Sonic Robo Blast 2
| Sonic Robo Blast 2 | |
|---|---|
 SRB2's title screen | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team Junior |
| Publisher(s) | Sonic Team Junior |
| Designer(s) | Sonic Team Junior |
| Engine | Doom Legacy |
| Latest version | 2.2.13 |
| Release date(s) | December 7th, 2019 (latest major release) September 9th, 2023 (latest patch) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer, first-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single Player, Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Others |
| Media | 150 MB download |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse, gamepad |
Sonic Robo Blast 2, abbreviated as SRB2, is a computer fangame based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a 3D platformer developed by a group called Sonic Team Junior, using a modified version of the Doom Legacy source port of Doom. It is closely inspired by the original 2D Sonic games for the Sega Genesis and attempts to recreate this style in 3D. Entirely original to SRB2 is its multiplayer mode, a variation on classic first-person shooter games with Sonic elements.
Due to being built on a modified Doom Legacy engine, Sonic Robo Blast 2 is very easily customizable. Custom objects, characters and entire levels can be created with the help of external editors, and the game's source code is openly available for modification as well. SRB2 has been in the works since 1998 and is still incomplete, although the latest version already features a large portion of what is planned for the game.
Storyline
Months after Eggman's defeat in Sonic Robo Blast, Dr. Eggman took an interest in harnessing the Black Rock's energy. After claiming it as his own battleship, Eggman chose Greenflower Mountain as his first target.
Sonic was enjoying a long overdue vacation when he was suddenly alerted by the presence of Eggman's massive fleet. Sonic gazed at the giant battleship aimed toward Greenflower, and had already bolted towards it in a blink of an eye. Even though Sonic rushed to save Greenflower Mountain as quickly as possible, it had already been defaced by the time he arrived. Now, after a quick reunion with the evil doctor, Sonic and friends journey off onto another quest to save the world from Dr. Eggman.
Characters
SRB2 offers three characters to play as, each with their unique abilities: Sonic is equipped with the "speed thok", which makes him shoot forward in the air at a rapid speed. Sonic can also transform into Super Sonic in the Single Player campaign by collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds. Tails has a flying ability, allowing him to skip difficult sections and reach almost any place in a level. Knuckles has a lower jump height, but is able to climb on walls and glide through the air. Additionally, he can break bustable walls on contact, which occasionally allows him to access exclusive paths. All three characters have the spindash ability that is characteristic for Sonic games. There is also an option to play as Sonic and Tails together, where Sonic has Tails by his side to pick him up and fly to higher places.
Gameplay
Single Player
SRB2's main feature is its Single Player campaign. In its final state, it will span between 7 and 9 zones, each consisting of three acts. Currently, it features 6 full-length zones and one incomplete one-act zone. The first two acts of each zone are typical platforming levels, while the third act is a boss fight. Like in the classic Sonic games, each zone has its own theme, featuring distinct graphics, enemies and obstacles. Contrary to official 3D Sonic titles like Sonic Adventure, the levels feature multiple paths and are designed openly, with hidden items encouraging exploration.
The first zone of the game is Greenflower Zone, a short and easy zone set in lush meadows, which is meant to ease players into the game. Techno Hill Zone, which is set in a valley polluted by one of Eggman's factories, introduces the player to more complex obstacles, such as buoyant slime, conveyor belts and damaging electrical floors. Deep Sea Zone, the third zone, takes place in ancient ruins that are partially submerged in water. It features waterslides as well as extended underwater segments where players have to refresh their air supply from air bubbles to keep from drowning. The fourth zone, Castle Eggman Zone is set in a castle built by Eggman and its surrounding forest. Its main gimmicks are rotating chains that launch the player into the air, as well as various forms of rotating and swinging maces.
The fifth zone, Arid Canyon Zone, is set in a dried-out canyon with a wild west theme, featuring gimmicks such as exploding TNT barrels, rope pulleys that the player can hang on to, and minecarts that the player can ride. Red Volcano Zone, which takes place in an active volcano filled with lava that melts the player's rings, currently only features the first act. The game's proposed seventh and eighth zone, Dark City Zone and Grand Eggship Zone, are not included in the current version. The penultimate zone, Egg Rock Zone, takes place in a space station, containing numerous elaborate traps, outer space sections where the player cannot breathe, as well as segments with upside-down gravity. The final zone, Black Core Zone is an boss-exclusive zone and features the final enemies that the player has to face on their journey.
The Single Player campaign can also be played in Record Attack mode, in which players can replay the levels to get a high score, collect a high number of rings, or complete the levels as fast as possible. Players can opt to save and play back replays of their best attempts, as well as race against previous attempts.
Multiplayer
SRB2 features several multiplayer modes that can be played either via splitscreen or over a network connection. The multiplayer modes include Coop (which is basically the Single Player campaign with multiple players allowed), Competition, Race, Match and Team Match, Capture the Flag, Tag and Hide & Seek.
Competition is similar to Sonic 2's two player mode. It is played on the Single Player maps, and has the player compete in such categories as fastest time, collected rings, and earned score. Race mode is similar, but here the players only compete for time.
Match is similar to a typical first-person shooter deathmatch game, but the players shoot rings instead of projectiles. It is played with a first-person camera on a roster of maps designed specifically for the gametype. Due to the game's fast-paced nature, the thrown rings are only slightly faster than the players. Therefore, players must anticipate their opponents' movements and aim ahead of them in order to score a successful hit. On top of the regular rings, there are also seven special weapon rings, each with a different effect, that can be found and picked up by exploring the map. Team Match is simply a Match game with two opposing teams. The team that scores the most points win.
Capture the Flag works just like traditional CTF games in first-person shooters. The players are divided into two teams, and each team defends a base that contains a flag. To score a point, a team must try to steal the opposing team's flag and bring it to their base, all the while preventing their own flag from being stolen. Otherwise, CTF is set up like a regular Match game, but is played on its own set of maps.
Tag and Hide & Seek are two closely related gametypes, both of which are usually played on the game's Match maps. In Tag, one player is "it" and must chase the other players by throwing Rings at them. Once they hit another player, that player is tagged and becomes "it" as well. In Hide & Seek, the player who is "it" is immobile for a short period of time, allowing the other players to hide. Once the hiding time is over, their controls are disabled and the player who is "it" must find and shoot them.
Unlockable content
- See also: Unlockables
SRB2 features a variety of additional content, most notably extra levels. Among these are several exceptionally difficult "challenge stages", as well as a few community-created levels. Unlockable content can be accessed from the Extras menu on the title screen, which appears after the player first unlocks something. It includes a list of unlockable rewards and the requirements to unlock them. Bonus content can be unlocked primarily in two ways: by hunting for emblems or by acquiring the seven Chaos Emeralds.
The Chaos Emeralds can be acquired by collecting Emerald Tokens that are hidden in all levels except for the boss stages. When the player exits a level after collecting one of these, they are sent to a Special Stage. The Special Stages are based on the Sega game NiGHTS into Dreams and have the player fly around on a circular track, trying to collect enough blue spheres to obtain the emblem. Once the Special Stages are unlocked, they can also be replayed in NiGHTS Mode, which is the equivalent to Record Attack for NiGHTS stages. Gaining high scores in the Special Stages will unlock further NiGHTS levels.
Additionally, the game features 200 emblems, which are collectible winged logos that allow the player to unlock bonus content. Some of the emblems are hidden in the Single Player maps and can be picked up by the player, while others can be earned by beating certain requirements in Record Attack and NiGHTS Mode, and by performing various other tasks.
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There are three playable characters who are unlocked later in the game, each after encountering their non-playable counterpart. Amy Rose cannot spindash, but can use her hammer to bounce off of enemies, as well as unlock secret paths. Fang also can't spindash, but can bounce on his tail to get around faster, as well as use his cork gun to break monitors and kill enemies. Metal Sonic has a hover ability, allowing him to skip small portions of a level. However, he descends slowly when hovering if not moving fast enough. Additionally, he can enter boost mode by running at top speed for long enough. In boost mode, he will start flashing orange, and can run through spikes and enemies.
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Customization
- See also: Modifications
Because SRB2 is built on top of the Doom engine, it is easily customizable, and the multitude of user-created add-ons is one of the sources for the game's popularity. It uses Doom's WAD file format, which allows the user to store custom resources such as graphics, sound effects, music and levels in the form of lumps. Since v2.1.21, it also supports PK3 files, which are compressed ZIP archives with a different file ending. To create and edit WAD and PK3 files, the user needs a WAD editor such as SLADE.
Custom levels can be created with the use of special map editors. The most commonly used of these is Zone Builder, a modification of Doom Builder made specifically for SRB2. A rudimentary scripting language called SOC allows the user to change many of the game's settings, modify existing game objects and create custom content such as new objects, cutscenes, unlockables and playable characters. SRB2 is also customizable via Lua, a much more complex scripting language that allows the user to write custom game logic.
Because SRB2 is an open-source game, users can also modify and compile the game's source code to create much more extensive modifications.
See also
- Data files – A list of all data files included in an SRB2 installation.
- Controls – A list of the controls used by SRB2.
- Console – Gives detailed information on the console, an internal command prompt featured in SRB2.
- Renderers – Gives detailed information on Software and OpenGL, the two main graphics renderers SRB2 can use.
- Command line parameters – A list of parameters that SRB2 can be launched with.