Maybe my standards were affected by experiencing the original Sonic the Hedgehog on only an iPhone touch screen for many years, but my playthrough on the PS2’s Mega Collection Plus version was pretty enjoyable.
It’s an exceptionally simple platformer, even by 1991 design, but Sonic 1 has moments in every level that really capture a sense of speed from loop-de-loops, bumpers, and springs. During the times that you’re really moving fast, taking damage isn’t actually a huge penalty because you always have a few seconds to regain some of your health after a hit. Holding onto enough rings to enter the special stages at the end of a stage requires a lot of planning and can fall into trial-and-error territory. However, the whole game also has a great soundtrack and level aesthetics, which helps out the slower-paced Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone a lot. With how short and easy the game (if you’re not focused on getting all the Master Emeralds), it’s an essential experience for those interested in video game history.
I think that Sonic makes much more sense as an armadillo though.
It’s an exceptionally simple platformer, even by 1991 design, but Sonic 1 has moments in every level that really capture a sense of speed from loop-de-loops, bumpers, and springs. During the times that you’re really moving fast, taking damage isn’t actually a huge penalty because you always have a few seconds to regain some of your health after a hit. Holding onto enough rings to enter the special stages at the end of a stage requires a lot of planning and can fall into trial-and-error territory. However, the whole game also has a great soundtrack and level aesthetics, which helps out the slower-paced Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone a lot. With how short and easy the game (if you’re not focused on getting all the Master Emeralds), it’s an essential experience for those interested in video game history.
I think that Sonic makes much more sense as an armadillo though.
After a far longer period of time than I had been meaning to carry things on for, I have finally played one of the games about the funny blue Hedgehog that isn't Mania, and in the end, this isn't very good despite the potential that it clearly had. The stark difference in core design philosophy featured in this game compared to a lot of the other 2D platformers of the time is a pretty interesting one that pervades each element of the game and makes an experience that for the time feels remarkably fresh and interesting at a base level. The way that Sonic controls, being a bit heavier with a stronger emphasis on speed and momentum is reflected not just with the raw game feel providing the player with far looser obstacles which they approach when compared to the far more refined and methodical feel of something like Mario, but even in terms of what is expected of the player. At its best, the physics system that the player interacts with throughout feels very multifaceted in how it affects the game, not only being used to craft moments that rely on fast reflexes due to how quickly you can blitz through certain areas if you know what you're doing, but it can also be used both as a way to provide further verticality and mild puzzle solving to stages, bolstering its sense of exploration.
Another way in which Sonic 1 was able to separate itself from its contemporaries is the way that it further reinforced that the game was looking at a far less precise platforming style through its ring system. While I've seen this often criticised as a flawed system that essentially allows the player to indefinitely survive as long as they're holding a single ring, with anything higher than that feeling far less impactful than it should, I feel like it fits the game series perfectly with what it's trying to achieve. By structuring the player's HP system in such a way, it not only mitigates some of the frustrating aspects that can arise with going so quickly that you get hit with something you barely had time to react to, but it actually further encourages this slightly reckless way to play the game, since they know that if played right there'll be very little tangible penalty beyond having just lost their momentum. Almost everything about the core of this game serves to strengthen and establish a lot of its design pillars in a clever, cohesive and understated way, forming a strong identity for the franchise to have built itself upon, so it's unfortunate that despite all this, the game itself just isn't great.
Basically everything about Sonic The Hedgehog falls apart once you take the level design into account, and this is really unfortunate. The pacing of the game is pretty stilted in how it's executed, switching between stages that fully want to utilise the movement system presented to the player, and then grinding to a painful halt and transforming into a mediocre mid paced platformer that doesn't quite understand the tools the player has to work with. Green Hill zone is the obvious high point of the game and serves as an opening stage absolutely perfectly, not just incorporating all the core ideas that go into a good Sonic stage, but doing it while having just the right amount of difficulty to get the player perfectly settled into the experience. The stages each have a variety of branching paths and a profound sense of openness, you can run around madly without ever feeling like you're taking the wrong direction, but upon looking a bit closer you can more clearly see the variety of challenges presented to the player and how they all seamlessly connect. The ability to go blindingly fast is essentially designed as a reward rather than the way the player is always expected to tackle the situation, with these faster section often being placed after some vaguely more precise, slow elements of the area. This is able to present a more well-rounded look into the dynamic of the game as a whole without ever feeling cumbersome, with these slower sections both feeling natural, and still usually feeling as if you can get into a sort of rhythm with them to maintain a lot of your pace. Secrets are scattered all across as well to reward exploration across these sprawling stages, along with being able to utilise the physics system in a more complex way without it feeling unfair to the casual player.
For as fantastic as this is, green hill is unfortunately the only of the 6 stages I think is truly amazing, each having their own problems associated with them that tank the experience to a degree. Star Light is the least egregious of the remaining stages, once again attempting a stronger focus on providing the player opportunities to increase their speed, along with being a very open collection of levels that encourage that sense of exploration again. What ends up making it a far less engaging stage is that these speedy sections are closer to scripted setpieces as opposed to the more natural sense of increasing the pace, giving the level a sense of being very concrete in "this part wants you to be fast" and "this part needs you to grind to a halt", which is further exacerbated by the invincible bomb enemies that litter the stages. It's still fun in a lot of places, but certainly has enough questionable moments stopping it from being outright great. Spring yard feels similar but with a few key differences that simultaneously make it far more interesting while also not being as fun. More than any other zone, this area focuses so strongly on utilising the potential of the momentum you can gain for some insane tricks you can do, but it doesn't end up being quite enough to offset the one-two punch of questionable enemy placement with the most noticeable case of repeated obstacles in the game, making the zone as a whole feel rather repetitive and homogenous comparatively, once again being fine, but not even that good to me either.
It's the pacebreaker stages that really put the nails in the coffin of the game for me though, and while I think that the idea of using these slower stages as a way to "allow players to catch their breath after the previous zone's speed" is certainly an interesting idea, it just ends up being awful. I feel like the idea in the first place is a rather flawed one that fundamentally misunderstands the dynamic of this game regardless, especially with each of the faster stages having a very clear balance between fast paced platforming and more methodical exploration that never is purely about the idea of "going fast" but even with that aside, the way that marble, labyrinth and scrap brain zone each are handled is just awful in general. Going a bit slower is one thing in a game like this, but the absolute crawl and the obscene amount of doing nothing that goes on in marble zone immediately kills any sense of excitement that the player might have had after leaving the legendary green hill. The more linear approach taken here further weakens the experience by feeling as if it completely removes such a fundamental element of level design with its lack of exploration, and the way in which the levels progress feel entirely aimless and slapdash in its placement of obstacles, leading to long, aimless levels of boredom and frustration. Labyrinth zone feels very similar, except it replaces some of the waiting with awful underwater parts that make you feel as if you're controlling Sonic through a giant pool of molasses. There's also a lot of nonsense that gets thrown at the player that basically requires pre-existing knowledge of what's coming next to be able to effectively avoid danger, and while some elements of trial and error aren't really inherently bad, with the awful save system in this either making you start the game from the very beginning if you lose all your lives, or use a continue if you actually were able to make it through one of the nauseating special stages, every piece of poor placement is made 10 times worse.
It's honestly pretty amazing how much this game got right nonetheless, not only with its core dynamics and systems being pretty effectively established, but you've also got some simple yet creative boss fights, a cool aesthetic, and some of the greatest video game music out there, it's really almost a classic. That said it's also a showcase about how a single bad element can bring down the experience massively, as traversing most of the levels here is either mediocre or outright awful, and you end up getting left with a game that peaks in the first level and never comes close to regaining its quality afterwards. I love a lot about what this does, and the potential for the game is undoubtedly insane, which is why I think this ended up taking off despite its flaws, but at the end of the day, this really sucks to play too often for me to have said I particularly enjoyed most of my time with Sonic the Hedgehog regardless, even if it makes me more interested in getting around to its sequels.
Another way in which Sonic 1 was able to separate itself from its contemporaries is the way that it further reinforced that the game was looking at a far less precise platforming style through its ring system. While I've seen this often criticised as a flawed system that essentially allows the player to indefinitely survive as long as they're holding a single ring, with anything higher than that feeling far less impactful than it should, I feel like it fits the game series perfectly with what it's trying to achieve. By structuring the player's HP system in such a way, it not only mitigates some of the frustrating aspects that can arise with going so quickly that you get hit with something you barely had time to react to, but it actually further encourages this slightly reckless way to play the game, since they know that if played right there'll be very little tangible penalty beyond having just lost their momentum. Almost everything about the core of this game serves to strengthen and establish a lot of its design pillars in a clever, cohesive and understated way, forming a strong identity for the franchise to have built itself upon, so it's unfortunate that despite all this, the game itself just isn't great.
Basically everything about Sonic The Hedgehog falls apart once you take the level design into account, and this is really unfortunate. The pacing of the game is pretty stilted in how it's executed, switching between stages that fully want to utilise the movement system presented to the player, and then grinding to a painful halt and transforming into a mediocre mid paced platformer that doesn't quite understand the tools the player has to work with. Green Hill zone is the obvious high point of the game and serves as an opening stage absolutely perfectly, not just incorporating all the core ideas that go into a good Sonic stage, but doing it while having just the right amount of difficulty to get the player perfectly settled into the experience. The stages each have a variety of branching paths and a profound sense of openness, you can run around madly without ever feeling like you're taking the wrong direction, but upon looking a bit closer you can more clearly see the variety of challenges presented to the player and how they all seamlessly connect. The ability to go blindingly fast is essentially designed as a reward rather than the way the player is always expected to tackle the situation, with these faster section often being placed after some vaguely more precise, slow elements of the area. This is able to present a more well-rounded look into the dynamic of the game as a whole without ever feeling cumbersome, with these slower sections both feeling natural, and still usually feeling as if you can get into a sort of rhythm with them to maintain a lot of your pace. Secrets are scattered all across as well to reward exploration across these sprawling stages, along with being able to utilise the physics system in a more complex way without it feeling unfair to the casual player.
For as fantastic as this is, green hill is unfortunately the only of the 6 stages I think is truly amazing, each having their own problems associated with them that tank the experience to a degree. Star Light is the least egregious of the remaining stages, once again attempting a stronger focus on providing the player opportunities to increase their speed, along with being a very open collection of levels that encourage that sense of exploration again. What ends up making it a far less engaging stage is that these speedy sections are closer to scripted setpieces as opposed to the more natural sense of increasing the pace, giving the level a sense of being very concrete in "this part wants you to be fast" and "this part needs you to grind to a halt", which is further exacerbated by the invincible bomb enemies that litter the stages. It's still fun in a lot of places, but certainly has enough questionable moments stopping it from being outright great. Spring yard feels similar but with a few key differences that simultaneously make it far more interesting while also not being as fun. More than any other zone, this area focuses so strongly on utilising the potential of the momentum you can gain for some insane tricks you can do, but it doesn't end up being quite enough to offset the one-two punch of questionable enemy placement with the most noticeable case of repeated obstacles in the game, making the zone as a whole feel rather repetitive and homogenous comparatively, once again being fine, but not even that good to me either.
It's the pacebreaker stages that really put the nails in the coffin of the game for me though, and while I think that the idea of using these slower stages as a way to "allow players to catch their breath after the previous zone's speed" is certainly an interesting idea, it just ends up being awful. I feel like the idea in the first place is a rather flawed one that fundamentally misunderstands the dynamic of this game regardless, especially with each of the faster stages having a very clear balance between fast paced platforming and more methodical exploration that never is purely about the idea of "going fast" but even with that aside, the way that marble, labyrinth and scrap brain zone each are handled is just awful in general. Going a bit slower is one thing in a game like this, but the absolute crawl and the obscene amount of doing nothing that goes on in marble zone immediately kills any sense of excitement that the player might have had after leaving the legendary green hill. The more linear approach taken here further weakens the experience by feeling as if it completely removes such a fundamental element of level design with its lack of exploration, and the way in which the levels progress feel entirely aimless and slapdash in its placement of obstacles, leading to long, aimless levels of boredom and frustration. Labyrinth zone feels very similar, except it replaces some of the waiting with awful underwater parts that make you feel as if you're controlling Sonic through a giant pool of molasses. There's also a lot of nonsense that gets thrown at the player that basically requires pre-existing knowledge of what's coming next to be able to effectively avoid danger, and while some elements of trial and error aren't really inherently bad, with the awful save system in this either making you start the game from the very beginning if you lose all your lives, or use a continue if you actually were able to make it through one of the nauseating special stages, every piece of poor placement is made 10 times worse.
It's honestly pretty amazing how much this game got right nonetheless, not only with its core dynamics and systems being pretty effectively established, but you've also got some simple yet creative boss fights, a cool aesthetic, and some of the greatest video game music out there, it's really almost a classic. That said it's also a showcase about how a single bad element can bring down the experience massively, as traversing most of the levels here is either mediocre or outright awful, and you end up getting left with a game that peaks in the first level and never comes close to regaining its quality afterwards. I love a lot about what this does, and the potential for the game is undoubtedly insane, which is why I think this ended up taking off despite its flaws, but at the end of the day, this really sucks to play too often for me to have said I particularly enjoyed most of my time with Sonic the Hedgehog regardless, even if it makes me more interested in getting around to its sequels.
I guess I have to pick who's the hottest character but pretty much the only ones here are Sonic and Robotnik but like, Sonic is pretty much a toddler in this game sooooo...
Robotnik is pretty fucking hot, and it's not something to be discussed as it is FACTS!!!!
Robotnik is pretty fucking hot, and it's not something to be discussed as it is FACTS!!!!
There are a lot of glaring rough edges in how it plays -- the movement and level design mostly don't gel well whether you're trying to go slow or fast -- but when you take a look (and hear) at the whole package, it becomes obvious why this was such a game changer. Still worth playing to understand why this flipped the gaming market on its head and feel its lasting influence not only on platformers, but games as a whole.
half the stages are really good and the other half suck dick
Green Hill Zone has been equal to Sonic to me until this time, but now I understand that other stages are goated as well.
STILL HASNT AGED WELL!
According to the advertising he pisses all over everything
gotta go fast!
top speed is 15 km/h
top speed is 15 km/h
Ah man, I did not like this one as much as I did when I was younger. The controls are unmanageable nowadays without a spin dash, and the levels... oh god the levels. Green Hill Zone is great, but then you get to the god-awful Marble Zone, then the slightly less bad yet still pretty mediocre Spring Yard Zone, and then you reach hell itself in the form of Labyrinth Zone, only for the game to tease you with Star Light Zone, a stage that's actually decent, and then go right back to Scrap Brain Zone where I don't even give a damn anymore. I'm sure the game was cool back when it was released, but the original version of Sonic 1 is a pain to get through, ESPECIALLY with all the Chaos Emeralds. If you're going to play this one, make sure it's one of the improved versions like the Christian Whitehead re-release.
i feel closer to NNCreature now
eu até diria q amei esse jogo se sonic 2 n existisse.
without this game there would be no sonic adventure 2 so that has to count for something
I hadn’t even been born when this game came out, so it’s safe to say that I missed the golden age of Sonic. Even so, I found the increasing popularity of the “Sonic was never good” sentiment to be surprising, given the series’ prominent place in video game history. The root of this attitude was easy to perceive at the start of the game though, with how weird it feels compared to other platformers. Sonic needs to accelerate for a few seconds before he reaches a comfortable running speed, the maps feel oddly empty, and difficult platforming challenges are unusually scarce for a game that calls itself a platformer. These benchmarks can make it seem like fancy technology was the only reason for its success, but you have to realize that it wasn’t just the tech that was different back in 1991, it was perspective. Nowadays, we tend to think of Mario’s four-step process of introducing and combining mechanics on a per-level basis as the gold standard, but this wasn’t always the case. Sonic instead focuses on pacing that unfolds across an entire group of levels, which isn’t any less valid of an approach. The first stage may be focused on a single mechanic, so the second could ease off the player and introduce unrelated traversal gimmicks, for the third to then combine the two. It makes sense why individual stages would feel barren or erratically paced in comparison to Mario levels, when they aren’t intended to be analyzed in the same sort of contextual vacuum. Sitting down to play Sonic in a long session and paying attention to the ways stages flow into each other, build on each other’s ideas, and cathartically reward players with bursts of speed after sections of careful play, reveals how intelligently designed Sonic actually is. It may feel a little weird at the start, but weird can be a good thing, and if any series needs you to trust in that maxim, god knows it’s Sonic.
Whenever reading reviews about this game, i always see shade get thrown on labyrinth zone, and honestly, i think its undeserved. Yeah, i can see how someone could find it boring, but for me, its thrilling. Trying to get the air bubbles in time, trying to dodge attacks, etc. Honestly, instead of labyrinth zone, we should all have one common enemy, Marble Zone.
I would rather stable my balls to a wall and hang 10 ft from the ground than play that piece of shit. If i were to lose my sight, hearing and touch, and stay like that for the rest of my life, it would still be more fun than marble zone. FUCK MARBLE ZONE.
Rest of the game is pretty ok ig
I would rather stable my balls to a wall and hang 10 ft from the ground than play that piece of shit. If i were to lose my sight, hearing and touch, and stay like that for the rest of my life, it would still be more fun than marble zone. FUCK MARBLE ZONE.
Rest of the game is pretty ok ig
Sonic the Hedgehog is a tight platformer for those that are more accustomed to precise platforming. At times I just wanted to run as fast as possible but the number of obstacles and enemies make it very hard to react without taking damage. What I find sad is that once you die, you die and will have to redo everything. I guess this is reasonable since it gave some replayability back in the day. Nowadays it feels cheap and it's just annoying.
It has some pretty good jammers as well.
It has some pretty good jammers as well.
+coming back to this game now with more awareness of sega's history and development style makes me appreciate how sophisticatd the physics engine in this game is, and how much this was meant to be seen as an evolution of platforming game mechanics. sega has frequently used easy to learn yet hard to master momentum-based mechanics in their games (see daytona usa or jet set radio), and this is a prime example of those. where mario excelled at having tight, responsive controls, sonic tested the player's ability to understand weight and dynamics at high speeds
+I think systems like the rings giving players health pickups littered everywhere and the multiple pathways softening the blow of falling from an obstacle both greatly temper the difficulty and make the game much more approachable than its contemporaries
+gaining speed feels extremely rewarding in this game, often allowing you to skip otherwise dificult parts and roll through badniks all in a row
+the bosses are simplistic but feel more clever and more polished than the average platformer boss encounter from around this time (tho the labyrinth zone boss sucks lol)
+big fan of the faux flat-shaded polygon vibe that permeates the environment design in this game. it helps make the environments pop and lends a forward-thinking feeling to the game, marking its place as an essential 16-bit game
+of course I have to bring up the music, literally some of the best fm synth tunes ever. I had never played past spring yard zone before now yet felt like I knew every song by heart
-it's well known, but the design I gushed about above only applies to about half the game. marble and labyrinth zone are both tedious and slow as they're missing multiple pathways through the level having been replaced with obstacles that restrict player movement
-three acts per zone is too long, especially since the individual acts lack unique characteristics. thankfully this would be rectified in the sequels
-the absence of a spin dash is pretty noticable, and I found pressing down to roll at high speeds to be relatively unresponsive. there aren't even all that many points to fully take advantage of the mechanic anyway
-special stages are sort of an eh, it feels bad to give them that much shit considering how much more annoying the sonic 2 special stages are. they feel like a bit of a crapshoot, and having to save 50 rings until the end of the stage is pretty rough
-really lacking in setpieces compared to the later entries; I'll attribute this and some of the aforementioned issues to a lack of time. it seems like they spent most of the development working on the engine itself with the overlying game coming at the end
-green hill has a lot of famous graphical effects, most notably its lovely parallax scrolling, but many of the other levels are much flatter in comparison. star light zone has some spiffy parallax as well but on a much less interesting background with a foreground tileset that feels unfinished
I have a lot of respect for this game in retrospect, but it's hard to ignore how the heights of this game are brief and sandwiched by a lot of tepid design that brings it down. however, this has left me excited to play the later titles and reevaluate them as well, as I had very mixed experiences with these as a child playing them on gamecube. at the time I had not been introduced to emulators, which have made replaying these much more approachable with a better pad and infinite lives. ultimately, I would recommend at least playing through green hill zone to understand this game's success with translating arcade gameplay to home consoles, and then perhaps attempt the rest if you're feeling up to it.
+I think systems like the rings giving players health pickups littered everywhere and the multiple pathways softening the blow of falling from an obstacle both greatly temper the difficulty and make the game much more approachable than its contemporaries
+gaining speed feels extremely rewarding in this game, often allowing you to skip otherwise dificult parts and roll through badniks all in a row
+the bosses are simplistic but feel more clever and more polished than the average platformer boss encounter from around this time (tho the labyrinth zone boss sucks lol)
+big fan of the faux flat-shaded polygon vibe that permeates the environment design in this game. it helps make the environments pop and lends a forward-thinking feeling to the game, marking its place as an essential 16-bit game
+of course I have to bring up the music, literally some of the best fm synth tunes ever. I had never played past spring yard zone before now yet felt like I knew every song by heart
-it's well known, but the design I gushed about above only applies to about half the game. marble and labyrinth zone are both tedious and slow as they're missing multiple pathways through the level having been replaced with obstacles that restrict player movement
-three acts per zone is too long, especially since the individual acts lack unique characteristics. thankfully this would be rectified in the sequels
-the absence of a spin dash is pretty noticable, and I found pressing down to roll at high speeds to be relatively unresponsive. there aren't even all that many points to fully take advantage of the mechanic anyway
-special stages are sort of an eh, it feels bad to give them that much shit considering how much more annoying the sonic 2 special stages are. they feel like a bit of a crapshoot, and having to save 50 rings until the end of the stage is pretty rough
-really lacking in setpieces compared to the later entries; I'll attribute this and some of the aforementioned issues to a lack of time. it seems like they spent most of the development working on the engine itself with the overlying game coming at the end
-green hill has a lot of famous graphical effects, most notably its lovely parallax scrolling, but many of the other levels are much flatter in comparison. star light zone has some spiffy parallax as well but on a much less interesting background with a foreground tileset that feels unfinished
I have a lot of respect for this game in retrospect, but it's hard to ignore how the heights of this game are brief and sandwiched by a lot of tepid design that brings it down. however, this has left me excited to play the later titles and reevaluate them as well, as I had very mixed experiences with these as a child playing them on gamecube. at the time I had not been introduced to emulators, which have made replaying these much more approachable with a better pad and infinite lives. ultimately, I would recommend at least playing through green hill zone to understand this game's success with translating arcade gameplay to home consoles, and then perhaps attempt the rest if you're feeling up to it.
It was okay. Sonic can be speedy but to many times he had to wait for things to happen. I died more than once because of impatience, and that is an interesting reaction to give players when you call your character 'Sonic'. Weird level design choices, but i guess that can be forgiven since it's the first game in the series. They were obviously still experimenting. The secret emerald levels felt really weird and the backgrounds in them made me almost puke. It felt a bit tagged on just to create repeatability in an otherwise really short game.
The bossfights were a complete joke and uninspired. The highlights are the art (i can't believe this is from 1991, it looks better than most snes games at the end of the console lifespan). Some nice music tracks, and a few good levels.
The bossfights were a complete joke and uninspired. The highlights are the art (i can't believe this is from 1991, it looks better than most snes games at the end of the console lifespan). Some nice music tracks, and a few good levels.
Wow, a game about going fast where 4 out of 5 levels are designed to be as slow as possible
Game is a lot worse than I remember it being, but at least it's better than buying Sonic Origins
Literalmente o primeiro videogame que joguei na vida. Tudo até Labyrinth Zone é extremamente familiar, como se eu conseguisse lembrar o que eu pensava e sentia quando tinha meus 4 anos (não eram coisas que faziam sentido).
É curioso como eu ainda tenho a impressão que de Starlight Zone até o final é o lado "secreto" do jogo, como se fosse coisas das versões novas e que não tinha no meu Mega Drive.
Se Sonic não foi meu primeiro amigo certamente foi o segundo e ditou toda minha vida
É curioso como eu ainda tenho a impressão que de Starlight Zone até o final é o lado "secreto" do jogo, como se fosse coisas das versões novas e que não tinha no meu Mega Drive.
Se Sonic não foi meu primeiro amigo certamente foi o segundo e ditou toda minha vida
I FUCKUNNNNNN HATE LABYRINTHHH ZONE, I AM GONNA RIP SOMEONE'S BALLS OFF!!! FUCK IT!! FUCK IT ALL!!!!
one of those games that sits comfortably in my library on virtually every system i've been able to lazily grab it on. i probably know every inch of this, cd and sonic 2 like the back of my hand. about half of this game still holds up pretty well and i think i'm used to marble zone enough to fly through it but god damn if labyrinth and scrap brain aren't egregiously designed. it's a decent early genesis platformer, you know? i think cd feels like this game with more identity and creativity, and then sonic 2 is kinda the first proper "sonic game" but this one's alright. i feel like everyone ever has already played it but if you're bored with the other classic sonics give this one a spin.
pretty fucking slow all things considered
thing is theres only one real stage worth checking out here and its the first one. after that you either get some bullshit like labyrinth zone or some nice but ultimately not standout stages like spring yard zone
and then you get some just totally audacious shit like scrap brain zone act 3 which i refuse to believe is a level that humans made jesus christ (the rest of the zone tho is, again, nice and fine but not particularly standout)
i can sorta (?) why it kicked off sonic so successfully into where he is today but i just dont get anything out of it like 2, 3, or hell, even cd. fine game for its time but not worth playing today when you have 2 and 3 right there for you.
tl;dr: just play green hill zone and go on with your day
sonic the midgehog
thing is theres only one real stage worth checking out here and its the first one. after that you either get some bullshit like labyrinth zone or some nice but ultimately not standout stages like spring yard zone
and then you get some just totally audacious shit like scrap brain zone act 3 which i refuse to believe is a level that humans made jesus christ (the rest of the zone tho is, again, nice and fine but not particularly standout)
i can sorta (?) why it kicked off sonic so successfully into where he is today but i just dont get anything out of it like 2, 3, or hell, even cd. fine game for its time but not worth playing today when you have 2 and 3 right there for you.
tl;dr: just play green hill zone and go on with your day
sonic the midgehog
You can go fast... But you really shouldn't.
Este juego está hecho a mala idea. Es muy bonito y está muy bien hecho, pero me cago en quien sea que diseñó los niveles.
Este juego está hecho a mala idea. Es muy bonito y está muy bien hecho, pero me cago en quien sea que diseñó los niveles.
I used to think human beings were intrinsically good.
Then I learned that one of them consciously decided to program Marble Zone.
Then I learned that one of them consciously decided to program Marble Zone.
Like a weird mix between premature birth and a really frantic brainstorming session. Sonic 1 feels half baked and unfinished, it's nearly there, but not enough even as a first attempt.
It unfortunately creates a game that isn't that fun to play most of the time, even when you learn to play it "properly".
But you can feel they had something here, I think they just didn't really know what it was yet. They needed some time for their baby to grow.
Music is great tho.
(making Scrap Brain 3 just Labyrinth Zone 4 is so nefarious and sadistic it's genius, it's like the perfect in-character trap for Eggman to set)
It unfortunately creates a game that isn't that fun to play most of the time, even when you learn to play it "properly".
But you can feel they had something here, I think they just didn't really know what it was yet. They needed some time for their baby to grow.
Music is great tho.
(making Scrap Brain 3 just Labyrinth Zone 4 is so nefarious and sadistic it's genius, it's like the perfect in-character trap for Eggman to set)
There sure is alot of slow platforming in this game about speed
This game is one hell of a mixed bag. I'm so glad that they fixed the problems with it moving forward.
yeah yeah Sonic 1 is definitely flawed I can admit that, but I kinda still love it anyway?
that said my go-to Sonic 1 is the Taxman version with the Spin Dash, widescreen, save function and a bunch of other bonus stuff so maybe I'm giving this game a little too much credit, but I still think there's some good fun to be had here. for example I really enjoy the physics that the mainline Classic games have, it helps give the series its own identity with stuff like going over loop-de-loops, spinning down slopes, bouncing on enemies and a bunch of other stuff, though they don't go all the way with it here. the building blocks are definitely there still! if that's not enough then you can also make it to the end of an Act with 50 rings to get sent to the Special Stages. they're....not the greatest ones Sonic has to offer, but they're still a bit of fun to go through (except the third Special Stage that one's kinda lame). you don't really get any bonus stuff outside of a very slightly different ending so if that doesn't interest you then you can skip that.
I'm also a fan of how the game looks and sounds. Green Hill Zone is without a doubt beautiful, especially with it's crazy 80's CGI trees so cool. every other zone ain't no slouch either, Marble Zone with those weird structures at the beginning and end, Spring Yard Zone having the word "COPE" in the sky, Labyrinth Zone with the Indiana Jones ruins vibe, Star Light Zone with the starry and dreamlike background, and the mechanical factory vibes that the first two acts of Scrap Brain Zone has. the music's pretty cool too. Green Hill, Star Light, and Scrap Brain are my personal favorites, though everything else is just okay, the later games definitely has more consistently great tracks, it is one of the things Sonic is well known for. anyway I'll try to briefly discuss my opinions on the game's Zones.
Green Hill: it's Green Hill, nothing much needs to be said. the best visually, the best functionally, probably not the best musically but it's up there.
Marble Zone: sloooooooooooowwww. at least when you're underground when you push blocks and wait for platforms to drop down. the music's pretty slow too, I'd probably be less bored if the music was more frantic or something. maintaining your 50 rings is also pretty annoying here, but hey at least there's a free 1UP here if you can manage of find it.
Spring Yard: an improvement over Marble but not quite as good as Green Hill, has more good then bad though. that said the part where you're waiting for those slow blocks to move when you're going vertically is lame and uncool. everything else is fine though.
Labyrinth: poo poo stinky! in my opinion though, Act 1 and Act 2 aren't TOO bad, though they can certainly pose some problems for newcomers. can't defend Act 3 though, that one stings, especially during the second when you have to ride on one of the three sponges and then chase Eggman later at the end. oh yeah I didn't discuss the Eggman fights. they're unremarkable, except for this one and not in a good way, probably the most frustrating moment of the game.
Star Light: why did the game suddenly get easy? I breezed through Act 1 in like 40 seconds. actually nevermind I earned this after Labyrinth Act 3, I'll enjoy it while it lasts. all the Acts here are pretty fun, even if they're moments with Bombs plastered together like a sorted by recent Mario Maker level. okay not all the Eggman battles are lame, you have two methods of defeating him here, launching yourself up to hit him, or timing and launching a spike ball towards him, I love that this is a neat boss. great Zone overall, has some higher highs than Green Hill at points.
Scrap Brain: kinda bull, though it is the final Zone so I can KINDA give it some slack. Act 1 is annoying at first, but you learn to get better with it over time, same thing with Act 2 though it's a bit more annoying with the obstacles. okay not going to give slack for Act 3 though, it's literally Labyrinth Zone Act 4, right down to the visuals. if that shortcut that lets you skip almost all of the Act wasn't there, then this would be the lowest point of the game, this Act SUUUUCKS. I've only completed this Act the normal way ONCE, just to say that I did it, do not clear it the normal way. not cool, not radical, not groovy. also the final boss is easy and boring. probably my favorite music track in the game though at least.
Green Hill = Star Light > Spring Yard > Scrap Brain > Marble > Labyrinth >>>>>>>>>>>> Scrap Brain Act 3
okay there's a lot to dislike about the Zones, but to be honest I've played Sonic 1 so many times that I've kinda grown an immunity to the low points in some way. I used to hate going through Marble and Labyrinth but I can get through them pretty easily nowadays. I don't know why, but there's always something making me coming back to this game every once in a while, and I'm almost always having a good time, not a SPECTACULAR, but a good time is still good. I don't know, I still love this very flawed game, and I look forward to the next chance I get to play it again.
as long as it's the Taxman version lol
that said my go-to Sonic 1 is the Taxman version with the Spin Dash, widescreen, save function and a bunch of other bonus stuff so maybe I'm giving this game a little too much credit, but I still think there's some good fun to be had here. for example I really enjoy the physics that the mainline Classic games have, it helps give the series its own identity with stuff like going over loop-de-loops, spinning down slopes, bouncing on enemies and a bunch of other stuff, though they don't go all the way with it here. the building blocks are definitely there still! if that's not enough then you can also make it to the end of an Act with 50 rings to get sent to the Special Stages. they're....not the greatest ones Sonic has to offer, but they're still a bit of fun to go through (except the third Special Stage that one's kinda lame). you don't really get any bonus stuff outside of a very slightly different ending so if that doesn't interest you then you can skip that.
I'm also a fan of how the game looks and sounds. Green Hill Zone is without a doubt beautiful, especially with it's crazy 80's CGI trees so cool. every other zone ain't no slouch either, Marble Zone with those weird structures at the beginning and end, Spring Yard Zone having the word "COPE" in the sky, Labyrinth Zone with the Indiana Jones ruins vibe, Star Light Zone with the starry and dreamlike background, and the mechanical factory vibes that the first two acts of Scrap Brain Zone has. the music's pretty cool too. Green Hill, Star Light, and Scrap Brain are my personal favorites, though everything else is just okay, the later games definitely has more consistently great tracks, it is one of the things Sonic is well known for. anyway I'll try to briefly discuss my opinions on the game's Zones.
Green Hill: it's Green Hill, nothing much needs to be said. the best visually, the best functionally, probably not the best musically but it's up there.
Marble Zone: sloooooooooooowwww. at least when you're underground when you push blocks and wait for platforms to drop down. the music's pretty slow too, I'd probably be less bored if the music was more frantic or something. maintaining your 50 rings is also pretty annoying here, but hey at least there's a free 1UP here if you can manage of find it.
Spring Yard: an improvement over Marble but not quite as good as Green Hill, has more good then bad though. that said the part where you're waiting for those slow blocks to move when you're going vertically is lame and uncool. everything else is fine though.
Labyrinth: poo poo stinky! in my opinion though, Act 1 and Act 2 aren't TOO bad, though they can certainly pose some problems for newcomers. can't defend Act 3 though, that one stings, especially during the second when you have to ride on one of the three sponges and then chase Eggman later at the end. oh yeah I didn't discuss the Eggman fights. they're unremarkable, except for this one and not in a good way, probably the most frustrating moment of the game.
Star Light: why did the game suddenly get easy? I breezed through Act 1 in like 40 seconds. actually nevermind I earned this after Labyrinth Act 3, I'll enjoy it while it lasts. all the Acts here are pretty fun, even if they're moments with Bombs plastered together like a sorted by recent Mario Maker level. okay not all the Eggman battles are lame, you have two methods of defeating him here, launching yourself up to hit him, or timing and launching a spike ball towards him, I love that this is a neat boss. great Zone overall, has some higher highs than Green Hill at points.
Scrap Brain: kinda bull, though it is the final Zone so I can KINDA give it some slack. Act 1 is annoying at first, but you learn to get better with it over time, same thing with Act 2 though it's a bit more annoying with the obstacles. okay not going to give slack for Act 3 though, it's literally Labyrinth Zone Act 4, right down to the visuals. if that shortcut that lets you skip almost all of the Act wasn't there, then this would be the lowest point of the game, this Act SUUUUCKS. I've only completed this Act the normal way ONCE, just to say that I did it, do not clear it the normal way. not cool, not radical, not groovy. also the final boss is easy and boring. probably my favorite music track in the game though at least.
Green Hill = Star Light > Spring Yard > Scrap Brain > Marble > Labyrinth >>>>>>>>>>>> Scrap Brain Act 3
okay there's a lot to dislike about the Zones, but to be honest I've played Sonic 1 so many times that I've kinda grown an immunity to the low points in some way. I used to hate going through Marble and Labyrinth but I can get through them pretty easily nowadays. I don't know why, but there's always something making me coming back to this game every once in a while, and I'm almost always having a good time, not a SPECTACULAR, but a good time is still good. I don't know, I still love this very flawed game, and I look forward to the next chance I get to play it again.
as long as it's the Taxman version lol