Sonic Robo Blast 2 is a 3D platformer built via a Doom Source port engine and was originally released in 1998, still receiving frequent updates to this day. It kicks off with quite a bit of text explaining Doctor Eggman’s new villainous scheme. To stop him, we have three characters to choose from. They are Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails with each of them handling significantly different. Sonic runs as fast as a fighter jet and is the hardest to start with for new players. Knuckles is slower and can climb up obstacles while Tails can fly, making the game far easier. Pick wisely since you can not choose another character without starting over.
We start in the Greenflower Zone, a bright and cheery place meant to familiarize the player with how the game controls. It is based on older Sonic games so to kill an enemy you must jump on them though Sonic himself has a mid-air charging attack, making him the best suited for combat. Every character also has a spin dash that can be used to defeat an enemy or just to pick up some speed quickly. Moving around the place is a breeze and much better than you would expect of a third person platformer made on an engine made for an FPS title that didn’t even feature jumping.
It is technically a mod but is so vastly different and even comes with its own standalone installer that it feels more appropriate to call it an actual game. This is no half-baked project, it features massive open-ended levels, all the sound effects from Sonic you know and love as well as excellent level design to keep you running at a high speed while always knowing where to go. Getting hit will cause all your rings to drop, the power-ups such as the shield make a return. Every aspect of it truly does make it feel like a Sonic game, and while that may be a bad thing in this day & age due to the series hitting new lows constantly, this beckons back to when Sega’s mascot was at the top of his game.
There are a ton of secrets to be found which can lead to extra lives, power-ups or even an emerald crystal that takes you to a bonus level at the end of the stage. In them, you play as Super Sonic and fly around in order to collect orbs. It plays a lot like “Nights” and is a neat reward for being observant throughout the game. I assume collecting all of them will result in something special, but while it starts off easy enough, it will soon take off the safety wheels, leaving you happy that you even finished the stage. The controls are tight and responsive, it all comes down to how skilled you are or simply memorizing a level.
You start off with three lives, and ten continues for your entire journey. It is more than enough and collecting 100 rings nets you an extra life. With how many rings there are laying around the place you will not have to worry about it too much though playing carelessly is still a bad idea. The environments change up often and will have you exploring deserts, space stations and castles to name a few of the places you’ll have to face throughout your travels. Each zone has their own enemies, traps, gimmicks and usually a boss fight at the end of them. And yes, the accursed water levels do make an appearance here for better or worse depending on who you ask.
They are all fun to play through, and each level always seems to feature their own memorable moments from chasing Metal Sonic through a factory to cheesing your way through the lava levels as Tails. Joking aside, the other characters to play as add a ton of replay value as they each have their own way of getting things done. Sonic is by far the most difficult to use out of three but is also a perfect choice for those trying to pull off a speedrun. Once you finish a level, it will be added to the Record Attack mode that lets you do just that and try to find the most ideal route through a stage. The other mode is Nights which lets you replay the flying sections you’ve unlocked.
Multiplayer has also been added to this title though sadly the community is dead and I had no way of testing it. There seems to be quite a few modes to play if you can gather a group of friends and it also features splitscreen for those local coop gamers out there. If that isn’t an option for you, single player has plenty of stages to keep you engaged and the replay value of going through it as different characters will have you hooked for even longer. Not to mention that there are secret levels.
All of the boss fights will be against Doctor Eggman as he uses a different mech each time in the hopes of coming out the victor this time. Like the game itself, they start off easy but after some time will require your complete focus to pull them off and are always a ton of fun. I am still absolutely stunned at how well they pulled this entire game off. It didn’t just turn out to be a good Sonic title but easily one of the best. After nearly 20 years since its conception, it is still not considered fully completed meaning we could still look forward to more great things from this title. With great music, great gameplay and tons of content Sonic Robo Blast 2 is something you should try out as soon as possible, even if you are not a fan of the source material.
Link to download: Sonic Robo Blast 2
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