Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) Review - Humble Beginnings (Sonic Retrospective Series Part 1)
As you may know by now, with all the reviews of the games I’ve done, I am a big fan of the Sonic franchise. It’s potentially my favorite video game series out there, and one I’ve been playing since I was a kid. I was actually introduced to the franchise through… oddly enough, flash games on the PC, but eventually I got my first real Sonic game which was (unfortunately) Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA. But after I got a DS, I got Sonic Classic Collection, and that introduced me to the rest of the classic games and were ones that I found myself playing through over and over again. I’d probably say that I fit in with the younger generation of Sonic fans, as I became active in the Sonic community in the early 2010’s and in general I grew up most with games like, again, Classic Collection as well as Sonic Colors and Sonic 4 while also making my way backwards with games like Sonic CD, Adventure 1 and Heroes here and there. Sonic Generations ended up being the game that ultimately got me to build a PC and get into PC gaming after getting it around 2014 or 2015, and these days I’d probably say my favorite games in the series are that, Colors and Mania. There are some people out there who split the Sonic fanbase within categories of the “Classic” fans, “Adventure” fans and “Modern” fans, and I’d probably say I fit most with the modern fans but do enjoy the other eras. But I have been meaning to more or less start over from the beginning again and take a look at every Sonic game from the first to the newest release, which is why I wanted to do a retrospective on the Sonic the Hedgehog series as a whole. I won’t review every single game in the series as there are ones that I haven’t played or don’t really have much to say about, but I at least want to take a look at most of the games I have. And of course, what better way to do so than with the first game.
As I said, Sonic 1 was my first “real” Sonic game, however that was in the form of Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis, the shoddy GBA port of the game. But, while nowadays I understand how bad of a port it was, as a kid with literally no standards I really enjoyed it. I mean, with all the issues aside, it was really nothing like I had played before. Granted I didn’t really play many games about that time since I was young and all I really had was a Game Boy Advance and my brother’s Xbox 360, but I had some experience with, say, the Mario games and a few other shovelware platformers, and with the first Sonic game, it just felt… different to me. I really enjoyed the sense of speed and Sonic’s character was “cool” to little 8 year old me. Ever since then, I’ve replayed the first Sonic game multiple times. It’s a game I have on a whole sleuth of different platforms, including the Sega Genesis I bought used when I was 13 years old, among other versions. That said, Sonic’s premiere title has become slightly more divisive in recent years. I guess that’s about to be expected considering the reputation of the Sonic series since Sega stopped making consoles, but many have argued that the first Sonic game doesn’t hold up well for one reason or another. And as someone who’s been replaying the game over and over again since I was 8 years old, that’s brought up the question to me - do I agree that first Sonic game hasn’t held up well compared to later games in the franchise, or do I still get a lot of fun out of it?
Well, I’ll start off pretty simply by talking presentation. When the Sega Genesis, or Mega Drive, came out, it was definitely a major upgrade in terms of power when compared to the NES and Sega’s previous console, the Master System. The only console that could really compare was the TurboGrafx-16, which came out around the same time, however certain aspects of it’s hardware, such as it’s 8-bit CPU, still held it back compared to Sega’s offering. However, by June 1991, the Super Famicom had released in Japan and was about to release as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America that August. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was capable of better graphics, particularly with it’s Mode 7 capabilities, however the Sega Genesis had an advantage of being on the market for longer. And all things considered, Sonic the Hedgehog is a very good looking game, and if there’s anything that I’m sure a lot of people can agree on with this game, it’s that the first Sonic game has held up well in the graphics department. The environments and backgrounds are colorful, detailed and nice to look at, and the game also does experiment a bit with it’s style and the technology. Stuff like the waterfalls in Green Hill Zone I can only guess was just a new idea, on top of the other “interactive” parts of the environments like the lava spewing from the ground in Marble Zone. But on top of all that, Sonic himself is given a lot of personality just through his design and actions. Stuff like, say, him tapping his foot when the player is idle for a few seconds, as well as how he looks over in fear when he’s dangling off an edge. For the time, stuff like this wasn’t very common. The classic Mario games didn’t really have this level of personality that Sonic had, and I think it’s one thing that ultimately made Sonic the Hedgehog stand out so much among other games of the time.
And that is one thing that kind of goes into the gameplay. Sonic 1 was definitely something different compared to other platformers of the time, incorporating new styles of level design that was unique, allowed for speed and made Sonic stand out. Let’s begin with the first level. Green Hill Zone does pretty much everything that a first level needs to do - it is designed around Sonic’s mechanics and is basically made for replaying multiple times. That’s another thing - Sonic’s levels are generally a lot more open ended than other platformers of this sort at the time, which is one of the things that makes Sonic’s game design appealing to many fans. The Geek Critique made a really good analysis of how the classic Sonic games are designed around replayability, and frankly, one thing that keeps me going back to this game among many other Sonic games is it’s level design. Not only is it just fun to speed and run through, but often on repeated playthroughs I find something - whether that be an alternate route, or small nooks and crannies that have a power up or extra life inside - that I just hadn’t before. And I think over the years, these elements of level design are really what keep me coming back to the Sonic franchise, and to be honest I don’t really feel like many games outside the Sonic series as well as a few indie side scrollers like Freedom Planet and Spark the Electric Jester really do this. This style of level design is really what makes Sonic stand out to me among other games and series - the game are designed around replay value by giving more open, bigger levels that can lead to the discovery of secrets and alternate routes that make the games fun to go back to. And while Super Mario more or less brought the gold standard of platforming, Sonic essentially expanded upon it. And in addition, it really felt like they designed Sonic’s level design around a more unique moveset, with stuff like loops, which require a steady pace of speed in order to pass through, giving the game also kind of a unique skill curve. And what makes Green Hill Zone great is that it essentially teaches the player these early skills with it’s level design as the stage progresses - basically doing exactly what a first stage should do - but also allowing for more replay value with it’s design and give players a chance to try and “master” the level. As time has gone on, I’ve only managed to gain more respect for Sonic’s design and it’s approach to replayability that makes the games fun to go back to.
However, the second level of the game, Marble Zone, is where more people draw their criticisms towards the game - stating that it severely slows down the pace compared to the level before. And, in some ways, I do agree and understand where they are coming from. Certain parts of the level make it so you feel like you’re just waiting for stuff to happen, especially if you don’t have prior knowledge of the level design. In particular, there’s parts where you basically have to stand on blocks as they slowly move over lava, and wait until lava spews from the ground to boost you upwards towards another platform. I can definitely understand that to many people, this level can be slower and also just sort of dull. But, at the same time, on my playthrough for this review, I actually did notice that it still had the design elements of Sonic that I really like. In one instance, I actually found a secret behind a wall that led to an extra life, something that I had never noticed before, which is actually pretty neat. I’d still consider Marble Zone to be one of my least favorite levels of the game, but at the same time, there’s still elements about I do enjoy.
But if you didn’t like Marble Zone’s slower pace, Spring Yard Zone still brings back a lot of that fast-paced action, while still building off the core Sonic design elements that I enjoy. I don’t really have much to say about it, but it’s a solid zone overall, with a lot of action and fast pace in general. About what I would expect from the Sonic franchise.
And then… Labyrinth Zone. This is commonly considered to be the worst level in the entire game. And I can definitely understand that. Speaking for myself, the first time I ever played Sonic 1, I’m pretty sure it took me months to get past Labyrinth Zone. And on top of that, that was the Game Boy Advance version with a shitton more slowdown. And while I am able to get past it nowadays pretty easily, there are still things that frustrate me. For one thing, the entire zone takes place under water, and… yeah, it really slows you down to a crawl. While this could just be my own faulty memory, I feel like later water levels in the series, even in the classic games, felt a lot more well balanced in regards to Sonic’s speed and control - at the very least levels like Chemical Plant and Hydrocity Zone felt more designed around going fast compared to Labyrinth, but that’s another story. There’s also these enemies that hide underground and hit you when you get close to them and the boss of this level is just… bad. I’m not really sure I’d consider it a “boss” considering you don’t really need to hit Robotnik and it basically just comes down to a small series of platforming challenges aided by annoying hazard placement and water rising up to make it even worse. That said… I really don’t have that much of an issue with it anymore. I mean, this is likely due to me playing this game multiple times and starting off with the GBA version which was worse in every way imaginable, but I don’t really have too much of an issue with Labyrinth Zone on repeated playthroughs. I still recognize all the bad aspects of it and how “slow” it is compared to the rest of the game, but at the very least it still does have at least some of the aspects that I enjoy about Sonic’s game design, and there are still things that I notice on repeat playthroughs. I still have a lot of problems with this level, but I don’t really “hate” it as much as other people do.
But, no matter how I feel about Labyrinth, I can safely say that Star Light Zone is easily my favorite level in the game. Even the first time I played it, I really enjoyed just the “atmosphere” of the stage with its style and music, and even after all these times of playing it, I still really enjoy the stage design - having a blend of fast-paced action and replayability that is really only rivaled by Green Hill Zone. I don’t really know what it is about this stage, but it just feels so particularly memorable to me even after all this time due to its level design and aesthetic. This is followed up by Scrap Brain Zone, which is definitely a solid “final” level for the game, giving a sense of tension with it’s design on top of its challenge. That’s, of course, what I can say about the first 2 acts. In Act 3, Labyrinth Zone is essentially brought back and it's just as frustrating as ever, which even more difficult and annoying level design and moments of almost drowning. Then there’s the final boss which has its own dedicated “Final Zone” with only one act, and it’s actually a pretty fun final boss even if it is a bit easy. And then, the game ends.
So, like I said, I definitely really enjoy this game’s levels and design even now. Like I said, Sonic has always held a fairly unique design philosophy which kind of went hand in hand with the technology they had. The game is primarily designed around replayability, and you can definitely tell with the levels’ open nature and branching pathways. Each replay can be made slightly different depending on how well you play and what path you take in the level, and even now I think it’s made the Sonic series just more replayable to me personally - even in the case of the first game. Each level of this game does that to a degree in some way, either by having level design that expands into other areas or even just having nooks and crannies with surprises like 1-ups. But I think one major issue with this game that kind of prevents it from seeing its full potential is… the pacing, which is kind of what I often see criticized with the game. Green Hill Zone and Star Light Zone are particularly pretty good about carrying a consistent fast pace, but then there’s Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone which can either be slow and boring with no real challenge at best, and downright frustrating at worst. This game definitely suffers from “first game syndrome” - obviously, considering it is the first game in the series and they were still experimenting with what worked and what didn’t, and I can say for sure that the level design elements I liked about this game were definitely improved in later entries - particularly Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles and Mania, while also delivering more of a consistent pace for the most part. I also think the lack of a spin dash is one thing that makes people see this game as “dated” compared to other entries - often there are times where you need to go through, say, a loop or something yet have to backtrack in order to build up the speed needed to make it across, which is slightly annoying. Later ports of this game have the spin dash included at least as an option, which compensates for this issue, but that’s still a problem if you’re playing the original version in some way. But, of course, this game still laid the groundwork for the rest of the franchise to improve upon and for the time… it definitely needed what it intended to do. Create a platformer that not only could be fast paced compared to other games at the time, while also making it fun to replay with how expansive the levels are. And it should definitely say something considering the game is still fun for me to go back and replay even now. So, all in all, while I can understand the criticisms towards this game, I still believe it did its job. On further retrospection, I kind of feel like it relates to why Super Mario World is my favorite game out of the entire Mario series even now. Even with my personal nostalgia aside, Super Mario World’s game design sort of compensates for bigger levels and more freedom for exploration with aspects such as the game’s secret levels. This makes the game, for me, fun to replay and I don’t really feel that any Mario game did this the same way as Super Mario World did, whereas Sonic the Hedgehog has pretty much always been built around that sort of mentality. And I guess to be fair Sonic was partially inspired by Yuji Naka speedrunning Super Mario Bros so… there’s that.
But what about the other aspects? Well, Sonic’s control is definitely a crucial thing to talk about here. Sonic has more of a “flow” to his control compared to, say, Mario, and it works really well along with the level design. The lack of a spin dash can still be an issue, but this game, again, lays down the groundwork for Sonic’s control and flow that goes with the game’s overall level design. Truth be told, it is hard for me to describe “control” very well, but the least I can say is that for what they were going for Sonic’s control works well with the rest of the game’s core design philosophy.
And the soundtrack… well, I love it. Even after all this time I still enjoy listening to it every so often and particularly love the theme of Star Light Zone, which kind of checks out with the rest of what I said about it. Many agree that, no matter how you feel about the franchise, music is always one thing that the series does well, so of course this game isn’t an exception.
And… to be honest, that’s about all I really have to say about the first Sonic game. I do feel that this has been one of my weaker reviews, but I feel like if I continue this Sonic retrospective series I’ll probably understand what I’m talking about a bit more as time goes on so… yeah. But, in conclusion, I still really like the first Sonic game. I won’t deny that it has its flaws, and in some ways doesn’t hold up as well as it’s sequels, but overall I still think that, at the very least, the game did what it needed to do, and that was definitely evident at the time considering what the game would start and what the franchise would ultimately became. I mean, this game definitely gave the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) it’s place in the market even with the upcoming Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and gave Sega a massive edge over Nintendo. This was a game people wanted to play, and the fact that the series in general still has it’s fans really says something, and speaks to this game’s overall success. And, well, there’s definitely good reason for that.
If, for whatever reason, you haven’t played the game before, it’s available on a sleuth of different platforms to choose from. I personally always go for the classic Genesis version since I’m a purist, but if you want to play it you do have quite a few options for more modern platforms. The iOS and Android version is probably the version I’d recommend most, due to it making the game widescreen as well as allowing for save data among other features. But if you don’t like gaming on a tablet or phone, it was also ported by M2 for the Switch, and also adds in the Spin Dash and Drop Dash abilities as well as the ability to save. There’s also the Genesis Mini, which contains basically the original version completely unchanged but allows you to save state so there’s that too. Overall, if you haven’t played the first Sonic game, well, I’m really surprised by that, but I would still recommend it even to this day.
As I said, Sonic 1 was my first “real” Sonic game, however that was in the form of Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis, the shoddy GBA port of the game. But, while nowadays I understand how bad of a port it was, as a kid with literally no standards I really enjoyed it. I mean, with all the issues aside, it was really nothing like I had played before. Granted I didn’t really play many games about that time since I was young and all I really had was a Game Boy Advance and my brother’s Xbox 360, but I had some experience with, say, the Mario games and a few other shovelware platformers, and with the first Sonic game, it just felt… different to me. I really enjoyed the sense of speed and Sonic’s character was “cool” to little 8 year old me. Ever since then, I’ve replayed the first Sonic game multiple times. It’s a game I have on a whole sleuth of different platforms, including the Sega Genesis I bought used when I was 13 years old, among other versions. That said, Sonic’s premiere title has become slightly more divisive in recent years. I guess that’s about to be expected considering the reputation of the Sonic series since Sega stopped making consoles, but many have argued that the first Sonic game doesn’t hold up well for one reason or another. And as someone who’s been replaying the game over and over again since I was 8 years old, that’s brought up the question to me - do I agree that first Sonic game hasn’t held up well compared to later games in the franchise, or do I still get a lot of fun out of it?
Well, I’ll start off pretty simply by talking presentation. When the Sega Genesis, or Mega Drive, came out, it was definitely a major upgrade in terms of power when compared to the NES and Sega’s previous console, the Master System. The only console that could really compare was the TurboGrafx-16, which came out around the same time, however certain aspects of it’s hardware, such as it’s 8-bit CPU, still held it back compared to Sega’s offering. However, by June 1991, the Super Famicom had released in Japan and was about to release as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America that August. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was capable of better graphics, particularly with it’s Mode 7 capabilities, however the Sega Genesis had an advantage of being on the market for longer. And all things considered, Sonic the Hedgehog is a very good looking game, and if there’s anything that I’m sure a lot of people can agree on with this game, it’s that the first Sonic game has held up well in the graphics department. The environments and backgrounds are colorful, detailed and nice to look at, and the game also does experiment a bit with it’s style and the technology. Stuff like the waterfalls in Green Hill Zone I can only guess was just a new idea, on top of the other “interactive” parts of the environments like the lava spewing from the ground in Marble Zone. But on top of all that, Sonic himself is given a lot of personality just through his design and actions. Stuff like, say, him tapping his foot when the player is idle for a few seconds, as well as how he looks over in fear when he’s dangling off an edge. For the time, stuff like this wasn’t very common. The classic Mario games didn’t really have this level of personality that Sonic had, and I think it’s one thing that ultimately made Sonic the Hedgehog stand out so much among other games of the time.
And that is one thing that kind of goes into the gameplay. Sonic 1 was definitely something different compared to other platformers of the time, incorporating new styles of level design that was unique, allowed for speed and made Sonic stand out. Let’s begin with the first level. Green Hill Zone does pretty much everything that a first level needs to do - it is designed around Sonic’s mechanics and is basically made for replaying multiple times. That’s another thing - Sonic’s levels are generally a lot more open ended than other platformers of this sort at the time, which is one of the things that makes Sonic’s game design appealing to many fans. The Geek Critique made a really good analysis of how the classic Sonic games are designed around replayability, and frankly, one thing that keeps me going back to this game among many other Sonic games is it’s level design. Not only is it just fun to speed and run through, but often on repeated playthroughs I find something - whether that be an alternate route, or small nooks and crannies that have a power up or extra life inside - that I just hadn’t before. And I think over the years, these elements of level design are really what keep me coming back to the Sonic franchise, and to be honest I don’t really feel like many games outside the Sonic series as well as a few indie side scrollers like Freedom Planet and Spark the Electric Jester really do this. This style of level design is really what makes Sonic stand out to me among other games and series - the game are designed around replay value by giving more open, bigger levels that can lead to the discovery of secrets and alternate routes that make the games fun to go back to. And while Super Mario more or less brought the gold standard of platforming, Sonic essentially expanded upon it. And in addition, it really felt like they designed Sonic’s level design around a more unique moveset, with stuff like loops, which require a steady pace of speed in order to pass through, giving the game also kind of a unique skill curve. And what makes Green Hill Zone great is that it essentially teaches the player these early skills with it’s level design as the stage progresses - basically doing exactly what a first stage should do - but also allowing for more replay value with it’s design and give players a chance to try and “master” the level. As time has gone on, I’ve only managed to gain more respect for Sonic’s design and it’s approach to replayability that makes the games fun to go back to.
However, the second level of the game, Marble Zone, is where more people draw their criticisms towards the game - stating that it severely slows down the pace compared to the level before. And, in some ways, I do agree and understand where they are coming from. Certain parts of the level make it so you feel like you’re just waiting for stuff to happen, especially if you don’t have prior knowledge of the level design. In particular, there’s parts where you basically have to stand on blocks as they slowly move over lava, and wait until lava spews from the ground to boost you upwards towards another platform. I can definitely understand that to many people, this level can be slower and also just sort of dull. But, at the same time, on my playthrough for this review, I actually did notice that it still had the design elements of Sonic that I really like. In one instance, I actually found a secret behind a wall that led to an extra life, something that I had never noticed before, which is actually pretty neat. I’d still consider Marble Zone to be one of my least favorite levels of the game, but at the same time, there’s still elements about I do enjoy.
But if you didn’t like Marble Zone’s slower pace, Spring Yard Zone still brings back a lot of that fast-paced action, while still building off the core Sonic design elements that I enjoy. I don’t really have much to say about it, but it’s a solid zone overall, with a lot of action and fast pace in general. About what I would expect from the Sonic franchise.
And then… Labyrinth Zone. This is commonly considered to be the worst level in the entire game. And I can definitely understand that. Speaking for myself, the first time I ever played Sonic 1, I’m pretty sure it took me months to get past Labyrinth Zone. And on top of that, that was the Game Boy Advance version with a shitton more slowdown. And while I am able to get past it nowadays pretty easily, there are still things that frustrate me. For one thing, the entire zone takes place under water, and… yeah, it really slows you down to a crawl. While this could just be my own faulty memory, I feel like later water levels in the series, even in the classic games, felt a lot more well balanced in regards to Sonic’s speed and control - at the very least levels like Chemical Plant and Hydrocity Zone felt more designed around going fast compared to Labyrinth, but that’s another story. There’s also these enemies that hide underground and hit you when you get close to them and the boss of this level is just… bad. I’m not really sure I’d consider it a “boss” considering you don’t really need to hit Robotnik and it basically just comes down to a small series of platforming challenges aided by annoying hazard placement and water rising up to make it even worse. That said… I really don’t have that much of an issue with it anymore. I mean, this is likely due to me playing this game multiple times and starting off with the GBA version which was worse in every way imaginable, but I don’t really have too much of an issue with Labyrinth Zone on repeated playthroughs. I still recognize all the bad aspects of it and how “slow” it is compared to the rest of the game, but at the very least it still does have at least some of the aspects that I enjoy about Sonic’s game design, and there are still things that I notice on repeat playthroughs. I still have a lot of problems with this level, but I don’t really “hate” it as much as other people do.
But, no matter how I feel about Labyrinth, I can safely say that Star Light Zone is easily my favorite level in the game. Even the first time I played it, I really enjoyed just the “atmosphere” of the stage with its style and music, and even after all these times of playing it, I still really enjoy the stage design - having a blend of fast-paced action and replayability that is really only rivaled by Green Hill Zone. I don’t really know what it is about this stage, but it just feels so particularly memorable to me even after all this time due to its level design and aesthetic. This is followed up by Scrap Brain Zone, which is definitely a solid “final” level for the game, giving a sense of tension with it’s design on top of its challenge. That’s, of course, what I can say about the first 2 acts. In Act 3, Labyrinth Zone is essentially brought back and it's just as frustrating as ever, which even more difficult and annoying level design and moments of almost drowning. Then there’s the final boss which has its own dedicated “Final Zone” with only one act, and it’s actually a pretty fun final boss even if it is a bit easy. And then, the game ends.
So, like I said, I definitely really enjoy this game’s levels and design even now. Like I said, Sonic has always held a fairly unique design philosophy which kind of went hand in hand with the technology they had. The game is primarily designed around replayability, and you can definitely tell with the levels’ open nature and branching pathways. Each replay can be made slightly different depending on how well you play and what path you take in the level, and even now I think it’s made the Sonic series just more replayable to me personally - even in the case of the first game. Each level of this game does that to a degree in some way, either by having level design that expands into other areas or even just having nooks and crannies with surprises like 1-ups. But I think one major issue with this game that kind of prevents it from seeing its full potential is… the pacing, which is kind of what I often see criticized with the game. Green Hill Zone and Star Light Zone are particularly pretty good about carrying a consistent fast pace, but then there’s Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone which can either be slow and boring with no real challenge at best, and downright frustrating at worst. This game definitely suffers from “first game syndrome” - obviously, considering it is the first game in the series and they were still experimenting with what worked and what didn’t, and I can say for sure that the level design elements I liked about this game were definitely improved in later entries - particularly Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles and Mania, while also delivering more of a consistent pace for the most part. I also think the lack of a spin dash is one thing that makes people see this game as “dated” compared to other entries - often there are times where you need to go through, say, a loop or something yet have to backtrack in order to build up the speed needed to make it across, which is slightly annoying. Later ports of this game have the spin dash included at least as an option, which compensates for this issue, but that’s still a problem if you’re playing the original version in some way. But, of course, this game still laid the groundwork for the rest of the franchise to improve upon and for the time… it definitely needed what it intended to do. Create a platformer that not only could be fast paced compared to other games at the time, while also making it fun to replay with how expansive the levels are. And it should definitely say something considering the game is still fun for me to go back and replay even now. So, all in all, while I can understand the criticisms towards this game, I still believe it did its job. On further retrospection, I kind of feel like it relates to why Super Mario World is my favorite game out of the entire Mario series even now. Even with my personal nostalgia aside, Super Mario World’s game design sort of compensates for bigger levels and more freedom for exploration with aspects such as the game’s secret levels. This makes the game, for me, fun to replay and I don’t really feel that any Mario game did this the same way as Super Mario World did, whereas Sonic the Hedgehog has pretty much always been built around that sort of mentality. And I guess to be fair Sonic was partially inspired by Yuji Naka speedrunning Super Mario Bros so… there’s that.
But what about the other aspects? Well, Sonic’s control is definitely a crucial thing to talk about here. Sonic has more of a “flow” to his control compared to, say, Mario, and it works really well along with the level design. The lack of a spin dash can still be an issue, but this game, again, lays down the groundwork for Sonic’s control and flow that goes with the game’s overall level design. Truth be told, it is hard for me to describe “control” very well, but the least I can say is that for what they were going for Sonic’s control works well with the rest of the game’s core design philosophy.
And the soundtrack… well, I love it. Even after all this time I still enjoy listening to it every so often and particularly love the theme of Star Light Zone, which kind of checks out with the rest of what I said about it. Many agree that, no matter how you feel about the franchise, music is always one thing that the series does well, so of course this game isn’t an exception.
And… to be honest, that’s about all I really have to say about the first Sonic game. I do feel that this has been one of my weaker reviews, but I feel like if I continue this Sonic retrospective series I’ll probably understand what I’m talking about a bit more as time goes on so… yeah. But, in conclusion, I still really like the first Sonic game. I won’t deny that it has its flaws, and in some ways doesn’t hold up as well as it’s sequels, but overall I still think that, at the very least, the game did what it needed to do, and that was definitely evident at the time considering what the game would start and what the franchise would ultimately became. I mean, this game definitely gave the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) it’s place in the market even with the upcoming Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and gave Sega a massive edge over Nintendo. This was a game people wanted to play, and the fact that the series in general still has it’s fans really says something, and speaks to this game’s overall success. And, well, there’s definitely good reason for that.
If, for whatever reason, you haven’t played the game before, it’s available on a sleuth of different platforms to choose from. I personally always go for the classic Genesis version since I’m a purist, but if you want to play it you do have quite a few options for more modern platforms. The iOS and Android version is probably the version I’d recommend most, due to it making the game widescreen as well as allowing for save data among other features. But if you don’t like gaming on a tablet or phone, it was also ported by M2 for the Switch, and also adds in the Spin Dash and Drop Dash abilities as well as the ability to save. There’s also the Genesis Mini, which contains basically the original version completely unchanged but allows you to save state so there’s that too. Overall, if you haven’t played the first Sonic game, well, I’m really surprised by that, but I would still recommend it even to this day.
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