gets made, I'll just post the whole game instead of splitting it up into Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles because I see no reason to look at the game that way.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

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