Sonic the Hedgehog

I have this game for my Sega Genesis. Plug the cassette in and the choir sings "SEGA!" That part was so cool. I love this game. Sonic looked so cute in his old style. Yuji Naka created the adorable and cute and speedy little hedgehog sporting sneakers. I love the Green Hill Zone theme. Sonic really put Sega on the map. His arch nemesis is a scientist who kidnapped animals and robotized them. The Scientist's name is Dr. Eggman. Every time you defeat Dr. Eggman, he gets away. You have got to find all six Chaos Emeralds and put an end to Eggman's conundrums. Sonic is much faster then Speedy Gonzalez and cuter than an Italian plumber.

Let me explain that "one-liner" first. Some quick video game history:

As a video game company, Sega had always been something of an also-ran when compared to mighty Nintendo during the 1980s. Nintendo's venerable 8-bit NES absolutely ruled the gaming world at that time, with the company using its incredibly powerful marketing department to tackle and eliminate all potential challengers. When Sega introduced its competing Master System in 1986 (after a trial run of sorts with a variety of arcade games), it was hard to look past Nintendo's immense library of game cartridges and see that Sega had actually crafted a more capable system.

But Nintendo had relied on the NES architecture for too long. This meant that the time was right by 1989 for a competitor to rise, like a cobra, from the mists. Sega took the chance and introduced its groundbreaking 16-bit Genesis system. Critics were impressed - the semi-3D graphics were a huge improvement over the NES' largely one-dimensional images, and the Genesis platform seemed to have been designed with the serious game-player in mind.

Sega's problem, however, was in Genesis games. Mainly, there were not enough of them - and of those, only a few were really very good (Sega relying mainly on lots of blood and gore to pull in older customers). Genesis was popular among gamers who simply wanted a change of pace, but the system needed what is now called the "killer app" - a game that was good enough to sell the systems on its own.

Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to Sonic the Hedgehog.

Introduced for 1991, Sonic was in most ways a typical action platform game - cruise through a variety of interesting places, collect power-ups and score points, and attempt to beat the evil bad guy and save the world at the end of the game. Most people at the time said, "So it's like Mario Bros., then?" Those people hadn't played Sonic yet. Sonic the Hedgehog was a feast for the eyes with beautiful graphics, well-designed levels and a main character (the titular blue Hedgehog) who had more attitude than any chubby Italian plumber could ever achieve.

But of course, Sonic was so named because it (and he) was fast. Faster than any video game most people had ever played on a home system, so fast that one could easily become overwhelmed by the rapidly shifting scenery. And herein lay the challenge: control Sonic's speed while completing the mission (the levels were timed, of course) and you would be rewarded with one of the finest gaming experiences ever digitized.

And graphics and gameplay are only part of the story. Great music, by MIDI master Yuzo Koshiro, both highlights the speed of the game and defines the unique character of each Zone. Replay value is enhanced by the challenge of finding eight Chaos Emeralds, hidden within special stages that get progressively harder to navigate through. Find all eight and there's a very special surprise...which I won't reveal. You figure it out!

The only drawbacks are that once you figure out the secrets of harnessing Sonic's speed, the game is not that tough to complete (aside from the aforementioned Chaos Emerald challenge, which is a bear). And modern gamers who've been spoiled by the ability to constantly save their progress will probably be disappointed at the prospect of (gasp!) starting over anew every time, though there is a continue feature allowing two more tries from the same Zone.

Overall, an excellent game and - as mentioned earlier - the true "killer app" for the Genesis. (Sega eventually figured this out and began to sell the game as the "pack-in" title with the Genesis hardware package.) Eleven years on, I still find it immensely entertaining to pop that cartridge into my dusty old Genesis system and wheel Sonic to glory once again.

Highly recommended.

hondaboy :-D

This video game is totally worth the play. The action is great! The music keeps you occupied, the characters are funny and daring. This video game shows you a fun and great time with Sonic and his friends. Good Job!

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most famous video games of all time! The characters, the jumping, the power-ups, and the sure thrill of adventure makes this entire series a fun non-stop playing time! Below is a brief look how I think the game is!

Game Play: The game play is very good. There is really basic controls here and is easy to perform. Novice gamers should have a good time here!

Graphics: The graphics are wonderful. The backgrounds are really beautiful!

Difficulty: The game is easy but as it goes on you''s find out that it will become more difficult!

Music: Just fantastic catchy tunes through out the game! In My opinion its some of the best music ever in a video game!

Sound: The sound is great. Nuff said!

Overall: I have always loved Sonic the Hedgehog! If you like excellent adventure games then I strongly recommend you play this game!

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This is obviously the best Sonic title yet. And that's saying something, considering his latest adventures have been nails in his coffin. Which means they sucked. But this game rocks! It introduced the revolution of the 16-bit era. Yet sometimes, it felt challenging. But this game makes up for it with incredible replay. You'll play this for hours to get everything. The only game with Sonic in it that was great was probably Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I can't imagine a better way to relive classic side scrolling action besides Super Mario Bros. So sit back, relax and enjoy the 16-bit era's domination. Sonic lives on forever!