the_game_database - #2112: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 HD - PC - Platformer

smbhax [sys=PC; cat=Platformer; reg=UC]

https://sonic2hd.com/

Fan game with a long and bumpy history https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_HD going through different teams. Last blog update 2020. Downloadable demo has 4 zones done though and they look pretty amazing--they were hand-drawing and animating from scratch. SICK. = D

The initial options screens don't work great--crashes trying to click on audio sliders and accept/cancel buttons on video screen don't work (ESC gets you out and it does seem to keep the settings there).

smbhax 00:31:00 09/03/26

Oh yeah also the default sound level is horrifyingly high; quickly set it down to like 12% in Windows sound mixer whatever so it wasn't blowing my laptop speakers out.

smbhax 00:33:06 09/03/26

.exe and build.txt in demo say 2017, so there was 3 years of work on it after that that never got out.

smbhax 00:38:09 09/03/26

According to this video and comments it was still being worked on as of at least a year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UfNz3qHvx8

smbhax 01:11:10 09/03/26

Thing is, while Sega is pretty much the one big publisher--and I don't know of any smaller publishers off the top of my head for that matter who'd qualify--who has actually said they're cool with fan games, this is pretty much a straight-up clone of a product Sega is still trying to sell--down to the title! They'd pretty much have to cease-and-desist something like that to defend their product, wouldn't they?

For that matter, I wonder if Sega already did say something to the team; that could explain why it pretty much went radio silent (although that video did mention there were a few posts on Twitter in 2021). But if members are still working on it behind the scenes, as appears to be the case, at least as of a year ago... Could they still be plugging away at a legally hopeless project? Could they somehow be hoping Sega would buy it from them? Or could they be changing it into something legally distinct?

smbhax 20:33:03 09/03/26

Can only seem to capture it in OBS when in Windowed--even windowed fullscreen doesn't capture for some reason. 'p'

smbhax 20:34:24 09/03/26

(SMS Sonic games converted to PC widescreen have been allowed by Sega. Genesis Sonic 2 seems like it would be pushing it though--Sega doesn't try selling the SMS/GG games on their own, after all.)

downloads:
· 00_logo.webp

references:
· Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MD)