INTRODUCTION

The beginning of it all, the game that opened the floodgates for what was to come! I have such a weird history with this game... Like everyone else, as a kid, I could barely get past the second zone! But now, it's probably the Sonic game I've spent the most hours in. Why? That's what we're here for, to discuss why I think this game is so great in the first place!

GAMEPLAY

You'd think the goal is simple right? Surely a game about the "fastest thing alive" couldn't be that complicated, and you'd be half right. Your aim is the same as any typical platformer, get to the end of the stage, but it's how you achieve this that is interesting. On a first, or even a second playthrough, you'd make your way through the levels pretty slowly actually, being careful not to get hit by traps, finding secrets and discovering the scenery ; yet every act has multiple paths coming from top to bottom - top being high risk high reward, the fastest but at the cost of falling all the way down with a mess up, and the bottom being slower but safer - and to me, this is what gives the game its charm. Replaying it again and again, getting familiar with the pathways, choosing your own routes, or taking your time to find new faster ones! The game isn't fast by itself, it's you, through your own experience and knowledge of it that you can go fast, and I find that amazing. While most people would say Green Hill Zone is the highlight of this game, with how you can easily breeze past it, I find myself appreciating Marble Zone, or even Labyrinth Zone even more, because with time, you can also finish them in no time! Not many people are fond of the arcade-like philosophy of this game (limited lives, emphasis on scoring and replays...), and it's true that it's a bit unfair to newcomers, but I just love how unique it makes it not only from other franchises, but even from other games in the series.

Sonic controls amazingly too, your jumps feel so fluid, and the speed is just right. (Even if there are a few caveats, like the speed-cap when running, but I guess this is remediated by simply rolling, and mastering that is very fun too!).

If I had one bad thing to criticize about this game, it would be basically anything about the Special Stages. Not only are they kind of annoying to get to, but the levels themselves are really tedious, and the reward is not even worth it at all, as the Chaos Emeralds only give you an ever-so-slightly different ending (though I guess getting Continues would be a good incentive to go in Special Stages, but that's about it)

PRESENTATION

Even before starting the game, the chant of the SEGA logo followed by that amazing title screen... It really does something to you doesn't it? It's such a strong start for your first time, but also becomes quickly nostalgic as time goes.

Sonic himself looks great in this game, of course this is how he got known for his "attitude", from the waiting to the balancing animations, it's all great! Though maybe I wish we could see a bit more of his personality? The regular animations like standing and running do feel a bit stiff because of his stoic gaze and lack of mouth, but that's barely even a criticism, he's super cool either way.

Every Zone is so distinct from anything else, and really do feel like actual places that could exist in this world, minus some weirdly floating bumpers and such. It's all so flashy, but even cozy sometimes; Starlight Zone has such a peculiar vibe, I couldn't even describe it. Plus I love how the game follows the theme of every new Zone you visit becomes more and more crowded with robots and machinery... I really like the environmentalist theme!

The unique vibes are also thanks to the soundtrack. While the Genesis often had great music, it also often had that weird "TWANG" in it, but this game has none of that and great makes use of everything it can. I don't think this game has a single track I couldn't listen to on loop for hours, it's so upbeat and fits perfectly! Plus it's all become so memorable too...

LAST THOUGHTS

While maybe not perfect for everybody, I absolutely love this game, and I completely understand how it managed to make Sonic so well-known so quickly! Maybe it's more of a product of its time, and newer players would prefer later entries, but Sonic the Hedgehog 1 still has its own identity, and is really worth playing! And playing... and playing again and again... I swear, every time I'm bored my brain just automatically boots this game up, and I always have a great time! Sometimes I still even discover new stuff, and I find it so crazy. It's a bit hard to get into, especially if it's your first Sonic game, but I still highly recommend it to anyone! I've highly debated over if this game or its sequel was my favorite... It's a tough choice, but I ended up on Sonic 1 being the winner, it really just has that unique thing I can't quite put my hand on that just keeps making me come back... Maybe the higher skill ceiling? I wonder.

Did you know?

In Scrap Brain Zone Act 2, if you bring at least 50 rings to this elevator (or the one just above!), it'll take you to a shortcut that is practically a straight line to the goal post!

INTRODUCTION

We finally arrive to the Advance series! (Don’t tell anyone reading this in the future that I actually started by this…). I never really played all of these games seriously. I’ve beaten them a few times a while back, but that’s about it. So let’s get a fresh start from the beginning by talking about Sonic Advance!

GAMEPLAY

Of course, as a 2D Sonic game, the first thing I have to talk about are the physics… And, they’re pretty on point! They’re of course not really accurate to the classics but, do they really have to be? They’re good physics on their own, and I think that’s all that matters. Characters can do what you’d expect: run, jump, Spin Dash, but they also each have a new unique combat move when pressing the B button! And… I find them pretty useless, they’re all super slow and kind of break the pace, they also don’t do anything a regular spin attack can’t do, so I pretty much never used them. Apart from that, everyone controls how you’d expect! Tails can fly, Knuckles can glide and climb… Sonic has a mid-air dash, which is a bit weak but also fun to use, but he also has the Insta-Shield! Well, it’s not really a shield, as it doesn’t protect you from anything, and you only get barely more range with it. The manual actually just calls it a “Spin Attack”, they should stop swapping the names of everything, I swear just rolling was called exactly that before, and jumping too. A-Anyway, for the first time, we also have Amy! And her gameplay is actually pretty unique, as she can’t spin! This makes using the combat moves actually useful, as she can also use one in the air too. She also has a few unique moves such as a Hammer Jump, or even just falling to the ground lol. Her Spin Dash is also replaced with “Giant Steps”, it’s just a tiny hop forward, but it’s weirdly fun to use.

Now for the levels themselves. The level design is pretty nice! It actually reminds me of Sonic 1 a lot, pretty slow by itself, but I bet you could go pretty fast if you took the time to learn the layouts. People often criticize these games for having a lot of bottomless pits, but I didn’t encounter that many? (Apart from falling through the ground in the first level as Amy…) Maybe I’m just too good. What I did see though, was a lot of spikes? Spikes to trap you out of nowhere, or just used as stoppers at the end of a platform, it kind of became a bit jarring by the end. The levels themselves are still pretty good, nice and short. The final levels were waaay longer, with a timer ticking down too! But that made them feel like a grand finale, which was pretty fun. Speaking of finale, the bosses were very forgettable and pretty easy to bit. XX Zone having bosses from Sonic 1 and 2 was super cool, but the final boss after it really sucked.

Speaking of… things that suck? (What a transition) Finding the Special Stages was kinda hard, I only ever found one in my casual playthrough, and in the final zone. And as Special Stages usually are, they’re very bad. The perspective is super confusing, and the background is way too distracting for what you have to do. The rings are super hard to get, and sometimes what you have to do is confusing?? I swear the B button looks like it makes you do something that could break bombs, and it even looks necessary to do that sometimes, but it only does a trick that you have to use on these yellow circles, I really didn’t like them, especially since the reward (an Extra Final Boss/Ending Cutscene) weren’t even that worth it…

PRESENTATION

This game looks very very good, the colors pop like crazy, the backgrounds are super detailed and nice, and I think this is my favorite these characters have ever looked. The animations are so expressive, it brings out all of their personalities, I love it! The locations all feel pretty lively too, and as I said look super good, but maybe a bit too detailed sometimes? It makes it a bit hard to see because of how much they try to cram on one tiny screen, but that’s not really their fault. It’s kinda funny to have Zones called “Neo Green Hill” and “Angel Island” despite looking nothing like those locations, but a fresh take on them is always appreciated!

The music is pretty good too, but fairly forgettable. It surprisingly has a few remixes from Sonic 1 and 2 in the menus and in a few other places, and they sound very good! It makes me wonder whatever they were doing with Sonic Genesis even more…

LAST THOUGHTS

This game is pretty good! It’s not perfect, but not everything needs to be. It’s fun to sit down and play for a little bit, and I think that’s fine enough! I can see myself coming back and playing a few levels here in there, I just won’t try to get the Emeralds again lol. I recommend just doing a casual run, it’s super quick and nice! Like, you can really beat the game without having ever touched it before in less than an hour, but once again, not a bad thing! Short and sweet!

Did you know?

Once entering the character selection screen, pressing ⬆️ ➡️ ⬇️ ➡️ 🇱 ➡️ 🇷 ➡️ then 🇦, you can play as Sonic & Tails together! Pretty cool!