Happy 20th Birthday Sonic

[Lee]

Before Doctor Ivo Robtnik went by his alter ego name of 'Eggman' he tried to crush me with a giant ball on a chain. Before Tails I worked alone. Before I could spin dash I had to roll down hills and hope for the best. Before Knuckles came forth and became the anti-hero in gaming I was number one. My name is Sonic the Hedgehog and today is my Twentieth birthday.

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Now those who have read my site before will know how Sonic and I have a love hate relationship. I loved the first three games, and can see the love for Sonic and Knuckles as well, Adventure was a good step forward but since then it really lost where it was going. In fact I wrote about Why Sonic lost his appeal and as a whole I still agree with that, although since then I have played Sonic Colours and I must say it's a truly great game which is very much what a Sonic game should be. However this isn't the time nor the place to discuss this, I could talk about how much of an impact Sonic has had on the gaming world, but I'm not going to do that. In fact lets look at the very beginning where it all started

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The game sold 19 million (15 million were as a pack with the console another 4 million were sold separately). I doubt everyone who bought it just played the game themselves and never showed a friend, so lets just double the figures to big this up. It means 38million (by my estimates, probably more) people have seen that famous “Sega” opening to Sonic the Hedgehog and with that they were sucked into one of the best games ever made.

What made the game so good? Mario had exploration and a nice slow pace but Sonic had a fast pace but also a good level of exploration. It had a certain charm about it, it had the bright colours that we'd seen in a Mario though things were a bit different levels became Acts, worlds became Zones and they gave us a huge variety of things. Whether this was the lushness of the Green Hill Zone, avoiding fire in the Marble Zone, bouncing crazy in Spring Yard Zone, THAT countdown in Labyrinth Zone, the brilliant music of Star Light Zone or the mix of everything in Scrap Brain Zone Sonic the Hedgehog has something for everyone.

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What else did we get? Well if you killed a Badnick a little animal popped out (my favourite was the penguin), we got TV monitors with power ups, we got lamppost half way markers, we got bonus stages where you could collect Emeralds do I really need to go on?

This game is Twenty years old today and it hasn't aged at all, it's still as fun to play today as it was then, if you haven't played it pick it up from Virtual Console, XBLA or PSN. Don't let the later games in the series spoil your enjoyment of this almost perfect game and frankly I couldn't say how good it is.

What say you? What memories do you have of Sonic?

Originally posted aw ww.nintendolee.com

 

[ZeroVX]

I still remember when I was about five or six years old my dad coming home with a Sega Genesis. Looking back on it, it was sort of weird that he'd do that. I don't remember ever showing any interest in video games back then, so it was kind of random. Still, it provided me with some cherished memories, as the very first video game I ever played was the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

And I sucked at it. I was lucky to make it to the third level on a good day. Still, they were some good times, and one of the few times I actually bonded with my dad. I even learned the famous level select cheat code from him. It was great.

When I was a little older, I learned that there were more Sonic games out there, and naturally, I wanted them. I first heard about Sonic and Knuckles from my cousin, and he let me borrow a guidebook for it (which I still have). I first heard about the new "lock-on" technology from it, and I thought it was so damn cool that you could, what I thought at the time, fuse two games together. It reminded me of one episode of Reboot, and my mind went wild with all the possibilities.

Of course, the technology only worked with a couple of games, but that was beside the point. I wound up getting both Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic 2 for my birthday one year, and I almost always played the two locked together, meaning I could play through Sonic 2 as Knuckles. It made the game hilariously easy, but like I said, I was a terrible gamer back then, so it was one of the few games I could play almost to the end. Sadly, a few years after that, my Genesis died on me. To this day, I have no idea what went wrong with it, it just wouldn't work anymore. A definite sad day for me.

Around that same time, we got our very first computer. My dad got a couple of games for it, and one of those was a PC version of Sonic CD. So, naturally, I played the hell out of it, starving for some Sonic. It didn't last long. As it turns out, I had played that game so much that I wound up wrecking the disc. Another sad day for me.

So I was left console-less and Sonic-less. So I asked my parents for a Sega Dreamcast, so I could play some 3D Sonic. They said no. Even though the system hadn't been out for very long, people were already writing it off as a failure, and my parents assumed the system would be dead in a short amount of time. We moved to a new house not long after, and that Christmas we got a PS1 instead. I had to deal with not having some Sonic to play.

Then the Dreamcast did die and Sega was bought out by Nintendo. Imagine how pissed I was, finally giving in and getting a system from a different company, and my beloved Sega joins the company I didn't buy a system for! So, of course, when it came out, I begged my parents for a Gamecube, and we wound up getting one. And one of the first games I tracked down was Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. I finally got the chance to play some 3D Sonic and it was everything I imagined and more. Me and Sonic were back together again.

Then Sonic Heroes came out a little while later. It was still a good game, but looking back on it, I should've realized that that was when things started to go downhill for Sonic. But I didn't care at the time, I was just happy to be playing a Sonic game. Then Shadow the Hedgehog came out. Again, should've noticed something was wrong, but didn't really care. It wasn't as good as the other Sonic games, but it was still playable.

The next generation of consoles hit, and the first one I got was a Wii. I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn't get to play the "new" Sonic on the 360 and PS3, but I did try Sonic and the Secret Rings one day. And it was horrible. The controls were some of the worst I'd ever encountered and it all just felt wrong. It was one of the few times I took a game back to the video rental store on the same day I picked it up, though I still think my bad attitude towards the game was partially because I was sick and in a bad mood.

It was here that I finally started to believe in the stories that Sonic was finished. But I still held hope that he could make a comeback. I tried Sonic Unleashed when it came out, and it was a step in the right direction, but not a big step. Things have gotten better, with Sonic 4 being much better than people give it credit for, and Sonic Colors being a surprise hit for me. And now I'm eagerly awaiting for the announcement of Sonic Generations release date so I can get that pre-order ready.

In short, I'm a heavily-biased Sonic fan, I always have been, and I always will be, so long as more games keep being made.

 

[The Rob]

I actually have to thank Sega for providing me with some of the fondest memories from my childhood. I spent many hours playing Sonic the Hedgehog on my Mega Drive and whilst for the most part I had absolutely no idea what was happening, I was drawn into the whole experience with it's bright colours, it's incredible music and it's addictive '...just one more try and then realise you've been playing for 6 hours' gameplay. The zones had so much variety and it really did feel like you were on a huge journey to kick Robotnik's ass come Act Three of each zone. Plus, whilst it was fast, it also required supreme precision and accuracy with your movements. One wrong move could spell disaster and all your hard work gaining those 99 rings was wasted in an instant.

Whilst Sonic the Hedgehog started it all, from a personal stand-point I've always said that Sonic 3 & Knuckles was the best Sonic game ever made (it's also in my top five best games... period), a game SO big it actually was spread onto two separate cartridges and sold separately. And the Death Egg Zone blows my fucking mind even now. Man I love that level and it's soundtrack. Whilst I do feel slightly weird wishing a computer game character a Happy Birthday, I shall do so. So, Happy Birthday Sonic, thanks for being a major part in my childhood. NOW FUCKING GET GOOD AGAIN! I PLAYED THE GENERATIONS DEMO TODAY AND IT'S A MIX-BAG!

 

[SalvIsWin]

I like the franchise as much as anybody, but I disagree with you when you say that Sonic has aged well. Sonic is at his best when he's flying across the level at full-speed, interacting with all different sorts of springboards, loops, and coins. The problem is that you're never really in control during those moments, the game more or less plays itself. When you get to the slowed down platforming, which is when you're actually playing the game, it isn't that special.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Sonic is 20 years old now? Time sure has flown by. I have several fond memories of the blue hedgehog and his games.

It all began with....

[YOUTUBE]SF9ZLNxHaBY[/YOUTUBE]

Green Hill Zone in Sonic 1. This, after two decades, is still THE Sonic theme that anyone can easily associate with the series. You can't have a Sonic game without a green hill zone type world to start off with. Running everywhere grabbing coins and going through all the obstacles while a catchy theme plays.


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Most of my Sonic memories come hand in hand with this song. I liked Sonic 2 the most because it was by far the best all around in the series. Good level design, challenging but not impossible difficulty, good music, and endless fun to be had. Whether I was playing as Sonic, Tails, or even Knuckles, I always had a blast with that game. Mecha Sonic in the final level was an epic battle. Metropolis Zone was evil. The awesome boss theme. So many memories.

Sonic & Knuckles was great too. Then the downward slope began and we saw some less interesting games and a long list of uninteresting characters joined the cast. There were some good ones along the way though like Shadow who is almost as cool as Knuckles. Then there was Robotnik's name change to Eggman.... Sonic even had an RPG added to his series a couple of years ago.

Happy 20th, Sonic! The series will surely live on for many more years.

 

[klunderbunker]

I never was a big fan of this series. I grew up a Nintendo guy but I did get to play it later on. I swapped consoles with my uncle once and got to play his Genesis for awhile but I'm not sure if Sonic was one of the games or not. Either way I got to play it on an emulator later and I really wasn't thrilled with it. It was certainly fun but I never got the overall appeal of it. Granted I was never a big Mario fan eithe so maybe I just don't like big classic series. Still though, it's hard to argue with how important it is and it's cool that it was released 20 years ago.

 

[Mr. HD]

I never played the old Sonic Games up until a few years ago. This may anger some Old School Sonic Lovers, but despite all the Sonic Games, this will forever be my favorite.

This had everything you could ask for. Good storyline, graphics were sick at that time, you could explore the environment and didn't need to rush to the next stage or area, kick-ass action stages, each character had their own story, but were all still connected, and some pretty cool boss battles. Oh, and that soundtrack......

[YOUTUBE]UfMn1VGO9t8[/YOUTUBE]

Gold. Love this game. Still even have my Dreamcast and play it every once in a while.