Sonic the Hedgehog
Reviewed by Inkhands
Dr Robotnik has turned animals into robots and someone has
to save these animals and stop the mad doctor. Since the
plumber was busy off in the Mushroom Kingdom, they called in
a blue hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog was a game I used to see
commercials for about a decade ago. It looked interesting
every time I saw Sonic run upside down, spin through the
tunnel, and then soar through the air. I didn't play this
game until a few years after that when I bought my Genesis
and this game was packed in with it. I was a little
surprised to find the antics I had liked so much from the
commercial was in the opening stage of this game. Once I
played that, I found little reason to play the rest of it,
because that's pretty much the highpoint of this game.
The entire appeal of this game was supposed to be based on
the speed that Sonic could attain. If you play this game,
you know the pace of the game isn't quite that frantic a
majority of the time. Occasionally, you may be spinning
around and not knowing where you're going. However, a good
majority of the time I spent on this game was moving through
the stages very slowly, to avoid spikes, pits, and robotic
animals. The game just didn't live up to the super sonic
speed that it had advertised. The opening zone is very easy
and you can move through it very quickly. The second zone is
much more slower. It's an underground area with lava and
each act in this zone takes around 5 minutes to complete.
Whereas you can get through all three acts of the first zone
in about that much time. The third zone picks up a little,
because there are many springs to bounce around on, but the
speed doesn't appear very much in this zone either. There
are a total of six zones and they usually consist of three
acts. There are also some bonus stages, but very few hidden
areas. These bonus stages play like a game of pinball, as
the screen spins around, while you control Sonic through
bumpers. You pick up as many rings as you can before you hit
those areas marked with the word Goal.
Along the way you pick up rings. If Sonic is hit he will
lose all of his rings. Those rings will float around on
screen for a few seconds, but you will not get all of them
back. If you have 85 rings and are hit, consider yourself
lucky to pick even 10 of them back up. If you earn 100 rings
in a stage you will gain an extra life. The bonus stages
allow you to gain an extra continue. Scattered through the
regular stages are bonus items. There is a set of 10 rings,
an invincible item, and a shield. The invincible item will
only last about 20 or 30 seconds, with no warning of when
it's going to wear off. Even while invincible there are
still some things that can kill Sonic. Such as being crushed
under a few certain obstacles. The shield allows an extra
hit. If you are hit with a shield, you lose the shield, but
you still retain your rings for another extra hit. This does
make the game a bit easier, considering, there are very few
things that will kill you while you have at least one ring.
Of course there is no save feature in this game and there is
no password system either. You have to play through the
entire game with only three lives, unless you do manage to
pick up a continue somewhere. You can also earn extra lives
by finding 100 rings in a stage or just an extra life item
hidden away occasionally. This does add to the challenge of
the game, but nothing more than the average player couldn't
handle. The stages do get quite long, but there are lamp
posts to help you. If you touch a lamp post, you will start
back at that position in the level, if you do die at some
point. You really won't die very often in this game.
Especially, if you manage to hold onto your rings at all
times. The second zone, the marble zone, does take a while
to complete, as mentioned above. It presents you with some
very easy puzzles and a matter of just memorizing where the
spikes are.
All three buttons will make Sonic jump. So control is rather
simple. You can also hold down and press either left or
right to make Sonic turn into a ball and spin around on the
ground. This is a very good way to attack, as it will wipe
out nearly all kinds of enemies. Another good way to attack
is spinning through the air. If you jump on an enemy while
spinning you will kill it. Also, the birds that are in the
air can be easily killed with this attack. If you hold the
up button, you can see a frame above Sonic. If you hold
down, he will crouch, and you can see what is going on a
frame below where you are.
The graphics in this game are quite nice. Sonic is blue with
little red shoes and a black nose. He moves quite well. If
he gets hit and loses his rings he will jump back, throw his
arms up, and look quite stunned. If you hold him over the
ledge he will beging to look as though he might fall by
teetering around on one foot. If you stand him in the same
position for a while he will turn and look toward you. The
enemies vary between a spiky looking worm, some flying fish,
and bats. None of them look great, but they look good
enough. The backgrounds in the opening zone are quite nice,
with the blue lake and the green trees. The second zone is
filled with lava and a stone block underground. The best
part graphically of this area, is stepping on a piece of
land, and it will sink into the lava while you are standing
on it. As it sinks flames will shoot up out of the lava and
onto this piece of land.
The third area looks like a Vegas nightclub show, with all
the springs, bumpers, and flashing lights. The feeling of
free falling is quite nice in this zone. You will drop from
a ledge and fall beyond the screen you are falling so fast,
and then speed through a loop, and bounce around on the
bumpers. Or land and hit those springs that will send Sonic
soaring through the air a good hundred feet. Of course
occasionally you will find a spring that is planted on the
side of the walls that will put Sonic on the wrong course by
sending him backwards. The bonus stages have a background
with birds flying and some red, blue and green bumpers for
Sonic to bounce between.
The main theme is interesting. The themes through each act
of a zone repeat, so it gets very tiring to hear. Each zone
has it's on theme, but they sound merely like variations on
each other. The first zone has a more fast paced thing,
while the second one has a mellower one. The music gets very
fast while Sonic is invincible. You get a theme when you
complete an act and when the game is over. The special
effects are just jumping, spinning, rolling on the ground,
and picking up or losing rings. The sound isn't quite as
impressive as the graphics.
Sonic may have speed and charm, but his game does not. This
game is very good and for the most part rises above the
average platform game, but it just doesn't hold the amount
of appeal or secrets that the Mario games provide. This game
really lacks the replay value that almost all of the Mario
games have. While there's no question that Sonic is the more
appealing character of the two, it is also without question
that the Mario games have more variety, appeal, charm, and
replay value. Sonic the Hedgehog is a very good game, but
certainly not a great game.
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 8/10
Challenge - 7/10
Fun Factor - 7/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Replay Value - 5/10
Overall - 8/10
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