Sonic the Hedgehog - 7/52

     I've always been a bit of a Sonic fan.  I find that Sonic is a rare series that can be insanely enjoyable regardless of whether or not it is a quality product.  I've never had a fully bad experience with a Sonic game and, trust me, I've played most of the bad ones, but I've had the unfortunate luck of not being into Sonic during the period of time where he was considered of a quality to rival Mario.  My first Sonic game was actually Shadow the Hedgehog which is an experience, to say the least.  But the cookie was kind and I finally got to experience the very first Sonic game ever for the 52.  So let's delve into the original Sonic the Hedgehog and see why Genesis does what Nintendon't.  There, got it out of the way early.

     The story of Mr. Needlemouse is one everyone knows.  You play as the Blue Blur, an anthropomorphic hedgehog, as he attempts to stop the increasingly ridiculous and increasingly deadly plans of one Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik who, depending on the game, may or may not be capturing animals and forcing them to be his robot slaves.  Personally, I prefer when Eggman is building giant impractical death machines that may double as amusement parks, but you know, gotta start somewhere.  This is the kind of simple plot that a lot of gamers long for and it's not without its merits.  Classic good vs. evil story that you don't need any dialogue to follow so all you have to worry about is gameplay.  And, really, what else do you need for a sidescrolling mascot platformer with an odd origin story which, no joke, involves at least one pop singer, one jolly, overly generous mythical icon and at least two former presidents.  It's like an Epic Rap Battles of History episode stuffed inside a spiky ball and then covered in whatever the 90s thought was cool.  But I've gone off on a tangent here, the point is Sonic's story works.

     Like a lot of early mascot platformers, Sonic was originally defined more by his gimmick than by anything else.  You had to have something immediately unique about you in order to compete with the monolith that was the Super Mario Bros. series.  And Sonic's is right in the name, he's fast.  Say what you want about certain YouTube videos proving that Mario was actually the faster character back in the day, Sonic's thing is that he can really move, he has an attitude and he is the self-proclaimed fastest thing alive.  In reality, that honor goes to Dr. Ivo 'Yolkdude' Robotnik, but let Sonic think what he wants.  Speed is the central design mechanic around the Sonic series and the first game got this really right.  Not only is Sonic fast, the levels are designed to have faster paths with better rewards and slower paths mostly built to catch the player if they screw up a jump.  I wouldn't say the game is always tapped into Sonic's purpose as a speedster but it is the first game in the series and they were clearly experimenting to find out what was going to work and what wasn't.  And there's no denying the rush you get from getting a fast path to work and just breezing through the level like you're a seasoned pro.

     Sanic the Hordgeheg is not without its faults though.  The unfortunate issue with a lot of first games, attempting to find what works and what doesn't, tends to heavily affect the gameplay of said game.  For instance, Kingdom Hearts, one of my favorite series of all time, has a first game that has several moments that are attempting to create something unique to add variety to the gameplay and it rarely ends up working out.  Sonic has the same issues as well and at points, it can become frustrating enough to where you no longer want to continue playing the game.  And the big one is, of course, Labyrinth Zone.

     I have no idea what possessed the developers to think a massive underwater stage that makes you move incredibly slow and you can't stay in the water for too long or else Sonic will horribly drown.  Of all the concepts Sonic has done through the ages I'm more than glad that he has long since moved away from full on water levels.  Labyrinth Zone, in particular, is possibly the worst offender of Sonic's water level problem though.  The water is basically unavoidable no matter which path you take and it's never a quick jaunt.  You'll be doing multiple platform sections while stuck moving exceedingly slow and having to rely on your ability to do enough between precious air refill spots just makes for not fun gameplay.

     The special stages in the first Sonic game are also a definite low.  Special stages have always been mixed in Sonic games but, in my opinion, the pinball nature of the original's special stages are the worst.  You have very little control of Sonic and are usually at the mercy of wherever the stage ends up throwing you.  The physics of the game aren't conducive to a pinball-style game and it shows, Sonic somehow manages to gain momentum very easily and, as a result, you'll likely lose whatever iota of control you had over this little Spinball before you know it.  Luckily, Sonic 1 doesn't require you to do a lot of the special stages to gain the Chaos Emeralds like later Sonic games do in order to experience the true ending so you can skip the special stages.  But if you're going for 100% completion, they make everything just a little more annoying.

     My experiences with Sonic 1 were roughly what I expected.  Some parts were frustrating, some parts were exhilarating, but overall it's a really good game.  When I finally started finding my footing in the game, which is way later than I care to admit, I had a blast.  In particular, the last two zones of the game, Star Light and Scrap Brain were some of the most enjoyable Sonic levels I've ever played.  Except for Scrap Brain Act 3.  That level is abysmal.  I hope you enjoyed this look at the original Sonic game and I'll see you back for what is unfortunately not the ninth game in the 52, 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.  Yeah, it's gonna be another long one.