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Sonic Drift 2 .:: Sonic Drift 2

Name:
Sonic Drift 2 - Japan
Sonic Drift Racing - Europe
Sonic Drift 2 - USA

Other Names (Nicknames): N/A

Release Dates:
March, 1995 - Japan
March, 1995 - Europe
November, 1995 - USA

Quality: 8-Bit Racer

Game System(s): Sega Game Gear

Developer(s): Sega of Japan

Character Introductions: N/A

Region Game Takes Place On: Chaos Grand Prix.

Concept Introductions: Sonic Drift 2 is basically a primitive, 8-bit racing game. Like many Game Gear titles, its inspiration was a rivaling game of similar "spin-offness." And that game? None other than Mario Kart. So basically the primary concept introduction here, other than the fact that the characters get their own cars, is the gameplay style, which itself is no more than a typical old racing game where the main focus is to just, well, stay on the freakin' track and turn when necessary. Don't veer out of the road's bounds, though — it slows you down dramatically. And many objects will hinder your race to victory as well, but in the end, the game is pretty easy. But luckily, they still managed to maintain many of the required flavors to make it an obvious Sonic game such as rings, and a lot of the racing courses are based off of the zones from Sonic games on the Genesis. Yes, I know, I basically copy and pasted this from the Sonic Drift article. What can I say? They're both the same except for different courses and new characters.

Concept Deductions: A lot of things: no special stages, no Chaos Emerald collecting, no running, no nothing from the traditional Sonic gameplay style.

Storyline(s)

          The next annual Chaos Grand Prix has finally arrived, and this time, more raceways have been made, and even more of Sonic's friends (and foes!) have joined in on the action!

Personal Criticism/Opinion:

          Sonic Drift 2's boost in diversity, playable characters, race courses, and of course its much wider scale of release makes it without a doubt, superior to its predecessor in terms of fun, reliability, and gameplay. Although, it surprises me that the game retained its name in the US since Sonic Drift 1 wasn't even released here. At least Europe got it right.

          Sure, the gameplay in Sonic Drift 2 is still just as monotonous and lacking of vigor, but the much wider scale of features makes it a considerable title for playing. Sonic Drift 2 marks the first game where Fang the Sniper and Metal Sonic are playable characters, and it also introduces Rad Red into the Kart-racing fray, just in case Sonic Drift 1 players were tired of shades of blue, yellow, gray and pink.

          Our three newbies have been given their own stats too, mostly based off of the other characters. Metal Sonic's got good speed, poor handling, Knux has good handling, poor speed, and Fang has good acceleration, but poor handling. Overall, Sonic Drift 2 is a pretty okay game. But it's just a quick play and leave game, just like its predecessor.
         
Let's see some GAMER'S PERSPECTIVE:

Replay value? Play it, beat it, put it down.

Graphics and Layout? Like Sonic Drift's: not bad, actually. Although the tracks themselves don't have a lot of detail, the backgrounds and character/car sprites are pretty well done, especially the large ones that are shown when you win a race or the grand prix. The graphics for Sonic Drift 2 are very well done.

Music & Sound Effects? Generic for a Sonic Game Gear title. Like its predecessor, the music takes a little longer to loop like it would for any racing game, and the tunes are more slow and soothing to contribute the racing premise of the game.

Storyline? Run-of-the-mill for a racing game sequel, to put it simply. I won't count this against it.

OVERALL RATING? I rate Sonic Drift as a 7.5/10