Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog, known in Japan as ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ [Sonikku za Hejjihoggu], is a platform action game developed and published by Sega and first released for the Genesis on 1991-06-23.
I had seen commercials for Sonic the Hedgehog long before I had played it. A middle school friend of mine had a Genesis and I played it at his house. I remember being very impressed with the way the game looked, but I found it to be quite difficult. I tried running through the game and kept hitting enemies, spikes, and various other hazards. All in all, I didn't enjoy the game, and, to this day, I still don't care much for Sonic games.
Contents
Status
I do not own this game and I have never beaten it.
Review
- Overall: 4/10
- Best Version: Genesis
Good
- The game has fantastic graphics, music, and animation.
- The evolving boss battles are pretty good. Nothing too crazy, but different enough to be challenging.
- In the few areas where it's safe to run fast, it's wonderful to watch Sonic moving at top speed.
- Sonic dropping all his rings is a cool graphic effect.
- The bonus stages are a nice break from the regular levels.
Bad
- The plot doesn't make any sense. Why is Dr. Robotnik turning woodland creatures into robots when he's interested in obtaining the chaos jewels?
- Getting a 1up from accruing 100 rings seems awfully derivative of the coins in Super Mario Bros.
Ugly
- The game's main gimmick is that you can run fast, but, in reality, running fast will just get you killed. Since Sonic is centered on the screen, you have only a split second to react to hazards, not nearly enough for most players. To stand a chance of success, you must slowly make your way through each section gently, avoiding the many hazards, until you have each level memorized; it's quite tedious.
Media
Documentation
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Manual.pdf
Genesis manual.
Maps
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Green Hill Zone - Act 1.png
Green Hill Zone, Act 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Green Hill Zone - Act 2.png
Green Hill Zone, Act 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Green Hill Zone - Act 3.png
Green Hill Zone, Act 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Marble Zone - Act 1.png
Marble Zone, Act 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Marble Zone - Act 2.png
Marble Zone, Act 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Marble Zone - Act 3.png
Marble Zone, Act 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Spring Yard Zone - Act 1.png
Spring Yard Zone, Act 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Spring Yard Zone - Act 2.png
Spring Yard Zone, Act 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Spring Yard Zone - Act 3.png
Spring Yard Zone, Act 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Labyrinth Zone - Act 1.png
Labyrinth Zone, Act 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Labyrinth Zone - Act 2.png
Labyrinth Zone, Act 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Labyrinth Zone - Act 3.png
Labyrinth Zone, Act 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Star Light Zone - Act 1.png
Star Light Zone, Act 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Star Light Zone - Act 2.png
Star Light Zone, Act 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Star Light Zone - Act 3.png
Star Light Zone, Act 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Scrap Brain Zone - Act 1.png
Scrap Brain Zone, Act 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Scrap Brain Zone - Act 2.png
Scrap Brain Zone, Act 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Scrap Brain Zone - Act 3.png
Scrap Brain Zone, Act 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Special Stage - 1.png
Special Stage - 1.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Special Stage - 2.png
Special Stage - 2.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Special Stage - 3.png
Special Stage - 3.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Special Stage - 4.png
Special Stage - 4.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Special Stage - 5.png
Special Stage - 5.
- Sonic the Hedgehog - GEN - Maps - Special Stage - 6.png
Special Stage - 6.
Fan Art
Videos
- youtube.com/watch?v=dJJnxHcv1z4 - Longplay.
Links
- mobygames.com/game/sonic-the-hedgehog - MobyGames.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(1991_video_game) - Wikipedia.
- youtube.com/watch?v=DYO1ZmRuZ_U - Postmortem.