History YMMV / SonicTheHedgehog2

** Aquis in Oil Ocean Zone isn't much better. The moment it appears on screen, it will immediately ambush Sonic by spitting two difficult-to-avoid projectiles at him in rapid succession with very little time to react. Not at all helped by the fact that they often hang out in areas where it's impossible to.

* DemonicSpiders: All the badniks in Metropolis Zone are GoddamnedBats, but the mantis-like Slicer badniks are a step into being even rougher. 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.
* DisappointingLastLevel: The Death Egg. All the effort to reach it, and the final level is just two boss fights with no rings, meaning you are forced into TrialAndErrorGameplay until you get their tricky patterns down, which depending on how many lives you have left can force you to start the entire game over again.

** If you plug in the second controller, Tails can be used to defeat Eggman's machines easily because of his invincibility.

** Flying Eggman (aka Egg Bouncer), the boss of Metropolis Zone, which is ThatOneLevel, so 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. With Amy's Hammer Attack it's even easier.

The following tropes apply to the 16-bit [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2''. The equivalent page for the 8-bit game also called ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' is [[YMMV/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit here]]. For tropes related to the 2022 film, go [[YMMV/SonicTheHedgehog22022 here]].

* PortingDisaster: The UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 version of the game has glitches happen far more often, such as removing hitboxes for some walls that, while you normally wouldn't run into, have springs.

* GameBreaker: If you plug in the second controller, Tails can be used to defeat Eggman's machines easily because of his invincibility.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvMNxJzys-E There is a certain glitch in where if Sonic is charging up a spin dash and is lauched upwards, Sonic will retain his spindash particle and, if released mid-air, Sonic spindashes once he touches the ground]], [[VideoGame/Sonic Mania fast forward to 2018 and we have the "Drop Dash".]]

* HilariousInHindsight: It looks like it says WebVideo/SonicF on the side of the Tornado, doesn't it?

*** They've also been called [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Scyther, Kingler, and Staryu]]

* SelfImposedChallenge: Beating the game without using the Spin Dash is a common speedrunnner challenge.

** Chemical Plant Zone Act 2. You know it's a wake-up call when Sonic Team themselves (or at least, the members who developed the ''Sonic Gems Collection'') [[http://www.soniczone0.com/games/sonic2/chemicalplant/#miscnotes had trouble with this level]]. Aside from being a water level (without any air bubbles), there's one segment where you must climb up a series of rotating stair blocks as water rises. You can potentially get crushed, or (heaven forbid) fall back down into the water and have to do it all over again. Thankfully there's an alternate route that allows you to bypass that segment completely.

* NauseaFuel: The iconic half-pipe Special Stages are often called [[FanNickname "Puke Zone"]] for its crude and [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny poorly aged]] imitation of 3D. The framerate is very low, making the stages look like they're put under a strobe light, and the sudden twists and turns make the effect even more disorienting. Several players often complain of eyestrain and motion sickness when playing these stages. Thankfully, the remaster ditches the old version and makes them true polygonal stages, making them much smoother.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The pseudo-3D appearance of the half-pipe Special Stages was quite impressive back in 1992. However, as later iterations of the half-pipe became actually 3D (including the remade special stages in the iOS/Android port), they don't look anywhere near as impressive anymore and their flaws have become a lot more apparent nowadays.

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 [[YMMV/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit here]]. For tropes related to the 2022 film, go [[YMMV/SonicTheHedgehog22022 here]].

* SignatureScene: This game's memorable ending was revisited in a few other ''Sonic'' games.

** The final boss, the Death Egg Robot, while not extremely difficult strategy wise, can be a bit difficult due to its very particular collision. Due to its spike armoured arms, trying to jump into its weak point is hard besides its landing recoil, at which point you have to quickly avoid it firing its arms a great distance at you. Even worse, if you hit him from the wrong angle, you can sometimes fall inside him instead of bounce off, killing you. You can also damage him by hitting him in the back above the flame on his jetpack, though getting behind him can be dangerous as he'll shoot out mines if he lands and boxes you in too close to the edge of the screen. Knuckles' stunted jump height means this boss is a ''huge'' DifficultySpike for him after most of the game being much easier as him as you can only damage the boss when he lands and cannot damage him from the rear at all. However with the addition of Amy in ''[[CompilationRerelease Origins Plus]]'', this boss becomes a joke with well-timed Hammer Attacks.

** The final boss, the Death Egg Robot, while not extremely difficult strategy wise, can be a bit difficult due to its very particular collision. Due to its spike armoured arms, trying to jump into its weak point is hard besides its landing recoil, at which point you have to quickly avoid it firing its arms a great distance at you. Even worse, if you hit him from the wrong angle, you can sometimes fall inside him instead of bounce off, killing you. You can also damage him by hitting him in the back above the flame on his jetpack, though getting behind him can be dangerous as he'll shoot out mines if he lands and boxes you in too close to the edge of the screen. Knuckles' stunted jump height means this boss is a ''huge'' DifficultySpike for him after most of the game being much easier as him as you can only damage the boss when he lands and cannot damage him from the rear at all. However with the addition of Amy in [[CompilationRerelease ''Origins Plus'']], this boss becomes a joke with well-timed Hammer Attacks.

** The final boss, the Death Egg Robot, while not extremely difficult strategy wise, can be a bit difficult due to its very particular collision. Due to its spike armoured arms, trying to jump into its weak point is hard besides its landing recoil, at which point you have to quickly avoid it firing its arms a great distance at you. Even worse, if you hit him from the wrong angle, you can sometimes fall inside him instead of bounce off, killing you. You can also damage him by hitting him in the back above the flame on his jetpack, though getting behind him can be dangerous as he'll shoot out mines if he lands and boxes you in too close to the edge of the screen. Knuckles' stunted jump height means this boss is a ''huge'' DifficultySpike for him after most of the game being much easier as him as you can only damage the boss when he lands and cannot damage him from the rear at all. However with the addition of Amy in [CompilationRerelease ''Origins Plus]], this boss becomes a joke with well-timed Hammer Attacks.

** Flying Eggman (aka Egg Bouncer), the boss of Metropolis Zone, which is ThatOneLevel, so 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.

** The final boss, the Death Egg Robot, while not extremely difficult strategy wise, can be a bit difficult due to its very particular collision. Due to its spike armoured arms, trying to jump into its weak point is hard besides its landing recoil, at which point you have to quickly avoid it firing its arms a great distance at you. Even worse, if you hit him from the wrong angle, you can sometimes fall inside him instead of bounce off, killing you. You can also damage him by hitting him in the back above the flame on his jetpack, though getting behind him can be dangerous as he'll shoot out mines if he lands and boxes you in too close to the edge of the screen. Knuckles' stunted jump height means this boss is a ''huge'' DifficultySpike for him after most of the game being much easier as him as you can only damage the boss when he lands and cannot damage him from the rear at all.

(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 [[YMMV/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit here]]. For tropes related to the 2022 film, go [[YMMV/SonicTheHedgehog22022 here]]).

* ContestedSequel: Some fans nowadays believe ''VideoGame/SonicCD'' is a more faithful follow-up to the first game because of its slower, platform-oriented level design and artstyle. It’s not helped by the development team for ''Sonic 1'' being split between ''CD'' and ''2.''

* DemonicSpiders: All the badniks in Metropolis Zone are GoddamnedBats, but the mantis-like Slicer badniks are a step into being even rougher. 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.

* 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 Shellcrackers, crabs with huge fists that always seem to be positioned in awkward places. One of the main reasons why Metropolis is ThatOneLevel.