I don't know whether it's funny or not that a game can get sequels and still not be heard of. It probably isn't funny at all. The number of games that exist is far greater than the number of games I know to exist, and there are bound to be sequels amongst that number.
All of that is a long-winded way of saying that I have no idea who or what Vectorman 2 is.
Frustrations
Vectorman 2 is a run and gun platformer, and it sucks. Well, no. I suck at Vectorman 2, which has its moments but actually sucks.
Let's just start this again.
Vectorman 2 starts off after the events of Vectorman - so I read - when a missile hits your ship and sends you plummeting to the planet below, which means you are quite literally dropped into the first level of the game, and the sky is not exactly the best place for new players to get to grips with their controls...
On one occasion, I actually lost all my lives and died to this opening stage, when all I had to do was float down the screen, dodging and/or shooting enemies. That's what I'd call a welcome introduction.
The second stage offers more familiar ground, but good luck if you can even see what's going on. Vectorman himself may be bright green, but his game is dark and dingy and all kinds of uncomfortable on the eyes.
Ok, yes, it's called 'Night in the Swamp', but it could at least be a little brighter, no?
As you move through the platform levels, you'll notice that your enemies are bugs, your lives are astonishingly short, your weapon fires wherever you're looking and the animation is actually quite fluid.
Fun Times
The one saving grace Vectorman 2 has going for it - one - is how well Vectorman moves. His movement has a little bit of style to it, helped by the fact that he's made up of 23 sprites all moving and working in unison, depending on what needs to be done.
As you leap and duck and run around the levels, the nature of this setup gives Vectorman a little bounce in his step. He's still considered a single entity, but he doesn't feel as rigid as, well, any other 2D platform character. He's not stupidly loose, either, which makes for controls that aren't too shabby, really.
Final Word
But that doesn't stop the fact that my first impression was a bad one and it went downhill from there. Vectorman 2 feels like it should be easy, to a point, but I'm dying left, right and centre, and you know what starts to happen when you die, get frustrated, make mistakes, die again...
I was moving through a level, seeing a threat, dealing with the threat, moving on only to get shot from an enemy tucked up by the roof, which had to be dealt with so that it didn't hit me again, only of course it would hit me again because I'm not used to the controls yet because the first level was a skydive...
I'm getting irked by Vectorman 2 just by typing about Vectorman 2. I started to watch a run-through but didn't make it through that either. It's been a while I'm sure, but I just got a swift 'nope' reaction to Vectorman 2 and it stuck. It really stuck.
I can't say whether you should play this or not. Check it out for the animation, sure, but that's not a selling point, because other games have better animation, and better sprites, and better gameplay...
Yeah, I'm outright biased against Vectorman 2 at this point, aren't I?
Fun Facts
In an era of Pay to Win games, a refreshing tale of Play to Win: The original Vectorman included a competition where select players who completed the game without cheats could win up to $25k and a role in a Sega TV commercial.
Vectorman 2, developed by BlueSky Software, first released in 1996.
Version played: Sega Mega Drive, 1996, via emulation.
Version watched: Sega Mega Drive, 1996 (World of Longplays)