Sonic the Hedgehog

The music and visuals of Sonic standout among earlier Genesis games. The level and boss designs are well done and fun. Every level feels a bit different, a bit harder and a bit more fun. The game takes a dip in quality during the final stage, the hair pulling Scrap Brain Act 3 where you need to depend on luck to get the timing of air bubbles during the water sections. It's not as fast as its sequels, but Sonic never benefited from an increase in speed -- even if it is his calling card. A good Sonic game is all about the level design and the original excels at this.

I think I've been a Sonic fan since I ever knew video-games were a thing. Like, I think the very first games I played were Sonic games (along with Mario games too). Though it took me a while to play this game, and I think the very first times I beat it I heavily used savestates. This is my first time actually beating the game without abusing them, though I did use the Android feature that saves your progress after every Act you beat.

I'm somewhat conflicted on this game. I genuinely loved some moments of it, but I feel for most of the game I was just frustrated. The problem is that it feels like most of the game wasn't designed with the speed of Sonic in mind. It makes sense, this is the very first game of the series, they were just attempting stuff for the first time and seeing what sticks. But sadly not much stuck.

The first level, Green Hill Zone, is definitely the best one here and I don't think that's a controversial opinion. I feel most people would agree. It's genuinely well designed, genuinely letting you catch speed with all the loops and other terrain elements. There are some annoying moments here and there (like that one section in the 2nd act with the platforms that rise and lower with the spikes at the bottom), but it's mostly good. The problem is that the game has a quality dive for the rest of the game.

Marble Zone takes away all of the speed of the previous level and instead expects you to take it very slow. It's much more blocky, and it feels like it was designed with a typical 2D platformer character in mind, which is a problem because Sonic is not that. Sonic just doesn't fit this level. There's not a problem with stopping here and there, maybe solving some simple puzzles; Green Hill did a bit of it, but there it didn't feel like it was taking away the speed, it was just alternate paths that you could decide to take if you wanted to explore a bit more. On Marble, it's completely forced on you, and it isn't very fun.

Spring Yard Zone does get faster but not in a fun way. It basically takes a lot of control away from you, and becomes very frustrating because of it. Labyrinth Zone is probably the worst level on here, with the water slowing you down way too much, and while the drowning mechanic isn't bad by itself, a lot of the times it felt like I drowned for no fault of my own, only because the game decided to not generate air bubbles for me to breathe. Also the enemy placement in this stage just sucks and takes even more the fun away from it.

Star Light Zone picks up the speed a bit, which is good, but sadly the stage isn't as great as Green Hill. It isn't as visually interesting as Green Hill is and the enemies are not very fun to deal with (you can't even beat any of them without invincibility). It is ok but not nearly enough after how annoying the previous stages were. Scrap Brain Zone is the final stage and it's very tough, and it's probably the only stage that feels appropiately designed besides Green Hill. Maybe that is a controversial opinion but I kinda like it; could be better for sure but I don't mind the annoying stuff of this stage nearly as much as in other stages. Of course I'm not including the 3rd act which for some reason decided to bring back the design of Labyrinth Zone of all stages... It's short but still... why??

The Final Stage is just the final bossfight, and I guess it's time to talk a bit about the bosses... I didn't care for them honestly. They're not bad (besides Labyrinth's not really being a bossfight and Star Light's being a bit annoying to deal with), but I'm not too into any of them. Probably the worst offender is the final boss, which is honestly not hard at all, just frustrating to deal with for how long it takes to beat. And if you mess up... you have to do it all over again. Most of the time with the bosses I just want to be done with them as fast as possible so that I can actually play the levels again.

The Special Stages are basically the last gameplay-related thing to talk about. First of all, I don't like the way you get to them too much. Besides the first zone in which is genuinely fun, trying to keep 50 rings and getting to the end just ends up making the levels even less enjoyable, with me now having to be even more slow and careful to not get hit on this levels that were already forcing me to be slow. It was very frustrating to me to lose all of my rings because of an annoying enemy or hazard placement. I feel like they could've found better ways of accessing them. And then the stages themselves... they're not fun. I really dislike how they visually look, and gameplay-wise they're very annoying to go through. You have very little control of the character besides jumping and the direction you're heading, the latter which doesn't really matter when gravity and the bumpers are already forcing you in a certain direction anyways. It's very unenjoyable for me, and I feel a playthrough of this game would just be better if you completely ignored the emeralds. Sure you'll get the "bad ending" but, idk the endings are barely different anyways and you aren't missing anything worthwhile by not trying to get them.

I guess that's all the gameplay stuff I wanted to say. On how it visually looks, I think it's mostly amazing, with only Star Light looking a bit bland. All of the game looks visually excelent, and I also like how it fits the theme of the game of "nature vs. industrialization", with the closest you get to Dr. Robotnik/Eggman's base the more polluted and less natural the levels look (with the exception of Spring Yard which is a bit weird). The music is also great, though once again Star Light dissapoints a bit by the music not really fitting the theme of the level (it's supposed to be a polluted city in construction right before the even more polluted and industrialized Scrap Brain, not just a relaxing walk in the city at night). Overall I don't have much complains in that area.

I know I've been mostly negative on this but I actually still somewhat enjoy the game. Sure it's genuinely frustrating at times but I can't say I hate it, because what's good here it's good and fun. I appreciate those moments from the game. Even if the game is heavily flawed at times, I still feel like it's mostly ok, and a fine first attempt at a Sonic game.

I'd comment that this game was the humble beginning for Sonic the Hedgehog, but there was never anything humble about Sonic, even from the start. Sega formulated Sonic as an ostentatious rival mascot to the then reigning console champion of Nintendo. His objective was to unceremoniously cockslap Mario into submission and kick dirt in the faces of him and all of his pals at Nintendo, most likely flipping them the bird and making a raspberry sound as he ran off. The 1990s was the era of attitude, with mischievous scamp Bart Simpson and dirty, punk-influenced grunge bands becoming generation-defining icons and revolting against all of the squeaky-clean conservative values that defined the previous decade. Sonic the Hedgehog was gaming's answer to the trend of "sticking it to the man," and kids everywhere gravitated towards the rebellious allure of the blue blur. Sega's "Genesis does what Nintendon't" slogan that labeled the SNES as a baby toy is still one of the most vicious marketing campaigns ever seen in gaming, and Sonic the Hedgehog was the killer app that backed this bold statement. Three decades later, we all know who won in the end, even with Sega's arrogant posturing. The Sega Genesis did not stand victorious over Nintendo's SNES, nor did any of their other consoles across their tenure in the console wars. Eventually, they were ousted by newcomers Sony and Microsoft and left their once bombastic hedgehog to coexist with their former rivals as a third-party series. While Sega has not been in the running of video game console supremacy for quite some time now, Sonic has still managed to retain his status as one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. Maybe it's because the Sonic boom happened a few years before I was born, and I didn't experience the hype firsthand, but I always felt Sonic never held a candle to the quality of Super Mario, even in his early days on the Sega Genesis. Out of Sonic's early title, his eponymous first outing in 1991 is the game that makes me the most skeptical of Sonic's acclaim.

Sonic certainly wouldn't have garnered his reputation if Sega had never done anything right with him. I'm more convinced that the appeal of Sonic the Hedgehog was based on presentation more than anything else. One point that the cavalier commercial kept stating is that the Genesis system had something that Nintendo didn't have called "blast processing." While the phrase seemed like a radical buzzword meant to sucker in unknowing children, the ambiguous term had some technical legitimacy in detailing the unique components of the Sega Genesis. The console was much more capable of faster processing performance than the Nintendo consoles, which meant that its games could run at unprecedented speeds, and the competitors would literally have trouble keeping up. Because of this, Sonic is a character built for speed. Along with graphics, quicker performance was once a vital point of progress in the earlier days of gaming, and Sega's blue mascot was a pivotal leap of headway in this regard. Sega crafted Sonic to make every other video game character eat his proverbial dust and use the "blast processing" as a means to do so. One might wonder if all of this is a shallow strut that would only impress the uninitiated children so used to 8-bit characters who moved as rigidly as robots. In some ways, the glamor of what Sonic initially offered has lost its luster in time, but the speed imperative that defined Sonic in his early days remains effective. A factor of Sonic's general snarky attitude is his impatience. He'll tap his foot and give the player an irritated look if they idly sit back and let Sonic stand in one place for only a mere few seconds. The title screen introduces Sonic as he wags his finger at the player before a demo reel of the game suddenly upstarts, assuming that the player has dropped the controller. When the player presses the start button, they are catapulted into the first level like they've found themselves on the autobahn. The speed element of Sonic the Hedgehog always makes his games feel like the equivalent of a rollercoaster and exudes the sense of the adrenaline rush that comes with it. It's a component of Sonic that is unique to the series, and it's impressive that a game as early as the dawn of the 16-bit era could display this lightning-fast pace effectively.

One might wonder how Sonic can propel himself through the level at calamitous speeds and not have to worry about dying. The rings are one of Sonic's most notable idiosyncrasies, and it's still a health system unique to the series. The rings act as a life currency, and collecting 100 rings will grant the player an extra life like the coins in Super Mario Bros. What makes these rings different is their special property that protects Sonic. When Sonic gets hit, rings that he has collected burst from him with a sharp clanging sound and his total number plummets to zero. The player will get an opportunity to collect some of the rings as collateral to stave off getting a game over. With this system, it doesn't matter how many rings Sonic has as long as he has at least one on his person. The system is perfect for a game like Sonic the Hedgehog because his precarious nature will naturally cause him to make more mistakes than the average 2D platformer character. The rings provide a sense of leniency and are a perfect method of providing a fair disciplinary curve to Sonic's high-octane gameplay without breaking the pacing.

The level in the first Sonic the Hedgehog title that highlights Sonic's speedy capabilities is Green Hill Zone: the very first level of the game. This mountainous, quasi-tropical setting filled with rocky crags, varied vegetation, and water that twinkles in the background makes for quite possibly the most gorgeous level in a video game at the time. All of the listed elements make Green Hill Zone look like a 16-bit Garden of Eden, but with rollercoaster loops as part of the terra firma. More importantly, its design is perfect for highlighting the strengths of Sonic's fast gameplay. As the player is propelled into this land with the press of the start button, the player is naturally inclined to move forward with no context, just like World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. Unlike the opening level of Mario's first game, the player needn't be too cautious about running into the first enemy they see and dying immediately. Sonic's speed initiative allows him to be more free-flowing than the typical 2D platformer character, and the non-linear design of Green Hill Zone accommodates this tremendously. Sonic must get to a single exit point on the map, but there are many paths he can take to get there. For example, Green Hill Zone offers the player a choice between a lower and higher land level with different hazards. The player is also not confined to one of these paths and can alternate between many of them to eventually reach the goal. Experimenting with the various paths can even reward the player in some instances, like uncovering speed shoes, shields, and extra lives. It feels so gratifying to bounce off the series of enemies while maintaining a swift momentum. Getting to the end of the level gives the player the joyful rush of finishing a marathon. Green Hill Zone is a perfect first level, and I'd argue it deserves a more iconic status than the first level of Super Mario Bros. It accomplishes so much as an introduction to Sonic and his world to an impressive degree.

The unfortunate thing about perfection is that everything else pales in comparison, and that is certainly the case for the rest of the levels in Sonic the Hedgehog. I get the impression that the developers designed Green Hill Zone as a tutorial level, an easy sample of what to expect from Sonic, and the general feel of the game before letting the player loose into more hostile territory. Usually, increasing the difficulty of the levels as the game progresses is a natural course of action. Unfortunately, Sega's idea of increasing the difficulty in Sonic the Hedgehog contradicts everything that made Green Hill Zone spectacular. Marble Zone, the level that directly follows Green Hill Zone, is one of the most egregious examples of difficulty curve whiplash in gaming. It's a ruins-themed area loaded with giant moving columns, spike chandelier booby traps, and flowing lava. These obstacles transform Sonic from being the fastest video game character alive to the most skittish because acting tentative is the only way to avoid death at this level. Not to mention, each hazard will have the player waiting for a lengthy period seeking an opportunity to bypass them safely. Sonic taps his foot impatiently at me while he's floating glacially on a square block in the lava or waiting for a moving pillar to go upward, and I empathize with his anxiety. I just wish he would focus his frustration on the developers instead of on me. Marble Zone is a tedious level with too many hazards to effectively exude the same sense of fast-paced gameplay seen in Green Hill Zone. Some of the platforming sections in this level are tight enough, but they would better fit any 2D platformer character other than Sonic.

The problem is that Marble Zone isn't the black sheep of the first Sonic game with an unfortunate placement after the first level. None of the following levels keep the same momentum as the game's first zone. Spring Yard Zone and Star Light Zone are designed less stringent than Marble Zone, but both levels make Sonic stop for sections involving giant moving platforms that can crush Sonic and bomb enemies that must be avoided that make Sonic come to a screeching halt. However, for all of its poor design choices regarding Sonic the Hedgehog, Marble Zone isn't even the worst offender. Labyrinth Zone is a claustrophobic nightmare. The developers thought it would be fun to have "the world's fastest video game character" slog through water for most of the level, all while avoiding spike hazards galore. By slogging through water, I don't mean swimming. Sonic's standard pace of movement is made sluggish by traversing long periods of underwater sections. Unlike Mario, the developers do not suspend the player's sense of reality by having Sonic breathe underwater. Sonic will drown if he is under the water for too long, accompanied by the most harrowing music track possible. Set this music as an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and you'll throw your alarm clock/phone across the room to shut it up. To bypass the agitating drowning track, Sonic must wait patiently for a sizable air bubble to pop out of the ground and will have to make every bubble pit stop to be safe. It makes the obstacles presented in Marble Zone look exhilarating by comparison. Labyrinth Zone would be abysmal in any 2D platformer, but the fact that its sluggish pacing is present in a Sonic game makes it all the more insulting. Once the player overcomes this travesty, the developers give the player one last kick in the balls by making the final act of Scrap Brain Zone essentially more Labyrinth Zone, but if the water was colored like cough syrup. I'd rather instead be abusing cough syrup than play anything like Labyrinth Zone.

These problematic, heinous levels after Green Hill Zone must also be completed in no more than three lives. Sonic the Hedgehog is not a long game, so the developers have decided to give the game an arcade-style of difficulty to pad out the experience. This method of difficulty is one of my gaming pet peeves that should've gone the wayside once playing video game consoles at home became the norm. Nevertheless, it persisted in the early 2D eras, and the first Sonic game is one of the most unfair examples of this practice. Because Sonic moves at precarious speeds, the player will likely not anticipate the obstacles in front of them on their first go-around, making for a game that exudes a "trial and error" method of difficulty. The rings are an acceptable way to get around this, but they do not account for instant death casualties like falling and being sandwiched between two objects. Every death counts in Sonic the Hedgehog, and losing all of them makes the player start from the first act of Green Hill Zone. This arcade-style of game overs is already preposterously unfair to the player in any game, but this is especially so in Sonic 1 because the game encourages the player to run at speeds at which they won't foresee what's coming towards them. The game doesn't even give the player any clemency with extra lives in any capacity. Collecting 100 rings will net the player an extra life, but good luck trying to preserve them. Life boxes are sparse enough that the player shouldn't expect to rely on finding them to stock up on lives. The only other option is to do the special stages, but they can only be unlocked by having a certain number of rings by the end of a level. That, and their finicky design makes for yet another layer of difficulty in getting extra lives. The only silver lining about repeatedly restarting the game is that Green Hill Zone is the first level.

The boss fights in Sonic the Hedgehog are technically just as repetitive as fighting Bowser in Super Mario Bros. The main villain who Sonic must defeat after every level is Dr. Robotnik, a mad scientist whose goal is to transform the cute and cuddly denizens of the land of Mobius into hostile robot servants who act as the enemies in the game. He appears with a new flying contraption at the end of every act, with some having a wrecking ball at the end, a lava spurter that engulfs the ground with fire, a needle that picks up debris, etc. Sonic must hit him a certain number of times to defeat him and pop a capsule filled with intact animals in a capsule after the fight. Each encounter requires a different strategy to contend with and the final fight is a tense duel that tests the player's reflexes. While each boss is technically the same, Robotnik's varied ideas to defeat Sonic with his hovercraft are more refreshing than most boss encounters in the Mario games.

Sega presented both their 16-bit console and their mascot with brash swagger. They exalted their status as the new reigning champions of gaming right out of the gate, and some people were thoroughly convinced. Based on Sonic's first title on the Sega Genesis, I feel like Sega's overconfidence blew up in their faces. Sonic the Hedgehog has plenty of stellar attributes to brag about in many regards. The console's "blast processing" gave leeway to design a video game with an unparalleled speed that blew every 8-bit game on the NES out of the water from a technical standpoint. Sonic was fresh exciting, and there was nothing quite like him at the time. Unfortunately, the only aspect of Sega's braggadocious demeanor that can be supported by the content of Sonic the Hedgehog is Green Hill Zone: the superior level that fully realizes the potential of Sonic and makes the game fun. Every other level gives off the impression that Sonic's initial prerogative of exhilarating speed was lost in the development cycle to an appalling degree. The company cannot seriously support their confidence with one measly level, leaving me unconvinced of Sonic's quality in his early days.

Allow me to give a brief retrospective:

In the 80s, Sega was struggling to find success in the house console business. The SC-1000 line of consoles failed in Japan and the Sega Master System couldn't compete against the NES. In 1990, the SNES was about to release with a strong library of some of the best games of all time, one of would be Super Mario World. Meanwhile, Sega still hadn't found a reliable system seller for the then two year old Sega Genesis. A small team of 8 developers were tasked to create a game featuring a new mascot for the company. This became Sonic the Hedgehog and the team of eight named themselves Sonic Team.

It was during the series's 20th anniversary when I first experienced what had then become known as the Classic Sonic games. I was 10 and owned a brown Nintendo DSi XL. My father had got me a copy of Sonic Classic Collection. The first time I played Sonic the Hedgehog, I couldn't pass Green Hill Act 3. It was too different from what I was used to. Sonic's speed would cap out, there was no Spindash or boost, and his controls when spinning felt difficult to control. At 10, I wasn't ready to adapt and instead moved on to the second game.

Fast forward to today, I can no longer count how many times I've played and finished this game. I've used emulation and now own a Genesis copy just to get the most authentic experience. I will review the game on a level to level basis.

And now the review:

Green Hill Zone is the most famous in the series and for good reason. It is the most open-ended and we'll designed zone in the game, all 3 acts. It can best be separated into three paths: a top, a middle, and a bottom. The top is the quickest and most rewarding yet very difficult to maintain. The player needs to master Sonic's intuitive, albeit imperfect, control of momentum in order to skillfully maintain the upper path. The middle path is maderatley difficult. The bottom path is slow, platform heavy, and sometimes punishing. It is also important to point out that Sonic the Hedgehog isn't all about speed, contrary to what the name implies. Speed is really just sugarcoating and is rarely used as the focus of the game. Sonic has a cap to his speed running normally but spinning down an incline will give him a huge boost of speed. Fittingly, moving up an incline will slow him down. This concept of using momentum to move through levels is explored throughout the game, but never as extensively as in Green Hill making the following levels run of the mill in comparison. The quality progression of Sonic the Hedgehog can be broken down into Green Hill and the rest.

Marble Zone follows and it's immediately clear to the player that the fun is over. Marble Zone is blocky and linear. The player will play the level the same way and follow the same path every time. There aren't many chances to explore and the enclosed spaces force the player to tread slowly. Spring Yard Zone comes next bringing with it more difficult obstacles and tons of orbs fixed on the air bouncing Sonic out of control. This level returns to a greater focus on momentum and it challenges the player in some unique and fun ways. It has a neat aesthetic, and the music is catchy. I should also point out that I don't mind the slower moments in either of these two zones. Then we get to the infamous Labyrinth Zone. This level plops the player under water. Sonic's underwater movement is slow and sluggish and the drowning mechanic is nerve-wracking. The level design also returns to that of Marble Zone, all blocky and littered with spikes. Sometimes the player is blindsided by traps. The boss is also similarly frustrating.

The bosses in this game are pretty basic. I don't have a lot to say about them. You got the wrecking ball, fire shitter, and block stabber in the first three levels. All are slight modifications to the main antagonist's hovercraft. Dr. Robotnik is the main antagonist of these early Sonic games. In this game, he has built a robot factory where he kidnaps animals and puts them in robots. The animals act as batteries you see, and jumping into them frees the animals inside. Robotnik wants to concur South Island by transforming all life into mechanical scrap. It's up to Sonic to collect all 6 Chaos Emeralds to undo the damage after Robotnik is defeated. Robotnik is also searching for the emeralds.

This leads us to the Special Stages. When the player finishes an Act with 50 rings or more, a giant ring will appear at the end. The player will jump into the ring and be transfered to this psychedelic rotating dream maze. Sonic is spinning perpetually and the player needs to move him through the maze to wherever the Chaos Emerald may be. There are six Special Stages total. Special Stages can be accessed in the first two acts of each zone except for Scrap Brain.

Starlight Zone is considered the second best in the game but I consider it the my third favorite. It's just a little dull. So is the boss. Dr Robotnik just flys around and drops bombs on seesaws. You need to use the seesaws to send the bombs back at him. Scrap Brain Zone is Dr. Robotnik's hideout and is the meant to be the most challenging stage, but Sonic Team accomplish this by spamming as many obstacles as possible all the way to the end of the zone. It's not necessarily that difficult, just a little obnoxious. Then there is act 3 where Robotnik sends Sonic to his chaotic version of Labyrinth Zone. Once you pass that, you face Robotnik one last time with no rings. The boss is hard if you don't know what you're doing. Otherwise it's easy. The game ends with Sonic returning to Green Hill Zone and credits.

Sonic the Hedgehog went on to garner critical acclaim and was even compared to it's main competition, Super Mario World. Now, I've played Super Mario World and I don't find Sonic the Hedgehog comparable to it at all. Super Mario World is an impossibly dense game that can take hours the best and days to 100%. Sonic the Hedgehog can not only be beat but completed in around 30 minutes. It's gameplay concept is imperfect and most levels are to similar to platformers of the past. The game is also rather difficult by today's standards making it less approachable than most games in the series. On the other hand, Sonic the Hedgehog introduced a fun new idea that would be improved and polished with games to come. One things for certain, Sonic the Hedgehog put Sega on the map and launched the company into a new era.

Para mi siempre estarán los héroes musicales y los de videojuegos.

Mario y Sonic son muy importantes para mi, el primer titulo de Sonic me parece el mejor y mas completo juego de consolas antiguas de su momento.

Esa música y jugabilidad no la supera nadie.

¡A por mas Sonic!

I actually beat Sonic The Hedgehog (1991) and I really enjoyed it.

Sonic The Hedgehog was made to combat the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System and their mascot, Super Mario. Their mascot at the time was Alex Kidd which obviously wasn't doing very well to fight Nintendo and their plumber. So they decided to make a new mascot. A mascot that exuded 90's energy. Thus the blue blur, Sonic The Hedgehog was born and it was an immediate success. This led to the famous marketing campaign, "Sega does what Nintendon't". At the time, Sonic vs. Mario was an actual valid argument.

Now has the game aged well? Kinda...

The main gimmick and selling point of Sonic The Hedgehog (1991) is speed. The game is all about gaining momentum and beating the level as fast as possible. Make less mistakes and you might beat the level faster.

Now, unfortunately, after Green Hill Zone (One of the most famous and perfect 2D levels to ever exist), The zones don't really let you go too fast and they are just trial and error until you get through the Acts which there are 3 each in this one which can bog the pacing down (Ironic).

The Special Stages are also awful but I was able to get the 6 (?) Chaos Emeralds anyways which just gives you an alternate ending.

The game is still fun but it's mainly just setting the groundwork for Sonic The Hedgehog 2 which is far better.

Sonic The Hedgehog (1991) is a nice commodity but it aged a little poorly. Can't wait to play through Sonic The Hedgehog 2 which is considered better in every way