Green Hill Act 2 Speedrun Guide

A guide containing all the tricks I know when it comes to speedrunning Green Hill Act 2

Basic Movement Tech

Drifting

Pressing and holding a trigger while tilting to the left or right will make Sonic drift in that direction. This is very helpful and also very fast so it will be used quite a bit in Green Hill. You can also tilt the stick upwards to make your drift wider so that you don't drift into a wall and lose all your speed. This will be used towards the end of the level. Make sure you can drift effectively if you want a good time.

Jumping and Hopping

Pressing the A button will make you jump while quickly tapping it will make you do a short hop. Hops are good as they can help you avoid drag that can slow you down in the air but don't rely on them exclusively as you do need to actually jump just for the added height. Make sure you can consistently hop over and over again without losing all speed by homing attacking before you hit the ground. Make sure to avoid using homing attacks unless absolutely needed as it slows you down especially when you're not locked onto anything.

Sliding

Sliding is achieved by simply holding the B button while on the ground. It's very useful as it can help to maintain speed. You can use it after a dash panel to maintain the speed it gives and you can use it while going from 3D to 2D sections to keep your speed but that isn't used much in Green Hill.

Tricks and Combos

While in the air from a trick panel or ring you will be able to move your stick to make a combo which fills your boost meter and then press both bumpers on the controller to finish the combo. Generally you want to do as few combos as you can but make sure you have a pretty full meter most of the time. You usually want to do a combo of 1 and finish but don't do that exclusively.

Intermediate/Advanced Movement Tech

D-Speed

D-speed is a way to tremendously increase your speed while in a 2D section. It's done simply by tilting the stick barely to the direction you want to go so that Sonic starts walking. You then have to get some speed either by jump-boosting or through dash panels and jump in the air. Superspeed only works mid-air as it takes the drag slowing you down and instead speeds you up. Make sure to hold the stick in the same position the whole time until you want to stop/slow down otherwise it will not work. The position is very precise and may take lots of practice as tilting to much or too little can make it not happen.

M-Speed

M-speed is essentially the same as D-speed just used in 3D sections. You tilt the stick very slightly in the direction you want to go, get some speed, then jump or hop. The concept is the same as D-speed you just can do it in a 3D space and in 8 directions. Personally I haven't been able to get it consistently but if you can then it's very useful in the speedrun.

Speedy Rails

You can gain a lot of speed on rails and cut at least a few seconds off your run by doing tricks that allow you to get high speeds on rails. To get these high speeds you can either do a low air boost onto the rail or use M-speed to get onto the rail. Due to the fact there's a prominent section in Green Hill including rails, using this trick can help your run a tremendous amount.

Beginning of the Level

As you start the level you can immediately start boosting and drifting to the left. This will take at least a second off your run if done well. If you're able to consistently do M-speed you can hop and then perform M-speed which is much faster but also very difficult to do.

You then see dash panels which come right before a ramp. Make sure to boost at the ramp to get enough height to be able to boost onto the next little section with the motobugs. Once you land immediately start boosting while drifting to the right and then jump into the launch ring thingy.

When you're in the air boost into the spring which will lead you to a grind rail. Perform a low air boost when you're about to land on the rail so that you can get a lot of speed then switch to the rail to the left. Make sure to avoid the spring at the end of the rail as it will substantially slow you down and take away the speed you just gained.

After this you get to a part which tells you to boost through enemies. Boost while drifting to the left the whole time then you will get to a loop that leads into the first 2D section of the level.

First 2D Section

When you're going into the 2D section on the loop you can stop boosting half-way then use D-speed to jump over the last dash panel which will grant a lot of speed and probably shave a second or two off your run. However if you haven't gotten good at consistently doing D-speed then just slide into the 2D section to keep your speed.

Once in the 2D section you take the upper path and use your jumps or boosts precisely enough to quickly go into the launch ring thing. When it gives you the opportunity to do a trick combo do 2 at most then finish and boost into the spring. You will then see 3 enemies mid-air. You should homing attack on two of them then do and air boost onto the ground ahead. Keep boosting and time your slide to get onto the pre-waterfall section.

Pre-Waterfall Section

This section will still be in a 2D perspective in case you're confused. The goal in this section is to avoid all of the grind rails, platforms, and boost rings that can slow you down. This can be done by jumping over them, the most reliable method for me being D-speed.

When you slide into the part of this section with grass and dash panels, start performing D-speed by slightly tilting the analogue stick. Then as you pass through the next two dash panels keep sliding while keeping the stick in the same position and then jump.

If you have done everything correctly you should travel at a very high speed and eventually land at the trick panel.

Try to make sure that you land on the ground before hitting the trick panel as otherwise you skip a camera trigger and it messes up the perspective towards the end of the level which kills your run.

This section is very easy to optimise with enough practice so make sure you've got it down as you can save a few seconds just by getting this area correct.

Pipe and Rails Section

After hitting the trick panel you get launched into the waterfall into a pipe. In this pipe you can do one of two things to make sure you get high speed on the rail section.

M-speed
You can perform M-speed while in the pipe and then land on the rails and you get very high speed. If you're able to perform M-speed consistently then this method is very reliable. However if you're still practising M-speed then it's better to do the other method.

Low Air Boost
Boost through most of the pipe section then hop over the dash panels and perform a very low air boost. The timing for this is quite precise but it will grant you of speed on the rails and you don't need to use boost to go faster which can be very helpful.

Once you're on the rails make sure to avoid all boost rings and springs. Shift from rail to rail then once you're reaching the section with the large robot fish make sure to shift from a rail to the left/right to the centre, avoiding the boost panel on the rails.

Once the camera switches perspective time a hop so you hop over the rail then start boosting. You then get launched up in the air where you can do tricks and combos which will lead you to a transition into the next 2D section.

Second 2D Section

As you transition into 2D you can either perform D-Speed from the top of the hill you go down (which I personally haven't been able to do yet) or you simply boost down the hill into the checkpoint then jump onto the rail right past it.

Once on the rail jump into the red boost rings that lead you to another set of rails. You can then boost and either choose to wall jump or go on the rail that goes around. Personally I choose to wall jump.

Then you get onto a part where you are expected to do two hops then slide. Instead of hopping jump up into the air and do a boost, then slide under preferably while still boosting and jump into the enemies while boosting which should put you onto higher ground where you're about to go into a corkscrew section that leads into the last chunk of the level that's in 3D. If you aren't confident on only jumping into the enemies then you can homing attack the final one and perform and air boost. Keep boosting until you get to the corkscrew section where you hit the 2 dash panels then slide. Then if you hit the camera trigger it should shift back into 3D right before you're about to hit a launch panel at the end of the corkscrew. If you're confident with M-speed then jump over this section with it to skip the crabs but if you're not then simply hop over it and you're in the final part of Green Hill which is in 3D.

Final 3D Section

I will split this into parts as there are quite a few aspects to this section.

Crab Part

If you've used M-speed to jump over the launch panel leading you into this section then you should have passed the crabs and you are onto the next part of this section. If you haven't then simply boost past the crabs as soon as you land on the ground.

Slide Part

You then come onto two bits you have to slide under. Slide under each of them and boost after the second part you slide under. You then come towards a purple bit of ground you're expected to hop over because it trips you if you don't. Instead of hopping do an air boost into the springs that launch you up to the enemies flying over the bridge. Then after hitting the spring tap the boost button to launch slightly forwards so you're over the bridge and stomp by pressing B (or the equivalent on your controller like O on Dualshock and A on Pro Controller) which leads you to the underground part.

Underground Part

When you're in the underground part you can either boost and do a wide drift to the left by aiming the stick to the top left or you can perform M-speed which can get you through the section very fast. If you're using M-speed then time your jumps so that you jump right as you're about to run into the trick panel so that you jump into the final stretch of Green Hill. If you're using a wide drift then jump boost into the trick panel right before you hit it. Using M-speed is much faster and does lead into the next section but if you're not confident with it then use a wide drift. You then go into the final part which is the quick-step part.

Quick-Step Part

If you used M-speed to get into the part then continue to use it and time your jumps until you get the the finish, sliding when on the ground to maintain as much speed as you can. If you didn't then simply boost through the whole thing, quick-stepping to the left and boosting as soon as or right after you hit the two dash panels. This is the final part of Green Hill and after you finish this you have finished the level.

Conclusion

I find this IL speedrun very fun to do personally since it only takes around 1-2 minutes per attempt. The tricks aren't too hard in theory but take a lot of practice and precision to get right. I may not have included every trick but I included everything I was aware of. Currently the WR for this IL on youtube is a 1:19 with no skills and a 1:14 with skills. Hopefully this guide can help you get somewhere near that time.