Genesis

Sonic the Hedgehog

Dazzlingly fast yet never chaotic, consistently challenging but never impossible, Sonic the Hedgehog is quite simply one of the best video games I've ever played. Superficially, it breaks no new ground: The spiky-haired hero jumps, dodges, and weaves his way through various worlds filled with bizarre creatures (yawn). The big difference is in Sonic's splendid graphics and play control.

Whizzing through the levels as fast as you can gets you big bonus points, but if you want to explore, you can take your time and discover secret areas and power-ups. Bonus rounds, which are completely different from normal game play, allow you to collect gems needed to complete the game. There's not much to fault with this game. There are six zones with three acts each, so it takes a while to finish and there is no password or save feature. The underwater zone, in which everything moves in slow motion, can be a bit tedious. But overall the game is polished and super fun. Several sequels followed...

Au final, il est véritablement difficile de trouver quoique ce soit à redire sur les premières aventures de Sonic. Evidemment, la durée de vie n’est pas mirobolante, mais on parlera plus en termes qualitatifs que quantitatifs pour évoquer l’aventure qui se place aisément dans la moyenne haute de ce que proposaient les jeux de plate-forme à l’époque. Au niveau de la difficulté, si le finir ne représente pas le plus impossible des défis, le presser et en retirer tout son nectar vous prendra quelques temps. Les plus grincheux d’entres vous pourront peut-être critiquer une maniabilité un peu pataude en certaines occasions... Mais vous l’avez compris depuis bien longtemps, Sonic est un bijou fédérateur et inattaquable auquel personne ne peut rester insensible bien longtemps. Allez, suis l’index du hérisson et son petit rictus, ils veulent tout dire : « personne ne peux me résister ! »

Sega almost tried to be everything with their mascot that Mario was not. They made him fast, athletic, slender and an anthropomorphic animal. He had an edge to him that differed with Mario's "anything goes, just don't mess with my princess" attitude. Sonic set the stage for a historic collision of two video game titans. At the time, you were either a Mario or Sonic fan. The 16-bit generation would be the only generation in the industry's history that was so closely divided. While you may dispute whether Sonic the Hedgehog is the best platformer ever made or even the best in the Sonic series, one can not deny the impact that this game had on the future of video games.

In 1991 Sega released a game that they hoped would be the anti-Mario. The game was Sonic the Hedgehog and it did everything Sega dreamed it would and a whole lot more. Sonic the Hedgehog is really the total package, which is why it has survived for so long. This is one of those games that you have to own. If you haven’t played it then do yourself a favor and track it down as fast as you can.

Está chegando ao Brasil, lançado pela Tec Toy, o porco-espinho (hedgehog, em inglês) mais rápido desta - e de outras - galáxias. Sonic foi o jogo premiado pela Consumer Eletronics Show (CES) de Dezembro de 1990 como o jogo do ano. E não é para menos: o game tem gráficos excelentes, e toda a movimentação do novo personagem é revolucionária. Nesta aventura, ele deve salvar os anmais de seu planeta, transformados em robôs. Ele faz isso pulando sobre eles. E, no final de cada uma das seis fases, um inimigo para derrotar, até a expulsão total dos invasores. Aqui uma apresentação desse jogo. Confira!

En definitiva, Sonic the Hedgehog es una joya de incalculable valor. Tiene el honor de ser el primer gran juego de una consola de 16 bits, el honor de haber iniciado una de las sagas con más solera de la historia de los videojuegos y una de las más apreciadas por los aficionados, el honor de haber creado un símbolo para una compañía, y el honor de ser el primer juego del personaje de videojuegos más popular de la historia en el Reino Unido.

Il nostro giudizio è comunque più che positivo, perché Sonic resta in questo momento il gioco più giocabile che potrete trovare sul Mega Drive e forse su ogni altra console.

Better than Mario? I honestly wouldn't like to say. What I will say, however, is that Sonic The Hedgehog is streets ahead of every game of this genre currently available, and I for one am looking forward to the further adventures of this garden-trashing little tinker!

Yep, it’s true – Sonic is really great! I can’t think of a Megadrive game with more spectacular graphics – even Mickey Mouse wasn’t as visually exciting as this – and everything is just so fast and smooth it’s astonishing! The design of the levels and the obstacles is ingenious (the Labyrinth zone is a blast!), and I love the fact that you can really explore the levels for different routes and secret rooms, rather than simply having to get from left to right. The instant-loss-of-all-rings factor tended to be a little frustrating, but it certainly didn’t prevent me coming back to this game again and again. The wait has been worth it Megadrive fans – this is a game you MUST get!

Players guide the running, jumping, spinning, enemy-pouncing title character through six colorful, beautifully illustrated zones (including the Spring Yard Zone and the Labyrinth Zone), zipping through them with reckless abandon, or exploring them a little more slowly in hopes of finding hidden rings, lives, power sneakers, and other goodies. The bad guys (such as Caterkiller and Dr. Robotnik) are memorable, there are cool obstacles to avoid (including spikes and lava) and fun bonus levels to play, and gameplay is butter smooth and nice and easy (probably too easy).

Simple can be better sometimes. Yuji Naka really screwed up when he tried to replace the expansive levels of 2d Sonic with fancy 3d tricks. Few games beat the 2d Sonic the Hedgehog games in terms of simplicity. And in this case, that’s a good thing.

En su conjunto Sonic the Hedgehog supone la entrada por la puerta grande de Sonic al mundo de los videojuegos. Un título muy divertido y original que inaugura un subgénero en las plataformas con mayor peso en la velocidad y la acción; en el que, además, su sencillo control lo hace más accesible, dejando la complejidad para el diseño de cada zona. Quizás lo peor que se le pueda achacar al cartucho es la escasez de fases (su duración total ronda las dos horas) pero gracias a sus excelentes trazados, varios caminos secundarios y a las esmeraldas del caos la obra del Sonic Team logra compensar su corta duración con un alto interés en volver a completar la aventura.

Sonic the Hedgehog ist natürlich ein absoluter Klassiker. Eines der besten Jump n’ Runs. Auch heute macht das noch sehr großen Spaß, wobei eben die Nachfolger noch eine ganze Ecke besser sind. Sonic gehört trotzdem in jede Spielesammlung

Nach wochenlangem Sonic-Spielen kamen zwei Tester zu recht gegensätzlichen Ansichten: Ich halte Sonic für einen Meilenstein an Rasanz und Spielbarkeit und für ein Feuerwerk an grafischen, akustischen und inhaltlichen Einfällen. Die Bonusrunden allein sind superb und zeigen der Konkurrenz, was man aus diesem oft schändlich vernachlässigten Spielabschnitt herausholen kann. Der Held Sonic hat schon jetzt zu Recht Kultstatus. Mickey Mouse muß sich anstrengen, den Igel vom Videospielethron wieder zu vertreiben. Da Sonic nur laufen, kugeln und hüpfen kann, hat man den Einstieg schnell gefunden; erst nach eingen Levels merkt man, daß die Spielfigur (nicht zuletzt dank einiger Hilfsmittel) doch recht vielseitig ist. Als Mario-Konkurrent hat Sonic jedoch wenig Chancen.

So while we don’t get seven levels of spirited, unchecked expeditiousness, we get one, and three others that are more than consolation prizes. If the change up that the slow levels hit you with doesn’t put a damper on your mood (akin to driving in school zones in North America after a short stint on the Autobahn), you may truly see Sonic as the classic that so many have called it. However, it might be more likely that upon closer inspection, you’ll find a speedy, spunky hero creating magic early on, struggling to find it at times, and banished to unfair and unfitting drudgery at times, amounting to an unbalanced, mostly easy, mostly fun adventure. It’s worth buying to touch your feet down - however fleetingly - on those magical Green Hills.