+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.