total game changer
for Super Nintendo hounds -
sold! Sega for life
Additional Comments:
In the beginning, for me, was Atari with the wood-paneled 2600. My mom picked one up at a tag sale when I was around six years old and I played the hell out of it. Of course, I was clueless to the existence of a video game industry beyond my own personal 2600 collection, but that's not really the point. I was more than ecstatic with the titles I acquired - certainly no complaints here - so much so that I eventually learned to play the first stage or two of River Raid blind. Heh, nowadays, I wouldn't have the patience to master such a kooky undertaking, what with the endless plethora of gaming at my hands. Then came Nintendo with the NES. I was sad to see my Atari go, but sonuvabitch, nothing could match the incredible new gameplay of Super Mario Bros. The exponential gravitas suddenly unleashed with the power of the NES was simply unbeatable. Fair enough, and as the years passed, Nintendo placed its deathgrip stranglehold around my neck as I saw no reasonable alternative to the SNES when it was finally unleashed.
For those that grew up in the post-16-bit era of gaming, the idea of a one-console household seems like nothing more than old folklore. Especially nowadays, the idea of owning less than two of the latest and greatest is just, well...absurd. But back then, you really had to put your faith in a company knowing that only one of the magnificent altars of pleasure would rest below your TV set. Nintendo had me hooked and the idea of jumping ship to see what Sega was all about was pure blasphemy. But for a friend of mine, he decided to gamble. I remember him telling me about his decision as if he had gotten the inside line on Sega's future. If anything, between the two of us, we'd have access to both an SNES and a Genesis, so why not?
Up to this point, other than hearing a few whispers about Sega's brainchild, I knew very little. I wasn't exactly hungry to play any of these "foreign" titles - after all I had such classics as Super Mario World, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV, F-Zero and Sim City to keep me busy. But the day came that I decided to cross the barrier and try out this strange game known as Sonic the Hedgehog. Holy crap on a crap cracker!! I remember the day vividly. My first experience with Sonic forever changed the way I looked at video games. Sure, it's nothing more than a simple platformer, but the hyped-up speed was for real. Not only that, but the game just popped. Sega's usage of color somehow felt brighter and more alive. For the first time, doubts of Nintendo's prowess began to infect my mind. Still, I stuck with the SNES, but to have my hands on a Genesis and this wonderful game dubbed Sonic the Hedgehog....
Eventually, a Genesis made its way into my household along with the game that left me drooling for so long. To this day, the Genesis-based Sonic trilogy (I consider Sonic 3 and S&K as a single game as it was originally envisioned) is still my favorite platforming series. It's hard to say there's something out there that's better than the likes of Super Mario Bros. 3, but the Sonic series is impressively entertaining. These are games that I will never tire from, no matter how many times I play them. And believe me, I've played them an ungodly amount.
Over the years, I've had a lot of friends feed me reasons why Sonic is mediocre at best. What those reasons are, I couldn't say. I've never been able to latch onto anyone's criticism as I've often found them to hold little water and/or bear menial, biased complaints towards Sega in general. Maybe I'm just biased myself. Whatever. As far as personal sour notes, sure I grumble over the slow-as-hell elevator segments in Spring Yard Zone or the inconvenient air timer in Labyrinth Zone or the whole existence of Scrap Brain Zone 3 as a Labyrinth Zone knockoff - ok, I'm more than a bit miffed at that one. But all in all, no matter the degree of disappointment in any of the above situations, I love this game to its very core. Well, Scrap Brain Zone 3 could potentially cause a worrying wobble. Seriously, Scrap Brain Zone has the coolest gimmicks while Labyrinth Zone has the lamest. They could have done so much more with Scrap Brain's material. Oh well.
What's more to say? I suppose I could go into more detail about why I think this game is awesome. The thing is, it's just that - it's simply put, awesome! The levels, the themes, the physics, the replayability, the exploration, the graphics, the music, it's all so amazing. I feel as though I'm snubbing the game in a way; sort of overlooking the technicality of it all and instead opting to fill most of this post with backstory. But in a way, that's part of the magic of Sonic the Hedgehog, for me at least. Not only is the game massively impressive and brilliantly fun to play, the game presented itself to me as that initial step into gaming beyond Nintendo. It got me out of my comfort zone and dared me to explore what else was out there. Nintendo's selection felt expected whereas Sega's repertoire danced the ragged edge. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have moved on to the new and intriguing Sony Playstation; instead having kept my fingers crossed that Nintendo would once again hit one out of the park with its over-hyped Shitbox-64. Point is, how many other games have I been able to accredit with laying an incredible foundation for the future of gaming or somehow shaping it in a way yet unforeseen? Super Mario Bros. and...uh.... To make a comparison, despite my personal opinions on the matter, Sonic the Hedgehog did for me what I think Super Mario 64 did for the vast majority of gamers. Ok, so it's just another 2D platformer, but back in the day, it really was so much more than that and I think that's something that people, especially kids, nowadays will never understand.
Nano-Win:
There is absolutely no way I can finish this post without showcasing some music. Across the board, Sonic 1, 2 and 3/K, music is a thing of pure beauty. I know most all of the songs by heart and can typically hum any of them at a drop of a hat. Is that a good thing? Who knows? The entire soundtrack of Sonic the Hedgehog is golden and ideally I'd just list the entire thing. In fact, I think I will - WONG!! - but the songs that really strike my fancy are Marble Zone, Star Light Zone, and Scrap Brain Zone. Pure fucking win!!!
Rating: 5 CPU's out of 5
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