Sonic is an absolute blast to play!

User Rating: 9 | Sonic the Hedgehog GEN
Although the Megadrive had made somewhat of a splash during the 1989-1990 period, the fact that the much older NES was still doing much better wasn't good, and with the Super Nintendo just around the corner, Sega needed something huge, and it needed it now! The idea of a character to rival Mario was soon demanded by those higher up at Sega, and after many different options were presented, a little blue hedgehog was chosen, and gaming was never the same again.

Sonic is all about speed, and you'll be racing through the levels in the fastest time possible. What makes Sonic so much fun is the fact that the controls are perfect. All you have is move and jump, and both are incredibly responsive, which helps a lot at the speeds you'll be running at. Along the way, there are loops, tunnels to roll through, and quarter pipes to launch off from. That's just the first level. Later levels require you to be a bit more composed, as bottomless pits and well placed enemies could rob you of a life. In order to preserve your lives, you'll have to collect rings, which allow you to be hit twice before dying. These rings are scattered throughout each level, and if you collect 50 rings in one stage, then you'll be able to enter that zone's bonus stage, where you'll be able to collect one of the seven Chaos Emeralds.

These bonus stages are the only downside to Sonic, as they are far too easy, and pretty dull because of it. They basically consist of rotating mazes with the emerald in the middle. The first one's alright, but you'll quickly grow tired of them. There's also a problem with some of the zones. While the first one "Green Hill" and some others are sheer speed, others seem to neglect the fact that the entire game is about speed, and is adamant about stopping you every three second with pointless puzzles.

Sonic is an incredibly fast game, and one that remains so throughout. There is no flickering, even when there's a lot going on at any one time. Each zone has its own distinct look, and the vibrant colour palette used on both the landscape and character models helps the game to really stand out.

The tunes played during the game are just as jovial as the art style, and you'll be slowly humming along to them long after you're finished. The little bleeps and bloops that constitute as the sound effects never get on your nerves, which makes a refreshing change.

If there's one thing that holds Sonic back, it's the length. There are quite a few stages to be played through, but a lot of them can be done in less than 5 minutes, and some of the earlier ones in less than a minute. Going back and collecting all the Chaos Emeralds in order to get the best ending does add some replay value to the game, but when the bonus stages you have to play through in order to get those emeralds are the worst thing about the game, collecting them is hardly the best incentive to go back through the whole game.

Closing comments: Sonic suffers slightly from a handful of poorly designed levels and bonus levels which are simply agonizing to play, but thanks to perfect controls, gorgeous presentation, and an excellent sense of speed, you'll be able to look past those few flaws and see Sonic for what it really is: an absolute blast to play.