Sonic Blast Man 2 Review - Rolling with the punches

Sonic Blast Man returns in a fast paced beat em up sequel to his first SNES adventure, and this time he's not alone!

Sonic Blast Man 2 follows the same side scrolling beat em up formula as the first game while striving to address the issues that kept it from becoming a memorable classic. Does it succeed?

First and probably most important of all, they added 2 player co-op and more heroes to choose from. In my opinion, nothing hurts a titled in the beat em up genre more than limiting it to a solo adventure. So this time Sonic Blast Man is joined by Sonia (yeah, that's it, no flashy heroic name for her) and Guile look a like, Captain Choyear.

Sonic Blast Man 2, starring Jon Hamm

With these character additions we now have the typical beat em up arch types covered. Sonia is the fastest of the trio for those who are okay with sacrificing higher damage for quicker attacks and mobility while Captain Choyear is your slower, heavier hitting, bruiser/grappling type. Sonic Blast Man is the most balanced, offering just the right amount of power and speed to handle any situation the game throws at you.

Speaking of mobility, the sluggish dancing in and out of enemy range that plagued the first game is nowhere to be found here. Not only did they improve the basic walking speed but they also added a dash/run by tapping forward, forward, as well as a handy roll to help close the distance between yourself and projectile enemies (think of it as rolling in King of Fighters but much faster and a greater distance).

Everyone gets their own series of dash attacks

In addition to the improved mobility, Sonic Blast Man also retains his tool box of combos, special moves, and throws. Each character has a standard combo executed by tapping X when in enemy range, with a different combo by tapping X while holding forward that yields different effects. For example, Sonic Blast Man's neutral combo deals more damage to a single enemy, while his forward combo will launch the enemy upward and also shoot a projectile to damage other enemies at a distance. The Y button is a single hit heavy attack that's most useful for knocking enemies away while under pressure. Each button unleashes a different type of throw as well while grabbing an enemy. Of course each character is different so you'll have to try them all to decide your favorite.

Pressing the shoulder buttons will cause your character to glow in a special state. From there the X or Y buttons will yield a special move that spends the special points next to your life bar. The lighter attack uses one point and sends an attack that requires careful aiming, while the heavy attack is guaranteed to clear the screen of enemies at the cost of 2 points.

Sonic Blast Man's Y grab deals a devastating single blow that grounds the enemy

The graphics have, in my opinion, improved greatly over the original title by utilizing a brighter color selection and opting for slightly smaller character sprites, which at the same time eases off the SNES' processing power allowing for more enemies on the screen at a time. The sound effects are some of the nicest smacks and thuds you'll find in a 16 bit game once again making each punch oh so satisfying. The music is upbeat and catchy as hell. Don't be surprised if some of it gets stuck in your head after you're done playing.

The game is relatively short at only 5 stages and gone are the arcade punching bonus stages from the first game, even though they were a little physically painful to play. This time around there is a much better narrative to explain why you're walking around punching aliens, though it is a fairly generic super heroes save the earth from an invading alien army storyline. Then again, that's all we really need to give Sonic Blast Man reason enough to start dropping 100 megaton punches like he does best.

Pros:

-Improves over all negative issues of the first game.
-Brightly colored graphics and character designs.
-Great sound effects and catchy music.
-Combo and special options add more depth to the fighting than just dealing the same combo over and over.
-Highly recommended title for beat em up fans.

Cons:

-Game is relatively short.
-Disappointing lack of bonus stages after the first game featured stages from the arcade game.
-Doesn't have much of an ending.

As always, thank you for reading. "See you later!!"