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)

The concept of a more momentum-based platformer is one that I like, and I think this game does a decent job as one. The levels that utilize this concept effectively do it really well, and it makes speeding through levels surprisingly fun. However, not all levels use this concept well. Marble Zone, Labyrinth Zone, and Scrap Brain Zone all seem a little too slow for what this game was going for. The final boss was also a bit underwhelming. It wasn't particularly hard, and it doesn't really make you feel like a badass when you beat it. Overall this is a decent game and a fine start to the series, but there's a lot that could've been improved.

My thoughts on Sonic 1 constantly go back and forth. On the one hand, it’s a revolutionary part of gaming history and features some of the greatest physics in the industry. On the other… Labyrinth Zone.

No, I’m not kidding. Labyrinth Zone is dreadful. It’s a monstrous set of levels filled with unpredictable hazards, and where Sonic moves like he’s stuck in wet concrete. It’s truly awful and a blight on this game’s legacy… until you beat it. Then you feel like an absolute champion, a true master of this game’s level design, and you’re rewarded with the beautiful Star Light Zone.

The thing about Sonic 1 is that for every bad thing about it, the game throws something awesome at you that completely drowns out the negatives. Marble Zone was too slow? Here’s Spring Yard, have fun with the bumpers! Labyrinth Zone sucks? Here’s Star Light! Scrap Brain Zone Act 3 is one of the cruelest pranks known to man? Use the shortcut at the beginning to skip damn near the entire level! The final boss is anticlimactic? Use the final few seconds to destroy Eggman’s hovercraft and utterly humiliate him!

I love Sonic 1. I hate Sonic 1. But when it works, it’s a blast, and the short runtime ensures that the game doesn’t overstay its welcome. Overall, I love Sonic 1 more than I hate it, so that’s good.

A great looking game, good songs, even fun movement, but the levels and enemy placements seem to be purposefully designed to punch you in the nuts every time you're about to have fun. I just finished 100%ing Super Mario World, first replay since I was a kid, and the best of those levels are designed so you can bounce Mario off koopas right through the entire thing—here, every time you jump the developers have cheekily placed a rake for you to land on. Your rings will explode everywhere, and then you'll see above Sonic in huge letters the only word that appears in the game world—"COPE." Sonic is looking into the camera and he is laughing at you.

In the best cases, the levels require slow, thoughtful exploration, and precise platforming, but Sonic doesn't want to do that. He wants to run fast and bounce off bad guys. But half the bad guys have itty bitty hit boxes and will kill you for landing on them if you're a pixel off their head. Why are half the levels underwater, where you move even slower than usual and have to get air constantly? The game clocks in at around two hours if you're not dying constantly, which you will be, and all of these choices feel like they're designed to pad the game out. The game feels at odds with itself.

Sonic as a character, and his animations, are cool and well done. It's easy to see why he caught on; he's a likeable environmentally concerned hero. In general the worlds look good, though the background tiles themselves are unvaried, which makes the slow exploring sometimes confusing.

I don't see myself returning to it—it's just not a fun platformer, and it's not a fun slow action game either. In the platforming space, the closest comparison I can think of is Bonk's Adventure, which is far more accomplished and fun. Where Bonk's Adventure levels are a bit too sparse and easy, Sonic the Hedgehog is too difficult and rarely fun to move through.

The first Sonic is a classic that I had an absolute blast playing back in the day until I got stuck at Labrynth Zone and never saw past that point upon each replay. Today as an adult replaying the game, I was able to see the whole game through without much trouble. Sonic 1 is one of those games you can replay again and again for years and not get sick of it. Although while Sega found it's stride here, there were still a lot of shortcomings like the spindash not being yet discovered, and the absolutely infuriating level design at some points. Both points would be addressed in it's Sequel. Still, Sonic 1 is always fun to just pick up and play, and nothing is more iconic than zooming through Green Hill Zone over and over again.

An ambitious platformer that gave Nintendo a run for its money back in the early 90s! Sonic the Hedgehog is an interesting 2D platformer that gives you the ability to go really fast, but what it really calls for is careful platforming. Not that there ever isn't a need for speed, as it can be awesome once you learn and understand the stage designs!

It's not the most graceful platformer, and its successor would end up blowing this game out of the water, but the visuals, music, and satisfaction that comes from clearing the stages make it a genuine classic!

Sonic the Hedgehog is the weakest of the Classic era main titles, but that should not be a damper in what is otherwise a really solid debut title for SEGA's mascot.

First of all, the graphics and overall design of the stages are great and impressively detailed, with Green Hill Zone in particular having a distinctive charm not seen in most games at the time. I do believe the color palette used for Sonic 1 is a bit dull, though. Marble, Spring Yard and Star Light could've been more vibrant, but they instead went with dull purple, boring brown and dull dark green. In their defense it does increase the realism of the stages you traverse through so that's fine I guess. Sonic himself looks sharp and charismatic, at least, effortlessly displaying that cool edge that made him such an iconic figure of the 90s with his cocky and impatient attitude.

The soundtrack is rather mid for Sonic standards tbh. Pales in comparison to its Master System counterpart, Spring Yard sounds shit (not sorry), Marble and Labyrinth both sound pretty generic but they're at least alright. Scrap Brain and Green Hill both have good themes though. Shame Sonic 2's soundtrack absolutely dumps this one's in the mud.

Alright now for the meat and potatoes of this review: Sonic's control and the levels in general.

What more is there to say about Sonic's movement that hasn't been said already? It's fluent, natural and easy to grasp, he slows down uphill and speeds up on downward inclines, he gains increased vertical height from bouncing on enemies at certain angles; the physics in this game feel realistic and simple. A really good foundation for the franchise's future games.

Green Hill Zone
See, when I think of Green Hill Zone, my mind immediately comes to speedrunning. Most people argue for the necessity for more difficult, riskier high routes, but this zone proves otherwise. This zone has many branching pathways that can all be traversed through quickly as long as the player has the skill. But in speedruns, you don't see speedrunners rushing through Ring Heaven, you see them jump after the slope, knowing that the lower route is the fastest option available when finishing the stage. Similarly, GHZ act 3 has not one, but TWO optimal routes available for speedrunners to tackle: the standard lower route that's easier to execute but difficult nonetheless, and the insane high route that requires insane precision from the player to bounce onto strategically placed enemies in order to reach the boss from astronomical heights. Quite literally the peak of the game, a fantastic tutorial for newcomers as well as playground for those who keep coming back for more.

Marble Zone
This zone is mediocre, but it isn't the worst. Yes, you heard me right: stop calling Marble Zone garbage. Sure, there are obligatory waiting times on some of the lava segments, but skilled players know to use their momentum to leap onto the platforms in Act 1, or navigate through the shortcut in Act 3 that skips another lava segment. Yes, the level is quite linear and some of the waiting could've been cut from it, but this is a good level to explore, with a lot of secrets and at least one extra life per act. A checkpoint in Act 3 would've been helpful, though.

Spring Yard Zone
Hot take: I really dislike Spring Yard. The music sucks, the badniks are quite annoying, the bumpers ARE annoying, and if you thought waiting was annoying in Marble, just wait until you reach the moving blocks. I like how there are multiple signposts at the end of Acts 1 and 2, also the times where you can gradually increase your momentum by rolling down half pipes, but that's about it. Moving on.

Labyrinth Zone
Yeah this zone is shit. But it's not the worst, really, experts at the game know of the massive shortcut in Act 1 and the other shortcut in Act 3. The problem is Sonic 1's water physics are exemplified by your extended stay in the water, with a lot more linearity and waiting than even Marble Zone. The badniks here are also incredibly annoying (the ball guy and Grounder), as well as those fucking extendable spears. A difficult level, but not in the fun way. Don't even get me started on that boss fight where you only have a shield to work with if you die on your first try. Platforming on that level is tedious and I fucking hate it. But again, not complete garbage, learn the shortcuts and you actually halve your time spent in Acts 1 and 3.

Star Light Zone
Boring. Yes, there are loops but honestly this zone is super forgettable, the color palette is at its dullest in this level and the music makes me want to go to sleep. Does have the most inventive boss fight in the game, though, so credit for that.

Scrap Brain
From a narrative standpoint, this makes sense. This is Eggman's main turf on South Island, so obviously he would have it heavily guarded with buzzsaws, flamethrowers, electrical circuits and pitfalls. That doesn't mean it's fun though. Act 3 also has the guts of making Labyrinth Zone harder, but it also does have a massive shortcut that rewards players who are able to clear the gap fast enough. Then you reach the final boss, it's relatively easy, you take out Eggman, day saved, end of game.

Oh wait the Chaos Emeralds-

Special Stages aka Please Don't Ever Play the Original Release
First off: There are only TEN opportunities for you to get SIX Chaos Emeralds. And zones like Labyrinth, Spring Yard and Star Light all have certain unfair elements that'll scupper your chances of entering a Special Stage ring at the end of a level. Second of all, these special stages aren't even that hard. But they're ANNOYING. The music is garbage, the controls are mostly out of your hands, and whether or not you get the Chaos Emerald at the end depends on luck, rather than the player's skill!

AND YOU ONLY HAVE TEN CHANCES AT THIS SHIT

Let's not forget the Spike Bug! The lack of continues! The Labyrinth Act 2 crash! There's a lot of things wrong with the original game. So, if you want to try the original experience for yourself, I would recommend just flat out playing the 2011 port by Christian Whitehead. It has a better framerate, free of most game-breaking bugs, save files, and just to slap on more good shit they added widescreen, more playable characters (Tails and Knuckles) and the Spin Dash. Taxman doing the heavy lifting for this community I swear to god.

6/10 I don't actually hate this game despite most of my negativity in this review but it's definitely the weakest of the Genesis saga.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 é basicamente: Corra e Morra.
Com um level design filho duma puta que está sempre querendo te arrebentar em vários pedaços com incontáveis armadilhas espalhadas nos mais escondidos lugares. Com uma trava ao correr por que né... jogo do sonic... quero correr e me senti GOTTA GO FAAAAAAAAAAST.

EXPERIMENTE CORRER NO SONIC 1, ESTAREI ESPERANDO COM ''É NORMAL ESSE GAME OVER FICAR APARECENDO A CADA 1 MINUTO?''. E o melhor, o jogo tem continues escondidos, e em toda minha experiência eu não achei nenhum. Basicamente se vira com as 3 vidas e tome no seu cu se perder todas, volte pro inicio do jogo.

Inclusive esse jogo não tem spindash, eu sei que foi invenção do segundo jogo mas cara tem que ser muito burro pra jogar aquilo e não perceber que CARALHO EU TENHO QUE FAZER O SONIC CORRER RÁPIDO SEM IMPULSO. Muitas vezes fiquei preso no jogo em rampas pois não tinha espaço para tomar o impulso necessário para atravessa-las.

Pelo menos a música disso é boa, por que de resto, de todo o coração VAI SE FUDER SONIC 1.

Embora eu já tenha sim tido contato com a franquia Sonic, inclusive com esse jogo, nunca cheguei a de fato finalizá-lo, até que senti uma enorme necessidade de jogar os títulos clássicos do ouriço, e como um apoiador do senso comum, comecei pelo primeiro.
Já adianto que não tenho tanta propriedade para comentar ou fazer grandes julgamentos sobre a franquia, o que é perceptível, visto que estou finalizando o primeiro título dela apenas em 2023, portanto vou tentar fazer o mínimo possível de comparações com os outros jogos do sonic que já joguei.

Dando procedência para a review de fato, vou comentar sobre algo que logo de cara, já achei que faltou um polimento, que é o level design no geral. Não me entendam mal, eu acho o level design desse título do ouriço genuinamente interessante, porém certos detalhes me incomodaram um pouco, vou comentá-los um por um.

O primeiro detalhe que me incomodou na verdade é algo mais "macro" do que detalhe em si, chegando a ser chato pra valer, que é o posicionamento de alguns inimigos em certas fases. Puta que pariu, embora o level design seja sim bom, que coisa mais traiçoeira, chega até a ser punitivo, e olha que eu realmente aprecio jogos que desafiem o jogador, mas na minha ótica precisa ser algo que faça o jogador evoluir gradativamente, em que ele visualize e monte em sua cabeça, formas de passar de um trecho difícil. Isso está SIM presente em sonic, porém, alguém passando por esses níveis pela primeira vez e não conhece os macetes deles, será muito trollado por espinhos surgindo do chão, obstáculos repentinos e principalmente por inimigos com posicionamento traiçoeiro e inconveniente.

O segundo detalhe é a primordial consequência do primeiro, que seria a alta dificuldade do game, principalmente no final. Não achei os bosses difíceis muito menos ruins, muito pelo contrário, eles são bastante legais, balanceados e com mecânicas interessantes para a época, mas poxa, nem para ter uns rings próximos a eles, qualquer mísero dano irá te tirar uma vida, acarretando em muita frustração, e até mesmo encher tanto o saco do player a ponto dele nem apreciar o boss devidamente (O que por sorte não ocorreu comigo).

A próxima crítica não tem nada a ver com level design de fato, mas gostaria de comentar brevemente sobre os bônus também, e fazer a primeira comparação da review. Eu simplesmente odeio as fases bônus desse primeiro sonic, meu deus. Pode ser sim falta de prática, mas acho além de difícil de controlar, um saco, prefiro muito mais o minigame das bolinhas do sonic 3, que não é tão difícil assim, porém pode ser sim desafiador para certas pessoas, e é bastante divertido.

Agora o último tópico em relação à criticas negativas, que também carregará a última comparação da review, seria a pouca inventividade dos act 2, e mesmo os act 3 das fases. Ok, eu entendo que eles são literalmente feitos para ser a extensão de uma mesma fase, mas na minha sincera opinião seria muito mais legal se eles fossem diferentes uns dos outros, tanto na arquitetura, quanto na estética. Isso é muitíssimo bem retratado em sonic 3 e sonic mania, em que consigo diferir muito mais claramente os atos de cada nível. O game até tentou fazer isso na Scrap Brain Zone act.3, porém na minha opinião, virou mais uma Labyrinth Zone act.4, que não ironicamente, para mim é o nível mais chato do game.

Pouco comentei sobre as qualidades do game, pois já é de conhecimento geral que sonic é cheio de identidade e tem uma gameplay única e renomada, daquelas que se algum jogo tentar copiar, certamente deixará a inspiração clara como o dia. E a trilha sonora... que coisa maravilhosa. Eu disse no início que nunca havia finalizado esse sonic, mas as músicas eu já conhecia, por serem clássicas e muito, mas muito boas mesmo.

Foi bacana demais zerar pra valer o primeiro sonic, até porque nunca fui de jogar os jogos do ouriço. Seus defeitos ficaram sim bastante evidentes para mim, mas eu o considero um game bacana.

Green Hill Zone is such a good level, man. It's simple, it's straightforward, it's visually distinctive, the music is iconic, everything clicks together to make the perfect starting level, the perfect kickstarter to Sonic the Hedgehog as a series.

And then you hit Marble Zone and then you realize games back in the early 90's actually weren't as good as people make them out to be.

The only reason I'm giving Sonic 1 a 2.5 instead of a 2 is because it did lay down a pretty good foundation, a foundation that every Classic game after it would go on to improve upon. And it does have Star Light Zone, which is a goated Classic Sonic level, full stop.

But, like, some of the level design is absolute dogshit, the lack of a spindash makes the movement feel truly awkward and clunky in retrospect, and this game's occasionally brutal difficulty is largely due to dumb oversights on behalf of the developers.

Sonic 2, CD, 3 & Knuckles are so much better than Sonic 1 that it's not even funny. Sonic 1's level of overall quality has essentially been obliterated by the passage of time, and the good things it brought to the table that were worth keeping and refining in the future aren't enough to save this game from being a clunky mess. This does not hold up, man.

But it does have Star Light Zone.

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

This was one of my first games as a kid and the first game I beat (only thanks to level select, shhh), so I decided to go back and try to beat it legitimately this time. Did it hold up to my childhood memories? Kinda.

The graphics were fantastic for their time, and the art style/aesthetics of each level were great. If I put myself back in the shoes of my kid self in 1991, the game was quite the spectacle to play through.

The core of the gameplay, though, was rather flawed. Every great action game has a certain core mechanic that it builds the game around (as a quick example, Bionic Commando and the character's inability to jump). Sonic's core mechanic is ostensibly its blazing speed, but 'speed' alone is very difficult to build a game around. The issue lies in the challenge. Green Hill Zone is rightly considered one of the most iconic levels in gaming, because of its wide open spaces, multiple paths, loop-de-loops and terrain that allows you to build up speed easily. But of course, if the entire game was Green Hill Zone eight times over it would be braindead easy! So of course some challenge has to be added to the game...but if the challenge isn't implemented just right, then gamers will move slowly and tentatively and the game's core mechanic is no more.

I didn't quite like the implementation of the difficulty; much of the later stages feel like a prototype of a Cat Mario level in which traps are placed exactly where you will jump. Many of the hazards (for example, fans in Starlight Zone that blow you directly into an enemy or torrents in Labyrinth Zone that wash you away while you're waiting for air bubbles) are placed just offscreen so you have no way to react to them, or are plain difficult to see (grey spiked balls swinging against grey backgrounds) so that getting hit by them feels like the game is cheap rather than it being your fault. Hindsight is 20/20 but if could make a change to the game without altering the difficulty I would either make the camera more zoomed out so I would have more time to see and react to hazards, or would make Sonic's controls tighter and less slippery.

Another way the game literally hamstrings itself is by making you wait. Outside of the Green Hill Zone, every stage has a hazard that necessitates waiting - the crushers in the Marble Zone, the slow-moving spiked balls in Scrap Yard, etc. The Labyrinth Zone drops all pretense and just sticks you underwater for half of it slowing down your movements. These wouldn't be out of place in a more deliberate platformer, but not in Sonic.

I enjoyed going on the grand tour of all the different stages, seeing how differently they were designed and experiencing the different gimmicks they had to offer. But rather ironically, the further I got and the more interesting the designs and gimmicks became, the slower I was forced to play and the less it felt like a Sonic game.

Problems aside, this goes a long way on its look, sound, and vibe alone, which are so good they basically defined a legendary company for a generation. It might be the least of the Genesis Sonics, but that aforementioned non-gameplay stuff is already locked in, and it's truly wonderful. Green Hill Zone in particular feels like a turning point, and it remains one of the most memorable and comfy platformer environments to this day.

The rest of the Sonic experience, though, is still very much in-development. Most importantly, they hadn't quite figured out what a Sonic level should be yet. You get whole zones that demand a more careful and deliberate pace devoid of the famous momentum, and, in short, they suck. If you've played the sequels, you'll be dying for moves, power-ups, level design, and characters from them pretty quickly (not to mention extra lives and continues, goddamn), but honestly, that's okay. This was a necessary step. It's perfectly playable, and worth doing so just to absorb that Sonic feel in its earliest and purest form.

"There's just one legitimately good stage"

No, there's just one legitimately bad stage, Scrap Brain Act 2, the other "bad" ones are just you whining because this platform game is being a platform game and doesn't let you just hold right and occasionally jump to win. It's fine, there are other Sonic games that don't require you to be actually good at video games in order to play them. How about trying Sonic Advance 2 or Rush instead? They seem to be more up your alley with their lack of substance in gameplay.

Alright, I'll admit Labyrinth Zone kinda sucks as well, but still, Sonic 1 is a perfectly fine game and I doubt anyone can actually make a convincing argument that it has overall poor level design aside from those stages I mentioned.