A favourite Sunday activity over the last 15 years has been trying to one-life Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I’ve never managed it. I’ve been playing the game since it came out and I genuinely think it’s one of the best pieces of media ever created.

One day around 2011-ish I made it to the last level on one life. It wasn’t planned. Every jump was hit perfectly, every roll, bounce and spin had been executed to perfection. It was zen; for 20 minutes I was inside the matrix. Of course the moment I realised I hadn’t lost a life the fear set in and I immediately died. That’s when my personal quest began. I can consistently make it to the final stages on pure muscle memory but something always gives.

The rules are simple. If Sonic dies, the game is reset. No ifs, no buts.

I have a varied Sonic 2 diet. As well as living rent-free in my head it lives on pretty much every video game platform I own. My all-time favourite version is the SEGA 3D classics version on the 3DS, the colourful sprites and parallax backgrounds mixed with layered 3D are pure eye candy. A nostalgic serotonin blast for the jaded millennial.

Fans of the 16-bit games will tell you that Sonic 3 is the best game. They’re wrong of course. It’s a great game but Sonic 2 is platforming perfected, it’s just too pure not to be the standard.

So what happens when I eventually do one-life Sonic 2? No idea, I like to think it’s not possible and to be honest I don’t need that hole in my life but until that day I’ll keep picking away one level at a time.