You know what's hilarious? While trying the free mobile version, I died (which quickly became a common occurrence through the game itself, but I digress) and then the game basically said ''Hey ol' buddy ol' pal, you seem to be sucking balls at this game, would you like to watch an ad to revive immediately and to not lose any progress?'' and it was one of the first stages so I didn't mind re-trying from the beginning, so I promptly said no... and then it showed me the ad anyway. I could be fuming or complain to no-end at the fact that’s even a thing that is allowed to happen, but I'm simply in awe, truly yet another amazing mobile gaming moment, just unbelievable.
I’ve been through a little bit of a Sonic phase this year, and by ‘’Sonic phase’’ I mean I’ve beaten two games like 5 months apart from each other… which it’s still far more consistent than the past 5 years so hey, it is a faster pace! The first that I beat was of course Sonic 2, I talked about it and said my piece on it just after beating it, and even tho I still pretty much agree with everything I wrote on there, there was one thing that was echoed through my review and a topic of discussion in the comments: What it’s, at its core, the design that makes a Sonic game? To me, I always saw Sonic as a series that invited you to go fast, that encouraged you to replay it over and over, taking and discovering different paths, and the level design reflects that with interesting, momentum based mechanics that even when they slow you down, you always keep moving forward. That view of course is highly influenced by my experience with Sonic Mania, my favorite game on the series so far, and now I realize that it may have been a bit dumb of me to reduce the series to what that game did; some people thing that these games are also about screwing up and learning from those mistakes to the point of going through the stages seamlessly, others might enjoy its more linear aspect and enjoy reaching absurd levels of speed while grabbing some collectables, and I know that there must be some sick fucks out there that considers Sonic Spinball to be the gameplay style that suits Sonic the best. All of these are completely fair and in their own way correct views, each player prefers a certain design philosophy, and many groups of players gravitate towards different games within the franchise because of that; but even with these many differences, they still have a ton in common, especially in the 2D side and the games released in the ‘’Boost’’ era, and universally there are some aspects in which pretty much everyone agrees upon on what a Sonic game should have… but then we have Sonic 1!
Look, I didn’t want to be known as the ‘’has beaten Sonic 2 but never played Sonic 1’’ guy, I wanted to be the ‘’has beaten Sonic 1 after Sonic 2’’ guy; it was a matter of time that I’d eventually play this, like a hedgehog shaped Damocles’ sword. It seems to be like chickenpox, many people go through it and for some it fucking sucks, but putting aside terrible unfunny jokes at the moment, the truth is that I was extremely interested going into this. Sonic the Hedgehog was not only the first step for the series, it was a massive cultural phenomenon, it’s an incredibly piece of history directly tied to the success of Sega during the 16-bit era, the marketing during the console wars, and a direct competitor to the juggernaut that Nintendo what was seen as. Sonic was born because of that, to have a mascot that could look at Mario directly to the eye, and it took a ton of work and time before the Sonic we know became what it is, and it was a success… oh sorry no, I’m sorry, I meant to say it was a MASSIVE, GIGANTIC success. Sonic became a 90’s icon, a brand so important that even after 32 years it won’t die. Despite my cheeky remark at the end of the last paragraph, I fully expected this to be different to other Sonic games; despite its commercial and critical success, nowadays Sonic 1 is referred to as the one that set everything in place for the other games to happen, a basis if you will… but still, I expected this to still have what it was marketed as: a fast paced, more open 2D platformer that would make look like Mario moved at snail’s pace. This is what Sonic was made out to be, a direct competitor to the plumber, but also the antithesis of it, and Sonic itself was designed as such, both it looks and in the way it controlled, and… yeah, during the first zone, it definitely is that!... is anyone else getting a ‘’Déjà vu’’?
I’d argue that at this point all three acts of Green Hill Zone are as iconic as the likes of 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros., and it sets the tone perfectly; the visuals and music are simply stellar, a true showcase of what the Genesis could do what also managing to look amazing on its own right (and that’s the case during the whole game, this time around I consider the OST an absolute home run, what an amazing collection of pieces, it introduces the fairly simple premise of ‘’Pissed off mammal’’ against ‘’Five Below Evil Mario’’, it introduces the enemies and small power-ups perfectly, and it shows the potential of this more open level design; all paths lead to the same ending (with some exceptions), but each may hold different secrets and surprises that make you want to see everything possible, to see if you can go faster and more cleanly than last time; and the momentum based movement is a blessing, Sonic’s more slippery traction makes reaching high speeds so fun, and Green Hill teaches you the basics of this and Sonic’s whole move set masterfully, going from small slopes to entire loops, and it’s so satisfying. This, this, right here, is the Sonic that I love, the Sonic I didn’t expect to see so early, but here it is, and it’s wonderful, it is exciting, it actually feels so good to play-HOW DID THEY FUCK IT UP?
Marble Zone is infamous at this point, it sets a complete change in the way the levels are designed, and one the game never recovers from, at least not consistently, but I think people just don’t realize why is that many hate these stages so much so much. You see, Marble Zone isn’t bad because it’s slow and sloppily designed, Marble Zone is bad because it goes fundamentally against what it was taught to you during the last stage, it’s a complete diversion from what was presented to you at the beginning and it actively punishes you NOT for going recklessly fast, but for going fast in general when the character you are playing as is basically forced to either go really fast or have zero momentum in its jumps, as the act goes along the bullshit just keeps piling up and it comes to a point you realize later acts are basically remixed versions of what precedes it with the only thing that changes is that now it has more cruel and utterly unfun level design that, again, doesn’t fit Sonic in the slightest simply because doing precise platforming as this fucker is worse that having your hands tied down to an electric fence AND it’s also slow and sloppily designed. It’s just so… weird, it’s like they attempted something different and cool, but then became scared that players might not liked so they decided to design stages as you would do for any other platformer (minus the branching paths of course) and decided to make that the bulk of the game. Worst part is that Marble Zone is not terrible, not even that bad, it, along as the rest of the levels, have a interesting thematic that connects with one another really well, and it has some interesting ideas like moving blocks around to activate switches, but it’s the repetition its Acts (something that even affects Green Hill Zone) and just how painful it is to traverse what make it so jarring and a huge let down, ann it’s not like it gets much better, the downward spiral is just beginning!
Spring Yard Zone is marginally better, it has some cool ideas, but it still can’t reach the same highs as the game did at the beginning, and then Act 3 comes around and it felt like being put through a time loop of repeating stuff over and over; it wasn’t fun, the boss was a buggy mess, and it didn’t feel like it offered any kind of interesting challenges. Then after that hell I arrived at Labyrinth Zone and not gonna lie the thought of ending it right there crossed my mind for a second; just a barrage of nonsense and unpredictable physics made it so fucking miserable, if the previous levels really loved to stop you on you tracks, this right here is the prime example of the worse result possible of that idea, and the chasing Robotnik at the end made me yearn for the sweet release, just… why? It took more attempts that I’d like to admit, but I don’t care, it was DONE, and I don’t have to see that place ever again! And next it was Star Light Zone and… it was my favorite part of the game by a wide margin: it was like the second zone should have been, more opportunities to fail that still feel fair, super interesting ideas that I didn’t expect to see in this game, and capped by far my favorite, most creative and open fight against Robotnik in the entire game. I… really didn’t expect this, and it game me hope, hope that Scrap Brain Zone would keep up this and turn into a fantastic end- it was instant game over hell, there’s no other way to put it. Nothing was as bad as some stuff as the such of Marble purgatory, but still, the cool visuals and some excellent ideas really save this one… until Act 3 where it BECOMES FUCKING LABYRINTH ZONE AGAIN WHAT THE ACTUAL LIVING FU- ok, I’ll give it this tho; it has the most interesting different path and secrets of the entire game for me, and it at least was shorter than anything in the zone that shall not be named. It was tolerable, the final boss was tolerable. I. Was. Done.
It's funny though, the last two zones were far better than the Sonic 2 ones-
Sonic the Hedgehog is an actual mess, the difficulty spikes are as random as the ones in quality, it has some fantastic ideas that for some unholy reason decides to use as a hinderance instead of its basis, it lacks the speed, the urge to explore, and the fun in learning that the other games have in some way or another… and yet I can’t fully blame the game itself for any of those. There’s a clear vision behind all of this, one that it just got lost along the way, like it was still scared to not be what it wanted to defy, like the sloppy first steps in a long marathon; it’s frustrating, but it’s the perfect showcase of a bright future and so, so much potential. Maybe it’s because I know can fully see it like that that I.. actually don’t really dislike it as much as I was expecting, specially during some sections; I for sure didn’t enjoy it all the way, but it had fun parts, and sometimes, even at its most bullshit, it’s hard to ignore the passion and craft that was put into all of this. It’s a commendable effort that I wish I could say I enjoyed, but ultimately was more preoccupied with giving something that may have been more familiar instead of giving us something different, something that embraced its spirit, something that was Sonic.
Also I would like to add that I beat the game with what it was one life in each level, which meant absolutely zero checkpoints. Did that happen because of my stupidity? That’s irrelevant, what’s important is that I did it, I beat Sonic the Hedgehog… What’s that? What do you mean there’s a 2006 gam-
I’ve been through a little bit of a Sonic phase this year, and by ‘’Sonic phase’’ I mean I’ve beaten two games like 5 months apart from each other… which it’s still far more consistent than the past 5 years so hey, it is a faster pace! The first that I beat was of course Sonic 2, I talked about it and said my piece on it just after beating it, and even tho I still pretty much agree with everything I wrote on there, there was one thing that was echoed through my review and a topic of discussion in the comments: What it’s, at its core, the design that makes a Sonic game? To me, I always saw Sonic as a series that invited you to go fast, that encouraged you to replay it over and over, taking and discovering different paths, and the level design reflects that with interesting, momentum based mechanics that even when they slow you down, you always keep moving forward. That view of course is highly influenced by my experience with Sonic Mania, my favorite game on the series so far, and now I realize that it may have been a bit dumb of me to reduce the series to what that game did; some people thing that these games are also about screwing up and learning from those mistakes to the point of going through the stages seamlessly, others might enjoy its more linear aspect and enjoy reaching absurd levels of speed while grabbing some collectables, and I know that there must be some sick fucks out there that considers Sonic Spinball to be the gameplay style that suits Sonic the best. All of these are completely fair and in their own way correct views, each player prefers a certain design philosophy, and many groups of players gravitate towards different games within the franchise because of that; but even with these many differences, they still have a ton in common, especially in the 2D side and the games released in the ‘’Boost’’ era, and universally there are some aspects in which pretty much everyone agrees upon on what a Sonic game should have… but then we have Sonic 1!
Look, I didn’t want to be known as the ‘’has beaten Sonic 2 but never played Sonic 1’’ guy, I wanted to be the ‘’has beaten Sonic 1 after Sonic 2’’ guy; it was a matter of time that I’d eventually play this, like a hedgehog shaped Damocles’ sword. It seems to be like chickenpox, many people go through it and for some it fucking sucks, but putting aside terrible unfunny jokes at the moment, the truth is that I was extremely interested going into this. Sonic the Hedgehog was not only the first step for the series, it was a massive cultural phenomenon, it’s an incredibly piece of history directly tied to the success of Sega during the 16-bit era, the marketing during the console wars, and a direct competitor to the juggernaut that Nintendo what was seen as. Sonic was born because of that, to have a mascot that could look at Mario directly to the eye, and it took a ton of work and time before the Sonic we know became what it is, and it was a success… oh sorry no, I’m sorry, I meant to say it was a MASSIVE, GIGANTIC success. Sonic became a 90’s icon, a brand so important that even after 32 years it won’t die. Despite my cheeky remark at the end of the last paragraph, I fully expected this to be different to other Sonic games; despite its commercial and critical success, nowadays Sonic 1 is referred to as the one that set everything in place for the other games to happen, a basis if you will… but still, I expected this to still have what it was marketed as: a fast paced, more open 2D platformer that would make look like Mario moved at snail’s pace. This is what Sonic was made out to be, a direct competitor to the plumber, but also the antithesis of it, and Sonic itself was designed as such, both it looks and in the way it controlled, and… yeah, during the first zone, it definitely is that!... is anyone else getting a ‘’Déjà vu’’?
I’d argue that at this point all three acts of Green Hill Zone are as iconic as the likes of 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros., and it sets the tone perfectly; the visuals and music are simply stellar, a true showcase of what the Genesis could do what also managing to look amazing on its own right (and that’s the case during the whole game, this time around I consider the OST an absolute home run, what an amazing collection of pieces, it introduces the fairly simple premise of ‘’Pissed off mammal’’ against ‘’Five Below Evil Mario’’, it introduces the enemies and small power-ups perfectly, and it shows the potential of this more open level design; all paths lead to the same ending (with some exceptions), but each may hold different secrets and surprises that make you want to see everything possible, to see if you can go faster and more cleanly than last time; and the momentum based movement is a blessing, Sonic’s more slippery traction makes reaching high speeds so fun, and Green Hill teaches you the basics of this and Sonic’s whole move set masterfully, going from small slopes to entire loops, and it’s so satisfying. This, this, right here, is the Sonic that I love, the Sonic I didn’t expect to see so early, but here it is, and it’s wonderful, it is exciting, it actually feels so good to play-HOW DID THEY FUCK IT UP?
Marble Zone is infamous at this point, it sets a complete change in the way the levels are designed, and one the game never recovers from, at least not consistently, but I think people just don’t realize why is that many hate these stages so much so much. You see, Marble Zone isn’t bad because it’s slow and sloppily designed, Marble Zone is bad because it goes fundamentally against what it was taught to you during the last stage, it’s a complete diversion from what was presented to you at the beginning and it actively punishes you NOT for going recklessly fast, but for going fast in general when the character you are playing as is basically forced to either go really fast or have zero momentum in its jumps, as the act goes along the bullshit just keeps piling up and it comes to a point you realize later acts are basically remixed versions of what precedes it with the only thing that changes is that now it has more cruel and utterly unfun level design that, again, doesn’t fit Sonic in the slightest simply because doing precise platforming as this fucker is worse that having your hands tied down to an electric fence AND it’s also slow and sloppily designed. It’s just so… weird, it’s like they attempted something different and cool, but then became scared that players might not liked so they decided to design stages as you would do for any other platformer (minus the branching paths of course) and decided to make that the bulk of the game. Worst part is that Marble Zone is not terrible, not even that bad, it, along as the rest of the levels, have a interesting thematic that connects with one another really well, and it has some interesting ideas like moving blocks around to activate switches, but it’s the repetition its Acts (something that even affects Green Hill Zone) and just how painful it is to traverse what make it so jarring and a huge let down, ann it’s not like it gets much better, the downward spiral is just beginning!
Spring Yard Zone is marginally better, it has some cool ideas, but it still can’t reach the same highs as the game did at the beginning, and then Act 3 comes around and it felt like being put through a time loop of repeating stuff over and over; it wasn’t fun, the boss was a buggy mess, and it didn’t feel like it offered any kind of interesting challenges. Then after that hell I arrived at Labyrinth Zone and not gonna lie the thought of ending it right there crossed my mind for a second; just a barrage of nonsense and unpredictable physics made it so fucking miserable, if the previous levels really loved to stop you on you tracks, this right here is the prime example of the worse result possible of that idea, and the chasing Robotnik at the end made me yearn for the sweet release, just… why? It took more attempts that I’d like to admit, but I don’t care, it was DONE, and I don’t have to see that place ever again! And next it was Star Light Zone and… it was my favorite part of the game by a wide margin: it was like the second zone should have been, more opportunities to fail that still feel fair, super interesting ideas that I didn’t expect to see in this game, and capped by far my favorite, most creative and open fight against Robotnik in the entire game. I… really didn’t expect this, and it game me hope, hope that Scrap Brain Zone would keep up this and turn into a fantastic end- it was instant game over hell, there’s no other way to put it. Nothing was as bad as some stuff as the such of Marble purgatory, but still, the cool visuals and some excellent ideas really save this one… until Act 3 where it BECOMES FUCKING LABYRINTH ZONE AGAIN WHAT THE ACTUAL LIVING FU- ok, I’ll give it this tho; it has the most interesting different path and secrets of the entire game for me, and it at least was shorter than anything in the zone that shall not be named. It was tolerable, the final boss was tolerable. I. Was. Done.
It's funny though, the last two zones were far better than the Sonic 2 ones-
Sonic the Hedgehog is an actual mess, the difficulty spikes are as random as the ones in quality, it has some fantastic ideas that for some unholy reason decides to use as a hinderance instead of its basis, it lacks the speed, the urge to explore, and the fun in learning that the other games have in some way or another… and yet I can’t fully blame the game itself for any of those. There’s a clear vision behind all of this, one that it just got lost along the way, like it was still scared to not be what it wanted to defy, like the sloppy first steps in a long marathon; it’s frustrating, but it’s the perfect showcase of a bright future and so, so much potential. Maybe it’s because I know can fully see it like that that I.. actually don’t really dislike it as much as I was expecting, specially during some sections; I for sure didn’t enjoy it all the way, but it had fun parts, and sometimes, even at its most bullshit, it’s hard to ignore the passion and craft that was put into all of this. It’s a commendable effort that I wish I could say I enjoyed, but ultimately was more preoccupied with giving something that may have been more familiar instead of giving us something different, something that embraced its spirit, something that was Sonic.
Also I would like to add that I beat the game with what it was one life in each level, which meant absolutely zero checkpoints. Did that happen because of my stupidity? That’s irrelevant, what’s important is that I did it, I beat Sonic the Hedgehog… What’s that? What do you mean there’s a 2006 gam-