We’ve got something a little bit different for you with this week’s WeView. Usually, we try to make this feature about something relevant, either to recent releases or upcoming sequels. We try to find a title that plenty of people will have played that might give us a little split in opinions. We’re not doing that this time.
This week, we’ve chosen to ask for your opinions on Sonic the Hedgehog. Not the most recent downloadable episode. Not even the Generations demo that just came out. No. We want to know what you think about the original, 1991, Sega Megadrive version.
Now, obviously there will be several of you who don’t have access to a Megadrive (or Genesis, if you’re lucky enough to be in the USA) and haven’t played it on the best console ever (that’s a fact, no need to look it up). Don’t worry, we’ll accept reviews based on the iPhone version, any of the various compendium re-releases or any other hardware that played the speedy blue mammal’s first Robotnik-busting adventure.
Sega’s spiky platformer might have inspired many of us to get deeper into gaming but it was released a little while before TSA existed so we don’t have a review written by a TSA staff member for you. So, in lieu of our own review, here’s what my favourite magazine at the time (Mean Machines – which also inspired me to get deeper into games) said about it, before awarding it 92%:
I can’t think of a Megadrive game with more spectacular graphics… everything is just so fast and smooth it’s astonishing! The design of the levels and the obstacles is ingenious (the Labyrinth zone is a blast!), and I love the fact that you can really explore the levels for different routes and secret rooms, rather than simply having to get from left to right.
Rest assured that Kris and I have our own personal scale that we judge all other games by. Basically, if anyone ever says “Wow! That was the best game ever” we ask one simple question: Was it better than Sonic the Hedgehog. The answer has always been a simple, disheartened and almost lonely sounding: “No”.
This one is intended to be a bit of fun before the autumn release schedule really kicks into top gear and we get back to linking WeView in with the current gaming scene so why not join in? Pop over to our forums and let us know what you think of it before telling us if you’d recommend others Buy it, Bargain Bin it, Rent it or Avoid it.
We’ll collect some quotes and count your verdicts on Sunday afternoon for next Monday’s round up post.
Dan Lee
A solid 6/10 game…
Origami Killer
Is this the version of Sonic which came with a Plus update not so long ago? Sega classics version of it. If so It’s the only time I have ever played it.
R4U Eldave0
Poor man’s Super Mario ;) Avoid.
The Lone Steven
11/10. Why? cause i’m baised. :p
I think Sonic may have been the first game that i ever played. To be honest, i think Sonic is older then every site that is in existance. ;)
OriginalJonty (Aran Suddi)
Ditto to all you have said
sparkyscrum
A good game but not the best in the series. Glad Sega hasn’t completely forgetting about the ‘classic’ Sonic but I just hope they can provide more games that were as fun and repayable as the original Mega Drive games.
3shirts
As a Nintendo kid I remember the first time I played Sonic on the Megadrive of a family friend’s son. It blew me away. The speed it moved was like nothing I’d ever played and the way you could just blast along without ever feeling properly out of control was unique. It was the Megadrive’s Uncharted really. It showed, even early on, what the console was capable of and the sequels all pushed it further.
As a NES kid I remember going home after my first experience with Sonic and looking at Mario 3 (which I will add, IS the best game of all time) and feeling disappointed by it’s lack of speed and polish.
After a few more trips to the ‘family with the Medagrive’ I did find Sonic lost it’s edge. The game forces you to slow down as it progresses and some of the later zones didn’t do it for me really, but I’ll never forget that first exposure and the first time I had console jealousy.
Forrest_01
Awful.
Bloody jumped up blue spiky hedgehogs replacing Alex Kidd as the mascot of SEGA (unofficial or not)!! Disgraceful behaviour.
Was a good game though. :)
ljc1976
Sonic was the reason everyone I knew had a Megadrive. I remember the playground bragging over who had the fastest time through the first Green Hills level (I think mine was 27 seconds).
I have to say though that my favourite Megadrive game was Kid Chameleon. A side scrolling platform game that never got boring or predictable due to the different abilities the character could inherit. It had around 100 levels and no way of saving progress. I completed it twice!
Old school games were sooo difficult. Kids today don’t know how easy they’ve got it! :-)
Forrest_01
This is true actually – People rage quit & moan for hours now when they get sent back to a checkpoint that was 5 or so minutes ago, but I recall back in the day when losing all of your lives (of which there were generally 3) sent you back to the BEGINNING OF THE GAME.
I of course am in favour of checkpointing these days (as things tend to be a little more cinematic & it would be annoying to sit through it numerous times), but I was brought up as part of the hardcore that you mention.
FalconRedux
Amen to that. Super Mario Bros (the NES original) is rock hard. I remember trying to play games like New Zealand Story or CJ’s Elephant Antics on the C64 which would take hours to play through. The best bit with that was you had to turn the tape over to load more data as you progressed through the game. (I laugh that now I think waiting a minute for a game to load is too long.)
Sympozium
The greatest game ever made…. EVER….
McProley
Mean Machines was good, but ill have you know, Patrick Moore as the Games Master was legendary!
McProley
Dominic Diamond was a bit of a cock though
Forrest_01
I actually found him less grating than Dexter Fletcher though.
McProley
point well made good sir
moshi
Mr Diamond was a legend.
3shirts
Nah, Dominic Diamond is the man the c-word was invented for. It’s one thing to be a smug self-satisfied prick, but behaving like that over 13 year old kids? Ooh big man.