I feel like the game had some cool ideas, but the execution of those ideas are dated. While I definitely went into the game expecting it to be way closer to Starfox 64 then it is simply due to Starfox being the only on rails shooter I have played, this still isn’t it even if Starfox 64 is one of my favourite games.

While shooting the projectile could work as your main defensive option, not all the projectiles look like you can do that to them. I quite liked the idea of switching between the front view, the two sides and the back, I wish the front wasn’t viewed as the main one and the others also had movement options. Yes the enemies attack behave differently enough to not put you at a disadvantage due to the lack of movement, but it felt less fun to use those views when they were needed. I also felt some bosses didn’t read as well on where I should hit them as they should.

The graphics felt somehow cartoony and plasticky parodying realism which felt weird when it felt a realistic art style would fit the aesthetic much more. The lighting felt off in a lot of areas.

The world felt empty a lot, whether that be due to being forced to wait for enemies to spawn while thinking “If this was Starfox I could just boost to get to the action faster.”, lack of really interaction or really any characters or much of a story. I can’t tell if it wants to have a story or wants to be a super artsy movie that doesn’t make sense until you analyse every frame.

In conclusion I’m glad I played the game for the experience, but I doubt I will ever play the game again and will stick to Starfox 64.

Ah Sonic The Hedgehog, it's a series that needs no introduction, or does it? Its a series that while incredibly, and i mean incredibly flawed holds a near and dear place in my heart and in spite the series glaring flaws i keep coming back to it, so in prepartion of Sonic's new Open Zone foray into next generation consoles let's take run down memory lane to Sonic's Origins, oh yeah i was originally planning on this to be my 50th review but i felt my other reviews of the games i was doing wasn't really going anywhere so fuck it, we're doing it now, so, order a Chili Dog, Scrape your Knuckles and grab some tails as we dive into the world of Sonic The Hedgehog

It's no secret that Sega is a very flawed company, more than most, the master system was a big ol flop due to the mascot (Alex Kid) just not gelling well with people and so Sonic The Hedgehog was born! Except not really, you see the tean wanted to make a Protagonist that was both really fast, appealed to a newer generation while still respecting that more Mickey Mouse kinda design philosophy, many character designs were created that would be later brought back into the series, such as Teddy Roosevelt in PJs being the main base of Dr Robotnik, Feels the Rabbit and an unnamed armadilo protype designs for Sonic possibly being the main base for Cream the Rabbit and Mighty the Armadilo, A Band that included a Crocdile which became Vector with the Band concept being reused for Sonic Underground and lastly, Sonic's human girlfriend, Madonna who may have been reused as concept for 06 (?). Whatever it is to me its so incredibly fascinating that these early concepts all came back one way or another and these concepts in general just being a thing, but whatever the point is Sega had many ideas for what the next mascot here, that a competition was held to see which design was best fit, After a close bout between Feels the rabbit and Sonic the hedgehog, Sonic obviously won. Sonic was the perfect thing Sega was looking for, someone with attuide, an edge, his speed all of that could act as suffient rival to Mario, in second place was Teddy Roosevelt in PJs who manifested into the iconic villain we know today, Dr Robotnik in American or Dr Eggman in Japan which was later adopted to his nickname worldwide. The man who created Sonic's design, Naoto Oshima worked closely along with Phatasy Star dev Yuji Naka (who had a concept for a fast character from speedrunning Super Mario Bros 1) to fully develop Sonic 1 along with a small team of devs, despite how much i made fun of him in the Balan Review and his wild ass ramblings on the Toxic Bird App, i can't deny he had a big handing into making Sonic 1 into the game it is today, that being said one of the biggest factors that really made Sonic 1 so iconic was it's marketing push, being a pack in title for the Genesis it was bound to do well but i don't think they realised how well Sonic 1 would do, that attuide and design along with that bright green background must of caught so many childrens eyes back then, course for the parents it was the price but probably seeing that design must have memorizing to say the least, of course for some reason Sega felt the need to very slightly and i mean slightly redesign Sonic for the American regions, having an disney artist, Greg Martin comprise the art for all American Sonic Media, including the basis for all 3 sonic cartoons. I love this art even though it kinda sucks, like the Japan stuff still looks cool but the American art just envokes a great sense of nostalgia and warmth to me unlike the Japan art despite me not being born at the time, might be bias due to AOSTH being my favourite series of all time? (Even though it really sucks) Sure maybe it's that but i always feel the Japanese design doesn't evoke that same edge as well as the American design while still keeping that cutesy Mickey Mouse design, again both look great just i personally prefer Greg Martin's take. But anyway, the length preamble aside Sonic 1 was a critical and commercial sucess but does it hold up today? Look no 2000s edgecore Youtuber broad statments, yeah Sonic 1 is pretty good while the cracka do show at points i can't deny that i just had some unadulterated fun with this game.

Getting to the game itself, it tells a simple story of nature vs industrialization or what it means to have power, does one use it for the greater good? Or nefarious deeds (or whatever the fuck the American Sonic Bible was), it follows a free spirted teenager named Sonic The Hedgehog, originating from Christmas Island but left due to his love for Adventure, as he battles for the first time the evil Dr Robotnik as the race through South Island to find all 6 Chaos Emeralds, Sonic has the incredible power of going extremely and cartoonishly fast, using his powers for good while Robotnik is incredibly smart with an IQ of 300 but decides to use his power for evil and destruction by capturing the inhabitants of the Island and turning them into robots, only amplfied by his want for the Chaos Emeralds. Again a simple story but it's effective with a strong but simple ending, depsite there being no game reward with getting all the emeralds, i still do because i like the ending, Sonic doesn't get any grand power but only has flowers blooming around, fully affirming that Robotniks gone for good (for now).

Gameplay wise, Sonic 1 is a simple 2D Platformer, you collect Rings as health or as extra lives which act as a 2 hit mechanism, one hit you lose all of them and then the next hit you're dead unless you collect more rings, it's a unique formula that works in the game favour as it can act as risk reward system, damage boost when hit to go as fast as possible or collect enough rings so you can be as safe as possible. Enemies or "Badniks" take one hit but there's a good amount of variety and strategy to them about the way you approach them, Sonic 1 also has a few power ups that spruce up the Gameplay such as a Shield which acts as an additonally with no extra ring costs, speed shoes which increase Sonic's acceleration and speed and finally, the invincibility which makes Sonic invulnerable for a short period. It feels like everything in Sonic 1 personifies more than anything, a sense of flow, while speed is important having this sense of flow or kinetic energy feela good to pull off, though playing this game without the Spin Dash added in later ports (which gives you a big burst of speed) and lack of speed cap does feel clunky at that since it feels so made with it in mind.

Of course, having a flow wouldn't be any good if the Zones were fun and, uh they kinda are? Easily the most contentious atturbute to Sonic 1 is it's levels with 3 acts, most people would say play Green Hill then skip to Sonic 2 but i don't know i had a lot lf fun with most of these stages:

-Green Hill is just amazing, keeps the flow and speed going while also providing multiple routes
-Marble Zone is good! It's not as good as Green Hill but i find it's design while slower to be fun, Act 3 can be pretty frustating though, especially at the end when you can lose all your progress with one misjump at the end
-Spring Yard Zone is a bit of a mixed bag though still fun overall, it keeps the speed and the flow of Green Hill intact, and using momentum to roll around the stage is pretty fun but the slower sections with spikes and the moving blocks do get a bit tedious at times
-Labyrinth Zone... Yeah no can't really defend this one it sucks balls, it's way too slow, hate how they discarded the suba mask (An item that would have helped in underwater) for the bubbles, while it keeps the anxiety and pace going, adding that risk reward setting of getting bubbles to stay safe or rush ahead, the water physics being way too slow dampers this zone, especially in later acts
-Starlight Zone is alright, a cool city area with some annoying fans and walking bombs but sorta forgettable, it's probably the most well designed stage since Green Hill but feels pretty forgettable all things considered
-Scrap Brain Zone is easily the worst zone in the game, hellish and unfair enemy placements, straight up cat mario esuqe traps and level design plus Labyrinth Zone Act 4! Wow game i really wanted more of Labyrinth Zone

So depsite 2 stinkers, i still think Sonic 1's Zones are fun though they aren't the biggest issues with the game, the bosses are either way to easy with simple patterns to read (Green Hill, Marble Zone, Spring Yard and the Final Boss) or are unfeasibly unfair like Labyrinth Zone with it's chase sequence or Starlight Zone with those seesaws. I also feel the Special Stages aren't very fun getting to them is pretty easy though there did needed to be a chance to get them in Act 3 and Scrap Brain but visually they look great and weird but gameplay wise they rely to much on luck/RNG to be considered fun. But depsite my issues i still i had a lot fun with the moment to moment Gameplay, most other zones, it sorta feels like some zones were easily better designed than others while some were just straight up unfair.

But putting aside the issues that the biggest plus with Sonic 1 is the presentation, it's absolutely steller, they collaborated with the band Dreams come true to deliver a great and unforgettable soundtrack, environments look colourful and brimming with life, Green Hill has cemented it's name in history because of it's great music and unique albeit overused visuals, Sonic 1 unlike most Sonic games, feels like you're going on a seriouziled adventure as you see the world naturally turn more artificial, from the lush plains of Grewn Hill to the sacred ruins of Marble Zone, to the Las Vegas esque omnious city of Spring Yard Zone to the other sacres ruins of Labyrinth Zone (in my opinion they should put it after Marble Zone but okay) to the city ruled by night in Starlight Zone then to finally, Robotniks domain that is completely artificial and mechanized named Scrap Brain Zone. It shows the Genesis strengths as a 16-bit console in terms of music and graphical fediality that still somewhat holds up today.

Overall, i kinda feel Sonic 1 gets a lot of uneeded flac, there’s some issues sure but i feel like the Classic era more than anything had such a clear identity and personality of what it wanted to be, while Sonic 1 is certainly more subdued and diled back than it's sequels, its still a game that gets better and better as a i replay it and has aged very well and i urge you should play it since in my opinion, it definitely gets better as you replay it (though play any version with Spin Dash, Super Sonic Multiple playable characters and Elemental Shields), while it hasn't aged like fine wine or like bad milk, sorta like the crisps you've had for 2 years, doesn't have the greastest taste and might give you a bit of a stomach ache but it tastes good nonetheless, plus the other brands that the crisps have made have infinitly improved on them in every way.