There are two constants to internet culture: Impact font memes, and the insatiable bloodlust to ascribe solid-but-unconventional sonic games to an abomination against humanity. No case is more clear than with Labyrinth, which gets constantly lauded as the absolute bottom of the franchise's barrel because gamers have zero literacy and can only judge games in hypothetical voids.
Sonic Labyrinth is good.
"But you go so slow" No you don't, the spindash is right there. "But it's so wild and uncontrollable" Uh, get good? Sorry, can you say 'skill issue'? Filtrado? Shit and poop and fart?? It goes in a straight line, you curve it slightly with the d-pad, or stop it with a button. Sonic skids to stop and you have to anticipate that in advance when on the move. That's not janky controls. That's not a lack of testing. That's game design. Learn it, sillies. The contrast between slow walking and risky spindashes DEFINES Labyrinth's design economy: It's an intentional juxtaposition. You can't think of it as platforming, it's more akin to golf: Spindashes are your putt, and walking is for modifying your lay on the green. You are playing a nonstop, high-speed game of mini-golf. Every level is designed intimately around this, with wide boxed areas divided by slopes, doors, springs, and other railed transportation devices. You can't divorce control methods from the environments they are contained in; they're tangential to each other, and Sonic's controls work for these levels, period.
The REAL problem is the last few levels, which are just genuinely terrible, giving 'Labyrinth' its name, expecting you to trudge through poorly-directed mazes of teleporters and gates. 4-3 is basically unbeatable without a map and is what people THINK this game is.
Bosses ain't too hot either, but at least they're easy, with the one exception being 2-4's crab (which SUSPICIOUSLY looks like a gadget twins enemy). The Eggman robot with a feathered helmet is fucking ridiculous-looking; Robotnik commited too hard to the castle bit.
One other critique is the length and visual variety; 4 zones is kinda slim, even as someone who prefers short games. And of those levels, there's only a small amount of level palettes that they distribute between them. There's a lack of distinction per zone that creates the same sense of world other Sonic games have.
Anyway, bottom line, it's good. I stand my ground that careening through its levels is really cathartic, at least until endgame. If you took Kirby's Dream Course and made it a real-time platform game, this is it: The textbook example and a great exercise for it. I think people should have more open-mindedness for the way Sonic games are designed instead of shutting themselves off because it's dissimilar to the traditional speeds and flows that define the classics. People are fully capable of understanding divergent or intentionally discomforting gameplay schisms for so many other franchises, and I will never understand why Sonic specifically is the one who cannot be blessed with that same respect.
Sonic Labyrinth is good.
"But you go so slow" No you don't, the spindash is right there. "But it's so wild and uncontrollable" Uh, get good? Sorry, can you say 'skill issue'? Filtrado? Shit and poop and fart?? It goes in a straight line, you curve it slightly with the d-pad, or stop it with a button. Sonic skids to stop and you have to anticipate that in advance when on the move. That's not janky controls. That's not a lack of testing. That's game design. Learn it, sillies. The contrast between slow walking and risky spindashes DEFINES Labyrinth's design economy: It's an intentional juxtaposition. You can't think of it as platforming, it's more akin to golf: Spindashes are your putt, and walking is for modifying your lay on the green. You are playing a nonstop, high-speed game of mini-golf. Every level is designed intimately around this, with wide boxed areas divided by slopes, doors, springs, and other railed transportation devices. You can't divorce control methods from the environments they are contained in; they're tangential to each other, and Sonic's controls work for these levels, period.
The REAL problem is the last few levels, which are just genuinely terrible, giving 'Labyrinth' its name, expecting you to trudge through poorly-directed mazes of teleporters and gates. 4-3 is basically unbeatable without a map and is what people THINK this game is.
Bosses ain't too hot either, but at least they're easy, with the one exception being 2-4's crab (which SUSPICIOUSLY looks like a gadget twins enemy). The Eggman robot with a feathered helmet is fucking ridiculous-looking; Robotnik commited too hard to the castle bit.
One other critique is the length and visual variety; 4 zones is kinda slim, even as someone who prefers short games. And of those levels, there's only a small amount of level palettes that they distribute between them. There's a lack of distinction per zone that creates the same sense of world other Sonic games have.
Anyway, bottom line, it's good. I stand my ground that careening through its levels is really cathartic, at least until endgame. If you took Kirby's Dream Course and made it a real-time platform game, this is it: The textbook example and a great exercise for it. I think people should have more open-mindedness for the way Sonic games are designed instead of shutting themselves off because it's dissimilar to the traditional speeds and flows that define the classics. People are fully capable of understanding divergent or intentionally discomforting gameplay schisms for so many other franchises, and I will never understand why Sonic specifically is the one who cannot be blessed with that same respect.
Motherfucker got his shoes stole.
Besides the two Tails-centric games, Sonic Labyrinth is the only Game Gear Sonic title I haven't played on real hardware. Not that any of them are worth running out and buying off the secondhand market, especially not for the ~40 dollars people are asking to unburden themselves of Sonic Labyrinth. Why would I cough up that kind of money for a cart when I could buy Sonic Origins for the same price and play it with messed up audio balancing instead? C'mon. Get real!
Back in the early-to-mid 90s, Sonic was known for a couple of things: go fast and roll into ball. There's plenty you could do with these elements - like make a proper Sonic the Hedgehog game - but some developers, like Minato Giken, saw a lot of value in the ball rolling mechanic and its potential application in different gameplay styles. For example, maybe you want to make like, Kirby's Dream Course but starring Sonic. That sounds pretty neat, right? Only you're hamstrung to horrible mid-90s handheld hardware, so you have to strip out every interesting element until you're just left with rolling and bouncing around barren environments. Uhh, well crap. That doesn't sound too fun, actually. Try not to feel bad, though. Worst case scenario your studio goes out of business in two years.
Robotnik stole Sonic's shoes and along with them his ability to go fast, so this entire game is spent rolling around at the speed of whatever through profoundly unimaginative courses. To call these "labyrinths" would be a misnomer considering how small in scale and bereft of challenge they are. Even the last few acts - which introduce teleporters - are so simple as to be navigable without any forethought in where you should go or what you should be doing. Collect three keys and reach the goal, that's your objective. I promise you can do this at 6am with a head cold and four hours of sleep, and all you'll be is 25 minutes poorer for the experience.
The two most common complaints levied against this game are that Sonic moves too slow and is uncontrollable when in a roll. This is something I've heard both contemporary with the original release and echoed for nearly three decades since, and I personally just don't see it. Sonic moves slowly because you aren't meant to be running around by design, and spinning around feels pretty stiff. To Labyrinth's credit, I never felt like I lacked control over Sonic. Even a bad spindash can be easily broken out of, and you really have to go out of your way to lose a life. The real issue is that Labyrinth is so lacking in vision as to be a baby sensory Sonic game. Occasionally you'll see a moving platform you can ride, or a pad that halts Sonic's momentum if he travels over it, or a five-pixel wide pinball bumper awkwardly placed in the corner of a single act that doesn't really do anything. Vestigial level gimmicks, we love to see them.
I don't know if Minato Giken's mandate was to just get a cart out to market with "Sonic" on it, but it certainly feels that way. It's so thoughtlessly designed and empty that I questioned if I was mistakenly playing a beta build more than once. But, no, that's just Sonic Labyrinth. Far from the worst entry in the Hedgehog's Game Gear library but not really worth playing even as a curiosity.
Besides the two Tails-centric games, Sonic Labyrinth is the only Game Gear Sonic title I haven't played on real hardware. Not that any of them are worth running out and buying off the secondhand market, especially not for the ~40 dollars people are asking to unburden themselves of Sonic Labyrinth. Why would I cough up that kind of money for a cart when I could buy Sonic Origins for the same price and play it with messed up audio balancing instead? C'mon. Get real!
Back in the early-to-mid 90s, Sonic was known for a couple of things: go fast and roll into ball. There's plenty you could do with these elements - like make a proper Sonic the Hedgehog game - but some developers, like Minato Giken, saw a lot of value in the ball rolling mechanic and its potential application in different gameplay styles. For example, maybe you want to make like, Kirby's Dream Course but starring Sonic. That sounds pretty neat, right? Only you're hamstrung to horrible mid-90s handheld hardware, so you have to strip out every interesting element until you're just left with rolling and bouncing around barren environments. Uhh, well crap. That doesn't sound too fun, actually. Try not to feel bad, though. Worst case scenario your studio goes out of business in two years.
Robotnik stole Sonic's shoes and along with them his ability to go fast, so this entire game is spent rolling around at the speed of whatever through profoundly unimaginative courses. To call these "labyrinths" would be a misnomer considering how small in scale and bereft of challenge they are. Even the last few acts - which introduce teleporters - are so simple as to be navigable without any forethought in where you should go or what you should be doing. Collect three keys and reach the goal, that's your objective. I promise you can do this at 6am with a head cold and four hours of sleep, and all you'll be is 25 minutes poorer for the experience.
The two most common complaints levied against this game are that Sonic moves too slow and is uncontrollable when in a roll. This is something I've heard both contemporary with the original release and echoed for nearly three decades since, and I personally just don't see it. Sonic moves slowly because you aren't meant to be running around by design, and spinning around feels pretty stiff. To Labyrinth's credit, I never felt like I lacked control over Sonic. Even a bad spindash can be easily broken out of, and you really have to go out of your way to lose a life. The real issue is that Labyrinth is so lacking in vision as to be a baby sensory Sonic game. Occasionally you'll see a moving platform you can ride, or a pad that halts Sonic's momentum if he travels over it, or a five-pixel wide pinball bumper awkwardly placed in the corner of a single act that doesn't really do anything. Vestigial level gimmicks, we love to see them.
I don't know if Minato Giken's mandate was to just get a cart out to market with "Sonic" on it, but it certainly feels that way. It's so thoughtlessly designed and empty that I questioned if I was mistakenly playing a beta build more than once. But, no, that's just Sonic Labyrinth. Far from the worst entry in the Hedgehog's Game Gear library but not really worth playing even as a curiosity.
Could definitely be worse, honestly. It's not really worth the time but it gets a lot of ridicule primarily due to the dumbass premise. Eggman swaps Sonic's shoes while he's asleep and now he's slow? Alright, man. He's not even really that slow because he still has the spin dash and bounces around all over the place.
Now he's confined to a mediocre, but not terrible, isometric puzzle platformer. It's not that labyrinthine honestly until the last couple of levels, otherwise it's actually pretty straightforward. Not very long at all either. The worst aspect is probably not even gameplay related, I want to say it's the absurd flashing when you pick up a few specific items, like the speed shoes or invincibility. It doesn't really bother me, but I have to wonder why this was so prevalent in the 90s. Surely forerunners such as Sega and Nintendo knew of epilepsy risks by that point. It's more likely they didn't give a shit, actually.
Now he's confined to a mediocre, but not terrible, isometric puzzle platformer. It's not that labyrinthine honestly until the last couple of levels, otherwise it's actually pretty straightforward. Not very long at all either. The worst aspect is probably not even gameplay related, I want to say it's the absurd flashing when you pick up a few specific items, like the speed shoes or invincibility. It doesn't really bother me, but I have to wonder why this was so prevalent in the 90s. Surely forerunners such as Sega and Nintendo knew of epilepsy risks by that point. It's more likely they didn't give a shit, actually.
I cute off my pensi
Journal Entry 79
It’s… fuck I don’t even know at this point. I’ve smoked so many doobies that I can’t tell if it’s day or night anymore. I found this big ass field, I’ve been sleeping here for the past several days, and I go to the nearby McDonald’s to use the WiFi and jerk off in the bathroom stalls.
Where did my life go wrong? I don’t fucking know. What I do know though is that Labyrinth kind of sounds like Labia, and that means saying Sonic’s Labyrinth is like saying Sonic’s Pussy and I’m sure that right there just got some furry’s rocks off.
Dad’s hanging in there… I have to.
It’s… fuck I don’t even know at this point. I’ve smoked so many doobies that I can’t tell if it’s day or night anymore. I found this big ass field, I’ve been sleeping here for the past several days, and I go to the nearby McDonald’s to use the WiFi and jerk off in the bathroom stalls.
Where did my life go wrong? I don’t fucking know. What I do know though is that Labyrinth kind of sounds like Labia, and that means saying Sonic’s Labyrinth is like saying Sonic’s Pussy and I’m sure that right there just got some furry’s rocks off.
Dad’s hanging in there… I have to.
Number of times Sonic Team have broken the Geneva Convention: at least one
The year is 1994. You sit in the Sega boardroom, awaiting the start of the meeting with one of your fellow game designers, set to reveal what they'd told you shortly prior was a surefire hit of an idea.
As the door swings open, he seems beside himself. Rather than exuding confidence in his idea, he clearly looks to be holding back laugher. Before you can ask a question, he speaks.
"Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we made a Sonic game, where you couldn't run fast or jump, and instead had you find keys in an isometric puzzle game that had no reason to be a Sonic game?"
You swallow your pride a little bit. The idea at its very core was entirely antithetical to what made Sonic, well, Sonic. But you wanna keep your job, forcing a weary smile. Surely, entertaining this joke would be worth it for the revelation of his real idea.
"Heh, y-yeah, that sure would be funny. Good joke, Tim."
His face becomes entirely serious, not a dash of humour in his voice as he speaks his next, accursed words.
"What do you mean, 'joke'?"
As the door swings open, he seems beside himself. Rather than exuding confidence in his idea, he clearly looks to be holding back laugher. Before you can ask a question, he speaks.
"Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we made a Sonic game, where you couldn't run fast or jump, and instead had you find keys in an isometric puzzle game that had no reason to be a Sonic game?"
You swallow your pride a little bit. The idea at its very core was entirely antithetical to what made Sonic, well, Sonic. But you wanna keep your job, forcing a weary smile. Surely, entertaining this joke would be worth it for the revelation of his real idea.
"Heh, y-yeah, that sure would be funny. Good joke, Tim."
His face becomes entirely serious, not a dash of humour in his voice as he speaks his next, accursed words.
"What do you mean, 'joke'?"
Honestly I'm not entirely convinced that the Game Gear is a real console
“OK GUYS OK, HEAR ME OUT…what if Sonic 3D Blast…but WORSE?!?”
... Not THAT bad?
Just pretty damn slow. That's really the biggest problem with the game, you HAVE to use the spindash to move around, otherwise you're not going anywhere anytime soon. If you could walk at a normal pace, this would be a fun little way to pass the time when you're waiting at the doctor's or something. (It's REALLY funny that there's a lore reason for the slow movement, though.)
"Oh but it's so easy to get lost!" ... It's a labyrinth bro
Just pretty damn slow. That's really the biggest problem with the game, you HAVE to use the spindash to move around, otherwise you're not going anywhere anytime soon. If you could walk at a normal pace, this would be a fun little way to pass the time when you're waiting at the doctor's or something. (It's REALLY funny that there's a lore reason for the slow movement, though.)
"Oh but it's so easy to get lost!" ... It's a labyrinth bro
Played this shit out of curiosity, it's fucking repugnant oh my god
Better than Sonic 06, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Lost World and Megaman X6.
What does Megaman X6 have to do with this? Nothing, but fuck Megaman X6 anyway.
What does Megaman X6 have to do with this? Nothing, but fuck Megaman X6 anyway.
It's another short Sonic game gear game.
I don't think its nearly as bad as everyone says it is. The game is an isometric puzzle game where Sonic must collect 3 keys in each stage and make it to a goal.
The soundtrack is actually quite good but it only features 4 levels tracks which play in every world so The Labyrinth of the Sky and The Labyrinth of the Sea have the same music which is a bit disappointing as I would've prefered one track for each world.
The problems I had was that the game was rather slow and you basically have to spin dash everywhere and the speed up shoes make the screen flicker which could cause a seizure in someone sensitive to that.
Still I think Sonic Labyrinth is disappointing and doesn't feel like a Sonic Game. Only play this if you really feel like it.
I don't think its nearly as bad as everyone says it is. The game is an isometric puzzle game where Sonic must collect 3 keys in each stage and make it to a goal.
The soundtrack is actually quite good but it only features 4 levels tracks which play in every world so The Labyrinth of the Sky and The Labyrinth of the Sea have the same music which is a bit disappointing as I would've prefered one track for each world.
The problems I had was that the game was rather slow and you basically have to spin dash everywhere and the speed up shoes make the screen flicker which could cause a seizure in someone sensitive to that.
Still I think Sonic Labyrinth is disappointing and doesn't feel like a Sonic Game. Only play this if you really feel like it.
It's short and not too difficult and it's not bad but it's also not that great. The flashing lights with the shoe power up was a bit much tho.
Either you control ridicoulously slow (it's Sonic, weird, I know), or you spindash and can't control anything.
I mean, that's all that needs to be said. Nevermind that the rest of the game is boring and the concept itself is uninteresting.
I mean, that's all that needs to be said. Nevermind that the rest of the game is boring and the concept itself is uninteresting.
Veredito: Muito estranho, mas é bom, só não precisava ser Sonic.
Imagine Sonic 3D Blast. Agora imagine Sonic 3D Blast sem sessões de plataforma, sem a sensação de velocidade, e com foco em puzzles de explorar a sala, a la Zelda. Este jogo é literalmente isso.
Você não tem pulo, só spindash. Você não corre, só anda e dá spindash. Cada fase tem só um objetivo: encontrar 3 chaves e depois achar a saída dentro do limite de tempo. E rolam umas fases bônus pelo caminho. O limite é sempre bem curto mas as fases são bem rápidas (de 30 segundos a 3 minutos por fase) então isso nunca vira um problema. É um sistema bem arcade, próprio para um portátil sem sistema de salvar: você tem que ser rápido na busca pelas chaves e ter um bom senso de direção. Tem até um extra no final pra quem zerar de perfect.
Os puzzles e labirintos são decentes, os inimigos e chefes são bons o bastante. Com exceção das últimas 2 ou 3 fases, que são obtusas pra caralho e que cada chave tá escondida atrás de 5 bullshits diferentes, a priori este era pra ser um jogo sólido.
O único problema mesmo é... cara, por que isso é um jogo do Sonic? Não é só a jogabilidade. Mas toda a parte visual, sonora, o enredo, os chefes, nada aqui lembra Sonic. Eu não acho ruim os spinoffs da franquia serem experimentais, não ligo mesmo. A lentidão de Tails Adventure e as mecânicas de Sonic Spinball não me incomodaram em nada. Mas esses jogos ainda pareciam spinoffs de Sonic, por mais defeitos que tivessem eles ainda davam a sensação de fazerem parte desta franquia.
Sonic Labyrinth só dá a sensação de um jogo bacaninha que poderia ser qualquer coisa, mas enfiaram Sonic pra ver se vendia mais. E esse, pelo menos pra mim, foi o grande calcanhar-de-Aquiles dele.
Imagine Sonic 3D Blast. Agora imagine Sonic 3D Blast sem sessões de plataforma, sem a sensação de velocidade, e com foco em puzzles de explorar a sala, a la Zelda. Este jogo é literalmente isso.
Você não tem pulo, só spindash. Você não corre, só anda e dá spindash. Cada fase tem só um objetivo: encontrar 3 chaves e depois achar a saída dentro do limite de tempo. E rolam umas fases bônus pelo caminho. O limite é sempre bem curto mas as fases são bem rápidas (de 30 segundos a 3 minutos por fase) então isso nunca vira um problema. É um sistema bem arcade, próprio para um portátil sem sistema de salvar: você tem que ser rápido na busca pelas chaves e ter um bom senso de direção. Tem até um extra no final pra quem zerar de perfect.
Os puzzles e labirintos são decentes, os inimigos e chefes são bons o bastante. Com exceção das últimas 2 ou 3 fases, que são obtusas pra caralho e que cada chave tá escondida atrás de 5 bullshits diferentes, a priori este era pra ser um jogo sólido.
O único problema mesmo é... cara, por que isso é um jogo do Sonic? Não é só a jogabilidade. Mas toda a parte visual, sonora, o enredo, os chefes, nada aqui lembra Sonic. Eu não acho ruim os spinoffs da franquia serem experimentais, não ligo mesmo. A lentidão de Tails Adventure e as mecânicas de Sonic Spinball não me incomodaram em nada. Mas esses jogos ainda pareciam spinoffs de Sonic, por mais defeitos que tivessem eles ainda davam a sensação de fazerem parte desta franquia.
Sonic Labyrinth só dá a sensação de um jogo bacaninha que poderia ser qualquer coisa, mas enfiaram Sonic pra ver se vendia mais. E esse, pelo menos pra mim, foi o grande calcanhar-de-Aquiles dele.
If you think about it Dr. Robotnik swapping Sonic's shoes was actually a smart move. Instead of just killing him, torture him and the player by playing through this shitty game.
People act like this game is an affront to God when the reality is that it is just a so-so puzzle game that only lasts around 30 minutes and may even give you a seizure if you ask nicely. So many worse games than this.
Other than two instances of the annoyance the game is actually pretty fun and one the best on the Game Gear despite it's reputation.
OK so like
Hear me out
Hear me out
I honestly don't think this game is really as bad as everyone claims to say it is. A lot of people like to trash this game purely due to its concept being that this is a sonic game where you can't run fast and must rely on the spin dash in order to effectively move. While that is certainly not the most well-thought-out concept for a sonic game IMO, I think the levels are designed semi around it as they are large and explorative, where spinballing around really won't accidentally get you killed in most instances. A good way to think about this games control is like billiards where you kinda launch sonic around. The only unfun parts were the last level being way too unnecessarily confusing and some of the bosses being kinda annoying to deal with. One of the worst sonic games this is very clearly not imo. instead of being bad its just okay
Much to my shock, it is actually not the most unplayable offering of Sonic platforming ever made, maaaybe excluding a contender for one of the worst final levels in the franchise. That said, it’s just sorta dull with little to no challenge and I often questioned if this even needed to be a Sonic game in the first place while playing, because really, the only Sonic-ish traits to be found here are in the presentation: You got the blue hamster himself, Dr Robotnik, rings, a boppin’ soundtrack, and that’s pretty much it.
this is just not fun, not even a little. Even the more bearable levels are no fun, just something you can complete. I know Sonic isn't purely about speed but a purposely slow sonic game is just a bad idea. The more complex levels are hellish. Just don't play this one.
3/10
3/10
"Não, mas veja bem, o Eggman trocou os sapatos do Sonic por sapatos pesados que não deixam ele correr e pá..."
Carai o mano conseguiu chegar perto do arqui-inimigo dele sem ser notado, e tudo que faz é aplicar uma trollage?? E que ainda por cima resultou num dos piores jogos da franquia?? Realmente ele não tem coração
Carai o mano conseguiu chegar perto do arqui-inimigo dele sem ser notado, e tudo que faz é aplicar uma trollage?? E que ainda por cima resultou num dos piores jogos da franquia?? Realmente ele não tem coração
least favorite Sonic game, I'd rather have a fire lit under my ass than play this game again, best part is when it ended,
i played it for 6 hours once
Fun fact, this is Sonic's lowest rated game of all time. This is the "worst" one.
Spoiler alert: It's inoffensive. I enjoyed it.
Spoiler alert: It's inoffensive. I enjoyed it.
i will die on this hill
This will forever be my least favorite Sonic game ever and nobody can force me to change that stance. It astounds me that there are some that find this game fun to play. It is so slow and obnoxious to do anything and feels like a lower quality version of Sonic 3D Blast (a game that does this formula actually well.)
I had a seizure