"Why the hell am I in a car?"
—Sonic's thoughts on Drift in Sonic Shorts, Vol. 2
The Sonic Drift duology is a series of Spin-Off drift-racing games released for the Sega Game Gear, starring true blue and company.
The first entry, released in 1994, was a very basic kart racer, with four playable stars: Sonic, Tails, Amy (the first time she was ever playable) and Dr. Eggman (also the first time he was ever playable). Rings could be collected to activate each character's special attack (speed boost, jump, ect.). Gameplay wise, it is more or less Sega's answer to Super Mario Kart (with a bit of Pole Position thrown into the mix) — it even has a map on the screen a la the original outing (but inexplicably put on the top of it rather than the bottom). Prior to being ported to Sonic Mega Collection Plus and Sonic Adventure DX, this game never saw the light of day in the U.S. or Europe.
However, the following year it did receive a follow-up, the aptly named Sonic Drift 2, which did make it overseas (and curiously retained the numeral in the U.S.). This game expanded upon the original by adding more playable characters, tracks, course variety, and smarter A.I. (perhaps too smart).
A Fan Remake helmed by the man behind the Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit remake, Noah Copeland, is currently in development
, reimagining Drift and Drift 2 in the same vein as his previous effort.
Tropes:
- Astral Finale: The last two tracks of the Blue GP, Milky Way and Death Egg, are set in outer space; with the latter having the players racing on the surface of the Death Egg itself.
- Balance, Power, Skill, Gimmick:
- Tails was the Balance character, having neither weaknesses nor strengths; Sonic was the Power, having good speed but poor handling; Amy was the Skill, having good acceleration but poor speed; and Eggman was the Gimmick, having poor acceleration but good speed. In Drift 2, Knuckles became a variant Balance, with average stats and both attack and dodge abilities; Fang the Sniper and Metal Sonic are both variant Power characters; Fang's vehicle has nearly identical stats to Sonic (but with his Oil Ball attack replacing Sonic's boost), while Metal Sonic takes Sonic's strengths and weaknesses to even further extremes.
- For their Special Abilities, however, the lineup changed subtly. Tails's Jump imitates the spring item, allowing him to avoid obstacles and protect him from disruption, keeping the Balance spot; Sonic uses the Dash, which takes his high speed and lets him go even faster, keeping the Power slot; Eggman uses Mines that deal Collision Damage and cost the opponent rings, which makes him the Skill character; Amy's Heart Attack disrupts their controls and slows them down, an effect unique to her in the first game, making her the Gimmick.
- Big Storm Episode: Drift 2 has Rainy Savannah, which serves as the second track of the White GP. Thanks to its theme — being a huge African grassy plain — it also overlaps with Jungle Japes.
- Butt-Monkey: The first game has alternate endings for each character. Sonic becomes this in all endings except his own, where he is either mocked by Robotnik (and promptly chases him in a fit of rage), mildly annoyed that Tails won, or forced to back off Amy's request for love.
- Casino Park: Drift 2 has Casino Night, which serves as the fourth track of the Purple GP.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Speedup monitors are red, Invincibility monitors are blue. The sequel adds a Jump monitor (yellow) and a throwable mine trap (black).
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Along with the Rubber-Band A.I., the computer racers in the second game have unlimited powerups, and abuse it to high heaven. Sonic and Metal Sonic in particular are pretty much in perpetual boost mode, which is a big problem given how powerful the latter's is.
- Cool Bike: Unlike most of the other racers who use karts, Fang uses the Marvellous Queen: his speedy hoverbike from Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble that often featured in his boss battles.
- Cool Car: As you'd expect from a Mascot Racer, pretty much everyone (barring the aforementioned Fang, who instead uses his hoverbike) gets one to use, here. Special mention goes to Sonic's Cyclone (a sleek sports car with a look based on his trademark shoes), Tails' Whirlwind S7 (a self-built kit car based on the real-life Caterham Seven), and Metal Sonic's Blue Devil (an aerodynamic rocket-propelled car).
- Death Mountain: Drift 2 has Dark Valley, which serves as the third track of the Purple GP and first track of the Blue GP. Falling off the edge of the track results in a claw having to put your car back on it.
- Eternal Engine: The original game has Scrap Brain Zone, which serves as the sixth and final track of all three GPs. Drift 2 has Iron Ruin, which serves as the sixth and final track of the Purple GP, and Death Egg, which serves as the sixth and final track of the Blue GP.
- Gimmick Level: Emerald Ocean in Drift 2. The whole track is over the sea, so you need to keep your speed over 40% to avoid falling in. Uniquely, you get directly dropped down onto the water with a robot arm to do a rolling start at the beginning, which is something none of the other tracks have.
- Girls Have Cooties: Amy's Special Attack is to blow a heart-shaped kiss at someone, which slows them down and alters their controls if they touch it.
- Go-Karting with Eggman: Dr. Robotnik holds no qualms about participating in a racing tournament with Sonic and friends, and neither do Metal Sonic and Fang.
- Green Hill Zone: The original Green Hill Zone, no less, appears as the first track in all three GP's of the first game (only differing in layout). Drift 2 has Emerald Hill Zone, which appears as the first track of the Purple GP, and the sixth and final track of the White GP.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Knuckles is referred to by his correct name in the supplementary materials for the second game, but is misspelled as "Knucles" in-game due to letter limitations; much like him having to be referred to as "K.T.E." in the life indicator for Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Similarly, Metal Sonic's name is shortened to "M. Sonic".
- Interface Screw:
- The R Ball in Drift 2 reverses the controls for a couple seconds.
- One course (Balloon Panic) replaces the monitors with balloons that cause an entirely different set of effects, some of which are harmful.
- Jungle Japes: Rainy Savannah in Drift 2 combines this with Big Storm Episode, being a wide-open African plain that's periodically lit up with lightning flashes and has rain puddles that can make you skid out.
- Meaningful Background Event: The Death Egg's appearance in the Milky Way track of Drift 2. Guess where the following track takes place?
- Mythology Gag: Tails drives a car based on Caterham Seven in Drift 2. It is something of a canon trait that Tails has a preference for the brand, as he appeared with one in a secret illustration in Sonic CD and owned one in a prior obscure manga.
- Nostalgia Level: The tracks in Drift 1 are all set in levels from Sonic 1. Likewise, many tracks in Drift 2 are from the sequels: including Emerald Hill, Casino Night, Hill Top and Mystic Cave, and Ice Cap and Death Egg. In a more indirect fashion, Iron Ruin is stated to be what's left of the old Scrap Brain Zone from the first game: some time after Eggman abandoned and left it to rot following his retreat at the end.
- Oil Slick: Fang's special move in Drift 2 is to toss oil balls that cause enemy racers to skid out upon contact.
- Projectile Kiss: This is Amy's special move.
- Recurring Riff: "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" is the invincibility theme in Drift 1. Drift 2 uses the Sonic 3 invincibility theme instead.
- Promoted to Playable: Drift 2 was the first game where you could play as the entire Rogues Gallery of the Sonic series at the time. Most notably Eggman and Metal Sonic, but also Fang the Hunter; whose other playable appearance wouldn't be until Sonic the Fighters the following year.
- Rubber-Band A.I.: Abused constantly by the sequel, and it isn't subtle either since you can tell from a glance at the map when 2nd place magically accelerates. Winning a race frequently comes down to dumb luck.
- Sentient Vehicle: Amy's car, the Breeze, has eyes and is described as having a mind of its own. It looks like something out of classic western animation.
- Shifting Sand Land: Drift 2 has Desert Road, which serves as the fifth track of the Purple GP, and the first track of the White GP. The former requires you to race three laps, while the latter is a linear course.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Drift 2 has Ice Cap, which serves as the third track of the White GP.
- The Smurfette Principle: In both games, Amy is the only female racer.
- Sore Loser: In both games, the poor sap in fourth place in the overall standings will be very displeased about it, with their reactions ranging from looking despondent (Tails, Amy) or irritated (Sonic, Fang) to furious (Knuckles, Eggman) and outright breaking down in a cloud of steam (Metal Sonic). Whoever finishes in second and third on the flags/podium won't be much happier, either; especially in the first game.
- Sudden Name Change: The game itself had no alterations in localization, which led a few Western fans at the time to wonder why Robotnik and Nack were suddenly called Eggman and Fang. Slightly averted in that the English manual explains that Dr. Robotnik goes under "the Eggman" as his race title.
- Theme Naming: Like Sonic's plane, the Tornado, the character cars are nearly all named after types of weather, mostly windstorms. Sonic's car is the Cyclone, Tails's is the MTP-01 Whirlwind (the MTP-02 Whirlwind S7 in Drift 2), Eggman's modified Eggmobile is called the Egg Typhoon, and Amy's car is the Breeze. In Drift 2, Knuckles's vehicle extends the theme with its name, Tempest, but Fang and Metal Sonic break the theme with their vehicles, the Marvellous Queen and Blue Devil.
- True Final Boss: Finishing in first place on every race on the Blue GP in Drift 2 pits your character in a one-on-one final race on the Death Egg, against the "leader" of the opposing alignment. If you're one of the four heroes (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles or Amy), you face Eggman. If you're one of the three villains (Eggman, Fang or Metal Sonic), you instead go up against Sonic.
- Underground Level: Drift 2 has Mystic Cave and Quake Cave, which are both long, winding courses set entirely in underground tunnels riddled with stalagmites on the track. Mystic Cave serves as the fifth track of the White GP, while Quake Cave serves as the second track of the Blue GP.
