The main reason I didn't buy this game? Because first off, the track record of Home Alone games is particularly horrible, mainly those for the Nintendo consoles, as they were published by THQ, and for all the flack LJN gets, I think THQ is the worst official licensed company for the early Nintendo consoles. For Home Alone 2 however, these were made by Sega and Interactive Designs, who worked previously on TaleSpin and Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude. So, despite neither game being a massive hit, does that make this one a dud?
Plot of the game follows that of the movie. Kevin McCallister once again ends up separated from his family at Christmas time. However this time while his family is in Florida, he (as the title suggests) is lost in New York. But it turns out that his foes Marv and Harry of the formerly named Wet Bandits (now Sticky Bandits) are plotting to rob a toy store named Duncan's Toy Chest. So it's up to Kevin to stop the two bumbling bandits, while surviving the harsh New York streets.
You control Kevin with the D-Pad, can push items with A, shoot or throw the current weapon with B, and jump with C. Gameplay is the linear point a to point b style side scroller, although some stages will be a bit more maze like. And the game follows the film pretty decent for the most part. You start at the airport, battle through the streets, through Duncan's Toy Chest, through Kevin's uncle's apartment, and finally at the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center to get help from the Pigeon Lady. So in terms of actually following the film, it does well. Though no level in the Plaza Hotel does feel out of place.
The game works with a specific weapon mechanic. You start with a basic item, be it a baseball, a football, or snowballs. You'll also see another weapon at the bottom that needs to be built like a slingshot, a bazooka that shoots what appears to be ink balls, and an icicle crossbow. To get it, you need to actually find the pieces scattered through the stage. And there are sometimes multiple weapons to find that can prove stronger than the previous. And they're definitely needed against Marv and Harry, as they can do a lot of damage to your health bar. But they have health bars too, and when fully lowered, they're gone from a level, leaving the challenge of the stage itself to be the real issue.
Control wise, the game is fluid and responsive. Kevin can shoot an item diagonally upward or downward to help in sticky situations, and can even do a slide when in full speed. Kevin's jump is a bit tricky to get the hang of at times, and can definitely be your enemy in certain areas. The worst case of this was at Duncan's Toy Chest, where if you don't time this annoying jump, you get sucked back to the top of the area and have to narrowly navigate your way back down to try again.
Another annoyance is some of the enemies. You have Marv and Harry of course, but the game throws in businessmen who throw their briefcase at you should you hit them, crows that never stop spawning, rats that can be hard to see at times, and can lead to a cheap hit, and the weirdest of all, street ninjas. Must be that weird ninja epidemic in the early 90's.
On the sound side, the soundtrack to Home Alone 2 is surprisingly good, especially for a Genesis game (though I feel that the hatred on the Genesis sound chip is massively undeserved). Especially with the streets and old building level theme being the best. It has a great urban street vibe that really fits the New York setting this game is based in. Graphically the game looks pretty solid for a Genesis game. Characters like Kevin and the bandits look like how they do in the film, and levels are pretty well designed and detailed. I also like the cutscenes between each level that see Marv and Harry fail in somewhat hilarious ways.
So, in the end, despite some notable hatred I see for this game, I was pleasantly surprised with Home Alone 2. I figured it would be a horrible purchase, but got a game that while not perfectly polished in certain areas, was pretty easy to pick up and play, follows the source material pretty well, and overall was more fun than I had though when I nabbed it for five dollars. It's definitely not a game you'll see on any "greatest Genesis games of all time" list, but it's definitely at least worth a play.
RATING: B+