Hi there, Sup Forums! It's your old pal...

Hi there, Sup Forums! It's your old pal, Sonic 2 special stages! I'm just dropping by to remind you that I'm objectively the worst special stages in the entire classic series.

Sure, the Genesis didn't have anywhere near the power we need to render a 3D stage with a draw distance which allows for normal human reaction time to succeed, but when you're going 3D or bust, that's just a price we had to pay! Don't worry, this where rote memorization comes into play. Don't think of it as a waste of time in having to play the same stages over and over, think of it as replay value!

Remember your buddy, Tails? Oh, he'd follow you everywhere! Now, early in development you would lose your rings whenever Tails got hit. Can you imagine how frustrating it must've been to be punished for the mistakes of an AI that you barely control and essentially have to chose which character you'd like to hit an obstacle? Well, thanks to our special stages, you don't have to imagine it! Tails collects his own rings, effectively negating his presence because he's all but guaranteed to run into mines! Oh, will that eager young fox ever learn?

When Sonic 1 placed the special stages at the very end, we felt that this didn't effectively leverage the power of the Genesis. To that end, we decided to place the entrance to special stages within the in-game checkpoints. Now you have as many chances to win as you do checkpoints! Of course, you have to gamble all your rings and your shield to play, so you will have to proceed backwards through the level to collect enough rings to try again at a different checkpoint, but don't worry, you'll probably get in another shot or two before the time limit hits!

tl;dr

Translation: Sonic 2's special stages are too hard and I'm a big fucking baby please rape my face.

Artificial difficulty does NOT make a game good.

Please note that there are only two unique IP replies at this time.

Then who was phone!? XD

Wha? Sonic 2 special stages were easy even with tails being an idiot.

Now sonic rush's special stages....especially purple

Sonic Advance stages sucked

Which one?

Which of them involved having your feet attached to ski's?

Worst part is, every special stage after S3K is based off the S2 halfpipe. Hell, even Sonic 3D Blast (Saturn/PC) is a halfpipe!

sonic rush's special stages were fun though. Sonic 2s are just stupid.

Honestly the one thing Heroes probaby did right was the Special Stages. Shame that part gets overlooked.

Do you mean the board where you're like free falling? I don't think there was one with skis.

Get Blue Spheres is the objectively best special stage.

Sonic CD's gets an honorable mention because I like how the environments look.

I don't think the halfpipe is inherently bad just so long as you can actually see what's ahead of you because of a decent draw distance and a lack of curves at crucial moments leaving you entirely blind to rings and mines. As was the case in Sonic 2.

I thought the sonic advance trilogy had some of the worst special stages honestly.

>best special stage thread
fucking retarded

the real question is
>best special stage music
in which sonic 2 wins without even trying

OP confirmed retarded

Sonic advance 2 hold a special place in my heart for making me serious and easy spending money for my chao garden addiction with it's special stages. Specifically hot crater's special stage.

>Honestly the one thing Heroes probaby did right was the Special Stages
The fuck? Heroes special stages were glitchy as shit. I can't remember the times I would fall off the ceiling or come to a complete halt trying to ride the sides.

>best special stage music

well in that case i'll have to throw a vote for Sonic 3D blast's(saturn) special stage theme and sonic 3 and knuckles theme

That's probably it, as you can probably tell, its been years.

The only way I was able to beat all of these were with a friend

Even then it was fucking hard

I don't remember that being too hard. The one that really kicked my ass was Sonic Advance 2. It was a like a shitty version of CD's special stages.

I should go back and replay it. If only SEGA released the mobile Sonic games on steam. I'll just emulate them.

i was always tails. my brother died nearly 4 yeas ago (older bro). feelsbadman.

go away. theres literally a board now for spergs like you

I recently played the game again and while my overall opinion of it hasn't changed, its still a 3/5 game that was probably better off not existing...I didn't have the issues you're talking about so I guess our experiences were just plain different.

I don't think there's any demand. The Advance games are very under rated IMO

They're so fun though

Where can I subscribe :^)

Doesn't tails only lose the rings he's collected himself when he gets hit?
So you are only losing what you missed anyway?

You know, the unique IP counter lets us know it's all you.

It took until Advance 3 for them to get the Special Stages right, but they did it.

Only for them to to go with the half pipe again for Rush.

Nobody fucking cares. Discuss special stages

>every special stage after S3K is based off the S2 halfpipe
No.
Sonic Advance 2's are something sort of like like Sonic CD's but with no level design and with Zero chasing you.
Sonic Rush Adventure has races on jet skis.
Sonic 4 Episode I's are based on Sonic 1's.
Sonic Lost World 3DS's are complete fucking dogshit, but definitely not halfpipes.

>WAAAHHHHH THE HALF PIPE HURTS MY FEE FEES!!!

>sonic CD's special stage always kicks my ass as a kid
>emulate it years later
>doesn't seem as hard as I remember
>look it up
>a glitch in the windows 95 port made the special stage run twice as fast

WAKE ME UP INSIDE

Sonic 2 and Knuckles made them much easier, so they must have realized how annoying they were. You also kept all your rings and shield after the bonus stage, yet the zone still completely reset like in the original so you could go farm up hundreds of rings if you had the inclination.

Some people would consider that improvement

>a glitch in the windows 95 port made the special stage run twice as fast
Wow, is that why I was complete shit at them all along.
Fucking hell.

Anyone who could hit the last UFO at max speed x2 has my respect if nothing else.

The half pipe is lazy as fuck. I don't get everyone's hard-on for it when every other classic Sonic does special stages better. The "it's 3D" excuse doesn't even apply since 3K and CD both had better 3D effects.

It really is just nostalgia, I understand, but nobody ever stopped to think on whether or not it was actually fun. It's like bringing back The Barrel just because people remember it.

this has me thinking

>Sonic 1/Sonic 4
>Rush adventure
>blue spheres

Are the only tolerable special stages in sonic IMO. I never 100% sonic games on my later playthroughs because of this save for sonic 3k.

The first one is the worst one imo

Gems Collection also has this issue since it is based off the Win95 port.

If you played the special stages solo, the ring requirement was reduced by 5-10 rings for each goal.

Yes, but at the same time the required ring counts are increased, sometimes dramatically, if Tails is with you.
They fully expect that if you have Tails, a second player is controlling him and grabbing rings that a single player would be unable to get.

The problem is the choppy as fuck stage rotating and the forced full height jumps (compared to smaller jumps you can do normally with shorter button presses in the entire rest of the game). It makes it feel excessively stiff and shitty.

Sonic 1 was dogshit, CD was even worse.

2 is ok but boring

3&K has the best plus more opportunities to get them meaning you can get Super Sonic really early

>tfw Super Sonic in Hydrocity
>tfw Hyper Sonic in Sandopolis

The game came out in 1992 and was the first '3D' effect of it's type pulled on the Genesis that was actually convincing (for it's time). The Genesis was in a heated war with the SNES and Sega wanted all the ammunition they could get.

I'm just going to say it. Super form are a shit reward.

>invincibility making already very easy games even easier
>fast as fuck acceleration making precision platforming way harder
>great stage music replaced with mediocre invincibility music
>forced to transform or not use the insta-shield/gliding and climbing

>Sonic 2 special stages.
>Worst.

Way to misspell Sonic 3 OP.

It was even worse in Sonic 2. Want to jump? Nah son, you're going super. Hope you didn't need those rings for the end of the level at, say, a boss.

You're not wrong. Special stages should be used to unlock a final zone, super sonic should be an optional thing for people that beat the game (like in generations)

It was originally more of a hidden easter egg to reference Goku's then recent first Super Saiyan transformation in the DB manga. They probably thought it would be a great while before it became common knowledge since it was difficulty to get all the emeralds compared to Sonic 1, especially since Sonic 2 actually punishes you for going into bonus stages.

>Not having all the Emeralds in Emerald Hill
PLEB
L
E
B

You honestly sound like a little bitch.

Git gud.

>not saving the final ring till Oil Ocean

>Sandopolis
>Not Mushroom Hill

COME ON, STEP IT UP

>What are guilty pleasures

I can see the appeal, but fuck Hill Top and Mystic cave

Sonic 3 has some of the better special stages of the series though.

2's are pixely slideshows with really poor scaling effects, and the difficulty ranges from piss easy don't even have to try to win, to memorize the exact placement of everything or get fucked, with no in between.
They aren't fun. They aren't interesting. They aren't well made. They barely run. And virtually every other attempt at halfpipe special stages has been a million times better than the ones in 2.

Meh. Still better than any of the Special Stages in the Advance trilogy.

>at least peepee is better than poopoo
well I'm convinced

Ignore this beta male

This

Advance 2 had the right idea. Hard as balls to get into the Special Stage, easy as balls to actually complete it.

And here was me thinking I was the only one who hated Sonic 2's special stages.

They made it way too hard to get into them.
And then on top of that every character got emeralds separately, and you had to get all emeralds with everyone to unlock Amy Rose.
Fucking stupid.
Really should have been something like get at least five out of seven special rings to get to a special stage instead. Also might have helped if you didn't lose all of them when you die. Asking that you get all of them, and in one life, is pretty absurd. It's hard enough just finding some of them, and many are strewn across multiple paths, forcing you to take really strange routes through levels that you would never ever take otherwise.

Was she worth the ass pain?

No. Wasn't even fun and unique like in Advance 1. She turns into a ball when jumping and can roll like everyone else.