What if one of the most ignored features of the Classic Sonic series not only became the spotlight of the game, but also became vital to your survival?
Well, this question was already answered before, so what if we did it again, but on a different game?
Sonic 2 - Score Rush, direct sequel to Sonic 1 - Score Rush, is here to get you rushing for score once more!
You probably already know the drill, but in case you haven't played the previous installment, here's a nice refresher.
Essentially, this ROM hack focuses around one gimmick: the Score Rush. You start with 5000 points, and your job is to keep your score as high as possible. Defeat badniks, collect rings, get power-ups, touch starposts, beat levels, beat bosses, and so on. However, the score will gradually decrease, and you absolutely, truly don't want it to get to 0.
Of course, a score based challenge would be easy with the 50 thousand points bonus given to you by the score tallies, so I got rid of the score tallies entirely, meaning that only what you actually do in the level matters, in terms of score collection.
Now that this refresher is out of the way, let's talk features.
That's right, every single one of the three gamemodes from Sonic 1 - Score Rush returns!
All of the moves that have been added to Sonic 1 - Score Rush have been brought back for Sonic 2 - Score Rush. And there's more! In fact, here's the full list of new moves!
Love the sheer power? Abuse of it at will! Don't like this much power, and prefer a more vanilla gameplay experience? Or do you just want to give yourself a handicap? You can revert all the way down to the original Sonic 2 experience by going to the settings!
Keen eyes may have noticed I've mentioned "characters with a moveset focused on aerial movement", and, aside from Tails, who else would fit this requirement? Ray the Flying Squirrel? Charmy Bee? No way, it's naturally...
Exactly, you can play the entirety of Sonic 2 - Score Rush as Knuckles, who's been fully integrated in the game and brings with him his moveset! Achieve EVEN MORE ridiculous combo chains by gliding and strategically clinging onto walls!
Such diverse characters with such unique movesets, playstyles, and skill ceilings. Surely it would be unfair if they shared the same leaderboards. Well, lucky for you, there are...
Three leaderboards, one for each character, times two difficulties, means six leaderboards for the Score Rush, and six more for the Endless Rush! And for you fans of the Quick Rush, one hell of a scoreboard to fill out! And, just like its predecessor, all of these leaderboards, among with your settings, are stored in SRAM, allowing the game to remember your best achievements. And, for those of you who can't play along with SRAM, you don't actually need it to enjoy Sonic 2 - Score Rush as it is!
Of course, just bringing over the gimmicks from Sonic 1 - Score Rush to Sonic 2 with no modifications wouldn't make for an enjoyable experience, so here's a list of the most important changes:
Make sure to also check out Sonic 1 - Score Rush, the prequel to this hack!
Project Lead, Programming and Debugging:
giovanni.gen
Playtesters:
Additional artwork:
Additional sound:
Additional code:
Additional tools:
Promotional media:
Froozex
Special Thanks: