When it comes to video game movies,Sonic the Hedgehog 2now stands with its predecessor as a great video game movie in the eyes of fans. With plenty of video game movies failing to deliver to an audience of moviegoers and gamers alike, theSonic the Hedgehogmovies have managed to fill that niche. Unlike other similar movies that try to grab their audience by doing something different from the games, Paramount’s latest box office hit has instead profited from embracing its source material wholeheartedly.
With the trailer shown at the Game Awards last December, it was made rather clearSonic 2was going to bemore likeSonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles. While Tails had a larger role in the trailer than Knuckles, imagery such as Robotnik piloting a giant robot shaped like him as well as Sonic snowboarding made it rather clear which game the movie would borrow its story from. However, the fans who watchedSonic 2were treated to more than just references to the Sega Genesis titles.
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with Hints of Sonic 2
While the secondSonicmovie did lean more intoSonic 3 and KnucklesthanSonic 2, it makes sense that this was the approach the filmmakers took consideringSonic’ssecond titlehad next to no story. It merely explained how Sonic and Tails met, and that story could be only found in the game’s manual. This story was also kept rather short, varied depending on what region players got the game in, or was completely left out of certain manuals entirely.Sonic 3 and Knuckles, meanwhile, had its story within the game itself, making it a good basis for the secondSonicmovie.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2ended up being a rather faithful, almost note-for-note adaption ofSonic 3 and Knuckles, which excited many fans. Old and new players got to watch Dr. Robotnik lie to Knuckles to claim the Master Emerald, as well as see Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles come together at the end of the movie on the big screen in a thoughtful narrative. Even the robot Jim Carrey’s Eggman creates near the end of the movie is very obviously made to resemble the Death Egg Robot. With references to classic stages such as Ice Cap Zone and even Labyrinth Zone fromSonic 1, plenty of fan-favorite moments from theSega Genesis gamesmade it into the film. However, they’re not the only games to get the spotlight in the latestSonicmovie.
The Modern Sonic Games in Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Keen-eyed Sonic fans sawreferences toSonic Adventurein the movie’s trailers, most notably featuring Sonic standing atop a building at night before running down its side. The full scene makes it rather clear to the viewers that the homage to the iconic Dreamcast title was on purpose, and it also wasn’t the only one.Sonic 2revisits the echidna tribe from the first movie and gives fans a closer look at their society, the structure of which strongly resembles how the tribes inSonic Adventurefunctioned.Sonic Adventure 2was also referenced often, asSonic 2introduces GUN, and Dr. Robotnik seems to use Chaos Control while harnessing the power of the Master Emerald.
The references don’t stop at the olderSonictitles. While Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles teaming up at the end of the movie was a natural conclusion due to how the story ofS3&Kplayed out, the way the movie handles it reminded many fans ofSonic Heroes. The translator Tails used in the film was most likelyinspired bySonic Colors' story. There is also a rather unexpectedSonic Ridersreference in the film, as the owl statue found in the cave has runes on it that are also used by the Babylon Rogues.
Thedirector ofSonic the Hedgehog 2saidthat the movie was full of references before release, and it turns out that was far from an empty promise. The things listed here are only a fraction of the fun details found inSonic 2, and there is a high chance fans won’t catch everything by watching it just once. The Easter eggs are not only fun to spot, but many of them have ended up filling in blanks that the older games never answered, which helps strengthen the movie’s narrative and flesh out the cinematic universe.
It would have been very easy for a movie such as this to avoid touching any otherSonicgames beyond the Genesis titles, but instead,Sonic 2paid homage to as many of the series' entries as it possibly could. This spells good things for thecinematic universe Paramount seeks to create withSonicand will keep viewers interested, since later games hold tons of great material for future films and TV shows to adapt. As a whole, Paramount’sSonic the Hedgehogmovies are one strong facet of the franchise’s bright future.
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