History YMMV / SonicTheHedgehog2

** The iOS/Android port mitigates several of criticisms some have had of the original game, such as making Tails' AI in the special stages quicker and more responsive (making collecting the 7 emeralds with Sonic & Tails far easier), having Super Sonic be activated after tapping the button twice as opposed to one (making it so you don't automatically turn into Super Sonic once you get 50+ rings) and even gets rid of the infamous spike trap in Mystic Cave Act 2 in favor of an secret entrace to Hidden Palace, amongst other tweaks.

** The iOS/Android port mitigates several of criticisms some have had of the original game, such as making Tails' AI in the special stages quicker and more responsive (making collecting the 7 emeralds with Sonic & Tails far easier), having Super Sonic be activated after tapping the button twice as opposed to one (making it so you don't automatically turn into Super Sonic once you get 50+ rings) and even gets rid of the infamous spike trap in Mystic Cave Act 2 in favor of an secret entrace to Hidden Palace.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: In the first game, Marble Zone was criticized for its slow pace and focus on tricky platforming. Chemical Plant Zone was therefore designed as Marble Zone's antithesis, with the game letting the player use Emerald Hill Zone to get to grips with the controls and playing style, and then letting them go all-out when they reached Chemical Plant Zone. Granted, while the zone still has one or two tricky bits of platforming, they are just a minor speedbump instead of taking up the entire level.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** While the 2013 remake has received considerable acclaim, some fans have taken it to task for adding in elements that they deride as gimmicks (such as including the elemental shields from ''Sonic 3''), using a slightly modified version of the Simon Wai prototype's Hidden Palace Zone rather than trying to recreate the speculated original vision of it being where Sonic learns how to access his SuperForm after collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking not using Track 10 for Hidden Palace]].

** Drill Eggman II, the boss of Mystic Cave Zone, causes stalactites that are rather hard to avoid to rain down from the ceiling. Even so, it's not overly challenging if you have rings... but if you activate the checkpoint directly preceding the boss fight and then either die to the boss or enter a Special Stage from that checkpoint, you'll be forced to do the fight without ''any'' rings.

** One of the most common complaints about the infamous ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' was its glitchiness. While nowhere near to the same extent, Sonic 2 is also a fairly glitchy game as a result of being ChristmasRushed, even having some [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaking Bugs]]. For instance, jumping at the end of a level while having all Chaos Emeralds and 50 or more rings [[UnwinnableByMistake softlocks the game, forcing the player to reset and lose all progress.]]

** The two player split screen function is a more programming-necessitated example. Only three levels are available in VS race mode, the three that are most compatible in this mode. The beta version had split screen available the entire game, though also demonstrates the mass difficulties the other levels have compressing to two screens, often producing glitchy unplayable messes. The 2013 cuts out split screen altogether in favour of one-screen online play, allowing it to have twice as many levels available in VS mode.

** The two player split screen function is a more programming-necessitated example. Only three levels are available in VS race mode, the three that are most compatible in this mode. The beta version had split screen available the entire game, though also demonstrates the mass difficulties the other levels have compressing to two screens, often producing glitchy unplayable messes.

** One of the most common complaints about the infamous ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' was its glitchiness. While nowhere near to the same extent, Sonic 2 was a pretty glitchy game as well, even having some [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaking Bugs]]. For instance, jumping at the end of a level while having all Chaos Emeralds and 50 or more rings softlocks the game, forcing the player to reset and lose all progress.

** ''Sonic 2'' would start the trend of every major title introducing at least one new character, in this case Tails. This initially wasn't a problem since Tails lacked the common writing problems and GameplayRoulette that plagued future characters, but with each game that passes by with a new residential BaseBreakingCharacter or [[TheScrappy Scrappy]], the novelty wore off and now any implication of adding a new character in the latest ''Sonic'' title [[BrokenBase can cause fans to lose it]].

* {{Fanon}}: A common fan theory is that Mecha Sonic was either a FlawedPrototype for [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Metal Sonic]] (going by the assumption that ''Sonic CD'' takes place at some point after ''Sonic 2'', which per WordOfGod is indeed canon) or, going by the old fan conception that ''Sonic CD'' is an {{Interquel}} between the first game and ''Sonic 2'' (which it isn't), that Mecha Sonic was a hastily cobbled together replacement for Metal Sonic [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 after he was abandoned upon defeat at Stardust Speedway]].

(The following tropes apply to the 16-bit [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] game. The equivalent page for the 8-bit game also called ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' is [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit here]]).

The following tropes apply to the 16-bit [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] game. The equivalent page for the 8-bit game also called ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' is [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit here]].

The following tropes apply to the 16-bit [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] game. Tthe equilentt page for the 8-bit game also called ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' is [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit here]].

The following tropes apply to the 16-bit [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] version and 8-bit [[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]][=/=]UsefulNotes/GameGear version:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:16-bit version]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:8-bit version]]

* AntiClimaxBoss: Silver Sonic, the penultimate boss (and, if you haven't gotten all of the Chaos Emeralds, the final boss) is probably second easiest boss next the the seal boss. He mainly just jumps around, and if you bump into him you just both go flying back without harm. His only other attacks include simply charging at you (at which point he is completely vulnerable to hits) and attacking with a claw like appendage (which ''may'' kill you if you're unlucky or haven't fought him before, but is still pretty easy to avoid as it's reach is very short.)
* BreatherBoss: The Mecha Sea Lion of Aqua Lake is almost completely incapable of harming Sonic, and his only method of attack is inflating an explosive ball to throw at you, which can be very quickly popped before he can even launch it--it can be taken down in mere seconds.
* BreatherLevel: The first two acts of Green Hills Zone, which is the stereotypical "peaceful grasslands" setting and very easy compared to [[NintendoHard the rest of the game]] despite being around the middle. They have the most 1UPs and Rings out of any zone in the entire game, with the very first act alone having a whopping four 1UPs and well over 200 rings. This makes (re)stocking on lives insanely easy, especially if you [[InfiniteOneUps repeatedly grind the stage by dying at the end]]. Oddly, Green Hills' third act is considered to by ThatOneLevel instead.
* ContestedSequel: In contrast to the near-universally beloved 16-bit entry, this one's a lot more divisive, with opinions ranging anywhere from it being a SophomoreSlump to being the best of the 8-bit entries.
* {{Fanon}}:
** There's no canon indication that [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111219152401/sonic/images/7/7a/1Silver_Sonic.png the 8-bit Silver Sonic]] is the same [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091121095828/sonic/images/3/34/SQM3-SilverSonic.png Mecha Sonic from the Genesis game]], but the fandom generally treated them as the same robot out of simplicity. This has shifted a bit with the bot's surprise cameo in ''VideoGame/SonicMania'', however, which depicts it at the same height as its 8-bit sprite (and thus, much smaller than the Genesis Mecha Sonic); with this in mind, Silver Sonic is now often treated as a "younger brother" to ''Mania''[='=]s Metal Sonic.
** There's no official word from Sonic Team or Sega that Tails actually dies in the BadEnding (or that Eggman was ever going to kill him), yet it's been a very popular piece of fanon for a long time. The theory is contradicted by the good ending, which shows the same image of Tails in the sky (accompanied by Sonic), even though he's been rescued.
* OlderThanTheyThink: The 8-bit version actually predates the Mega Drive/Genesis game by two months, and was Tails' first true appearance in the ''Sonic'' series.
* PortingDisaster: The UsefulNotes/GameGear port is much more difficult than the Master System version for the wrong reasons:
** The port suffers from [[ScreenCrunch the camera being zoomed in on Sonic too much]], but, unlike ''Sonic 1'', the levels aren't compacted in order to compensate, leading to a lot of cheap deaths and leaps of faith required on behalf of the player.
** It also edits the first boss to throw the bouncing balls at random heights rather than at a consistent height from the Master System version. This plus the cramped arena makes the boss nearly impossible.
* ScrappyMechanic: The infamous hang gliding sections from Sky High Zone, panned for the hang glider controls taking a great deal of time to get used to (keeping altitude is done by repeatedly tapping left, but not too quickly or else Sonic will lose speed). This is made even worse by the per-recorded advice given by the Sega Help Line, a phone number printed on the top of the game cartridge in some regions. The advice for Sky High Zone Act 1: "use the hang glider to fly across the gap". [[SarcasmMode Thanks]].
* SequelDifficultySpike: Due in part to the lack of checkpoints or shields and the increased length of the still-ringless boss Acts, this game is generally regarded as significantly harder than its predecessor, as well as harder than most other ''Sonic'' games from the same era. The Game Gear version adds some difficulty due to the screen displaying a smaller area, but even the Master System version is widely considered to be difficult by the series' standards.
* SignatureScene: [[DownerEnding The bad ending]] is what's most likely to come to mind when fans think of the 8-bit game, especially in contrast to its 16-bit counterpart.
* SophomoreSlump: Downplayed. While not a hated game outright, it's considered far less remarkable than its 16-bit counterpart, largely being a MissionPackSequel for the first 8-bit game, with Sonic's third 8-bit platformer ''Sonic Chaos'' being a better translation of 16-bit ''Sonic 2's'' new innovations and gameplay.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The boss theme of the Game Gear version sounds almost exactly like "Cubik" by 808 State.
* TearJerker: [[DownerEnding The bad ending]]. Even if you don't subscribe to the theory that Tails dies in the bad ending, it still leaves the fact that Sonic went on the journey just to save him from the clutches of Dr. Eggman... and he didn't. [[https://youtu.be/MKgTjGSWfcI The music]] doesn't help matters that much.
* ThatOneBoss: The Mecha Antlion, specifically on the Game Gear. It's considered tougher due to the smaller resolution, making it harder to avoid the bouncing balls (you're also on a 90 degree slope that leads to the boss, and falling into the actual boss on the right of the screen is also easy to do). Making matters worse, some bombs fall low and others bounce high, whereas in the Master System version they all bounce low and are easily jumped over. Finally, after throwing the last bomb, Eggman does a fast ground-sweep charge along the ground that you barely have any time to jump over, plus it's possible for a bouncing bomb to still be coming down the slope when Eggman comes down. This is only the first boss of the game, but every boss afterward is a pushover by comparison, though you don't get rings for any of them.
* ThatOneLevel:
** Sky High Zone. It's the second Zone in the game, and the obtuse hang glider controls caused many players to run out of lives before they [[UnexpectedGameplayChange could master it and progress]]. Press the wrong button and you perish.
** Aqua Lake Zone Act 2. For starters, it's completely underwater, and any ''Sonic'' fan would know what underwater means in this context: drowning. To make matters worse, it has patches of fake walls in rather nasty spots that you can accidentally fall in, and at least four big bubble dispensers you climb into to float upwards. The worst of these is near the end, which can fortunately be avoided by going through a fake wall, but if your speed is not maintained, you fall down and have to do that horrible "dodge the spikes + enemies hoping your bubble doesn't pop" section. While you can jump right through the fake wall to get to the exit, you must take the pipe under it to be able to reach the zone's Chaos Emerald, which is required to reach the final level, and being unable to go back up the pipe after the Emerald will force you to deal with the final shaft with the spikes, spears and Badniks. Doesn't help that it's an enormous level compared to most of the others.
** Green Hills Zone Act 3 takes a step way up in difficulty from the other two acts; it forces the player to bounce across a mountain range of springs without landing in spikes at the bottom of the level, which ''will'' kill them due to the lack of Rings. The final three hills require near-perfect timing to get past, and losing to the Master Robot after these last three hills sends the player back to the beginning.
** Scrambled Egg Zone, thanks to the very elaborate and very confusing transportation pipe system, full of TrialAndErrorGameplay as one wrong move can mean inescapable spike pits. There's only one pipe maze with spikes that you CAN climb out of near the end of Act 1, but Act 2 has several spike pipe puzzles, and the last one requires timing with no room for error, or it's a spike pit that is effectively a bottomless pit for Sonic.
* WhatAnIdiot: Just before Underground Zone's boss, Sonic is sent careening right for a pool of lava... and Eggman saves him from this most-definitely-fatal situation just so Sonic can fight the boss instead. Presumably Eggman had TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou mindset at the time. And then he drops bombs onto the boss, [[TacticalSuicideBoss the only thing that can harm it]]. If he just refrained from attacking, Sonic would be stuck there forever.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Both versions]]
* SequelDifficultySpike: Both games are considerably tougher than the first game for Mega Drive and Master System, the Game Gear version of the sequel being particularly more brutal than the Master System version.
[[/folder]]

* AntiClimaxBoss: For many fans, the ''final boss'', once you know the trick. Lure it to one side of the room, hit it before it recovers from the recoil of its stomp attack, and retreat to the other side of the room before it shoots its spiked arms at you. Rinse and repeat. No joke, this was the intended way to fight it; your biggest enemy is your own nerves, being the final boss and [[OneHitPointWonder you have no rings]]. Similarly, the boss will be a cakewalk if you can get behind him and stay there. When behind the mech, it has no offensive moves except when standing still, leaving you free to hit its jetpack unopposed. He can't shoot his arms at Sonic, and he can't turn around. He ''can'' shoot bombs at you, but they drop in a set pattern, and only when he stands still.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/SonicTheHedgehog A returning Masato Nakamura strikes gold again with the Genesis version]]. The 8-bit version has some good music too, and the music from Green Hills Zone would be adapted into "Sonic - You Can Do Anything," the opening theme from the Japanese version of ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Sonic CD]]''. Vote on your favorite [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/CrowningMusicOfAwesome/SonicTheHedgehog2?open=all#mzkwas4r here.]]

** Hidden Palace Zone in the remake.
* BreatherBoss: Mecha Sonic, the second-to-final boss. While it's still a tricky fight (the lack of rings, its small hitbox and variety of attacks not helping your case) with just the right timing, he can be defeated in roughly 10 seconds. If anything, he's just a warm-up for the fight against the Death Egg Robot.

* DemonicSpiders: ''All'' the badniks in Metropolis Zone are GoddamnedBats, but the Slicer badniks stand out the most. Shellcrackers can be avoided by jumping over the large claw. While Asterons explode at the worst of times, they have spikes that fly out straight in a star pattern and thus can be avoided. Slicer's claws, however, are quite large, have the annoying ability to home in on Sonic, and are usually placed right in trial-and-error spots. Needless to say, they ''will'' get you at least once unless you are [[SuperMode Super Sonic]]. Small wonder why many considered it the most hated badnik in the game, if not the most hated badnik in the Genesis-era ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, and would you like to guess who's back in the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 fourth game]]?
* EvenBetterSequel: With the possible exception of ''Sonic CD'' and the combined ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic 3 & Knuckles]]'', this is usually considered the best ''Sonic'' game.
* FanNickname:
** "The Unholy Trio" for the Metropolis Zone [[GoddamnedBats badniks]].
** "Silver Sonic" or "Robo Sonic" for the Sonic robot fought in Death Egg Zone. Its official name is "Mecha Sonic", but this creates confusion with the distinct robot in ''Sonic & Knuckles'' that shares the same name. "Silver Sonic" is taken from the 8-bit ''Sonic 2'' manual (which actually describes yet ''another'' distinct bot; see the {{Fanon}} entry in the 8-bit version's folder) and was used in the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie comics]], while "Robo Sonic" was used in its non-canon ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' appearance.
* {{Fanon}}: A common fan theory is that Mecha Sonic was either a FlawedPrototype for [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Metal Sonic]] (going by the assumption that ''Sonic CD'' takes place at some point after ''Sonic 2'', which per WordOfGod is indeed canon) or, going by the old fan conception that ''Sonic CD'' is an {{Interquel}} between ''1'' and ''2'' (which it isn't), that Mecha Sonic was a hastily cobbled together replacement for Metal Sonic [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 after he was abandoned upon defeat at Stardust Speedway]].

* GoddamnedBats: A few enemies stand out (such as the firefly [[InvincibleMinorMinion Flasher]] enemies in Mystic Cave and the Aquis seahorses in Oil Ocean), but the biggest set of GoddamnedBats live in Metropolis Zone. Asterons, suicidal starfish bots that shoot spikes when they blow up, Slicers, praying mantises that throw their pincers like a boomerang (not at all helped by their cheap placement), and Shellcrakers, crabs with huge fists that always seem to be positioned in awkward places. One of the main reasons why Metropolis is ThatOneLevel.

** "Super Tails": Use the debug code, enable some means of getting all seven Chaos Emeralds (either code or genuinely) and transform, then generate a Teleport monitor and jump on it. His jump height is still too low to be ''really'' useful, and it goes away if he falls into a pit or gets crushed, though.

** The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQnhAjHd8z0 Hyper Sonic glitch]]" from Oil Ocean Zone Act 2.
* GrowingTheBeard: This is the game where the Sonic games really solidified their personality and style, and it features dozens of iconic elements that would be frequently revisited over the course of the series. These include the introduction of Tails, the introduction of the Death Egg, more complex level design (and the solidification of the "upper and lower paths" structure that almost every 2D Sonic game since has followed), tons of new badniks and a heaping helping of BestLevelEver. Simply put, almost every notable feature about the Sonic franchise originates or is improved by this game, causing it to be one of his most important games.

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: Generally every rerelease made after the Android remake has a ToughActToFollow due to the lavish number of improvements and extras it has. It is also glaringly the only official version of ''Sonic 2'' that allows the player to use Tails' ability to fly.
* MemeticMutation: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG18_v5B0u4 "I am Sega!"]]

** Similar to the ''Sonic 1'' rerelease, the ''SEGA AGES'' version isn't nearly on the same caliber as the Android remake, but is still an enjoyable package, having flawless emulation while adding Drop Dash and rumble feature as well as including the ''Sonic and Knuckles'' lock-on rendition to play as Knuckles.

** When leaving a Special Stage, you lose all your rings, which can be frustrating for those who want to get all 7 Emeralds early on, and also for when you exit a Special Stage from a pre-boss checkpoint, as boss arenas often have no rings. While the original version of ''Knuckles in Sonic 2'' has it where Knuckles' ring count when he touches a checkpoint is restored ''even after he loses a life'', this is not retained in the iOS/Android port. In the 3DS and Switch ports, this can be alleviated if you turn on Ring Keep mode, as you will always re-enter the Act with 10 rings.
** Having Tails tag along in the Special Stages can be frustrating if the CPU is controlling him, as you lose rings every time he gets hit. Even worse, [[https://youtu.be/EjoDr0CH9K4?t=5m1s sometimes]] he may get ''in front'' of Sonic if you hit a bomb, leading to him collecting all the rings and not you, and he'll most likely smack himself into a bomb and lose them all.
** Changing to Sonic's super form is triggered by jumping... and nothing else. And since this is a PlatformGame, you will be jumping a lot. Hit 50 rings but don't want to transform? Too bad! Thankfully, in the mobile remake, it's instead triggered by pressing the jump button again in midair.

** While not ''terribly'' difficult, Catcher Eggman at the end of Casino Night Zone is pretty tricky. Not only is hitting him very hard due to the layout of the room being remniscient of a pinball machine, but due to how fast you'll likely be careening around the room, it isn't terribly uncommon to run into one of the mines he occasionally drops. Oh, and if you get caught underneath him while on the flippers, he'll lunge into you for unavoidable damage. With all these factors in consideration, it can be hard to beat him with all your rings still intact by the end. Aggravating all this is that this is the Zone where you can earn ''hundreds'' of rings if you can get lucky with the slots, so unless you are playing the M2 ports for 3DS and Switch in Ring Keep mode, expect Robotnik to throw your 300+ rings in the trash.
** Much the same applies to Flying Eggman, the boss of Metropolis Zone (except that, it being ThatOneLevel, you've probably lost most of your rings before you reach him). You have a very narrow window to hit him due to the clones rapidly orbiting around him, and mistiming your jump means you take damage. At least the battle becomes easier as you destroy the clones.
** Drill Eggman II, the boss of Mystic Cave Zone, causes stalactites that are rather hard to avoid to rain down from the ceiling. Even so, it's not overly challenging if you have rings...but if you activate the checkpoint directly preceding the boss fight and then either die to the boss or enter a Special Stage from that checkpoint, you'll be forced to do the fight without ''any'' rings.

** Mecha Sonic, the penultimate boss fought aboard the Death Egg. [[OneHitPointWonder Without rings]]. Mecha Sonic has a hitbox that's very small and you get no bounceback from Spin Dashing into it, resulting in a lost life. If the fight goes on for long enough, it starts to shoot spikes during its Spin Dash. Also, you'll have to fight it again if death occurs when fighting the Death Egg Robot.
** While the Death Egg Robot is already difficult normally (with its spiked arms making it tricky to jump into it, the lack of rings against it, and it taking twelve hits as opposed to eight), when playing as Knuckles (by locking ''Sonic 2'' onto ''Sonic & Knuckles''), it becomes a nightmare thanks to his reduced jump height compared to Sonic and Tails, making it easier to jump into the spikes and impossible to sneak over them with a running jump.

** Mystic Cave Zone, since literally almost every single object in the Zone is a trap of some sort, and the enemies are either hidden or small enough to overlook. Oh, and it has an inescapable spike pit in Act 2 (made worse if you happen to be Super with hundreds of rings). This was fixed in the remake, as the spike pit is replaced with a transition to a [[BonusDungeon new level]].
** Some players consider Oil Ocean Zone to be one, although it's nowhere near as bad as Metropolis Zone, which comes right afterwards. The Aquis and Octus badniks that shoot at you are extremely hard to avoid, making the whole level a bit of a headache if you're trying to retain your rings. The Aquis can also fly at you from out of nowhere.

** Death Egg Zone; a BossOnlyLevel with two difficult bosses. It would be much easier if the game would just ''[[DroughtLevelOfDoom give you rings]]''...

** Tails iconic ability to fly is used solely as a means for the CPU to catch up with Sonic onscreen in this game. Many players were dumbfounded by the fact they couldn't use flying when playing as Tails themselves. Curiously of all the official releases of ''Sonic 2'', only the 2013 remaster rectifies this by backporting his Sonic 3 mechanics. Not even the ''Jam'' and ''SEGA AGES'' versions, which add a ton of other quality of life improvements, bother to fix this (the ''SEGA AGES'' version even seems conscious of this and to avoid making Tails a JokeCharacter, instead disables Sonic's Drop Dash in multiplayer).
** The two player split screen function is more programming necessitated example. Only three levels are available in VS race mode, the three that are most compatible in this mode. The beta version had split screen available the entire game, though also demonstrates the mass difficulties the other levels have compressing to two screens, often producing glitchy unplayable messes.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The 2013 remade version of the game makes the Special Stages true 3D instead of just pseudo-3D (though objects like bombs, rings, and the characters are still sprites), giving it a much smoother and fluid look compared to the Genesis original. Also using a code a secret eighth stage can be played and features a corkscrew effect on the half-pipe that is unlike anything on the Genesis version's stages.

* BreatherLevel: Green Hills Zone. Seriously, due to its stereotypical "peaceful grasslands" setting and easiness compared to [[NintendoHard the rest of the game]], it's like they cut what was supposed to be the first level and pasted it in the middle of the game. Additionally, it has the most 1UPs and Rings out of any zone in the entire game, with the very first act alone having a whopping four 1UPs and well over 200 rings. This makes (re)stocking on lives ''insanely'' easy.[[note]]Run through most of the level collecting the goods, die towards the end, and [[InfiniteOneUps repeat until you're satisfied on lives]].[[/note]]And you'll need [[NintendoHard every last one of them for the rest of the game, too]], starting with Green Hills's [[ThatOneLevel third act]].

* FranchiseOriginalSin:
** Though it's never explicit and largely an assumption made by fans, the bad ending implies that Tails is murdered (or at least still under Eggman's mercy). But the lack of details (the cutscene only shows Sonic running and seeing [[SkyFace Tails' face in the sky]], so exactly what happened beyond "Tails has not been rescued" is ambiguous), and the fact that it's not canon (since it's the bad ending) means that the sadness of the scene only encourages the player to try again and get the good ending. Several years later, one of the biggest criticisms of some of the later games (in particular ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'') are that their DarkerAndEdgier tone is ''incredibly'' jarring and sometimes frustrating in a series about {{Funny Animal}}s fighting an evil fat man.
** This game introduced Tails as being "weak", as he's easily captured by Robotnik. Fast-forward twenty-five years, and ''VideoGame/SonicForces''' story was criticized for portraying Tails as cowering at threats. This was more tolerable since it was one of his first (technically ''the'' first) appearances, so it didn't come across as BadassDecay since he didn't have much if any "badass" to decay from. The fact that this game is lighter on plot and lacking in dialogue also makes this more acceptable. But when other games fleshed out Tails more and presented him as a capable partner to Sonic, expectations for him changed, and him suddenly returning to crying for Sonic's help in ''Forces'' became jarring.

** The port suffers from the camera being zoomed in on Sonic too much, but, unlike ''Sonic 1'', the levels aren't compacted in order to compensate, leading to a lot of cheap deaths and leaps of faith required on behalf of the player.

* ScrappyMechanic: The infamous hang gliding sections from Sky High Zone, panned for the hang glider controls taking a great deal of time to get used to [[note]]Keeping altitude is done by repeatedly tapping left, but not too quickly or else Sonic will lose speed[[/note]]. This is made even worse by the per-recorded advice given by the Sega Help Line, a phone number printed on the top of the game cartridge in some regions. The advice for Sky High Zone Act 1: "use the hang glider to fly across the gap". [[SarcasmMode Thanks]].

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The boss theme of the Game Gear version sounds almost ''exactly'' like "Cubik" by 808 State.

* ThatOneBoss: The Mecha Antlion, specifically on the Game Gear. It's considered tougher due to the smaller resolution mentioned above, making it harder to avoid the bouncing balls (you're also on a 90 degree slope that leads to the boss, and falling into the actual boss on the right of the screen is also easy to do). And it's the ''first boss in the game''.[[labelnote:*]]Making matters worse, some bombs fall low and others bounce high, whereas in the Master System version they all bounce low and are easily jumped over.[[/labelnote]] Oh, by the way, after throwing the last bomb, Eggman does a fast ground-sweep charge along the ground that you barely have any time to jump over, plus it's possible for a bouncing bomb to still be coming down the slope when Eggman comes down. Every boss afterward is a pushover by comparison, though you don't get rings for any of them.

** Aqua Lake Zone Act 2. For starters, it's completely underwater, and any ''Sonic'' fan would know what underwater means in this context: drowning. To make matters worse, it has patches of fake walls in rather nasty spots that you can accidentally fall in, and at least four big bubble dispensers you climb into to float upwards. The worst of these is near the end, which can fortunately be avoided by going through a fake wall, but if your speed is not maintained, you fall down and have to do that horrible "dodge the spikes + enemies hoping your bubble doesn't pop" section.[[labelnote:*]] While you can jump right through the fake wall to get to the exit, you must take the pipe under it to be able to reach the zone's Chaos Emerald, which is required to reach the final level, and being unable to go back up the pipe after the Emerald will force you to deal with the final shaft with the spikes, spears and Badniks.[[/labelnote]] Doesn't help that it's an enormous level compared to most of the others.

* WhatAnIdiot: Just before Underground Zone's boss, Sonic is sent careening right for a pool of lava... and Eggman saves him from this most-definitely-fatal situation just so Sonic can fight the boss instead. Presumably Eggman had TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou mindset at the time. And then he drops bombs onto the boss... [[TacticalSuicideBoss the only thing that can harm it]]. If he just refrained from attacking, Sonic would be stuck there forever.

** "Silver Sonic" or "Robo Sonic" for the Sonic robot fought in Death Egg Zone. Its official name is "Mecha Sonic", but this creates confusion with the distinct robot in ''Sonic & Knuckles'' that shares the same name. "Silver Sonic" is taken from the 8-bit ''Sonic 2'' manual (which actually describes yet ''another'' distinct bot; see the {{Fanon}} entry in the 8-bit version's folder) and was used in the [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Archie comics]], while "Robo Sonic" was used in its non-canon ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' appearance.

* RecurringFanonCharacter: There is an infamous glitch that would turn Sonic green with a black mark on his face. The character, nicknamed Ashura by the community, would become popular enough to receive some fan works with him acting as an EvilCounterpart of Sonic, and eventually inspired Creator/IanFlynn to turn Anti-Sonic into a green hedgehog named Scourge in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog''.

** "Silver Sonic" or "Robo Sonic" for the Sonic robot fought in Death Egg Zone. Its official name is "Mecha Sonic", but this creates confusion with the distinct robot in ''Sonic & Knuckles'' that shares the same name. "Silver Sonic" is taken from the 8-bit ''Sonic 2'' manual (which actually describes yet ''another'' distinct bot; see {{Fanon}} below) and was used in the [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Archie comics]], while "Robo Sonic" was used in its non-canon ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' appearance.

** When leaving a Special Stage, you lose all your rings, which can be frustrating for those who want to get all 7 Emeralds early on, and also for when you exit a Special Stage from a pre-boss checkpoint, as boss arenas often have no rings. While the original version of ''Knuckles in Sonic 2'' has it where Knuckles' ring count when he touches a checkpoint is restored ''even after he loses a life'', this is not retained in the iOS/Android port.

** While not ''terribly'' difficult, Catcher Eggman at the end of Casino Night Zone is pretty tricky. Not only is hitting him very hard due to the layout of the room being remniscient of a pinball machine, but due to how fast you'll likely be careening around the room, it isn't terribly uncommon to run into one of the mines he occasionally drops. Oh, and if you get caught underneath him while on the flippers, he'll lunge into you for unavoidable damage. With all these factors in consideration, it can be hard to beat him with all your rings still intact by the end.

** While not ''terribly'' difficult, Catcher Eggman at the end of Casino Night Zone is pretty tricky, and it can be hard to beat him with all your rings still intact by the end.
** Much the same applies to Flying Eggman, the boss of Metropolis Zone (except that, it being ThatOneLevel, you've probably lost most of your rings before you reach him).

* PortingDisaster: The UsefulNotes/GameGear port suffers from the camera being zoomed in on Sonic too much, but not having the levels compacted in order to compensate, leading to a lot of cheap deaths and leaps of faith required on behalf of the player.
* ScrappyMechanic: The infamous hang gliding sections from Sky High Zone, panned for the hang glider controls taking a great deal of time to get used to. This is made even worse by the per-recorded advice given by the Sega Help Line, a phone number printed on the top of the game cartridge in some regions. The advice for Sky High Zone Act 1: "use the hang glider to fly across the gap". [[SarcasmMode Thanks]].

** The hang glider stage. It's the second Zone in the game, and the obtuse controls caused many kids to run out of lives before they [[UnexpectedGameplayChange could master it and progress]]. Press the wrong button and you perish.

* SequelDifficultySpike: Both games are considerably tougher than the first game for Mega Drive and Master System, the Game Gear version of the sequel being particularly more brutal than the original.

* HarsherInHindsight: Oil Ocean Zone (a level in which the water is made entirely of oil dumped by refineries) becomes a lot more tragic when one accounts for real life oil spillages in seas and oceans, in particular the ''Deepwater Horizon'' accident.