Sonic the Hedgehog

Surrendering to what seemed like a year's worth of Mediocrity after Super Mario Galaxy, now im going back to my roots, one of the consoles that seemed to define Video Games for me, and also spured one of the most iconic Video Game Characters ever, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog, according to my Mother and Father, was the first Video Game i ever played, BUT, this version WAS NOT the first game i ever played. The first game i ever played was infact, the Master System version of this game, a game that is probably not all that familiar in the home of fat people and USA Today Magazine (if you havent figured out already, and dear joseph i hope you have, i mean America), see, the Master System didnt cut it in the Western Market, BUT it DID cut it in Europe and Brazil...and where do i live, yeah, Europe. Awesome. Anyway, what did i think of this game? instant classic, or instant Dud?

Sonic the Hedgehog was invented when Sega were trying to find a new Mascot (Alex Kidd was there last official Mascot) to compete with Worldwide Video Game sensation, Super Mario. Sega went through many Character Designs, after eventually creating Sonic the Hedgehog, his codename at first was "Mr Needlemouse". Sonic the Hedgehog (The Game) was released on the 23rd June 1991. The game was met with huge critical success, straight away making great use of the Mascot character, and showing the world exactly what Sonic Team could produce. It pushed the Sega Genesis into critical fame in North America and the rest of the world. The game also produced alot of the things that are in later Sonic games, such as Spring Boards, Loops, Rings etc.

In Sonic the Hedgehog, you'll be playing across 6 Zones, and a Final Zone. Sounds short doesnt it? and well...Yeah, it kind of is, but believe me, it plays to its advantage. Its one of those games where you play it once, and think "Wow...Theres not gonna be many games better than that for a while, huh?", and thats also correct, Sonic the Hedgehog is ALOT of fun. Its such a speedy, casual game, you can just pick it up, and if you get into it enough, complete the game. But thats not to say that Sonic the Hedgehog doesnt have its Con's too, its just out-done by the Pro's.

But what IS bad about the game? you dare ask me? well, ill fill you in. The Green Hill Zone is always going to remain your favorite Zone, why is that bad? because its the first Zone. Why the Star Light Zone is very speedy with its gallons of Loops and Twirls, The Green Hill Zone is just SO much fun to play, its a very easy Zone, and the Speed that you gather on that Zone is just intense, exciting even, and thats the idea of Sonic the Hedgehog, THE SPEED. You know, i think Sega could really take a lesson out of this, i mean, Sonic the Hedgehog was ridiculous fun and all, but it also slowed down and almost became a kind of "Puzzle" game in later levels. So yeah, less puzzles sometimes, a bit more speed.

The Labyrinth Zone is perhaps some of the most annoying levels in Video Game History. Seriously, Water, doesnt work. Its almost like im going back a few years and playing Super Mario Brothers for the NES...except there water system was by FAR better. I wished Sega took a lesson from this criticism...but once again, theres a water level in Sonic 2 and 3. When your in the Water, the level just becomes so slow, and with that, Sonic becomes dull and boring and not only that, it frustrates you ALOT (much like Sonic's newer outings...oh i went there).

Also these are just a few minor complaints, the framerate of the game sometimes wont let up, for example when you get hit by an enemy, and you were holding alot of Rings, sometimes the framerate drops significantly for around 5 seconds. Also, this is something i havent experienced for a long time cause' games have gone all pussy on us these days, GAME OVER. I actually GAME OVER'd on the last level of the WHOLE GAME. I felt like i might cry...ofcourse i didnt, because im a man...*Manly Cry*, so yeah, the game gets more frustrating as time goes by.

Now for the Pro's of the Game, and believe me, theres plenty. First off, its Sonic the Freakin' Hedgehog, hes amazing, he has attitude, and if your like me and you grew up with his instant classic outings, he means so much more to you than "Just a Video Game Character" hes a freakin' icon, hes a blue dude, and he has attitude. Heck, how cool have you got to be to have your own show...no scratch that, 4 FREAKIN' SHOWS. Secondly, the Graphics look absolutely amazing. Sonic looks so lush, and so does all the backgrounds in the game, i dont know what the Heck "Blast Processing" is, but i sure dont mind it if you can do THIS with it, and ofcourse, the sound in this game is instantly memorable, this soundtrack will have you singing it into next century...does that make sense?...yeah, next century.

The Gameplay? oh boy, is it great. Alot of the time, Sonic the Hedgehog is both fast and exciting, other times it slows you down a bit, which, you know, ruins the fun a bit, and sometimes there are almost puzzle parts, which move alot slower, this isnt nessesarily a bad thing most of the time, the slowing down just happens too often to be considered a good thing. The Bonus Rounds inwhich you have to gain the Chaos Emeralds were alot of fun, never got boring, and were challenging also, which is great.

Now one of my favorite aspects of this game is a few simple things. One, Robotnik is the villain. See, in the newer Sonic games you have all sorts of Villians, but with this one, its just an epic battle between Robotnik and Sonic. Secondly, Sonic the Hedgehog, is the ONLY playable character, this really works for this game because they can show exactly what Sonic is like, his personality in ways etc. It just seems that Sonic has such an unnessesary cast of people, when to be honest, the Hedgehog and perhaps the first two side characters (Tails and Knuckles) are the only ones anyone cares about.

Now the difficulty is a great thing in this game, because i think they really hit the right balance for this game, you ARE going to have to use your Continues, but the Continues are generous enough for you to get to the end of the game. The game is going to get more frustrating in later levels, but saying that so does every other game in history, so thats just a standard, and finally, another great thing about this game, is that theres Loops...everywhere. They have really fallen behind with the Sonic World in the new games, concentrating much more on the Real World, instead of Mobious, but with this game, its just you, the Sonic Realm and Spring Boards and Loop's EVERYWHERE. Fantastic.

In Conclusion, Sonic the Hedgehog is one of those "Almost Fantastic/Classic" Games, it IS Classic, dont get me wrong, but tiny little alterations to the series in later games could easily make them some of the best games on the Market, Ever. Sonic hits the line where only a handfull of Video Games have hit before it, and with Style. Faster than the speed of sound, hes Sonic the Hedgehog, and hes just amazing.