Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates his 25th anniversary this year and consequently, Sega is touting yet another title where the blue-speedster takes centre stage. According to the company, Sonic Generations broke Sega's pre-order records as the most anticipated Sonic title in 20 years. Hmm, and there I was thinking the heroic …
I have to agree about the 3D, although I have not played Sonic Generations I did buy Sonic Colours. Admittedly I did not research to well, I loved sonic as a kid better then the Mario games and when I started running the 3D sections it really turned me of, they are so crap.
Sonic should always remain a platformer in 2D or if they want 3D change it to something that works better.
I hear Sonic first appeared in 1991's 'Rad Mobile'... A little birdy tells me that THE little birdy from Flicky, did appear in Sonic one, though, in multiple clones.
Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast are splendid Sonic games. Not perfect - there are sections of the game where you can fall off and the 3D could be better, but the gameplay and visuals are generally excellent. SA2 started to get rather tricky in the freeway level though; haven't finished it yet..
I downloaded the demo on my PS3 and it was too fast - I just couldn't get an idea of what was happening - I think it has something to do with LCD refresh rates (37" LG flatscreen a few years old).
On a CRT the manic pace could be fun - but unless you have one of the 600Hz sets and switch that on, most of the time all you see is a blurry, line-seqmented shape onscreen.
Have they fixed the physics so it actually feels like the original Sonic? In the real 2D Sonic games from days-of-yore you needed some skill to keep him moving, if you messed up and found yourself at the bottom of a slope with no momentum you'd have to move back and take a run up. The last Sonic game was atrocious, all of the feeling of momentum and inertia was gone, Sonic felt like he was filled with helium...
@Ragarath I thought the 3d areas of Sonic colours were the best bits and didn't like the side scrolling bits, as the physics and camera angle/distance just weren't right.
Also, Sonic Adventure was an excellent game and shows that Sonic does translate well to 3d if the levels are well designed and if the game does not revolve around gimmicks.
Sonic on the megadrive had to be slowed down in Europe. The only way to be able to get the system to output PAL was to downclock it, so games ran faster on the US and Japanese NTSC based systems. Sonic is supposed to be faster.
If you change some of the internal jumpers on the megadrive you can get it to run at 60hz if your TV can support it, and some games like Streets of Rage which had a different name in Japan will actually change the title graphics depending on those jumpers. Many people wire them to switches to use them with the few region coded cartridges too.
From the looks of the videos I have seen it suffers from the same awful jump mechanics as Sonic 4 where you have to hold down the analogue stick to control your in-air motion or you just fall straight down. Hopefully it won't be as bad as it looks but I really can't understand why they don't just make it like Sonic 1 - Knuckles.
You're right, the Mega Drive did have the original version, but it was ported to Master System in an 8-bit version.
Aged about 9 at the time, I didn't have much say as to when I got a console upgrade, but having Sonic built-in to the machine kept me from complaining too much. It was that version of Sonic, plus a Sonic 2 cartridge and a game called Enduro Racer, which ate up all my time until I finally got a MD pretty late on. That was soon replaced by a SNES, though.
Tried the XBox360 version at the Blackpool Replay exhibition over the weekend - visually it's gorgeous but it's a tad tricky in parts. Sometimes it's not difficult to complete a level, but doing it with enough rings can be tricky.
Yes, it is possible to mess up and not have enough speed to get round objects. Then again, I've not played any Sonic other than Megadrive and Dreamcast.
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Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates his 25th anniversary this year and consequently, Sega is touting yet another title where the blue-speedster takes centre stage. According to the company, Sonic Generations broke Sega's pre-order records as the most anticipated Sonic title in 20 years. Hmm, and there I was thinking the heroic …
3D Does not fit
I have to agree about the 3D, although I have not played Sonic Generations I did buy Sonic Colours. Admittedly I did not research to well, I loved sonic as a kid better then the Mario games and when I started running the 3D sections it really turned me of, they are so crap.
Sonic should always remain a platformer in 2D or if they want 3D change it to something that works better.
The bonus levels were always pseudo-3D...
... and took place on top of a giant sphere floating against a delightful Escher inspired backdrop. Fish morphing into the gaps between fishes.
Geeky trivia: What was the very first game to feature Sonic (though you didn't play as him)?
Re: geeky trivia
That would be Flicky wouldn't it? It was Sonic Team's first game IIRC
Re: The bonus levels were always pseudo-3D...
I hear Sonic first appeared in 1991's 'Rad Mobile'... A little birdy tells me that THE little birdy from Flicky, did appear in Sonic one, though, in multiple clones.
You haven't tried the best 3D Sonic
Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast are splendid Sonic games. Not perfect - there are sections of the game where you can fall off and the 3D could be better, but the gameplay and visuals are generally excellent. SA2 started to get rather tricky in the freeway level though; haven't finished it yet..
Gave me a headache
I downloaded the demo on my PS3 and it was too fast - I just couldn't get an idea of what was happening - I think it has something to do with LCD refresh rates (37" LG flatscreen a few years old).
On a CRT the manic pace could be fun - but unless you have one of the 600Hz sets and switch that on, most of the time all you see is a blurry, line-seqmented shape onscreen.
Sad really, I LOVED the original.
if you have 100+Hz TV just disable that technology in the menu. I always disable it for games and leave it on for films only.
Physics and inertia
Have they fixed the physics so it actually feels like the original Sonic? In the real 2D Sonic games from days-of-yore you needed some skill to keep him moving, if you messed up and found yourself at the bottom of a slope with no momentum you'd have to move back and take a run up. The last Sonic game was atrocious, all of the feeling of momentum and inertia was gone, Sonic felt like he was filled with helium...
@Ragarath I thought the 3d areas of Sonic colours were the best bits and didn't like the side scrolling bits, as the physics and camera angle/distance just weren't right.
Also, Sonic Adventure was an excellent game and shows that Sonic does translate well to 3d if the levels are well designed and if the game does not revolve around gimmicks.
Sonic on the megadrive had to be slowed down in Europe. The only way to be able to get the system to output PAL was to downclock it, so games ran faster on the US and Japanese NTSC based systems. Sonic is supposed to be faster.
If you change some of the internal jumpers on the megadrive you can get it to run at 60hz if your TV can support it, and some games like Streets of Rage which had a different name in Japan will actually change the title graphics depending on those jumpers. Many people wire them to switches to use them with the few region coded cartridges too.
From the looks of the videos I have seen it suffers from the same awful jump mechanics as Sonic 4 where you have to hold down the analogue stick to control your in-air motion or you just fall straight down. Hopefully it won't be as bad as it looks but I really can't understand why they don't just make it like Sonic 1 - Knuckles.
I am disappoint
This review has been up all day, and no one corrected the fact that the Megadrive had the original version, not the Master System?
Re: I am disappoint
You're right, the Mega Drive did have the original version, but it was ported to Master System in an 8-bit version.
Aged about 9 at the time, I didn't have much say as to when I got a console upgrade, but having Sonic built-in to the machine kept me from complaining too much. It was that version of Sonic, plus a Sonic 2 cartridge and a game called Enduro Racer, which ate up all my time until I finally got a MD pretty late on. That was soon replaced by a SNES, though.
I feel sorry for anyone who didn't have a Master System with Alex Kidd as the built-in game :)
grammar troll
No-one actually says "An nostalgic ..." anymore. Why don't you just do english as she is spoke and say "A nostalgic .."
It's a bit tricky..
Tried the XBox360 version at the Blackpool Replay exhibition over the weekend - visually it's gorgeous but it's a tad tricky in parts. Sometimes it's not difficult to complete a level, but doing it with enough rings can be tricky.
Yes, it is possible to mess up and not have enough speed to get round objects. Then again, I've not played any Sonic other than Megadrive and Dreamcast.