Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Expanded

**Sonic The Hedgehog 2** **Expanded** is a fan remake project developed by the **S2E team** and the **Ages Team**, published 9 separate different versions on Scratch. The game brings back the old spirits from the 1992 SEGA Genesis game, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The idea was created by **Stoppunchingme (*a.k.a. TheREALspm.*)** The game expands and adds many new features to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, such as clean artwork, characters, music, stereo effects, and more.

## **Description**

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Expanded features updated, and completely remade artwork created by many people. The game also adds new playable characters such as Amy Rose, Mighty, Ray, and Knuckles\*. Scrapped levels from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were also added, including Wood Zone, Hidden Palace Zone, and many others. A new soundtrack was made by **The\_Updator** and **Luigi\_Bro**.

## v0.9 Revival

### Genre

Platform

\*Knuckles was featured before in "Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2", but wasn't accessible without the "Sonic & Knuckles" cartridge being attached with the "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" cartridge. Knuckles would later become a normal playable character in the 2013 mobile port of Sonic 2. He now makes an appearance in Sonic 2 Expanded, alongside the other new characters!

## **v0.9**

**Version 0.9** is an unofficial revival developed by the **Ages Team** and published by **Wolfi-Girl128** on Scratch.

Development began in June 2021, 2 months after Sonic 2 Expanded was canceled. The revival idea was made up by an Ages Team member, Leo. Despite all of the other unofficial revivals with sloppy effort, the team calls v0.9 an “official” revival due to the team’s previous successes on their games. Though, the team is not associated with the S2E team.

## **New additions and features**

Version 0.9 includes a large number of new features and assets than the previous version. The game includes a new HP system, difficulty modes, color-coded shields, new bosses, optimized programming, looped music, HD audio, and more. A sound test option is also available in the menu, mainly for people to listen to the music. v0.9 is very different from the previous versions since the project was created entirely from blank. The game uses a different engine, new fresh artwork, and fixed artwork from the old S2E projects. The game also uses different controls. Instead of using Z and X, it uses A and S.

Because the S2E team requires everyone to credit the original developers when they are reviving Sonic 2 Expanded, a credits screen is also available at the menu, where both teams (S2E Team and the Ages Team) were featured on the game.

The shields have 5 different colors with its own power ups. The blue shield will protect the player from enemy damage while in the air. The red shield will allow the player to perform an air dash. The yellow shield will attract nearby rings. The white shield will allow the player to perform a double jump. The green shield will allow the player to perform a drop dash (*Not like Sonic Mania*).

The HP system is relatively new to the game, which relies on rings. When the player gets hit by an enemy, it loses both the rings and some of the HP. Unlike the typical Sonic games, getting hit with 0 rings won’t kill you but will lose HP double than usual. The also game features 3 different difficulty modes that the player can choose, which is normal, hard, and maniac. On normal, HP will lose the amount as usual. On hard, HP will lose double than usual. And on maniac, the player has to pass through all acts and bosses without a single hit alone. If the player takes one damage from an enemy or a boss, the player will lose instantly, regardless of the amount of collected rings. Maniac mode was made mainly for challengers.

A new engine installed in the game which was named the "*HogBounce Engine*", was too basic and slope-less, but will be replaced into a better Sonic engine in the next version, v1.0.

## **Reception**

#### v0.1 to v0.8:

Sonic 2 Expanded received widespread views and positive reviews, with some praising the innovation, but criticism aimed at character designs, engine, loop physics not working well, and other bugs mentioned in the comments.

#### v0.9:

The reception for Sonic 2 Expanded v0.9 was mixed. It was praised for its quality, artwork, new cutscenes, and new additional features, but a large number of criticism was aimed mainly at the platformer engine and the HP system. Some criticism was also aimed at new key controls (A & S), with some stating that they feel "uncomfortable" or "untraditional", and game soft-locking at Emerald Hill Zone - Act 1.

People criticizes the HP System for being “pointless” or claims that "it shouldn’t be in a Sonic game since Sonic games didn’t have any HP features". The Ages Team stated it was added mainly due to the fact that Sonic games did not have that feature at all, and its intention was to tweak the health form from just using rings only.

People also criticizes the HogBounce Engine for being basic and slope-less. However, the Ages Team announces that v1.0 will feature a real Sonic engine which will include slopes, 360-degree rotation, and more.

As of December 30th, 2022, a final update trailer was released by 𝓟𝓪𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓲05 (https://youtu.be/k8MePS9buC0) and Sonic 2 Expanded v0.9 will feature a full boss rush at Emerald Hill Zone - Act 3 and more fixed bugs. The game will no longer be worked on afterwards.

## **New Management Announcement:**

As of December 2022, FoxenFluffieSky announced that he was promoted as the new manager of Sonic 2 Expanded as he is taking full ownership of the fandom. (https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/28775085/comments/#comments-204160582)

A new studio was made on Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/30295468/) called "↫NEW↬ Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Expanded" and some underwhelming comments were posted mainly due to the fact that Sonic 2 Expanded is being revived **again**.

Before the announcement, the Ages Team announced that v1.0 will be built but before the team can even finish v0.9, FoxenFluffieSky revoked the "official" tagline of the v0.9 revival, so the team is now required to change "official" to "unofficial". Afterwards, Wolfi-Girl128 posted new comments on the v0.9 studio claiming that she doubts if v1.0 will ever be built. However, the Ages Team will be partnering up with the \*new\* S2E Team that FoxenFluffieSky is hosting. They have high hopes for the new production, while KirbymostohV2 claims that he still dislikes the Ages Team's S2E revival and doubts if team will ever make S2E any better.

As of January 2023, a new demo will be built developed by FoxenFluffieSky.

## **Zones**

* Emerald Hill

* Chemical Plant

* Aquatic Ruin

* Casino Night

* Hill Top

* Mystic Cave

* Hidden Palace (Knuckles Only)

* Jade Temple

* Oil Ocean

* Metropolis

* Sky Chase (Sonic & Tails Only)

* Wing Fortress (Expanded Zone) (Sonic & Tails Only)

* Death Egg (Expanded Zone) (Sonic Only)

These are all the zones included as of February 2021.

## **Versions**

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.1 (Published by The Updator) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/384534691/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.2 (Published by The Updator) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/385228468/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.3 (Published by The Updator) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/386632668/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.4 (Published by The Updator) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/386271239/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.5 (Published by The Updator) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/390052242/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.6 (Published by Luigi Bro) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/395922745/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.7 (Published by The Updator) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/394926168/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.7 Fixed Collision (Published by DapperBUG25) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/416060117/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.8 (Published by Speedy663) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/503231899/

Sonic 2 Expanded v0.9 (Published by the Ages Team) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/551717535/