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Showing posts with the label Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Dunkelschwamm

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       Gotta go fast, again! Another set of six areas players have to clear before dealing with the evil Dr. Eggman. This was merged with the first map by the community but is being reviewed separately.  SCMapDB page Author: iLLuSioN Date of release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 9, 2026 | 3207 characters      Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a follow-up to Sonic the Hedgehog. We played it through the merged maps available here. Much like the first map, it is a platforming/puzzle map. This time, a fair bit easier than the first to beat each zone. To find each chaos emerald, however, it's quite a challenge.      First of all, this time the platforming is far less reliant on propulsion springs. There are far more straight forward platforming puzzles, like a frogger-like, navigating atop spinning barrels, avoiding obstacles atop a moving platform, etc. I think fo...

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - GrandmasterJ

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      Gotta go fast, again! Another set of six areas players have to clear before dealing with the evil Dr. Eggman. This was merged with the first map by the community but is being reviewed separately.  SCMapDB page Author: iLLuSioN Date of release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 9, 2026 | 2002 characters      This map is very similar to the first one, with a central hub and some Sonic themed courses accessed by jumping through pictures on the wall. Right off the bat a big difference I see is a lot more details added. The second level is a burning version of the first, its really cool.      This map is extremely similar to the first map, with lots of platforming and special gimmicks per level. The is music for each stage and that's a very welcome addition. I remember thinking the lack of music beyond one short song was strange in the first map. So while it m...

Sonic the Hedgehog - Dunkelschwamm

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       Gotta go fast! Play through six stages inspired by the blue blur and find secret emeralds to defeat Dr. Eggman. Followed by a sequel that was merged into one map by the community. SCMapDB page Author: iLLuSioN Date of release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sonic the Hedgehog (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | May 9, 2026 | 3213 characters      Sonic the Hedgehog is a platforming map where players race through 6 stages, a bonus stage, and a boss battle with tricky traps and secret emeralds.      Graphics are largely taken from old Sonic games to create the blockiest South Island I have ever seen. Despite the primitive geometry, there's a real charm to each environment that basks in the simplicity of a much older 3D title. The simple graphics sometimes help, sometimes hinder (as is the case with the bonus level).      The puzzles range from simple and fun to hair-tuggingly frustrating. Some are ...

Sonic the Hedgehog - GrandmasterJ

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      Gotta go fast! Play through six stages inspired by the blue blur and find secret emeralds to defeat Dr. Eggman. Followed by a sequel that was merged into one map by the community. SCMapDB page Author: iLLuSioN Date of release: 2008 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Sonic the Hedgehog (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | May 9, 2026 | 2602 characters      When the map starts my teammate and I are in a room with a button that when pressed starts the map. We're dropped into a hallway that accelerates us towards the classic big red springs which bounce us straight up into the ceiling where we bounce back into the acceleration hallway. When we free ourselves we end up in a room with a big water feature and beyond are the entrances to the six different challenges. These springs aren't always janky, but the majority of the map relies on precision jumping and these big springs.      The challenges open up one at a time and within eac...

Breakfree 3 - Dunkelschwamm

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    Breaking the tradition of the previous two entries, number three ditches the elevator and goes for a straight up platforming map. Visit beautiful Wing Fortress from Sonic 2 and confront Eggman inside. SCMapDB page Author:Beather Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakfree 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 30, 2023 | 3066 characters      Breakfree is the third and, afaik, final chapter of the Breakfrees by Beather. You wouldn't think so without the map name, as aside from the Sonic reference there isn't much connecting it to the previous maps and their elevator gimmick. This is probably for the best, as it means this is the most playable of the breakfrees years later.      If you've played Wing Fortress Zone, the penultimate zone of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Sega Genesis/Mastersystem, you know what much of this will be. High winds blowing you around, fans that you hover above, bottomle...

Breakfree 3 - GrandmasterJ

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      Breaking the tradition of the previous two entries, number three ditches the elevator and goes for a straight up platforming map. Visit beautiful Wing Fortress from Sonic 2 and confront Eggman inside. SCMapDB page Author:Beather Date of release: 2007 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakfree 3 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 30, 2023 | 3430 characters      Breakfree 3 is the third and final map in the series, this time instead of going up an elevator shaft like the first two we get to platform over a big airship. My teammate told me the level is based on Wing Fortress and then showed me a video of the level and I can agree that this is indeed a recreation of a Sonic 2 level.      We start in a room with a minute long timer before the map starts. There are things that look like buttons here but these are lies and do nothing. When the minute is up we get teleported onto a plane, well my teammate made i...

Breakfree 2 - Dunkelschwamm

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      The sequel to Breakfree is more of the same. We don't have to go back down the elevator and there is now a boss fight! Unfortunately the biggest obstacle is still the elevator mechanic itself. SCMapDB page Author: Beather Date of release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakfree 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 29, 2023 | 2270 characters      Breakfree 2 is the sequel to Breakfree. Visually, it is a huge upgrade with liberal use of Sonic 2 textures and an Eggman model for the scientist to match the Sonic 2 music. The music is the exact same.      This time around the map is split into two parts: the annoying elevator part, and the annoying boss part. The annoying elevator part is somehow more annoying than the previous map, offering large brushes that shoot from out of unpredictable places in the wall at a faster speed than players can dodge. There are also similar grinders and rotating br...

Breakfree 2 - GrandmasterJ

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      The sequel to Breakfree is more of the same. We don't have to go back down the elevator and there is now a boss fight! Unfortunately the biggest obstacle is still the elevator mechanic itself. SCMapDB page Author: Beather Date of release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakfree 2 (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 29, 2023 | 3293 characters      I'm getting something of a crisis of conscience with the Breakfree series. I just played Break Go, which was inspired by this series, and gave it a higher score than the original based solely on how much I exploded on the elevator. Elevators in Sven Co-op are very dangerous and throughout this map we were constantly exploding for no reason.      So I'm going to try to judge this map without taking into account how many times I was randomly killed by the floor. We start off and the map is fullbright, just like the first one. We hit a button that is hard to ...

Breakfree - Dunkelschwamm

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        There is not a whole lot of breaking or getting free, this map is an obstacle course with a moving elevator. It's a real fun concept and it is executed fairly well, but Sven Co-op elevators will kill players more than any obstacle in the map. SCMapDB page Author: Beather Date of release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakfree (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | April 10, 2023 | 3591 characters      Breakfree is a gimmick map which plays and sounds like an old Sega Genesis boss map. An elevator takes you through a vertical obstacle course- intangible to the elevator, but quite tangible (and deadly!!!) to the player. All of it spectated upon by an evil scientist running an experiment! How does it work?      Well, first of all it doesn't. I'm not going to mince words here- I have a lot more I want to say about this map, but the first thing to mention is that elevators are fucking broken in Sven...

Breakfree - GrandmasterJ

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      There is not a whole lot of breaking or getting free, this map is an obstacle course with a moving elevator. It's a real fun concept and it is executed fairly well, but Sven Co-op elevators will kill players more than any obstacle in the map. SCMapDB page Author: Beather Date of release: 2004 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Breakfree (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | April 10, 2023 | 2781 characters      I thought this map was going to have platforming, and I was sort of wrong. The entire map is an elevator, two players are required to start it up and when it does, it plays Sonic music. Then we have to dodge all sorts of wacky obstacles as the elevator goes up.      If you are familiar with the goldsrc engine or a variety of Sven Co-op maps, you may have realized a flaw in this design. At numerous points in the journey my teammate and I would spontaneously explode. We would always assume an obstacle came thro...

Arma-Egg-On - Dunkelschwamm

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       "I've got you now Sonic!" Then the big grinder turns on, blades spin, lasers emit, and lava boils up from the floor. This is a one-room map that ends when players defeat Eggman's machine. SCMapDB page Author: ZpElmO Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arma-Egg-On (originally posted on SCMapDB) by dunkelschwamm | July 8, 2022 | 2452 characters      Arma-Egg-On is an experimental boss battle map for Sven Co-op. Doctor Eggman from Sonic infamy appears in a big brush-based boss battle. It reminds me a bit of the final boss of Commander Keen 3- just a big simple set of moving level objects and weak spots.      The battle works like this: the machine alternates firing lasers from its laser canons, spinning giant blades, and occasionally raising lava from a grate in the ground. My comrade and I were initially misled- in the center of the tower Eggman stands initially in a glass control room before teleporting awa...

Arma-Egg-On - GrandmasterJ

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      "I've got you now Sonic!" Then the big grinder turns on, blades spin, lasers emit, and lava boils up from the floor. This is a one-room map that ends when players defeat Eggman's machine. SCMapDB page Author: ZpElmO Date of final release: 2018 Maps in package: 1 Map review of Arma-Egg-On (originally posted on SCMapDB) by GrandmasterJ | July 8, 2022 | 2213 characters      I saw the screenshots and I was endeared. There was Eggman sitting in his little control booth. The textures were mostly default Half-Life stuff but done up in a colorful way that emphasized the caution black and yellow stripes. The result is a single room map with a fun Eggman trap complete with looping music and laser effects.      The entire gameplay of the map consists of avoiding Eggman's machine in the middle of the arena. It has spinning blades at ankle level and another at just about head level. Two platforms rotate around the middle at about shoulder height, st...