Mega Drive Mini -RQ87's Game playthroughs

Difficulty level: 5 out of 5

Playthrough of the arcade mode on medium difficulty. This mode is endless, so it's just a case of holding out as long as possible. The jewel's drop speed ramps up really quickly so to me staying in the game for more than five minutes is good enough for me.

Difficulty level: 2 out of 5

The first Sonic game is the easiest one. I know a lot of people hate Labyrinth Zone but personally I've never found it that hard. You have to be careful with the last boss since you've got no rings, but if you aren't in a rush you can just stay to the right side to avoid being crushed every time. I also collected all of the chaos emeralds in this playthrough, to get the best ending.

I also died once in Scrap Brain Zone's first act, it seems that the space between those spinning platforms wasn't made quite as big as it should have been.

Video length: 1:06:57

Difficulty level: 4 out of 5

Sonic 2 is more difficult than the first one, the difficulty starts to increase from Mystic Cave Zone and onward and there are a lot more hazards to deal with, especially in Metropolis Zone. I really hate the Metropolis Zone, it features a lot of dumb enemy placement and some of the level gimmicks are annoying (mainly the giant screws and nuts). It's at least following up with Sky Chase Zone, which is nice and easy.

This time around there are two bosses you have to take on without having any rings, so one wrong move and you're dead. You want to be killing Metal Sonic as soon as possible, but with the final boss you can take your time. The Robotnik mecha's attacks are easy to avoid, but always try and have him land in front of you rather than behind.

The CPU controls Tails for most of the time, although I did use him a couple of times to make things easier (hello Metropolis Zone boss). However it probably would have been better to just use Sonic alone, as CPU Tails can get in the way a lot, and can make the special stages unbeatable due to him hitting the bombs all the time. I gave up trying to get all of the emeralds because of this.

Difficulty level: 3 out of 5

Playthrough with Ryu, on the hyper gameplay mode and on the highest difficulty setting. The original Mega Drive version was the first Street Fighter game I had ever played (and later owned) so it goes without saying I'm pretty good at crushing the CPU, at least with Ryu and Ken. I think the Mega Drive and SNES ports were easier to beat than the arcade versions, although maybe that's just me.

Difficulty level: 2 out of 5

Playthrough with Blaze. This is the European version, which has a few of small changes when compared to the American version -the number in the title is a roman numeral and Blaze's jump kick sprite isn't censored. Mr. X still doesn't smoke though. See this page for more details.

Columns

Video length: 8:32	Game region:
Difficulty level: 5 out of 5
Playthrough of the arcade mode on medium difficulty. This mode is endless, so it's just a case of holding out as long as possible. The jewel's drop speed ramps up really quickly so to me staying in the game for more than five minutes is good enough for me.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Video length: 58:29	Game region:
Difficulty level: 2 out of 5
The first Sonic game is the easiest one. I know a lot of people hate Labyrinth Zone but personally I've never found it that hard. You have to be careful with the last boss since you've got no rings, but if you aren't in a rush you can just stay to the right side to avoid being crushed every time. I also collected all of the chaos emeralds in this playthrough, to get the best ending. I also died once in Scrap Brain Zone's first act, it seems that the space between those spinning platforms wasn't made quite as big as it should have been.

Street Fighter II' Special Champion Edition

Video length: 21:32	Game region:
Difficulty level: 3 out of 5
Playthrough with Ryu, on the hyper gameplay mode and on the highest difficulty setting. The original Mega Drive version was the first Street Fighter game I had ever played (and later owned) so it goes without saying I'm pretty good at crushing the CPU, at least with Ryu and Ken. I think the Mega Drive and SNES ports were easier to beat than the arcade versions, although maybe that's just me.

Streets of Rage II

Video length: 52:31	Game region:
Difficulty level: 2 out of 5
Playthrough with Blaze. This is the European version, which has a few of small changes when compared to the American version -the number in the title is a roman numeral and Blaze's jump kick sprite isn't censored. Mr. X still doesn't smoke though. See this page for more details.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Video length: 1:06:57	Game region:
Difficulty level: 4 out of 5
Sonic 2 is more difficult than the first one, the difficulty starts to increase from Mystic Cave Zone and onward and there are a lot more hazards to deal with, especially in Metropolis Zone. I really hate the Metropolis Zone, it features a lot of dumb enemy placement and some of the level gimmicks are annoying (mainly the giant screws and nuts). It's at least following up with Sky Chase Zone, which is nice and easy. This time around there are two bosses you have to take on without having any rings, so one wrong move and you're dead. You want to be killing Metal Sonic as soon as possible, but with the final boss you can take your time. The Robotnik mecha's attacks are easy to avoid, but always try and have him land in front of you rather than behind. The CPU controls Tails for most of the time, although I did use him a couple of times to make things easier (hello Metropolis Zone boss). However it probably would have been better to just use Sonic alone, as CPU Tails can get in the way a lot, and can make the special stages unbeatable due to him hitting the bombs all the time. I gave up trying to get all of the emeralds because of this.