Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis

"Sonic Team successfully sabotages Sonic's 15th anniversary."

Have you ever played a game polluted with glitches and other problems but had great gameplay hidden underneath all that thick sludge? Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is the ideal example of such a description. Intended as a tribute to the hedgehog's fifteenth anniversary, this port only serves to further taint the name of a once legendary gaming icon.

Please note that, for the most part, I will be rating this as a port instead of a standalone game.

As this is a port, the story will obviously remain intact. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, a mad scientist, is trying to take over Sonic's beloved planet Mobius. To accomplish this dastardly scheme, he's turning the entire local wild animal population into robots, or ''roboticizing'' them, as they said in the old cartoon series. These animals are then put into Robotnik's robots, called Badniks. Of course, the fate of the planet falls upon the shoulders of Mobius' hero, Sonic to save the day.

Again, since this is a port, the core gameplay is sure to be the same. Sonic will be running, jumping and spinning through colorful Zones, each with their own distinguishing characteristics and awesome level design. Each of the six main zones are split up into three acts. Those acts are filled to the brim with various hazards and memorable, well-placed adversaries that must be conquered with a jump or a spin attack.

Rings and assorted monitors litter the acts. Monitors, once broken, bestow our hero with a nice bonus, whether it be more rings, a shield, or even invincibility for a limited amount of time. Those aforementioned rings are found just about everywhere, and collecting a hundred will net you an extra life, as will collecting two-hundred and three-hundred. They also act as your health. Whenever Sonic is struck by anything, all of his rings will eject out of his grasp, and it's up to you to grab as many back as possible. If Sonic is hit while he has no rings, you die and must restart the act from the beginning or from a Lamppost if you've activated one.

The third act of most of the Zones is a boss battle with Dr. Robotnik using one of his own machines. None of them are amazing or anything like that, but they certainly aren't terrible either, and are a pleasant diversion from the other acts.

A new feature to Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is the ability to save your game, an almost useless feature albeit. Like the old days, it's best to just play through it all in one sitting. There's another new feature though, called Anniversary Mode. It's still the same game, but now Sonic is able to use his trademark Spin Dash from Sonic 2 and onward. It's not anything special, but it can be somewhat fun to try out sometimes. It would've been better if there were a few new areas of the acts that could've been accessed by the Spin Dash.

Sounds pretty good so far, right? Well, it's mostly downhill from here, folks. For one, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is riddled with glitches. There are numerous ones, but some of the more prominent ones include instant death glitches and being stuck in various walls. It's annoying as hell, and there's other glitches waiting to be found as well. Have fun with those.

There's more where that came from, if glitches aren't enough to make you write this game off. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis also had the misfortune of being drenched with sweet, syrupy bottles of slowdown. It rarely occurs in Green Hill Zone, but from Marble Zone to the end of the game, be prepared for horrendous lag that plagues our poor hero's every move. This is probably the foremost flaw in the game, and is most shameful. Had Sonic Team spent more time on this, then this disaster could have easily been avoided.

You'll also discover a minor issue with the controls. While the original Genesis version had absolutely flawless controls, this version can be occasionally be a little too responsive, and exaggerate what you intended for Sonic to do. For example, you may want to move to the right just a pinch, and end up running into an enemy or spikes because of the controls.

Nothing can save it at this point, but at least the graphics are mostly perfect. Why do I say ''mostly perfect''? That's because the sprites are a bit too large. Aside from that, the graphics look identical to the original, which was one of the better-looking Genesis games. Even compared to other GBA games, it still looks great, a testament to the original game.

On the other hand, the music was completely butchered. The tracks still carry the same melody as the originals, but now have atrocious sound quality that will have you reaching for the volume switch in no time. To rub it in, Sonic Team even included a sound test available from the get-go, just beckoning to punish your ears. Judging from other GBA games out there, I'm fairly certain that the music of the original could've been faithfully recreated. This is one of the numerous factors that make it seem like an obvious rushed product..Not even the sound effects are unscathed. Though some sound just like before, a few other familiar noises have been destroyed by the horrible sound quality.

Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is a game that I would not recommend to anyone. It's mix of terrible music and sound, flawed controls, and sloppy gameplay make this a most unwelcome addition to the Sonic brand. It seems like Sonic Team didn't even make a halfhearted attempt at this one. They've been content with dragging Sonic's name through filthy mud ever since Sonic Heroes, and this game did nothing to fight that trend. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis shall be forever condemned to the land of the failed ports.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/10/09

Game Release: Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (US, 11/14/06)