Sonic the Hedgehog
System: SMS
Release Date: October 25th, 1991
Developer: Ancient
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Stop Robotnik and his attempted takeover of South Island in Sonic the Hedgehog! Robotnik is back at it, capturing animals and turning them into his evil robots. Sonic isn’t going to have it and will use his speed to put an end to Robuttnik’s machinations. Can you move real fast through six levels and save South Island?
Starting out, this is recognizable to anyone who knows anything about Sonic. The Green Hill Zone is your first test and moving through it feels natural. Sonic gains momentum and moves fast. You can tuck into a ball to defeat enemies. The momentum is very important to keep control of, because you can lose it fast if you aren’t careful.
Collect all of the rings you come across. Unlike the Genesis, getting hit means you lose all of your rings without the possibility of earning them back. Reaching the end of the stage with more than 50 rings will send you to the bonus stage. This has you bouncing around collecting rings for bonus points, as well as the occasional continue and 1-up. If you hit 100 rings, you get an extra life, but start back over at zero and lose your opportunity at the bonus stage.
The biggest thing I noticed as I played was the slowdown. My god… the slowdown… This was the worst in the Labyrinth area whenever the top of the water was animated. This is a prime example of the developers trying to do too much with the system. Dr. Robotnik is waiting for you at the end of the third stage in each Zone. He can be quite cheap because you fight him with no rings, so it’s a one hit death. Be prepared for some trial and error.
Chaos Emeralds are hidden within stages. Four of them are easy to see and collect. Two of them are quite hidden. I made use of the ability to look up and down to find most of them. The final emerald required a leap of faith that I luckily noticed. Apparently I got the better ending from collecting them all, but it seemed kind of plain.
Graphics: 1.5
Everything looks nice, but the slowdown is atrocious.
Sound: 2.0
The music is a good arrangement of the 16-bit counterpart, but there’s just too much missing.
Gameplay: 2.0
It works as a platformer, but it’s hard to say it works as a Sonic game because the speed is so slow.
Difficulty: 3.0
1-ups and continues are easy to come by, but there are a few cheap spots.
Fun Factor: 2.0
I guess it’s pretty fun if you only had a Master System, but nowhere near the level of the Genesis version.
Overall Rating: 2.1
Sonic the Hedgehog earns a C. If your parents didn’t love you enough to get you a Sega Genesis, this would have been alright, but for the last official release in the US, it’s kind of a letdown.