It always surprises me how many people don’t know that back in the ’90s, Sega released several Sonic games for not just the Sega Genesis (Mega-Drive), but also for both the Master System and their Game Gear hand-held. These 8-bit games were more like side-stories to the greater franchise, but they certainly had their charms and were a lot of fun to play. In terms of home console gaming, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Chaos, and Sonic Blast all appeared on the Sega Master System between 1991 and 1997 (with Sonic Blast being the last first-party title released on the then-ancient Sega console).
If you thought that the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 marked Tails’s introduction to the franchise, you’d be quite wrong! The Master System and Game Gear versions were released before the Genesis one, and even though the games are vastly different, the 8-bit games marked that character’s introduction. In Sonic 2 for these platforms, the end goal was for Sonic to rescue Tails from Dr. Robotnik’s clutches, and this explains why he’s helping Sonic when they head to the Genesis later that year!
Growing up, Sonic 2 on the Game Gear was the first Game Gear title I ever owned, because it came packed with the system when I got it. Yet, I remember that it was very hard, and I only ever got to Aqua Lake Zone; never any farther. Now, I get to experience the game one more time and manage to “beat” it, though sadly because this was a casual run, we don’t get all the Chaos Emeralds and therefore don’t get to visit Crystal Egg Zone to defeat Robotnik and save Tails. 😦
In any event, this was a fun playthrough. This one, as I explain in the first couple minutes of the video in a little face-to-face conversation, was recorded offline rather than being streamed. This is because I no longer want to limit The Retro Play Show to only being a live production – I want to be able to release these videos however I feel fit to do so at the time!
Enjoy, and as always, subscribe and spread the love!
Nerdy But Flirty 
The SMS games and Game Gear games are the same, but if you thought the Game Gear game was harder you would be correct. The screen shows fewer pixels – a point my husband made by showing how difficult one particular boss is on the handheld versus the big screen. I imagine the small screen limitation frustrated many a kiddo in the day, especially as I knew way more kids with Game Gears (a few) than Master Systems (literally zero).
Yeah, I read that earlier and I recalled that the GG version was much harder. I think the GG has many less rows of pixels, and this was an issue with the weird “port” of Mega Man 4/5 that US Gold did, where the vertical scrolling that was necessary made levels that should have been easier end up much, much harder.