Welcome to the inaugural article of Past Processing. The blog that will look back at the games of the Sega Genesis, my favorite console of all time. Yes, in a world of consoles the likes of the Super Nintendo, Playstation 2, Nintendo 64 and other such legends, it's the Sega Genesis that always brings me back. It was the console I got for Christmas in 1993, it was the system that shaped my interest in gaming, and it's just a great nostalgia piece for me. And since this is a blog of nostalgia, it's always good to talk about your loves. Now, I did review this game once before. In fact, I did a whole bunch of Sega Genesis game reviews, but for this blog series, I feel it's only fair to start with the console's most iconic title. Even if it does mean repeating myself a bit.
By 1991, Sega was holding strong in the American market. Nintendo was still going much stronger, and with the Super NES finally making it out of Japan, the battle between Sega and Nintendo was going to get a lot more intense. Sega had a great console, and a great lineup of games, but it was still missing something. It was missing a mascot. Sure, there was Alex Kidd, but he wasn't what the company needed to represent their foray into the nineties. Sega of Japan came up with several different concepts, but it was Naoto Ohshima's concept art of a hedgehog named Mr. Needlemouse, which ultimately stuck. Once they turned him blue, gave him a Bart Simpson-esque attitude, and built him up as being the fastest video game character alive, and Sonic The Hedgehog was born.
Sega knew they had a hit on their hands, and a character who could help lead them to financial success. On the road to Sonic's release, a massive marketing surge hit, building Sonic up as being everything that Mario wasn't. Mario is the every man. The boy scout. The goody good. Sonic though, he was anti-authority. He was fast. He was in your face. You know the Simpsons episode about Poochie? Well, let's just say that's kind of how marketing was in the nineties. A focus on attitude over substance. And Sonic had that in spades. The build to June 23rd of 1991 was a big one as Sonic got heavy coverage on gaming magazines, and Sega even making the bold decision of packaging Sonic with new Sega Genesis consoles. It led to 15 million copies of Sonic sold, and helped Sega keep itself as a strong competitor to the Big N for the majority of the 16-bit generation. And Sonic himself would become a pop culture icon. More recognizable than even Mickey Mouse. With comics, cartoons, and so much merchandise that will make your head spin.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a one player action platformer. You control Sonic through six zones as he saves his animal friends from the evil Doctor Robotnik. The directional pad moves Sonic, while you jump with A, B, or C. Sonic is a fast character, so when you get your speed at full momentum, you can execute a spin dash by pressing down. Using this can destroy enemies in your path and even break through certain breakable walls. This game predates the easier method of spin dashing that would premiere in Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Regardless, it's still a neat addition that adds to Sonic's charm and helps to separate him from Mario.
There are six zones, broken into three acts each. At the end of the third act is a battle with Robotnik himself. Scattered in each level are enemies to face off with, a lot of spiky hazards and pits, but plenty of Rings and other items that do benefit Sonic. Rings act somewhat akin to coins from Mario, as in there's tons in each act and getting 100 will earn you an extra life. Unlike coins however, they act as an extra hit point for Sonic. For once he's hit, the rings will shower away from him, leaving him vulnerable to damage. Collecting rings also has another benefit too, as collecting fifty grants Sonic entrance into a special stage. There's also blue shields that can act as another hit point, speed shoes that increase your speed for a brief period, extra life boxes and invincibility shields that let you take no damage for a brief period of time.
The Six zones are as follows. Green Hill Zone starts you off as Sonic traverses over the grassy fields facing off with many of Robotnik's deadly forces. It's a simple set of levels that help you learn the basics of the game. It's also the best example of the high speed that the media sold Sonic as. Next is Marble Zone, filled with lava, spikes, and underground paths to traverse. It's a much slower level, which doesn't help sell the game's concept of being speed focused. Spring Yard Zone picks back up with pace with a lot of sloped areas, half pipes and bumpers to bounce off of. Then things get dire in Labyrinth Zone, as you have to travel through a large underground area filled with water. If Sonic takes too long, he'll drown. Thankfully bubble spawn locations will give off a giant bubble that can save you. Star Light Zone is next, giving a more futuristic vibe, and giving a bit more focus on the speed aspect of the game. Finally there's the Scrap Brain/Final Zone, which represents the dark dystopian world that Robotnik has created. It also features a lot of perils that will put everything you learned in the game to the test.
Aside from that, you have the Special Stages. When you collect fifty rings and bring them to the level end goal post, you can jump into a giant ring that brings you into a vortex where you are falling through a bizarre maze, trying to direct Sonic to the chaos emerald at the end, and avoiding hazards that will end your journey. You have to collect six chaos emeralds to get the good ending to the game. They don't give Sonic his iconic Super Sonic ability, that was also something that was brought to Sonic 2. The special stages are kind of annoying in how easy they are to screw up, and compared to other attempts at the special stage, they're definitely the weakest take.
We're covered the good about Sonic The Hedgehog, but what about the bad? Hit detection can sometimes be spotty. Not the worst, but you can easily get hit when it looks like a projectile has passed you by. Not to mention when you land on spikes and lose rings you don't get a brief invincibility to try and escape. Fall immediately onto more spikes and it's instant death guaranteed. The Labyrinth zone is also annoying in its structure and constant reliance of air bubbles when underwater. Thankfully they do provide a lot of bubble areas, but you can easily die if you lose your place. The game is also notoriously glitchy in places, leading to many unfair deaths. You can get crushed even when it looks like you have plenty of room to get through a tight area. Something that sadly, the series would never really get past.
As for graphics, Sonic the Hedgehog is colorful and vibrant with plenty of detail on the sprites. Even down to little touches like Sonic's idle animations where he can get annoyed if you take too long to move him. The Genesis often gets a bad reputation for its color palette in comparison to the Super Nintendo, but the Sonic series still remain the most vibrant uses of the system's colors to give excellent visuals. The music of the game is also top notch with Masato Nakamura's score bringing out a solid mixture of light and fluffy, hip and funky, and suspenseful and exciting. Standouts are the Spring Yard Zone, Green Hill Zone and Star Light Zone.
I played Sonic The Hedgehog 1 last in the original series. In fact, I think I even played 3D Blast first before the original. I remember getting it at a flea market in maybe 1997 or 1998. Yes, that's how long it was before I played the original. I beat 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles and the others so many times through 1993 and beyond, but never really played the original until the dead days of the console. So I can come into reviewing the original Sonic with a fresher set of eyes, less clouded by the same nostalgia those other games would have. I remember liking this game, but not loving it like I did those other ones. Now all these years later, it's a game I still pop in every now and then. It's earned a warm place in my retro game loving heart. It's not perfect, and lacks the things that made me love the games that followed it, but for the first major outing for the blue blur, it was a really strong first impression. Sonic the Hedgehog is a classic, and a must-play even as we reach ever closer to Sonic's thirtieth year of life. It's perfect representation of the best (and admittedly a lot of the worst) of the nineties. The game got tons of ports, on every system imaginable. Even the Game Boy Advance, but the less said of that atrocity the better. So no matter where you pick it up from, this classic is still worth a play today.
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