Japanese manual translation
Sonic the Hedgehog is always searching for new adventure in his life. Today, luck was on his side; Sonic had discovered a beautiful, lush island, rich with greenery and pleasing to the senses.

"All right!" Sonic thought to himself. "I'll rest here for a while."

The white smoke escaping from Sonic's plane "The Tornado" drew a long arch in the sky, its shadow stretching out over the length of the island.

The legend of Westside Island, the Island of Illusion, tells that many years ago, a people here based the development of their civilisation on a collection of strange stones, and employed their greatest philosophers to theorise on their true power. In order to gain these powers, some attempted to channel the energy of the stones for their own evil intents. These attempts, however, came to naught.

Since, the legends tell that the stones have been sealed by the gods somewhere on this island.

Days passed since Sonic landed on the island. One day, while Sonic explored a region of the island, he noticed that he was being watched by someone behind him. He turned around and saw that a small fox had been secretly following him. Seeing Sonic's face, the startled fox shyly hid in the shade of a coconut tree. Ignoring the fox, Sonic began to run. But the fox, seeing him leaving, started running after him with all his strength.

Seeing the determination on his face, Sonic changed his mind about the little fox. "I may as well let him follow me," he said to himself, and stopped running. He decided to make friends with the young fox.

Miles Prower, the small fox, sported two bushy tails instead of one. For this reason, the animals of Westside Island nicknamed him "Tails". Miles was happy with his life, but after meeting Sonic his view changed. He made a decision to improve his skills, and so he began to hang around Sonic all day long.

One early afternoon, Miles discovered a superb plane resting on the beach; he rushed to get a closer look at it. The curving outline of the plane's sleek, streamlined body impressed him. It was just the kind of vehicle Miles liked. He strolled towards the front of the plane, admiring its impressive fuselage. He stopped as he saw Sonic asleep in the cockpit. He quickly scampered back to the rear, hoping not to wake him.

Suddenly, Miles saw a brief flash of light coming from the direction of the nearby woods. Without any further warning, rumbling explosions and columns of flame rose above the trees, scattering stones, leaves and branches in all directions. Miles watched in terror as the spectacle unfolded before his eyes. From within the burning red forest, an army of robots marched forth, cluttering the earth.

Miles watched, stunned, as the explosions continued. But even Miles in his fear did not realise the full scope of the situation. Sonic watched the burning forest with anger in his eyes.

"Eggman..." Sonic breathed, remembering his archenemy with contempt. He jumped down onto the beach and gazed up at the wood beyond. Something was beginning. Having fainted for a few seconds, Miles collected himself and ran to catch up with Sonic.

"Da-Ha ha ha ha!!" The loud laughter echoed around the wood; Doctor Eggman was nearby.

"Finally, my plan is underway! The CHAOS EMERALDS sleep somewhere on Westside Island, the Island of Illusion, so it will be easy to expel my adversary Sonic! Soon, my supreme weapon, The Death Egg, will be launched into space. Just you wait, Sonic! This time, THIS time I will gather the Chaos Emeralds, and with their power I will defeat you! Thus, I, Dr. Eggman, shall become master of this world! Daa-HA HA HA!!"

The players are set, the adventure and emotion now begin. Let's go!

*Special thanks to Mary Yamasaki and Dave Bulmer for the Japanese translation and Pepperidge for providing it.

The release itself was extremely hyped, all culminating on 'Sonic 2sday', a large event celebrating the games release. To this day, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is one of the highest selling and most critically acclaimed Sonic games ever.

You can choose to play as Sonic, Tails or have Tails follow Sonic. Both characters have exactly the same moves (You can't make Tails fly when you play as him).

During the game, you should try to collect Chaos Emeralds. Chaos Emeralds are collected in special stages accessed by hitting Star Posts with 50 rings. Collect all seven to be able to use Super Sonic (when you've got 50 rings), a faster and invincible version of Sonic. If you're playing as Tails alone, you get no bonus. Finishing the games without the Emeralds doesn't give you the 'good' ending.

Sonic 2 was also the first game to have the now standard seven Chaos Emeralds as opposed to six. This also brought about the first appearance of Super Sonic. Super Sonic is an even faster version of Sonic who is invincible, accessible by getting all the Emeralds in the game then getting 50 rings. He lasted as long as you had rings to keep him going, but the number you have depletes by one a second.

The Wing Fortress Zone is frighteningly similar to the airbase stage (level three) of The Revenge of Shinobi (1988), another SEGA game on the Mega Drive/Genesis. The boss even features a ceiling mounted laser!

Tails' oddest detail (apart the fact that he's bipedal, which we'll let slide) of having two tails refers to the fact that in Japanese legend, foxes are magical and mystical creatures - some of which grow extra tails. Apparently, they can be quite mischievous too.

Sound test track #10 will play a tune that is not in any levels in the game. It's actually from the canned Hidden Palace level.