Sonic the Hedgehog is a great example of the 'easy to pick up - hard to master' nature of platform games.
Sonic the Hedgehog was basically Sega's answer to Nintendo's Super Mario Bros series, but it wasn't a rip-off of the Mario games. While Sonic shares the same platforming genre as Mario it is a totally different platforming experience. The main aspect of Sonic the Hedgehog is speed. Sonic's biggest attribute is that he can run very fast. You might not think running fast is anything fancy, but it is the feature that really makes the Sonic games stand out from the Mario games.
Because of Sonic's speed Sega designed each zone (Sonic's levels) to fully take advantage of this. There are plenty of big areas in Sonic the Hedgehog where Sonic can build up his speed, and once you've mastered Sonic's speed you could practically complete a lot of the games zones in less then one minute. Of course completing a zone in one minute doesn't really sound that good, because you might be like me and want the game to last a long time, but you must really be a master of the game to complete a lot of the levels in under a minute. Of course not all the levels can be completed in under a minute, but some of them can.
The story of Sonic the Hedgehog goes that Sonic lives on South Island with his animal friends. Soon enough Sonic encounters an evil scientist by the name of Dr. Robotnik (known as Eggman in Japan) for the first time. Dr. Robotnik seeks to obtain the powerful Chaos Emeralds for the purpose of creating Robotnik Land, and sets about transforming animals into robots to serve his ends. Realizing Dr. Robotnik evil ambitions Sonic pursues him though the world before eventually defeating him. Following this victory, Sonic returns home to South Island to rejoin his friends and resume his normal life. The story is pretty basic, but a 2D platform games don't need a grand story to succeed as what they does best.
The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog, despite the reliance on speed, is also different to Mario in other ways. The player has ten minutes to finish each zone, usually travelling from left to right across the screen to finish each zone. Along the way through each zone you'll collect rings and defeat enemies and bosses. Collecting one hundred rings will earn you an extra life, and if you finish a level with fifty rings you can access secret stages to get the Chaos Emeralds. Each zone houses one or more checkpoints, and at the end of each act Sonic will battle Doctor Robotnik. In total there are six acts in the game, each consisting of thee zones, and after you've done all six acts you do one final zone.
One of the biggest things about Sonic the Hedgehog is that when Sonic is in possession of rings he is practically invincible. As long as Sonic holds at least one ring he won't die from attacks or direct contact with enemies. Of course he can still die by falling down bottom-less pits, but because rings make Sonic practically invincible it made it possible for Sonic to never die, and this spiced the game play up a bit. Of course you could argue that it's possible not to die in a Mario game if you're good at them, and you'll be right, but the way Sonic handles things makes it a very unique way to avoid death.
Also I found the zones in Sonic the Hedgehog to be significantly longer then the levels found in the Super Mario Bros games. While 2D platform games aren't renowned for their depth Sonic the Hedgehog is quite an in-depth 2D platformer in the sense that the levels are quite lengthy (and sometimes intricate).
In the technical department Sonic the Hedgehog is quite a good looking and sounding Mega Drive title. The games visuals are great, with the zones and sprites all nicely animated and coloured. As far as 16-bit gaming goes it is really great to look at. Musically Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't really push any significant boundaries (meaning its music doesn't top the music found in the Mario titles), but it still sounds great for the purpose it serves. Overall the game is balanced well between visuals and sound.
I do have a few slight problems with Sonic the Hedgehog. The problems aren't very significant and don't really effect the game play, but they might annoy some people. For a start the game has no save feature, so if you're dead-set on completing the game you'll have to do it in one strong sitting. Also because the game can't be saved it isn't very long. While the zones are quite big you'll still be able to get through the game in about one and a half hours. It's not a bad length for a game you can't save, but you can't save Super Mario Bros. 2 or Super Mario Bros. 3 yet both those games are still longer.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a really solid game. As far as platform games go it's a game that a lot of developers should learn from. It might not be as good as some of the Mario games, and it might not be the best game in the Sonic series, but it is still a great game that you should get a lot of entertainment from. I would recommend it to everyone.
Review by: James Widdowson
Score: 9.1/10