I'm gonna say it: this is better than 16-bit. The level design, aesthetics, climax, and handling of the chaos emeralds make this a much more enjoyable package overall.

Even comparing it to other 8-bit platformers, the controls are tight, the challenges are always fair, and even stages within the same world have variety.

I am of course referring to the SMS version. Sonic's missing nose in the GG version always bothered me.

There's an unfathomable amount of adoration I have for Sonic's first 8-bit adventure that is sorely missed from pretty much every other journey that would be released on Master System and Game Gear.

It almost feels like Sonic's first canonical conflict with Dr. Eggman, what with Egghead's first genius tactic to deploy against the blue blur being to harmlessly fly overhead and seemingly taunt the rodent before eating shit and find himself covered in ash in what would be a reoccurring situation for years to come. It's a minor thing, but that's just my personal headcanon explanation for why the first boss fight is a tad underwhelming. It's actually even dumber in the Game Gear version, because you can hit him while he's flying around in that one. A strange difference to have Eggman miscalculate his flight trajectory by about one pixel.

Map screens!! Hot damn! I love you already! 16-bit Sonic 1 is already jealous of it's younger sibling's stellar scope of traveling from the lush habitats of Sonic and friends to Eggman's dystopia of endgame capitalism, tediously slow-moving water stages, and probably tons of OSHA violations. A most terrible person. Not even I would be mean enough to subject my worst enemies to sluggish labyrinths of water straight out of the septic system of my scientifically sound mean bean factory. "I promise you I would never do such a thing." I say as I hide the big red button at my computer desk that absolutely isn't connected with a trap door mechanism.

Slightly shoddy collision and some whack death zones in Jungle Zone Act 2 do little to sour my experience here. I find myself only getting comfy as I tag with my hedgehog buddy to take down the cackling vaguely walrus-looking opposition for the umpteenth time. How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man? You didn't even really use the chaos emeralds in this one! You just threw them around the island as if they were Dracula's body parts! What was the plan there Egg McMuffin? Bah.

The very first outing of Yuzo Koshiro's company Ancient! Quite a treat to find out that the master himself did the music! Bamboozling range to go from the cuteness of 8-bit Green Hill to Streets of Rage 3's craziness in only three years. If I ever get angry at the guy for some reason, they can rest easy knowing that they only need to start playing Bridge Zone to make me suddenly have rivers flowing from my eyes and be rendered completely helpless.

Genuinely good and underrated! My own nostalgia be damned!

Sonic 1 8-Bit is far from perfect (in fact it has a lot of problems), but it's a game that shaped me into who I am, and without it I'm not sure I'd be gaming today. Removing nostalgia from the picture though, the vibrant levels and the cool music will always be a diamond in the rough as it's hard to give it top marks when frustrating design and horrendous lag get in the way of enjoyability and accessibility in the modern day.

Although it's taken me this long to get through the game proper due to its brutal levels, Sonic 1 8-Bit holds the distinction of being the subject of my oldest ever memory. The fuzzy imagery of sitting in a dark room as a small child playing Sonic 1 with my dad by my side will always be special and perhaps cloud my judgement a little bit, but I'll continue to hold this game dear, even if I think it's aged worse than I would've liked.

Here's to 2023, I couldn't possibly think of a more fitting game to start it with.

For a while, I've been interested in trying out the Sonic 8-bit games. Some are considered to be underrated gems throughout Sonic's history and some can even be considered to be the worst of the worst when it comes to Sonic games. When playing Sonic 1 (Game Gear version) on my 3DS, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this game

The game follows a similar structure to its 16-bit counterpart, like having 6 Zones, 6 Chaos Emeralds, and the story consisting of stopping Dr. Robotnik from being an ass to the environment. There are three returning zones with Green Hill, Labyrinth, and Scrap Brain, and three new ones with Bridge, Jungle, and Sky Base. Mostly each level is fun to play through, and yes, even in Labyrinth, because the levels here are much more tolerable than in the Genesis version. There are no loops in this game, which is weird since this is a Sonic game about gaining momentum and speed after all, but that isn't something that breaks the game, so it's whatever to me. Levels are more platformer based than speed based, more akin to Mario, and even more so in the 16-bit version, which I'm fine with, but I don't understand why there is an auto scroll level in a Sonic level. It's not that bad of a level, but still, why?

Rather than obtaining the emeralds via bonus stages, they are hidden in specific acts in different zones, which is a nice change of pace. Instead, the bonus stages are for extra lives and continue, which I don't mind at all. Similar to the Genesis version, getting all the Emeralds just nabs you a high score and is kind of worthless here, but I like how collecting all of them affects South Island by eliminating the pollution that Robotnik has caused; I like that

The soundtrack is great. Composed by Yuzo Koshiro himself, Sonic 1 8-bit has some jamming tunes that are up there when talking Sonic music like Bridge Zone and the 8-bit rendition of Scrap Brain Zone. I'm always a sucker for game music, and this soundtrack was pleasant to the ears

I have a few gripes about the game. First off, why can't we recollect rings when Sonic gets hit? Was there a limitation or just a design choice that they came up with? It's honestly stupid we can pick up rings, especially when you're dealing with a small screen. Speaking of small, the screen crunch can get in the way at times, but I didn't find that to be too much of an issue here, since Sonic and the Badniks were made to be much smaller to fit on a Game Gear to make up for the screen crunch. Bosses can be a bit of a pain sometimes since we are ringless in every third act. Sky Base always comes to mind for me because three flamethrowers are placed on the bottom of Sonic's feet, and they go off one at a time randomly, and it's hard to tell which one is about to go off before I get killed by one. Not only that, but I also have to deal with the little electronic orb that can home in on me as well, and let's just say it was sort of a recipe for disaster

Sonic 1 8-bit is sort of an underrated gem in the franchise. It's nothing amazing, I do have a few problems with the game, but I slightly prefer this over the Genesis version in my opinion. If you like Sonic 1 on the Genesis, I recommend checking out either the Game Gear version or the Master System version

(Used the remade version by Creative Araya)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a platformer released in 1991, not to be confused with Sonic the Hedgehog, a platformer that released in 1991, or Sonic the Hedgehog, a platformer that released in 2006. This remade version of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System is a lot of fun, it might actually be better than the Genesis version.

The game feels like a great mix of a classic platformer and a momentum-based platformer, rather than the Genesis version which feels like both of those clashing. In that version, some levels feel great, but some levels feel like regular platformer levels with the momentum-based controls of a Sonic game. In this game, levels have mechanics built around momentum, but some mechanics are built like a regular platformer, it makes for a great combination.

The music is awesome, and visuals are very fun and colorful for an 8-bit game, and the game itself just feels good. The controls feel like a faster version of a Mario, mixed in with a bit of basic slope physics, as seen in most Sonic games.

The level design is largely linear, but that's a step over a lot of Sonic 1's level design which was very corridor-like. In this game, you can really use Sonic's speed to get through levels quickly, it's a lot of fun. To add on to that, I love the level themes, and the progression of levels feels a lot better than the Genesis game.

In the Master System version, you got Chaos Emeralds by looking for them, which is far better than the original game's horrible special stages. In this remade version, you get to the end of the level with 50 rings and go into a special stage, as seen on the Genesis. These special stages are quite fun, they're really easy, but they're a great opportunity to get extra lives.

The game's main issue comes from how unforgiving it is, the levels get filled with bottomless pits quite quickly, which is fun for someone who has played this game multiple times, such as myself, but not as fun if you're a beginner. Plus the game is overall very simple, even more than the Genesis, but it does have its charm.

Overall a pretty good game.

This is going to be a hot take, but the Game Gear version > Master System version of Sonic 1 8-bit. The only difference between those two versions is that the Master System version has a bigger screen and a few changes in placement in the level design. I covered the entirety of the game fully in my last review when I played the Game Gear version on 3DS, so I'm just going to explain why I dislike the Master System version (which I played on RetroArch if you're wondering)

Cheapness, that's how I describe this version. With the bigger screen, it seems as so if the screen crunch was implemented more on the MS version. Let me explain what I mean. When I jump, I barely see what's coming next when I touch the ground, and that can lead to being hit by enemies. Jungle Zone is a great example of cheapness, because Act 2 is a vertical level, and in this version, if you touch the bottom of the screen, you get killed, even if you see a little bit of a platform. Its moments like that intrude on my overall enjoyment of the Master System version

Yes, this came out a few months before the Game Gear version, but the subtle changes they made to that version made the experience there better

Simple and decently enjoyable. I found it to be a little frustrating at times with it not giving you rings on some levels, so you would just die in one hit. The game is very short and not incredibly difficult, so you shouldn't have much problem beating it. Its length also prevents it from getting boring before you finish it. I also found getting the chaos emeralds to be pretty fun, although I saw no benefit from getting them, just like the genesis version. The game also has a moderate amount of slowdown, but it's not game ruining. I liked the special levels, although them rewarding you with continues made no sense, because continues are no different from extra lives, so why didn't they just reward you with 3 extra lives instead? There were some new zones and they weren't super notable visually speaking, although they did mix up the gameplay fairly well. It's a decently enjoyable game overall, not very notable in my opinion though, I vastly prefer the genesis version of this game.

Sonic the Hedgehog was designed specifically for the Sega Genesis, and as such remains an excellent showpiece for what the system was capable of early in its lifecycle. Other games - even within the series - would push the hardware further, but I dare you to find a kid in 1991 who didn't see Sonic and either beg their parents for a copy of the game or a Genesis to play it on.

Anyway, I guess Sega felt like they had to throw Master System kids a bone with this. It's still Sonic, and it is precisely as hampered by being on an 8-bit console as you'd imagine it would be. It is, at the same time, fairly impressive as far as Master System games go, and certainly the better version when considering the Game Gear release. Plus, Bridge Zone's theme is a real bop.

The screen crunch is nowhere near as bad as it is on the Game Gear, but the Master System version is still plagued by bad slowdown, and Sonic does not at all control the way you'd want or expect him to. There was a lot of times I just kinda careened into a boss because I didn't anticipate how much Sonic would slide on the ground, or because he bounced off Robotnik in a way that was unexpected and played counter to my natural Sonic instincts. The more restrictive hardware also means level gimmicks are overall fewer and less interactive, and (naturally) the sense of speed is severely diminished. And yet, I can't fault the game too harshly for any of this because the fact that there's a Sonic game that is still mechanically identifiable as Sonic on the Master System is kind of crazy, and I believe they did the best they could given the time this came out. It's a bit of a back-handed compliment, but I think the Master System's library is weak as hell, and the low bar helps Sonic the Hedgehog stand out as one of the stronger titles on it.

Also, this definitely gets bonus points for the cute little map of South Island that appears between Zones and the credits sprite of Sonic crooning into a microphone. I wonder what he's singing...

Solid 8 bit platformer. It's more of a traditional platformer compared to even the other 8 bit Sonic games, but I think it works well here. It suits the strengths of the Game Gear and Master System hardware better as well. Half of the 6 zones are from the Genesis game (Green Hill, Labyrinth, and Scrap Brain), whilst the other half are original (Bridge, Jungle, Sky Base). They're designed pretty well for the most part other than Labyrinth Zone kinda sucking. And this is coming from someone who didn't mind the Genesis one, but on Game Gear it's just painfully slow. Scrap Brain Act 2 is also kinda annoying as it's a maze level. The soundtrack is great, with probably the best overall soundtrack for any Game Gear/Master System game I'd ever heard. All of them are really catchy as you'd expect from Yuzo Koshiro. My one small nitpick is that I don't feel the Labyrinth track fits the zone as well as the Genesis one, even tho it's quite catchy on it's own. The chaos emeralds are actually hidden in the levels this time instead of in the special stages and I kinda like that. It encourages exploration although the Scrap Brain emerald is bullshit forcing you to jump into a random pit to get it. The boss fights are fairly easy on the Gg version but I'm kinda glad since you don't get any rings or shields to fight them in this game. I reccomend going into the special stages (by collecting 50 rings and passing the goalpost) if you're playing on original GG or MS hardware as that is where you can get a lot of lives and continues. Overall pretty good game, but not as good as the Genesis version imo (some seem to think it's better). Also I have messed around with the MS version on an emulator, and I don't think the GG version really suffers from screen crunch issues too much as some seem to say. There are occasions where its a bit iffy but it neither caused me to die or anything. They also made some smart changes to suit the Handheld better such as not dying when falls down the screen in Jungle Zone act 2.