Sonic the Hedgehog

"The start of a legendary series"

Sonic the Hedgehog for the Genesis was one of my first, and favourite games I owned ever since age 4. It has everything decent you'd expect from a hip side-scrolling platformer with a speedy, spiky blue animal, the demented evil scientist, and all those robots you gotta bust in order to save all Sonic's animal friends. This game has made Sega a revolutionised company and have given them their share of the spotlight. I think this game could have been better by Genesis standards, but it did give Super Mario World some competition. Although I did like SMW better, you cannot count this game out. Not by a longshot.

The game was released in both North America and Europe in 1991, and also had a counterpart version for the Master System. And for those of you who have played the Master System version will agree that this game is better. I gave that game's version a 10/10 and this one a 8/10 only because I rate the game based on the quality for the system it plays on, not how good it is only as a game. Don't go thinking I'm biased as an old-school gamer or anything. =)

To try to be more in-depth in explaining on what the game is actually about, it's just as I said earlier. A counter-attacking game to give the SNES's Super Mario World competition. Because in those days, Nintendo was the leading brand in consoles, so Sega had to try to give them a bit of a put-up in an attempt to get the number 1 spot. And this is exactly what they made to do it. Sonic has amazing graphics, great overall gameplay, a fun factor that will have you enjoying it for a long time, and the challenge that anyone can enjoy. Here is the rundown of the game in more detail on each factor.

Gameplay - 9/10

First of all, the controls in this game are awesome. In fact, you don't even have to use the entire controller for all commands, and it's still as enjoyable as other side-scrollers. You just have the basic move, duck, look up, and jump buttons, which are represented by the A Button, B Button, and C Button. The movement of the game is very fluent and smooth. The screen moves slowly for you to allow you to keep your eye on Sonic to keep firm control on him while he moves. For a hedgehog who is supposed to be the fastest blur in the universe, he's pretty slow in his early adventures, but it wasn't really that bad.

The gameplay in the field - it's 2D, and there are six zones each with three acts in order for you to complete to get to Dr. Robotnik. But what's much better is that you can choose any of several routes to progress through each level. They're all filled with traps to work your way around, and different bosses to face at the end of every zone. The bosses all have a variety of methods of attack, while in Super Mario World, some were repeated. The secret zone is frustrating, but enjoyable. It allows you to attempt to get Sonic's paws (which mysteriously have white gloves on, where did he get those?) on a choas emerald, but you have to avoid the goal blocks. Overall, it's very addicting and fun, and maybe if the speed was notched up, it could have been top-notch.

Story - 6/10

Don't you just hate it when you encounter a great game with the bland storyline? Well, I suppose the storyline in Sonic is average, but it's that 'action hero must save the planet from evil dictator' story. But improved slightly - the animal kingdom of the planet Mobius have been transformed into evil robots to do Dr. Robotnik's dirty work for him. And the other thing is that Dr. Robotnik wants to invade the planet Mobius and build his own city, to be called 'Robotnikland', over it. But then again, storylines aren't so much the factor that upsets a game now, is it?

Audio/Video - 8/10

The sound in this game is varied, clear, and pretty cool. The soundtracks of the game are different for each zone, and can even sound like the mood of that zone. For instance, the Green Hill zone has high-pitched groovy music as it is set in the country with waterfalls, tall flowers and grass. The Spring Yard zone has a more swingy theme as it's like a pinball machine. Each one has lots of well co-ordinated and played instruments that make a good compilation piece, and they are overall, very good.

The graphics are superb. The backgrounds of the levels look nice, and move along as Sonic moves along. Anything for realism, I suppose. I think the Genesis had some of the best graphics ever, and this really showed their power off. The grass, the boulders, water and character designs each have amazing looks and designs. When you're underwater Sonic's coat looks a different colour. But the Mario games didn't. These are some top notch graphics.

The animation is smooth. The Genesis's fast CPU processor allows it for more high speed action, and allows Sonic to display better stunts. From all angles of play Sonic has many tricks that are displayed like his spinning attack, loop-de-loop and ramping that each look amazing thanks to the CPU. It is smooth and clear.

Replayability - MEDIUM

The game is short but sweet, so there's no harm in playing it over again if you complete it. What the game lacked (possibly because of it being in the early years) was a multi-player mode, which was eventually fixed up when Sonic 2 came along the very next year. That would have probably given it a higher score. The short amount of levels does make it rather numb in the face of Super Mairo World, which was a travel adventure in which you could go back to any level you want after completing. Here you can't. That's another con. But overall, I did think it's enjoyable to play over and over again, and the game's shortness is a good step for inexperienced gamers to get used to before taking on the longer games.

Buy or Rent? - BUY

Genesis owners should have this game in their collection. It is pretty decent and one of those landmark games. If you have a Gamecube you an also have Sonic 1 along with 6 other games all for the price of 1 GCN game, which is an amazing bargain, as this game is still popular and great to play after a decade since its original release. Copies should still be available in stores, and at a cheap price that it should be at now, you should buy this game.

Good Things/Pros
- Fun factor high!
- Addictive.
- Amazing graphics.
- Very easy and flexible controls.
- Different zones with a variety of routes to take, to add to Replayability.
- Great sound.

Bad Things/Cons
- Short.
- Only 1 Player, a 2 Player mode would have been nice.
- The storyline isn't the best.
- Sonic? Speedy? Here? Don't look like it.

Overall - 8/10

It could have been improved, but this game is great already, anyway. It's a revolution to Sega's gaming, and the start of a legendary series starring the blurry blue hedgehog. What is here is great, and Sega can give themselves a pat on the back for an amazing first go.

THE CONCLUSION
The start of a revolutionary series, all sparked off by this. It makes a collection complete, and is an amazing start-off to the Sonic series.

End of Review

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/03, Updated 06/19/03