It's wild that the icon of speed was tied to the posterchild for poor 50Hz optimisation, and yet, in 1991, Europe still loved him. Wherever you bought your copy of Sonic 1, the ROM was the same, and European Mega Drives were not built to play that shit. Regardless, PAL Sonic 1 has a daydreamy quality that I remain attached to. It makes the surrealness stand out more. The weird geometry and scrolling Special Stage birds that turn to fish. The slower pace means there's more opportunity for your attention towards drift to the backgrounds, and why are there prison bars all over Marble Zone's underground? The technical showcase aspect of it all was lost on me as a 5 year-old, but paired with all the old hippies who were animating sequences on the episodes of Sesame Street I'd watch daily, I was skipping past taking interest in the wonders of the world around me, and jumping headfirst into a fascination with the psychedelic. Don't cry for us, America. To you, it was just a bit of fun, but for us, Mobius was a dream. No wonder so much of the world's poetry comes from Europe. It's a real bummer that when Sonic transitioned to 3D, Sega's big question was "what if he lived in a city with people and a public transit system?"

Sonic 1 is a gorgeous game, and Naoto Oshima has a real skill for character design. Games had attempted to be this vibrant and dense with colour before, but when they were, they were likely the most rancid Amiga games ever made. Before Sonic, the Mega Drive was selling itself on the cutting-edge visuals of Castle of Illusion, which looks about a generation behind this. Everything was defined by the dimensions of the sprite tiles. Sonic's world is full of slopes, twisting tunnels and crumbling rock, and it all had a direct effect on your movement. Sure, Mario 3 let you slide on your arse, but in Sonic, every angle of geometry had an impact. It had taken a couple of years to convince weary customers that the jump to 16-bit actually meant anything, but after Sonic, there was no doubt.

I think a big factor that puts off older players who didn't grow up with Sonic is that it's neither strict enough to demand skilful play, nor easy enough to not constantly bump into dead ends and enemies. That ring system is a double-edged sword. Unlike the more respected Shinobis and Dynamite Headdys, you can get through it, but first-timers are just going to have a really sloppy run. For young players, who could never complete a game before, it was a godsend. We learned every curve of land and every terrible spikepit off by heart, and when we play it now, we're all incredible at the game. We're not confounded by springs that send you shooting into traps, or the giant Scrap Brain sawblades. When we play, it's with that intended sense of attitude. I think my later affinity for skateboarding games can be traced back to Sonic, with its momentum-based movement and giant halfpipes. There wasn't really anything that played like that in the early 3D days until THPS came along.

Sonic 1 instantly became the boring one when it started to get sequels, but I think it retains the strongest sense of atmosphere. It's the artsiest game in the series, with its far-out influences and only the sparsest interest in worldbuilding. It really doesn't hold much resemblance to the hideous multimedia juggernaut that the franchise has become. Sonic's a breezy little game that you can get through in around an hour, and it remains a lovely experience. Just make sure to leave yourself 12.5% longer if you're playing on a European machine.

you wanna hear about how shit TMS is
the game itself is dogwater
anyone who says otherwise has been gaslit by nintendo
and the disease is ever spreading
thats my tinfoil condom theory
there cannot be this many people who actually think this awfully designed game is good
they've all been gaslit
and im gonna prove it
1. a lot of people like to say the game is an smt x fe crossover with a unique identity of its own
since when was a game about generic idols doing idol shit ever unique?
the game has no unique identity, and it is completely bland and the very foundation of the core idea of the game is ruined by its own inconsistencies
the game is about the dark underbelly of the idol industry but does not convey this in any meaningful way and just says "the evil guys were the mirages all along and the people aren't evil even though they're humans"
and the actual design of the game sucks

“Isn’t it a dancing game?”

no
it's like
persona but instead of one mores and a cool baton pass mechanic you get this shitty string of combos that gets old very quick and never builds upon itself throughout the entirety of the game
and
instead of 4 party members you get 3
and unlike most 3 party member games where it lets you change out the leader, you can't do that in TMS
the main character is always in the party
so really you only have 2 options for customizing the party

“The Main character is always in the party in FE”

correct
however
the game could've done with 4 party members
instead of being extremely limiting
the weapon system is the worst in any FE game
it's like DDS mantras but somehow more grindy
and you need to find items to even make the weapons
which is how you get new skills
and that's not all
you know how multiple classes can use the same weapons in FE?

“Yeah.”

like this guy can use swords but this guy can too
not in TMS
despite being a cavalier and pegasus knight, two classes that use lances, touma and tsubasa use different types of lances
it can't even get down one of the most basic mechanics in FE
you only get access to other weapons once you promote
which is by like the 3rd or 4th dungeon i think?

“The most basic mechanic is permadeath.”

which TMS doesn't have either due to there only being like 7 or 8 party members?
(cringe)
another CRINGE thing about tms is the light and dark spells
look at this
unknown-32.png
these are all of the light and dark spells
notice anything?
no hama or mudo
which means no fast way of clearing out encounters
and all of the single target ailment skills like poisma or pulinpa are enemy only
for some stupid fucking reason
so despite being called a dark mage, kiria only learns exactly 1 dark spell that does damage
because there's no medium or heavy dark attack
AND
there aren't session follow ups for light and dark even though there are for every other element
so hitting those weaknesses is pointless
even though enemies can be weak to that
who looks at this game and goes
"yeah that's fun"

“Which studio made this game?”

you wanna hear something crazy

“Sure.”

the same people who made devil survivor and strange journey
made this game

“Bullshit. I don’t believe that one bit.”

its true

“Impossibile.”

there's even devil survivor and strange journey dlc outfits
i just wanna know who thought this game was okay

and why people defend it
there's literally no reason to
you may think it's good, but what you think and what is are 2 different things
like for example
i like fire emblem gaiden
but even i know it is a shitty game
speaking of fire emblem gaiden
you don't get an axe user in TMS until the late game

“I like FSR but even I know it’s a shitty game.”

until then, it's just swords, lances, bows, and magic
gaiden moment
you don't wanna have a gaiden moment in your game

“Is Echoes a good replacement for Gaiden?”

it is essentially the same game but pretty

“And horny?”

and they attempt to make it look cool by giving a game with a nonexistent story, a story
you can take a guess how that goes

“30 Hours?”

yeah but gaiden was similar in that regard
but for different reasons
both are very grind heavy games but gaiden is slower due to being on the NES
and echoes has the newly added combat arts but there really aren't that many
so it's a negligible new mechanic
combat arts are essentially physical skills from smt where they're like special attacks at the cost of more HP
and in FE3H instead of taking HP they consume more weapon uses
which i think is a better way to handle it even though echoes couldn't do that due to weapons being unbreakable
so it takes HP instead
because HP is the only expendable resource
fire also got shafted in TMS as an element
there are severe spells for every other element except for fire
bolganone is in the game
but it's enemy only :)
anyways, TMS sucks dogshit and don't let anyone tell you otherwise
the people who say the game is good have no idea what they're talking about