GA101 - Sonic the Hedgehog

From thecrankyhermit

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In 1983, Sega, then one of the major arcade game manufacturers, entered the home video game markets of Japan and Australia with their SG-1000 console and SC-3000 home computer. Facing stiff competition from Nintendo's NES, Sega upgraded the console twice, releasing the third revision Worldwide in 1986 as the Sega Master System. It sold millions in Brazil and Europe, where the NES market lagged. But it fared poorly in North America and Japan, which the NES had by then taken by storm.

In 1988, Sega took their cutting-edge 16-bit arcade hardware design, created a brand new console based on it, and released in in Japan as the "Mega Drive." Despite boasting a library of excellent conversions of popular arcade titles, such as Altered Beast and Golden Axe, it failed to make Sega's anticipated dent in Nintendo's market share. Over the next two years, it was released worldwide, and renamed "Sega Genesis" in North America. Without third party support, Sega turned to celebrity licensing in order to appeal to North American gamers, producing titles such as John Madden's Football and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. An aggressive marketing campaign boasted the Genesis' power over Nintendo's aging 8-bit console. Many gamers, now college-aged, would upgrade to the Genesis' superior capabilities and cooler, edgier aura. But this was not enough; Nintendo's portly plumber continued to be a tremendous asset, while Alex Kidd of Sega Master System was already forgotten. Super Mario Bros. 3 helped the NES remain competitive in North America, and Mario's very own 16-bit adventure hit Japan in 1990, its inevitable US release a looming threat. Genesis would need an iconic mascot and flagship title of its own.

In 1991, months of coordinated effort from Sega's most creative designers culminated in Sonic the Hedgehog. Blue like Sega's logo, fast and powerful like the Genesis, and with the perfect blend of charisma, menace, and boisterous attitude, Sonic was an instant hit. The smooth, fast-paced platforming and next-generation visuals made Super Mario World look slow, clunky, and plain. Genesis owners more than doubled almost instantly.

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Within seconds of pressing start, Sonic makes a lasting impression. Sonic controls smoothly and intuitively - moving gradually accelerates and builds momentum, with an ultimate maximum speed fast enough to give the sensation of zipping through the lush, contouring hills, while still allowing time to react to incoming enemies and hazards without losing precious momentum. Before these first few seconds are over, you will grasp these mechanics without realizing it, and subsequently bound over obstacles, leap from crumbling cliffs, run through loop-de-loops, slam into your metallic foes like a wrecking ball, burrow through tunnels, and attain extreme velocities and high altitudes traversing the terrain's naturally concave ramps and lips.

And yet, not all is about speed. Nearly all of the levels have segments with tricky enemy formations, traps, treacherous environmental features, and even puzzles which encourage slowing down to assess the situation and carefully maneuver through to safety. Sometimes these segments can be bypassed in a single well-timed bound if Sonic has enough momentum, but not always, especially not in the later, more difficult stages. A subtle form of encouraging exploration exists as well - most stages have multiple routes, tiered in a vertical manner, with several opportunities to diverge from one to another, through skill, discovery, or blunder. The one less traveled by won't explicitly affect the stage's ultimate outcome or an overall completion metric. It may lead to large caches of valuable golden rings, extra lives, or other power-ups, but more importantly, it provides replay value; you can replay the same level and experience it differently many times.

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Just as essential to Sonic as speed is the diversity of its environments. The game is structured into six "zones," each with its own look and feel, reflected in the background and foreground features, music, types of enemies and hazards, and stage design style. Uniquely for the series, the zones' relative speediness alternate. Green Hill Zone is obviously designed to show off speed from the start, with its grassy hills, and plenty of wide-open, unobstructed terrain. Marble Zone features rough, difficult mountain terrain from the start, and tunnels into the perilous caves below, and back out. Spring Yard Zone is fast and chaotic with pinball-like features to send Sonic flying in random directions. Labyrinth Zone is a claustrophobic, submerged cavern, filled with ancient traps and the ever-looming threat of drowning. Star Light Zone is set across city rooftops and spiraling roads high in the sky, allowing a return to flowing speedy platforming, but with the added danger of falling. And Scrap Brain Zone is a menacing, pollution-spewing, trap-filled factory. These zones have all become stock stages in platform game design (including Sonic's sequels), having originated here.

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Sonic took the basic platforming genre, which had by then been saturated with hundreds of bland NES titles, and invigorated it with an injection of speed, technical prowess, imagination, and all-around excellent design from all aspects. Sonic himself was such a popular icon that a deluge of fast paced platformers featuring new mammalian mascots followed, not one of which had a small fraction of Sonic's success or longevity. At the peak of Sega's success, Sonic Team would produce three more Sonic games, all of them staying close to the winning formula of the original.

Sonic the Hedgehog is currently available on PC via Steam, and on consoles via their respective download services. It is also available on PS3 and XBox 360 as part of the "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" compilation disc. There are also mobile versions, which I do not recommend as the game isn't well suited to touch controls.

Beginner tips:

  • Beware of spikes pits - they can kill instantly no matter how many rings you are carrying. Some versions of the game are more forgiving.
  • In Marble Zone, Labyrinth Zone, and Scrap Brain Zone, always check for traps in vertical passages by holding up/down on the d-pad.
  • Be careful around areas with large, moving blocks. Crushing means instant death, so watch their patterns and maneuver accordingly.
  • Labyrinth Zone is intimidating to new players. Patience is key, panicking is deadly. Keep an eye out for air pockets (and traps!) in the floor.
  • Sonic can hold his breath for exactly 30 seconds. The warning countdown indicates you have 12 seconds left. Air pockets take 4 to 8 seconds to produce a large bubble, so always wait for one, even if you think you are drowning.


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