Changes

== Terminology and tactics ==

== Terminology and tactics ==

Most Sonic the Hedgehog 2 speedrunning takes place using '''Sonic alone'''. In some levels, such as the [[Death Egg Zone]], '''Tails alone''' can be useful.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 competition at Speed Demos Archive involves using '''Sonic and Tails''' or '''Tails alone'''. Tails is generally not useful in '''Sonic and Tails''', except for a shortcut at the beginning of [[Chemical Plant 2]] and speeding up the nuts and bolts section of [[[Metropolis 1]]]. Various levels and tricks are easier to perform as Tails because of his smaller size, so he offers a small advantage for many levels. Knuckles competition is allowed at Speed Demos Archive as a seperate category, but at this time no one has submitted anything using Knuckles.

 

'''Sonic alone''' '''Knuckles alone''' and '''Tails alone''' are the only competitions allowed at the Sonic Center. '''Sonic alone''' and '''Tails alone''' are considered in the same category, due to the fact that the only differences between the two characters is sprite size.

Using Sonic and Tails together allows certain certain sections to be speeded up, such as the screws in the Metropolis Zone.

Using Sonic and Tails together allows certain certain sections to be speeded up, such as the screws in the Metropolis Zone.

;Superglide:As Knuckles, if you jump and glide just before coming into contact with an enemy or item box, you will gain a large boost of height. Since the speed of the glide increases with distance travelled, it can be used to travel over the top of a level at high speeds, such as [[Aquatic Ruin Zone Act 2]].

;Superglide:As Knuckles, if you jump and glide just before coming into contact with an enemy or item box, you will gain a large boost of height. Since the speed of the glide increases with distance travelled, it can be used to travel over the top of a level at high speeds, such as [[Aquatic Ruin Zone Act 2]].

;Speed Capping:As Sonic or Tails, holding right and jumping while running at a speed greater than the intended maximum will bring you back down to the maximum speed. This should generally be avoided, but is not always a bad thing, as it allows you to gain some reaction time and extra height on some of your jumps. A good example of where this is useful is the shortcut at the end of Chemical Plant Zone 1. Knuckles does not retain this ability, hence many jumps are much harder with Knuckles than Sonic or Tails, but Knuckles can gain and keep a higher speed due not having to let go of right to keep maximum speed.

;Speed Capping:As Sonic or Tails, holding right and jumping while running at a speed greater than the intended maximum will bring you back down to the maximum speed. This should generally be avoided, but is not always a bad thing, as it allows you to gain some reaction time and extra height on some of your jumps. A good example of where this is useful is the shortcut at the end of [[Chemical Plant Zone 1]]. Knuckles does not retain this ability, hence many jumps are much harder with Knuckles than Sonic or Tails, but Knuckles can gain and keep a higher speed due not having to let go of right to keep maximum speed.

== Speedruns ==

== Speedruns ==