With that, Sonic faded away into the dark and the game stuttered heavily before cutting to the next stage, Chemical Plant Zone. Unlike Emerald Hill Zone which looked and played near enough the same as it did in the final release of Sonic 2, Chemical Plant Zone was slightly incomplete. The level design was about the same but the green buildings in front of the red buildings in the background were now a harsh pink. Another difference was the tubes, some of the coding on them were a bit shoddy and didn’t let me enter. Level would’ve been impossible to complete if it wasn’t for Sonic’s stretchy arms. Clearing the first act was tough but I eventually got it done. Was a bit of a bitch trying to complete it if I had to be honest but still pretty fun trying to figure out although it was less like playing a Sonic game and more of a weird puzzle platformer.

It eventually got to a point in the next act that there was this tall wall that was suddenly placed in the middle of the level. The stretchy arms couldn’t reach the top and the tubes were unable to get me to progress. Had no other choice but to call in Tails who had been following me the whole time. Never saw the need to use him in gameplay before but because of the unfinished nature of the level I had no choice. Bringing him out, I got him to carry me to the top. The sprites for both of the characters were a bit strange from what I can remember though. Usually whenever I played the game, Sonic would usually either look straight ahead when he was moving or look directly towards me when he was idle but when he was being carried by Tails, he looked directly at him as he was being flown upwards. Might’ve just been me but I think he grinned more too, a bit wider and a bit taller. His big pupils also seemed to grow larger, nearly covering the whites of his eyes. Tails looked strange too thinking about it, his face was completely static. The only hint of emotion that was on his face was a blank smile. I don’t think it was unintentional either because every other part of the animation was completed, there were even some extra animations for his ears and the fluff on the sides of his head. He just looked forward and smiled as he flew. It was a decently long flight but I eventually got to the top.

Jumping down, I fell into the pink water where it became a simple walk. There weren't any enemies or changes to the flat level so I brushed that off as the level being unfinished, with the tall wall as a way to signal the end of the level. Running through the flat plane for about half a minute, I eventually reached the part where Egg Poison was supposed to show up but all that was there was the machine to release all of the flickies. Jumping on it, there wasn’t as many flickies popping out as usual. Instead of a torrent, it was kind of sporadic. More issues with the animation? No idea but as soon as that was finished, Sonic ran along and the screen turned black again. It began the transition to Aquatic Ruin Zone but the it immediately turned back to black, like I wasn’t supposed to see that yet. The deformed Sonic showed up on screen again, with a new person by his side. It was hard to tell who that person was considering the graphics but it looked somewhat liked Tails. His face was drawn onto what I could only assume was a sack and was wearing a grimy dress. Little ears were stitched onto the head and it had a smiley face crudely drawn onto it. Sonic looked towards him for a bit before staring at me once again.

GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN FRIEND!

I SEE YOU HAD A SPOT OF TROUBLE WITH ACT 2

WITHOUT OUR LITTLE BUDDY HERE, YOU WOULDN’T HAVE GONE PAST IT

SO LET’S GIVE THREE CHEERS FOR OUR GOOD FRIEND

HIP HIP

HOORAY!

HIP HIP

HOORAY!

HIP HIP

hooray

Clown shifted his head to look at Tails, who kept staring forward at me.

OH? IT APPEARS OUR LITTLE FRIEND WANTS TO SPEAK!

YOU CAN SPEAK LATER ON WHEN HE’S FINISHED THE NEXT LEVEL

but i want to speak to the stranger now

IN DUE TIME CHARLOTTE. IN DUE TIME.

Tails…or rather Charlotte disappeared into the dark as soon as he said this, leaving me alone with Sonic.

DON’T MIND HER EAGERNESS

IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE SHE’S MET A NEW FRIEND!

CHARLOTTE WAS THE FIRST FRIEND I HAD EVER MADE

SHE’S STUCK AROUND WITH ME FOR ALL OF THESE YEARS

AND IN RETURN, I’VE MADE HER HAPPIER THAN SHE COULD EVER BE.

SHE’S NEVER HAD TO WORRY ABOUT BEING SAD EVER AGAIN

BECAUSE OF ME.

I HOPE THE SAME CAN BE DONE WITH YOU TOO.

I GOTTA GET A MOVE ON NOW

OFF TO THE NEXT ZONE.

NEXT TIME WE MEET, I’LL LET CHARLOTTE AND ANOTHER FRIEND OF MINE VISIT.

SEE YOU THEN!