The development suffered setbacks, including language and cultural differences between the Japanese and American staff, and numerous levels were cut due to time constraints and quality concerns.
Sonic 2 was intended to be faster and more ambitious than the first game. Sega Technical Institute (STI) founder Mark Cerny started working on Sonic 2 in November 1991, and members of the original development team-including programmer Yuji Naka and designer Hirokazu Yasuhara-moved to California to join the project.
It features faster gameplay and larger levels in comparison to the first game, in addition to a new multiplayer game mode and special stages featuring pseudo-3D graphics.Īlthough Sonic the Hedgehog had been a major success, Sega was slow to approve the development of a sequel. Sonic 2 introduces Sonic's sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower, controllable by a second player. Like the first Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), players traverse side-scrolling levels at high speeds while collecting rings and defeating enemies. It follows Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space station, the Death Egg. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis.