Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game that consists of 13 releases

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The inaugural game in Sega's flagship series sees you take control of a blue hedgehog known as Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog infused conventional platforming with thrilling speed.

Overview

In a time where a fat mustachioed plumber was king of the videogame industry, Sega dared to challenge the throne in the form of Sonic the Hedgehog. Though on the surface Sonic the Hedgehog was just another side-scrolling platformer, it was the quirky momentum-based physics engine and extreme speed that set it apart from the pack. As Sonic would run down a hill, he would naturally pick up speed and running up hill would cause Sonic to slow down. Rolling down a hill streamlined Sonic to wind resistance, enabling speeds so fast the game's own camera had a hard time keeping up with him.

The basic premise of this Sonic game (and indeed, most Sonic games) is to get from the start of the level to the end of the level while grabbing as many rings, destroying as many enemies, and going as fast as possible. Sonic's health is measured by the very rings he collects for points; as long as Sonic is carrying at least one ring, he can survive most damage inflicted upon him. Power-ups further strengthen his defense in the form of damage-absorbing shields and temporary invincibility, as well as power shoes that increase the game's trademark speed to even crazier levels of velocity. Wide-open levels offer multiple routes to the finish line, each one having unique advantages and disadvantages. Each "world" is broken up in to three acts, and at the end of the third act, Sonic faces off against his arch-nemesis, Doctor Eggman (aka Doctor Robotnik), who is often armed with some crazy weapon.

Plot

As with most games of the era, the majority of the game's plot is contained within the instruction manual. Essentially, Doctor Eggman is capturing all of the animals on Sonic's home of South Island to act as power sources for his robot army, and he desires the power of the six mystical Chaos Emeralds to help further his world domination plot. Sonic doesn't like the sound of this, and sets off to rescue his animal friends and collect the emeralds before Eggman.

Levels

Zones There are six different zones (level) contained in Sonic The Hedgehog, each of which has its own unique aesthetic. There are three acts to each zone. They are: Green Hill Zone: This first zone sees the first appearance of some famous Sonic trademarks. Players whirl through checkered loop-de-loops and speed past palm trees against a vibrant and colourful background. At the end of act three, Dr. Robotnik shows up in a pendulum-like device that swings a large ball back and forth across the screen.

Dr. Robotnik, as the first boss in a Sonic game.

Dr. Eggman, as the first boss in a Sonic game.

Marble Zone:

The Marble Zone

This zone puts players in an ancient ruin that is apparently in close proximity to a volcano. Players are forced to avoid lava lakes and waterfalls and they jump from platform to platform. After, Dr. Robotnik arrives with a flamethrower mounted under his ship and proceeds to drop flames on the two platforms, which are on either end of the screen. Spring Yard Zone: This mountainous zone places the player in a giant pinball themed stage. Players must push through copious bumpers and avoid steep slopes as they make their way to the end of act three, where Dr. Robotnik waits. Here, he has a giant spike attached to the bottom of his ship, he proceeds to break apart the platforms the player walks on, effectively making this battle harder, the longer it goes on.

The Spring Yard Zone

Labyrinth Zone:

Underwater in the Labyrinth Zone

Here, players are put into an ancient maze that has sunken into the sea. This is arguably the most difficult stage in the game, as players are introduced to a new gameplay mechanic, water. While submerged, the player can jump higher, but is slower and will drown if an air bubble is not consumed every so often. At the end of this zone, players must chase Dr. Robotnik through a vertical corridor, while avoiding spears and, of course, the rising water level. Star Light Zone: This starry zone is set amongst an aerial construction site. Players will have to avoid some high-powered fan, that will impede their progress, while utilizing others to advance in the level. At the end of act three, players will have to use see-saw like devices in order to hurls spike balls up at Dr. Robotnik, who will continuously drop spike balls down on the player.

Star Light Zone

Scrap Brain Zone:

Scrap Brain Zone

The final zone of the game is set in one of Dr. Robotnik’s grimy, polluted industrious cities. Players will have to avoid saws and traverse conveyor belts as they make their way through the level. In act three, players have to re-live an environment similar to that in the Labyrinth Zone. This area, however, has a certain touch of Dr. Robotnik about it. The water is polluted, and the walls a dull grey. Once players finish this, they will face off against Dr. Robotnik in the final boss battle of the game. Here, there are four pistons. Two pistons will simultaneously move and try to crush the player, the doctor will appear in one of these, and it is up to the player to use their reflexes in order to hit the right one. The End If you fail to concern yourself with Chaos Emeralds and complete the game short a few, your joyful ending sequence is spoiled by Dr. Robotnik, who triumphantly juggles the leftover Emeralds and challenges you to "Try Again." To get the good ending, you need all 6 Emeralds which can only be acquired from the game's 6 Special Stages.

Soundtrack

Music for Sonic the Hedgehog was composed by Masato Nakamura, Bass Guitarist for Japanese Pop Music band Dreams Come True. Masato would mail each song on cassette to Sega's offices, where they would then translate the melody to a music format the Sega Genesis could understand. A number of songs submitted were based off of similar melodies found in popular Dreams Come True tracks.

Development History

Rabbit Concept Art

After the Sega Master System failed to set the world on fire, Sega knew they needed something big to strike back at their biggest competitor - Nintendo. April of 1990, they held a contest internally among development teams in an effort to create a game to define the company. Sega's AM8 development studio (later renamed to SonicTeam) decided that the game should be fast, but simple to control. Many design ideas were tossed around - a bulldog, a rabbit that picked objects up with his ears - but the decision came down to the act of the character rolling in to a ball and down hills to gain speed. It eventually came down to a hedgehog or an armadillo - and in the end, the hedgehog won out. Initially called "Mr. Hedgehog" internally, he was later renamed as Sonic the Hedgehog, becoming the flagship mascot for parent company Sega.

Trivia

Sonic was originally a light shade of blue, however testers had a difficult time telling Sonic apart from the blue sky. One of the last changes made to the game before being shipped was to change Sonic's palette to a much darker shade of cobalt.
Though the concept of a Rabbit that picks up and throws objects with his ears was rejected for Sonic, the concept was revisited by SonicTeam and eventually became Ristar: The Shooting Star.
The Armadillo concept also resurfaced later in SegaSonic the Hedgehog for Arcades and Knuckles Chaotix on the 32X, as the character Mighty The Armadillo.
Initially this game was to contain a full featured sound test in which to listen to the game's soundtrack, complete with a fully-animated "Sonic the Hedgehog Band" that would play along to the tune.

Sonic the Hedgehog Band

Sonic was intended to be on vocals, with friends Sharps the Chicken on lead guitar, Max the Monkey on bass, and Vector the Crocodile on keyboard. This animation had to be removed to make room for the digitized "Sega!" voice chime that greets you when you first boot up the game. Though most of the band members were scrapped, Vector the Crocodile later resurfaced in Knuckles Chaotix for the 32X and was brought back as part of the Chaotix Detective Agency in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog.
Much of this game's art style was inspired by early 3D Graphics work. In the Sonic Jam Official Japanese Strategy Guide (written personally by Sonicteam), Yuji Naka recalls that the team had a difficult time recreating the angular, vectorized 3D graphics visual style using hand-drawn pixel artwork.

Credits

Producer

Shinobu Toyoda

Game Planner

Hirokazu Yasuhara

Programmer

Yuji Naka

Design

Naoto Ohshima
Jina Ishiwatari
Reiko Kodama

Character Design

Naoto Ohshima

Sound Producer

Masato Nakamura

Sound Programmer

Yukifumi Makino
Hiroshi Kubota

SEGA Master System and Game Gear version

Overview and differences

Sonic The Hedgehog on the Master System is similar to the Mega Drive/Genesis version in some respects, but is overall a very different game.

Unlike the 16-bit version Sonic cannot recollect rings after being damaged by an enemy.
The Chaos Emeralds appear in the levels as opposed to appearing in the Special Stages which only contain rings.
With the exception of Scrap Brain Zone (Act 3) no boss zones contain rings or Badniks. This made the boss fights much more difficult than were on the 16-bit version of the game.

The Game Gear version features sign posts warning the player of upcoming spike pits. This is because the Game Gear screen was much smaller and narrower than a TV screen, making the game slightly harder.
There is one Continue hidden in each of the eight Special Stages, unlike the 16-bit version where gaining a Continue was based on the player's ring count.

Levels

Each level (also known as Zones or Rounds according to the back of the game box) are made up of three acts. The third act in each zone contains that zones boss which is always Dr. Robotnik in different machine. In addition to these levels there are eight Special Stages. These can be accessed by beating any of the first two acts of a level with 50 or more rings.

Zones in play though order:

Green Hill Zone
Bridge Zone
Jungle Zone
Labyrinth Zone
Scrap Brain Zone
Sky Base Zone

Varied level designs

Sonic The Hedgehog on the Master System/Game Gear contains two zones that contain unique design elements for the series.

The first one is Bridge Zone (Act 2 ) which features a scrolling screen that moves independently of the player. This effectively forces the player to keep moving until the end of the zone, but also means that the player cannot speed through the zone in true Sonic style. The other unique zone is Jungle Zone (Act 2), which features a vertical design rather than the traditional horizontal layout. The screen adjusts as Sonic moves up the zone but it does not go back down, so touching the bottom of the screen results in instant death.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance Game Gear Genesis Sega Master System iPod Xbox Live Marketplace Wii Shop
Publisher(s)	Sega
Developer(s)	Sonic Team
Genres	Add a new genre Action Platformer
Themes	Add a new theme Fantasy
Original US Release	June 23, 1991 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases