"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" broke video game sales records upon release. Prior to release, the game had already sold units to retailers by October 1992. It set a pre-order record in Europe with game cartridges ordered in five countries, including 750,000 units in the United Kingdom worth () at retail, along with 750,000 orders in France, Germany, Spain and Austria. Upon release, it became the fastest-selling game in the United Kingdom with a record 750,000 sales within a week, while Sega of America sold over 400,000 copies in the United States within six days, with a debut gross of at US retail. The game's initial worldwide batch of cartridges sold out in two weeks, outpacing the original "Sonic the Hedgehog". It was the UK's number-one game during November and December 1992, and for two months it was the top-seller on the UK Mega Drive charts, Japan Mega Drive charts, and US Genesis charts.