Game Boy Advance

Sonic the Hedgehog

After fifteen years, gamers still love Sonic the Hedgehog (at least, we do), so to celebrate his fifteenth anniversary with such a lackluster product is upsetting to say the least. For shame, Sega. This doddering version of Sonic the Hedgehog has an appointment with the glue factory for sure.

Around the same time that the original Sonic the Hedgehog came out, Sega was running an advertising campaign with the slogan "Genesis does what Nintendon't." It's almost as if this game was some sort of mean-spirited attempt to prove that old slogan, as Nintendo's Game Boy Advance sure doesn't seem to be able to handle a straight port of a game that came out on the Genesis a full decade before the GBA even hit store shelves. Or maybe Sega just didn't give the development team enough time and resources to work the kinks out. Whatever the case may be, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the Game Boy Advance is a crushing disappointment.

I truly am blown away by how terrible this port turned out to be. The GBA is a powerful little handheld, fully capable of running a Genesis title without a hitch, yet for some unknown reason (though in guessing I'd say time limitations had something to do with it) Sonic Team couldn't come anywhere close to achieving a proper port. Quite frankly, I'm astonished that Sega even let this game pass its quality assurance testing and reach retail shelves, as after one second of play it's readily apparent that what's here is unfinished and completely broken. Sonic fans beware - Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is not the classic you remember it being, at least not in this form. You should run away from this game as fast as Sonic used to be able to, back in his glory days…

So what does $20 buy you? A piece of garbage port of a fifteen-year old Sega Genesis game with only a battery save and a new spin dash move to spruce it up. That's about it. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is a travesty of a game that can't even get up to running speed. Spend your $20 on Sonic Mega Collection instead. Now THAT'S how to do Sonic right.