The first Sonic the Hedgehog game is much simpler in terms of graphics and presentation than I remembered it to be, because of later titles false memories. Visuals are simple and straightforward, especially in places like Marble Zone which have the look of a decent but budget Amiga/AtariST euro platformer.

This game yet doesn't have many of the special moves or features the series is famous for, but it is still pretty neat and solid to play a platformer game, if a bit janky in places.

While this game already kind of shows the limits of Genesis hardware (later titles will compensate it much better, by art and features and clever programming) it was a decent hardware showcase to compete against back then still relevant 8-bit systems.