Sonic Marathon: Sonic The Hedgehog (16-Bit)
Name: Sonic The Hedgehog (16-Bit)
Console: Xbox 360 (MegaDrive Ultimate Collection)
So let's talk about the blue blur shall we?
As a first entry in the series this can be considered alright however the hedgehog's first outing kind of confused me. Let's go stage by stage an I'll explain why:
Green Hill Zone
A perfect start to Sonic's career as the speedy Speedy Gonzales of platformers. Enough challanging platforming mixed with beautiful speedy sections to get that high dose of adrenaline that goes well with this game.
Eggman is a pushover but for a first boss it's what you'd expect.
Marble Zone
From glory straight into the depths of hell itself! Marble Zone decides to ditch the "gotta go fast" attitude for some slow platforming and whilst going fast is still an option expect to see that life count drop. That lava platforming section scarred my younger childhood mind.
Spring Yard Zone
Okay fine ditch the speed all together. At least the platforming in this zone is a lot better than the previous otherwise I'd refuse to play futher. An enjoyable little skip through a decent level even if I expected more.
Labyrinth Zone
I hate this zone, I hate this zone, I hate this zone, I hate this zone.
At least in the previous two you went slow to be precise where as this zone just slaps a pair of weighted boots to Sonic along with a continuous countdown. Albehit it's not a difficult stage it certainly isn't fun. That final section with Eggman can piss right off...
Star Light Zone
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! A section that involves going fast with platforming and is really goddamn fun? YOU TOOK YOUR SWEET TIME!
This combines the wonderful pace of Green Hill Zone with the tight platforming sections of Spring Yard Zone and it's all placed beautifully. I love this zone.
Scrap Brain Zone
Mmkay Sonic where are you going with this? So some speedy sections to start off with followed by platforming sections in the second act and... wait... what's this... no Sonic no... LABYRINTH AGAIN! I thought we'd been through this? Oh it was only 5 seconds long? Mmm I'll forgive you just this once...
Final Zone
I'm glad I played the MegaDrive Ultimate Collection of this with save states, which I only utilised in Labyrinth and this hell of a boss battle. So the main idea is it's a cruel game of "guess where Eggman will pop up next". It wouldn't even be that bad if it wasn't a new stage which means: NO RINGS! Essentially 1 hit = death and once you've lost all of them lives back to Green Hill Zone you go. This could've been enjoyable if I had some rings to fall back on instead of watching my lives fall and resorting to save states...
Final Verdict
Look this is fine for the time. Video games were difficult and I understand that. HOWEVER half of the game had me cursing the level design. I'm appreciative that we got cool series out of these games however it's origins are flawed. If they focused more on speed with the occasional platforming section along the way I could've recommended it however instead of trying to find a balance between the two we got weird cut up sections instead.
I can't say I didn't enjoy my time though. Regardless of this start with a later 2D game first if you want to get into this and then take the leap back. At least you'll get a sense of difficulty before taking on these stages.
SCORE: 7 out of 10 / Good but flawed
Same time next week for Sonic The Hedgehog 2!