Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)

**laserboy1134** · 04-01-2009, 03:41 PM

Sonic may be a joke as far as gamers are concerned now, but when this game came out, he was AWESOME. Let me give a review of it.

History
When the 8-bit consoles came out, the master-system lost to the NES due to it's lack of awesome, sure it had Alex Kid, but Mario stepped on him like a goomba and he was forgotten. The NES was still king, and the Genesis was the first 16-bit system.
The Genesis had a lot of things going for it, but it really didn't have a great mascot, then there was Sonic.
In 1991, they wanted to show the Genesis' power, and Sonic did that, with his speed, he made Mario look like a real plumber, one with an arm halfway submerged in... stuff.
What is it that made us love Sonic, three real things.

1. He was cool

Sonic was total awesome, he had an attitude, he didn't feel like a "super serial" hero like Link or a fat hero like Mario, he felt cool.

2. He was fast

Sonic ran fast, and showed the Genesis' power greatly, playing his game made you feel a rush, so they managed to make a gaming adrenaline rush.

3. He was even more fun than Mario

This is my opinion, but I would rather play Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, etc. than Mario. I feel like I just have more fun playing them.

Graphics
As an early Genesis title, Sonic showed the world what 16-bit can be, fast, furious, fun, and beautiful. The frame-rate held up, there was no slow-down, and the character models and environments were beautiful for a game made in 1991, especially compared to what Nintendo was doing at the time.

Sound
Though Genesis only sounded slightly better than 16 bits, Sonic had some great music and sound effects, the themes are all memorable, the sound effects are good, and that makes it sound good.

Fun Factor
Sonic was fun to play, due to the adrenaline rush of speed and the fun game play. The game had traditional platforming, using the rings collected as health (one hit drains all rings, then if you get hit without them, Sonic dies) and some sweet power-ups, and a speed cinematic that just had Sonic run, though these were mindless, everybody loved them. The bonus stages were mazes that had you collecting chaos emeralds, these were hard and fun, it was best to take your time, but you wanted to keep going. (Don't stay on these too long, they will give you a headache after a while) Boss fights were fun, and beating Robotnik (Or Eggman) was satisfying.

Replay value
No continues or save points already make it a while before you beat it, but even then, you must collect all the emeralds to continue on, and the bonus stages were hard, meaning that you will spend a while beating it once, and it's good for 2 or 3 play throughs AT LEAST.

Challenge
Sonic is pretty hard, the level design is difficult, the boss fights will crush you later, and the bonus stages are hard, thankfully, Sega gave you one motivation to keep you going

Fun

In short, Sonic is a must-play for almost anyone, and I cannot imagine why somebody would hate this game.

P.S.

I gave it a 5 because of the review system here, It didn't factor in fun factor, so I factored it in myself, giving it about a 5 average.

**xfighter1138** · 04-01-2009, 03:49 PM

That was a very well done review Laserboy.

**Kugyince** · 04-01-2009, 07:01 PM

My only two major problems with Sonic was it was easy and there wasn't much of a replay value in it. The graphics were on par for a 16-bit game but the sounds were quite memorable, even for a non-Genesis fan like myself. Being that this is about the first Sonic, I'll give it a 3. (Extra point for making the Genesis what it is.)

**laserboy1134** · 04-01-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenser

My only two major problems with Sonic was it was easy and there wasn't much of a replay value in it. The graphics were on par for a 16-bit game but the sounds were quite memorable, even for a non-Genesis fan like myself. Being that this is about the first Sonic, I'll give it a 3. (Extra point for making the Genesis what it is.)

I stand by my opinion, the game's challenge was more based off trying to get power ups/rings, and some pretty hard platforming, and the game was fun enough for multiple plays. I think the graphics showed what 16-bit was able to do and really was what pushed Nintendo to go 16-bit.

**Kugyince** · 04-01-2009, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laserboy1134

I stand by my opinion, the game's challenge was more based off trying to get power ups/rings, and some pretty hard platforming, and the game was fun enough for multiple plays. I think the graphics showed what 16-bit was able to do and really was what pushed Nintendo to go 16-bit.

I'm not challenging your opinion in any way. You're entitled to your own opinion after all. I was just expressing mine.

As for replay value, I just feel the game could have benefited from a difficulty setting and alternate routes. Any game can be enjoyed a second time around. To me replay value indicates how much more of a difference you can encounter the second, third, and fourth time playing it.

**Slime Slayer** · 04-02-2009, 12:11 AM

sonic had awsome graphics, and yes it showed what the genesis could do, for me problems are control and gameplay.

**Kugyince** · 04-02-2009, 12:42 AM

Graphics wise:
Sonic 1
-or-
Super Mario World

**Slime Slayer** · 04-02-2009, 01:29 AM

equal, to be considered different styles

**laserboy1134** · 04-02-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenser

Graphics wise:
Sonic 1
-or-
Super Mario World

Super Mario World was for a much more powerful system than Genesis, and Sonic's graphics were amazing for the platform due to the constant great frame-rates and speed.

**Kugyince** · 04-02-2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laserboy1134

Super Mario World was for a much more powerful system than Genesis, and Sonic's graphics were amazing for the platform due to the constant great frame-rates and speed.

The systems themselves are pretty comparable. While the SNES does have overall better hardware the Genesis did have a much faster processor.

**laserboy1134** · 04-02-2009, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenser

The systems themselves are pretty comparable. While the SNES does have overall better hardware the Genesis did have a much faster processor.

And the processing speed shows during the game, making it just as good as Mario World.

**Kugyince** · 04-02-2009, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laserboy1134

And the processing speed shows during the game, making it just as good as Mario World.

I agree since I'm not a fan of Mario either. My only arguement would be that SMW had a ton of secrets which does give it some replay value.

**laserboy1134** · 04-02-2009, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenser

I agree since I'm not a fan of Mario either. My only arguement would be that SMW had a ton of secrets which does give it some replay value.

Sonic had the chaos emeralds, giving it replay value to get them all. Also, Sonic was much more fun.

**CaptonRon** · 04-05-2009, 01:11 AM

When this game came out it was so fast. you really have to put it in perspective with other games at that time. as it plays today it doesn't seem so much, but in 1991 there was pretty much nothing faster.

**laserboy1134** · 05-17-2009, 02:56 PM

And Tenser: Care to explain how Sonic isn't challenging?

**Mareeps** · 10-21-2009, 07:10 PM

i used to play this game when i was about 6.
i could never get past act 3 of the labyrinth zone. if it wasnt drowning that did me in, it was spikes or underwater fireballs.