Took me years to finally muster the willpower to sit down and beat Sonic 1 legit... and it sucked ass.
I can absolutely see how this blew the minds of 90s kids with its graphics and sound. There's a level of polish that just blew the stuff you'd see on the NES out of the water, and even cool levels of detail like the reflective sheen on those glass pillars in Marble Zone. And that soundtrack? Green Hill is one of the greatest, most iconic pieces in all of gaming. Not to mention all the other bangers like Marble, Spring Yard, and Scrap Brain. And Sonic, despite saying nothing the whole game, conveyed a lot more personality than pre-64 Mario ever did.
But man, this plays like aaaaaaaaaaaaaass. The momentum is all fucked, the hit detection is spotty, there are blatant moments of bullshit and horrible level design that cheats you out of lives, the checkpoints are poorly spaced, the bonus levels are wonky, and to top it all off, those poor Genesis kids had to play this with NO Spin Dash and NO Drop Dash. The only reason this game should be remembered is for historical purposes, otherwise it's just a bad game.
The highlight of my playthrough was when I got to Spring Yard Zone and the word "COPE" was spelled out in giant neon lighting while getting helplessly tossed around by springs and impossible obstacles. Apt summary of the Sonic 1 experience.
I can absolutely see how this blew the minds of 90s kids with its graphics and sound. There's a level of polish that just blew the stuff you'd see on the NES out of the water, and even cool levels of detail like the reflective sheen on those glass pillars in Marble Zone. And that soundtrack? Green Hill is one of the greatest, most iconic pieces in all of gaming. Not to mention all the other bangers like Marble, Spring Yard, and Scrap Brain. And Sonic, despite saying nothing the whole game, conveyed a lot more personality than pre-64 Mario ever did.
But man, this plays like aaaaaaaaaaaaaass. The momentum is all fucked, the hit detection is spotty, there are blatant moments of bullshit and horrible level design that cheats you out of lives, the checkpoints are poorly spaced, the bonus levels are wonky, and to top it all off, those poor Genesis kids had to play this with NO Spin Dash and NO Drop Dash. The only reason this game should be remembered is for historical purposes, otherwise it's just a bad game.
The highlight of my playthrough was when I got to Spring Yard Zone and the word "COPE" was spelled out in giant neon lighting while getting helplessly tossed around by springs and impossible obstacles. Apt summary of the Sonic 1 experience.