Sonic 2 HD

[MamboCat]

Wow. Well this is good news!

 

I wonder how far along the project they are if this happened some time last year? I'd love to see perhaps a SAGE demo at some point. The last HDness looked lovely.

[SilentDoom]

This news made my day.  So happy that this project is being revived from the grave.

[TheOcelot]

Good to hear this project is up and running again.

 

The alpha build demo released back in 2012 looked very impressive.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA5XqON9OcI



................still better than Sonic 4.

 

 

Edit: Hopefully they will do a version of StealthTax's Hidden Palace.

[Briraka]

Ehhhh... I don't get why these guys are putting their talents to HD-ify a game that already exists. I'd think it would be better if they made something new.

[Diogenes]

................still better than Sonic 4.

It's hard not to be.

Still can't say I'm very interested in this, though. It looks nice enough, I guess, but ultimately it's still just Sonic 2, and I already have Sonic 2.

[SilentDoom]

Ehhhh... I don't get why these guys are putting their talents to HD-ify a game that already exists. I'd think it would be better if they made something new.

 

1) Because making a new game is a much different beast to revamping an existing one

2) Because people want an HD remake of classic Sonic

3) Because they'll undoubtedly refine the game in places such that it's basically the definitive version of the game.  Despite the fact that it exists and is excellent, there's still ways to improve upon it.

[ImPantsAtThis]

Hmmm... It's going to be completely re-coded then, on a new engine? Maybe it won't have system requirements as lofty this time -- I might even get to play it.

[MamboCat]

It's purely a graphics overhaul, right? So I'd still consider StealthTax the definitive edition.

 

However I <3 Sonic 2 and could play it until the cows come home, so I'd play this just to see what each zone (and the end sequence!) look like.

[Briraka]

1) Because making a new game is a much different beast to revamping an existing one

2) Because people want an HD remake of classic Sonic

3) Because they'll undoubtedly refine the game in places such that it's basically the definitive version of the game.  Despite the fact that it exists and is excellent, there's still ways to improve upon it.

1. This is kind of a yes/no thing. No in that they still have to program everything again, and yes in that they don't have to come up with new gimmicks and concepts.

 

2. Well, I can't argue with what people want,

 

3. But the StealthTax port exists already, and even that added some new things to the game.

 

Now I'd be down with an HD version of Sonic 2 if they decided to add in more features such as characters or some of the scrapped Zones, but if I recall, they're just HD-ifying plain vanilla Sonic 2. And I already own Sonic 2. So I'm not seeing the what's big deal about "Sonic 2 with better graphics".

[Indigo Rush]

Here's hoping they include both Hidden Palace Zone and Proto Palace Zone for good measure. 

 

I can't think of any reason why they shouldn't.

[JezMM]

I could see this being pretty cool if they made some elements of it open source after release, so designer types can can create their own levels without the limitations of rom hacking.

 

I'm not talking a user friendly level editor of course, just support for those who want to make something new using a game engine without limits in terms of memory or graphics etc.

[azoo]

Sonic 2 HD looks pretty and sounds pretty, but it seems.. redundant now, after we not only already have the original Sonic 2, but a definitive version by Taxman & Stealth.

 

Potential secret zone easter eggs, 16:9 widescreen and whatever else has already been done, so I don't know for sure what they have in store, it just seems like the game has lost a lot of appeal with the recent port (awesome title screen animations and whatnot aside).

 

I mean, it still looks great and it'd be fun when finished, but I feel like this effort would be better off going to an original Sonic fan game or something, instead of ol' Sonic 2 all over again.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA5XqON9OcI

 

Also, is it me, or did this footage look a little slow to you guys? It may just be the size of Sonic compared to the resolution, but I don't remember the gameplay feeling that much slower in the S1 & 2 Tax-Stealth ports. Maybe the camera in this is even farther away than those ports' cameras are?

[Autosaver]

Didn't this game get cancelled? I remember the Sonic Retro community having a huge shit fest on deciding what the final product should look like. I also remember there being huge drama over a possible keylogger included with the Alpha download.

 

Wait a minute, just something I read.

 

On June 23rd, 2014, The Facebook page for Sonic 2 HD announced that they had begun work again on the fan game. The reason for this is the fact that a fan of the project independently created and submitted his own engine to Vincent, for evaluation. After integrating the art assets from the alpha release and successfully testing it, Vincent began to let the rest of the prior team members know, deciding to pick up where they left off save for those who were unavailable due to real life obligations.

 

According to the Retro page, this project is back? Wow, what timing. I'm not sure if there's a point anymore after the Taxman release and the huge drama fall out. I honestly think it would be better to work on a Sonic 3 HD game.

 

Sonic 2 HD has a bad reputation and will probably never go anywhere. I'd love to see a community attempt to get Sonic 3 in HD before Taxman does his remake.

[SilentDoom]

Is it possible to play the Taxman/Stealth version on anything that's not a mobile device?  Because if not, it both is and isn't the definitive version.  It is obviously because of the refinements and added features but isn't because of the fact that you're not able to use an actual controller.  A controller to me will always be vastly superior to finicky touch controls (I have quite odd shaped thumbs so touch controls for a game like this feel a tad unwieldly to me).  That's one edge this version will have over the Taxman/Stealth remake and a very major one at that. 

[t0ms0nic]

Is it possible to play the Taxman/Stealth version on anything that's not a mobile device?  Because if not, it both is and isn't the definitive version.  It is obviously because of the refinements and added features but isn't because of the fact that you're not able to use an actual controller.  A controller to me will always be vastly superior to finicky touch controls (I have quite odd shaped thumbs so touch controls for a game like this feel a tad unwieldly to me).  That's one edge this version will have over the Taxman/Stealth remake and a very major one at that. 

 

Except that StealthTax's remasters can support controllers for phones, and even using a 360 controller with the Bluestacks emulator for PC has no downside apart from needing to use the mouse to... navigate the menu, pause the game, and touch SEGA or AGES for the secret stuff? I think that's it, and that the menu and pausing are problems with the controller emulation from what I've heard.

 

Anyway, has there actually been anything shown yet? Was this really re-announced with nothing to show for it, or...? I mean, it'd be nice to know if they at least had plans to implement things from the definitive Sonic 2, even just Tails being able to fly, so that it could fill some of the hole currently left open by SEGA.

[VO.SUPER]

Except that StealthTax's remasters can support controllers for phones, and even using a 360 controller with the Bluestacks emulator for PC has no downside apart from needing to use the mouse to... navigate the menu, pause the game, and touch SEGA or AGES for the secret stuff? I think that's it, and that the menu and pausing are problems with the controller emulation from what I've heard.

 

Anyway, has there actually been anything shown yet? Was this really re-announced with nothing to show for it, or...? I mean, it'd be nice to know if they at least had plans to implement things from the definitive Sonic 2, even just Tails being able to fly, so that it could fill some of the hole currently left open by SEGA.

 

I would rather not use an emulator, or have to use a phone screen. 

 

Anyways, this would probably make cool DLC for the Taxman edition of the game if they could work something out with SEGA.

[Jolt_TH]

It does look a little slow, although I do really like the art style. I know its meant to be HD fied, but It does look different and I kinda like it

[Nintendoga]

New Demo out Sept 30th.

Well, didn't see that comin...

http://sonic2hd.com
 

[TheOcelot]

Ha, I totally forgot this was a thing.

Those screenshots look nice, especially Chemical Plant!

[PickleBrows]

That Chemical Plant is absolutely stunning, really makes me want to see Studiopolis in clean HD gameplay like that!

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Well, that came out of nowhere xD

I'm not really that personally interested in the project, but I am really impressed by the effort, so I would definitely be happy if it finally became a full game, and I have to say the background of Chemical Plant Zone looks gorgeous.

[Sean]

I'm game, as long as Tails can fly. Tails in the mobile ports is the only way I can really tolerate playing Sonic 2 (whether it's him solo or with Sonic)

[blueblur98]

you better bet i'm going to play demo 2.0 the SECOND it drops. this time with 100% less potential keyloggers and DRM!

[molul]

Really awesome HD graphics, although I'm not 100% convinced with Sonic's sprite (maybe his jaw?).

BTW, to me this looks like some kind of call to Sega and the Mania Team, like "Mania has been great. Now hire us to make an HD classic Sonic game!".

I wonder if this will be tolerated by Sega, though I mean, finishing the game.

[Celestia]

For some reason I'm not sure how I feel about Sonic & Tails' sprites, but everything else looks fantastic. And hey, I'm glad to see this project living on, even if I'm not the biggest fan of Sonic 2 I can still appreciate stuff like this. XP