Tails saved the day in the bad ending.
In the good ending, it shows Sonic and Tails in the sky. But in the bad ending, it only shows Tails.Robotnik was actually Tails the entire time.
The ending to the Game Gear version sees Robotnik fleeing into a transporter, only to be replaced by a two-tailed fox. Coincidence?Robotnik steals Tails' soul in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Game Gear.
If you cheat to get to the last level instead of getting all the Chaos Emeralds, you get the bad ending (Sonic alone, Tails in the sky) EVEN THOUGH Tails appeared in the teleporter.The rescue didn't count for some reason, it seems. Why?
Robotnik did something to Tails after capturing him (which is why he captured Tails alone and didn't capture Sonic at the end of Underground Zone Act 3), which did something to him; he Came Back Wrong.
I think that Robotnik stole Tails's soul to power some kind of doomsday weapon. After rescuing the comatose Tails, Sonic carries him all the way home, tries to feed him some mushed up baby food, talks to him for a while, tucks him in bed, reads him a bedtime story, and watches over him all night and all day from that point, hoping he'll recover.
DO NOT CHEAT.
- Perhaps the Chaos Emeralds give Sonic the ability to restore Tails to how he was... or give Sonic the ability to locate Tails in (or enter) the Crystal Egg zone; without them, Sonic can't pursue Robotnik and the game would have to end there.
- The level select screen represents Sonic looking around all of Mobius at random. By the time he gets to the Crystal Egg zone by some other means, it's too late for Tails.
Tails was meant to be playable in Sonic 2 8-bit.
- Even though he's supposed to have been captured by Eggman, Tails still appears with Sonic in all title cards. Also, as seen in the game's good ending, Tails has an almost complete spritesheet. The development team probably didn't bother to change the title cards after dummying him out.
- I think it becomes a bit of Fridge Brilliance if you consider that Sonic is desperately wanting Tails to be at his side, and the title cards are Sonic remembering the fun times he had with Tails the last time they were in the Zone together.
- Actually it's even more Fridge Brilliance if you think of the 8-bit game as Robotnik's revenge against Tails for defeating him alone while Sonic was stuck in Sonic CD. Now that Sonic CD is moved in the timeline, the Tails Alone modes of 2 and 3&K never happen, therefore Sonic AND Tails venture through Sonic 2 8-bit like they should have!
In the bad ending of Sonic 2 8-bit, Sonic forgot about Tails.
The end credits scene is Sonic realizing he forgot to rescue Tails. Underground Zone was going to be the fourth zone originally, and Green Hills the first
- It would fit the general pattern of Green Hill being first, explain why the Underground boss is so hard, and make sense considering both Underground and Gimmick Mountain involve being underground and riding in mining carts.
In the bad ending of Sonic 2 8-bit, Tails didn't get killed
If you played Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 on the Sega Genesis, you'll remember that tails was pretty much invincible. Only being crushed or drowned would stop him, and it would be just a few seconds, until he came back flying. So, Tails isn't dead, because Robotnik has NOTHING that could harm the two-tailed fox. But Sonic didn't manage to rescue him, so if you got the bad ending, you would defeat Robotnik, but Tails would still be a prisoner.