It’s difficult to get him to roll reliably, he lacks speed, and his two gun-based moves aren’t especially effective for quickly dispatching enemies or traversing through a level. Unless I’m missing some sort of mechanic, the character suffers from the same issues every other non-traditional Sonic character has suffered from: he’s just a pain to play. My biggest actual issue with the game is one of its playable characters: Fang. The game will be getting updates, though, so I’m sure this stuff will be ironed out. This went away in subsequent playthroughs of the level, though, so that appears to have been a one-off glitch. The most frustrating glitch I encountered involved Knuckles not being able to climb the walls properly in Rustic Ruins. On another occasion, in act 2 of Crystal Cove, the wrong background graphics were loaded. On a few occasions, while riding on some moving platforms in one level, I was sent through a bit of floor when the platform passed under it. I’ve encountered numerous minor glitches during play, including some seemingly random collision detection issues, like being sent through level geometry. This means Classic 2 will be getting updates…which is good, because it still needs some polish. It’s supposed to eventually get remakes of levels from the first Classic game. Though Classic 2 may be finished, it’s not technically done…yet. The way Classic 2 handles shields is both practical and innovative, and something I’d love to see in an official Sonic game one day. It’s even possible to combine shields to create new shield types, like the smoke shield, once the shield stock is filled up. Finally, the game also lets players stock up to two different shield types, which can be switched between or totally deactivated on the fly. Classic 2 also employs not just the insta-shield, but also a powered-down version of the drop dash, which is mapped to a separate button. The visuals, for instance, are quite modern, and Classic 2 may be the best looking 2D game I’ve played at SAGE 2021 so far.
Design ideas like these make these bosses some of the best I’ve seen in a fan game.Ĭlassic 2 is an experience heavily influenced by Sonic’s classic titles, but it is hardly confined to the trappings of that era. Initially, Eggman’s cockpit is too high for Sonic to hit, but once enough snow piles up on the ground, Sonic can leap off of it to land an attack. Another has Eggman firing deadly snowballs at Sonic. One boss involves bringing down a giant multi-armed machine with multiple drills, which need to be used as platforms to get up to Eggman’s cockpit. Although some of the battles are a little too easy to brute force through, all of them are neat and clever.