Most gamers’ first exposure to Sega was by way of Sonic the Hedgehog. What the casual gamer doesn’t realize is that he wasn’t the company’s first mascot. Instead they once relied on cartoon character with comically large sideburns named Alex Kidd. He wasn’t a particularly big hit worldwide. Sega had to hit the drawing board again because they needed something that could compete with the juggernaut that is Mario. This is how Sonic was born, and his first game was released to massive success. I didn’t own a Genesis as a kid, but this was one of the games that made me wish I had. He was faster and cooler than Nintendo’s mascot, and that was a big part of the appeal. Sonic the Hedgehog is an absolutely iconic game, and I still enjoy it a great deal.
The scenario focuses on the anthropomorphic hedgehog Sonic and his eternal battle against Dr. Robotnik in his eternal plot to capture and enslave all of the friendly animals. Yeah it’s cheesy, but at least there’s no damsel in distress, eh? Sonic is a side scrolling platform game with a few interesting twists. The main difference here is that he can run at super fast speeds that transcend nearly every other mascot. The developers have thrown loop de loops in each stage to take advantage of it, and you need to build up speed in order to get past them. Unfortunately this leads right away into some issues.
The game encourages you to run through each stage quickly, and this often causes problems with many of the obstacles both enemies and bumpers alike. Most of the levels are set up in such a way that you’re forced to move slowly in order to avoid hazards, and it doesn’t compliment the design well. Furthermore most of the stages require some fairly intricate platforming, and at slow speeds Sonic’s movement is slippery which makes this frustrating.
Aside from speed Sonic has a few other unique traits going for him. He doesn’t have a life bar, nor does gain extra hits from power-ups like Mario. Instead you can increase his longevity by gathering golden rings scattered throughout each and every stage. When you’re hit by an enemy you lose them. You are given only a short span of time to regather the rings. That’s not to say the game is completely devoid of power-ups because there are actually a few here.
Sonic can gain a shield which protects him from a single hit, and also can gain temporary invincibility which is extremely useful for getting past some of the more populated areas. Enemies are generally destroyed by jumping on their heads in typical fashion but you have to use a spin-dash or else you will take damage. The basic mechanics are different enough to separate Sonic from your run of the mill platform game, and I’m kind of surprised they weren’t copied more heavily in his heyday.
Unfortunately the level design holds this first Sonic the Hedgehog game back a little. The first few stages feature alternate routes and this is really cool, but it isn’t a prevalent feature in the later zones. Many levels have hazards that either explode, are protected, or spit projectiles at you, and many also feature slow moving platforms you must traverse. This means that in some areas you’re forced to wait, or move at a snail’s pace past these obstacles. Normally this is acceptable, but Sonic takes this to new levels. With his ability to run fast I’ve always found myself getting extremely impatient in these sections.
What’s even more annoying is how the developers handled aquatic stages. These are far and few, but absolutely drive me crazy. Sonic cannot swim, and when underwater moves extremely sluggishly. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that he can’t breathe underwater and will die without oxygen after a matter of seconds have passed. You must seek out air bubbles or get out of the water, and often this leads to more waiting around for the oxygen pockets to appear or frantically jumping as you try to reach the surface. Underwater stages in this type of game are usually annoying, but this game takes it to new levels.
Sonic is one of the best looking early Genesis games. Even with the system’s limited color palette Sega was able to pull off vibrant and detailed environments. I’ve always been really fond of this game’s art style with the checkerboard terrain and large amounts of parallax scrolling. The early stages such as Green Hill have very nice art styles. Later segments of the game kind of jump the shark. Sonic the Hedgehog’s speed seems to be a means by which Sega could show off the Genesis’ processing capabilities, and it’s actually pretty impressive.
When you really get going the screen scrolls much faster than in almost every other platformer game. That’s with almost no slowdown. The framerate does occasionally take a hit. When you’re being attacked by several enemies at once the game slows down, but it’s only really noticeable when you lose all of your rings as they bounce around the screen. The latter isn’t a problem because it is actually beneficial. Overall this is a decent looking game and was a nice display of the system’s power.
The system didn’t exactly have the best audio hardware built into it, but the composers were able to do well with what they had. My favorite track by far in this game is the bouncy drum based title theme which still sounds really good. Green Hill Zone has one of the most memorable music in video game history, but I’m much more fond of the Marble Zone track. None of the music is particularly bad, but some of it is forgettable. I didn’t like the Spring Yard and Scrap Brain Zones themes in particular. The ones that I haven’t mentioned are middle of the road in my opinion. The sound effects on the other hand are really well done. I’m particularly fond of the chime that plays as you collect rings, and also of the jumping effect. The audio is pretty decent overall.
Who hasn’t played Sonic the Hedgehog yet? This was one of the defining games from the 16-bit era. Even at the end was still one of the best games available on the Genesis. The problems I’ve outlined hold it back, but regardless it’s a fun game overall. This game is available on pretty much every platform in modern times. If you’re one of the few who haven’t already you should give it a spin. The gameplay holds up pretty well, and it’s a lot of fun even in modern times.
