Cube Tries to Play (Almost) Every Sonic Game

[Cube]

7 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Well would you speak of the devil...

https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-kart-3dx-appears-to-have-been-discovered.40264/

Sonic Kart 3Dx has just resurfaced! Apparantly this person seems to have managed to archive every single Sonic Cafe title and looks like they might well be making them available to the public soon!

Hopefully someone can convince them to release the files.

Also, have I gone too far?

 

 

[Glen-i]

[Cube]

I managed to find one ridiculously cheap, so figured why not. There's a second Leapfrog console with a Sonic game (Leapfrog Didj) but it seems it was released only in America and when you add shipping then possible tax stuff, it's a but more than I'm willing to spend.

[Cube]

6. Sonic Riders

• Original Platform: GameCube
• Where to get: Second hand

Sonic Riders on the surface looks like it’s a slightly different Kart racer. It has a mascot, item boxes and crazy looking tracks: something that could be simple but a ton of fun. Sonic Riders is not like this at all, instead it’s a fairly unique racer with some complex mechanics.

The game will just throw you into it, so if you haven’t read the manual you will not understand what it happening in the slightest, with gusts of winds flying at you from other characters, stopping because your hoverboard (Extreme Gear as the game calls it) has run out of air. Upon reading up, and it’s more confusing than it really needs to be.

Air is fuel, you collect it by preforming stunts, getting it from item boxes or going through pit stops (which will hold your character in place until charged up). You can use this to boost, but use too much and you’ll have to run instead. Following air waves left by players in front of you make you go faster, and allows you to perform stunts for more air and speed. However, you can miss shortcuts because of this.

Shortcuts are also dependant in type of character: Speed characters use rails, Fly characters can fly though rings (with very difficult controls so you’ll probably just fall instead) and power characters can smash through walls…although other character can do so with a slight drop in speed. From what I experienced, Speed racers simply have better shortcut access.

Some shortcuts can be accessed by making higher or longer jumps of ramps which I only got to work a couple of times. Item boxes seem less what they are in Mario Kart and will mostly be air or rings (which upgrade your characters for the race, making you faster). There are a couple of weapons, but they seemed to be very rare.

There’s a story mode with a fairly dull story (and involves characters giving Robotnik chaos emeralds for a tournament he’s hosting…no surprise he has something up his sleeve) and some new characters who are descendants of an ancient group of thieves called Babylonians. Voice acting is especially bad, even for Sonic.

Sonic Riders is really just a confusing mess. The main thing I liked about it was the starting grid. You can walk backwards for more of a run up, then run forward to get your speed as high up. There’s an electric fence across the starting line that will stun you if you run into it before the countdown timer finishes. It’s way more fun than tapping a button at the right moment.

[Cube]

7. Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

• Original Platform: 3DS
• Where to get: Second hand, 3DS eShop

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal was the 3DS companion game for the infamous Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U. From a technical standpoint, Shattered Crystal is a marvel compared to the Wii U game, as I didn’t encounter any problems.

In Shattered Crystal, you can switch between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks – a crazy, paranoid badger with a boomerang – at any point by tapping the screen or the d-pad. All the characters feel the same in terms of how they run, jump, use their grappling hook and attack but they all have a unique ability: Sonic can dash through blocks (and gain extra height), Tails can glide and use gusts of wind, Knuckles can dig through tunnels and Sticks can throw her boomerang, mainly to activate switches.

When you have a decent platforming section, Shattered Crystal is really good fun, stringing together jumps, homing attacks and grapples is very satisfying. Sometimes having to switch characters can slow this down, but when the game lets you go fast, it’s a very solid game.

But Shattered Crystal isn’t about going fast. It’s about exploring overly large maze-like levels. To progress the game, you will need to collect Sonic badges. Completing each level will get you one, but this isn’t enough to progress, so you will need to find 6 blueprints and 4 crystal shards in each level. You need to find all of each in a level to get the Sonic badge (so collecting 5 blueprints in multiple levels is useless).

As you explore these maze-like levels you will encounter slingshots that send you to another part of the level, some of which will mean that you are now blocked, so if a collectible was there, you’ll have to do the level another time to progress. Other parts of the game can block progress backwards, too. On top of this, the first 5 or so levels you first play without all characters, so collecting them all is impossible first time round.

All this just makes the game slow, dull and frustrating. It’s a shame, because the core gameplay is solid. There are a couple of different types of levels: there are a couple of race levels which are amazing levels: it’s all about getting from A to B as fast as possible, there are multiple routes but generally the higher ones are quicker. The other kind are “worm tunnels”, where you run into the screen and move left/right to change path to dodge obstacles and collect rings. These levels are also really good.

While this game is based on the TV show, I don’t think it involves any of the writers from it. Sonic Boom’s jokes are surprisingly funny, while Shattered Crystal is just painful to read.

[Cube]

8. Sonic & SEGA AllStars Racing (DS)

• Original Platform: DS
• Where to get: Second hand

A handheld port of the first Sonic & SEGA racing game, and a really good one at that. The track designs have been altered to fit the DS more, ensuring it runs smoothly, but it still has the full array of tracks and characters. Even though there’s no analogue stick, the handling feels extremely solid, particularly drifting, perhaps even feeling tighter than Mario Kart DS.

It’s much harder to defend yourself from items, so you’ll be hit a lot. The best defensive weapon is a Mega Horn, which sends out a shockwave of sounds that hits opponents and destroys incoming weapons (wait, that sounds familiar…).

The DS version of the game features a completely different mission mode to the home console versions. Instead of getting rankings, you gain stars for how well you perform, and stars unlock more missions. These can be races, elimination races, shooting or avoiding obstacles, drifting or driving through rings (some of which I found difficult due to colour choices). It won’t take too long to complete them all, but getting 10 stars on all of them is definitely a big challenge.

 

 

---

 

I have also encountered the first game on this list that I have been unable to play, although @Dcubed already mentioned that someone does have a copy of it.

Failed Game -

Sonic Kart 3DX

• Platform: Mobile (Java)
• Status: No ROMs leaked to public, copy known to exist

 

The above video shows someone from Japan playing this mobile game. It appears to be a 3D kart racer, but with no items. Players would be able to compete each other online, or post their times to leaderboards.

This is one of the mobile games that was part of he Sonic Cafe service – a bunch of mobile games (with network connectivity), available only in Japan. Due to the limited Japanese-only release, many of these games were not backed up by fans.

This person has the game on the original device, so hopefully they are willing to share the ROM so that this game isn’t lost to time.

[bob]

The main thing I liked about it was the starting grid. You can walk backwards for more of a run up, then run forward to get your speed as high up. There’s an electric fence across the starting line that will stun you if you run into it before the countdown timer finishes. It’s way more fun than tapping a button at the right moment.

That's a really good idea that I wish they would implement in a lot of real world races.

Can you imagine the 100m having a running start, but there is a barrier that only drops on the starting pistol. Get there too early and you smash into the barrier. Time it perfectly and you get the perfect running start.

Do it for F1 and get some dramatic crashes right at the start of the race!

[Cube]

9. Sonic Mania

• Original platform: PC, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Version played: PS4

After creating ports of Sonic CD, Sonic 1 and 2 on Android, Christian Whitehead got a chance to work on a new Sonic game. While it looks very similar to the Mega Drive Sonic games, Sonic Mania doesn’t limit itself to what the Mega Drive can do, and lots of small improvements can be noticed such as extra frames of animation on rings and background objects. In a way, Sonic Mania feels like this could have been what Sonic on the Sega Saturn could have been if they didn’t feel the need to go the 3D route.

My biggest issue with Sonic Mania is that it tries to rely on nostalgia when it doesn’t need to. Sonic Mania has 12 main levels, but 8 of them are remixed versions of levels from 1, 2, CD, 3 & Knuckles – including the often revisited Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone. New levels include Studiopolis, Press Garden, Mirage Saloon and Titanic Monarch. All of these levels are brilliant, capturing the feel of classic Sonic levels while including their own twists on the formula. They all have a great style and brilliant music. I just wish the whole game could have been new levels.

Not that the remixed levels are bad. All of the Zones are two acts. The first act of each remxied level is exactly that: it feels like the original level, but different. Green Hill Zone Act 1 is pretty much the first two acts from the original combined, while other levels have similar but different parts.

The second act of each returning zone, however, is essentially brand new, with new level gimmicks to focus on, some of them even look very different. These are all brilliant levels. Essentially, my main complaint with Sonic Mania is that I wish there was more: two separate games (one focusing on remix levels, one on new levels) would have been amazing to have.

[Ike]

Even Mania’s original stages recycled a lot of elements from older games. Some stages were too long as well.

Quote

While this game is based on the TV show, I don’t think it involves any of the writers from it. Sonic Boom’s jokes are surprisingly funny, while Shattered Crystal is just painful to read.

Sonic Boom cartoon is real good.

[Dcubed]

Mania is absolutely amazing; but yeah.  The fact that it’s not wholly original means that I can’t in all good consciousness say that it’s better than Sonic 3&K.

Still, there’s no shame in being the second best Sonic game...

[Jonnas]

I understand the sentiment behind the remixed stages, but I'd give Stardust Speedway credit for feeling like an entirely new stage from the one it takes inspiration from. Just saying, if we're going by raw design, that one is entirely new.

10 hours ago, Cube said:

the often revisited Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone.

I understand Green Hill (even when it doesn't return, it somehow kinda does so anyway, isn't that right, Windy Hill Zone?), but Chemical Plant, despite being a classic and fan favourite, isn't used that much, is it? I think it was only Generations and Mania that revisited that stage.

[Cube]

13 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I understand Green Hill (even when it doesn't return, it somehow kinda does so anyway, isn't that right, Windy Hill Zone?), but Chemical Plant, despite being a classic and fan favourite, isn't used that much, is it? I think it was only Generations and Mania that revisited that stage.

Sonic Forces uses it as well. It's nowhere near as used as Green Hill Zone, but they were both in two games that came out at roughly the same time. 

10. Flicky

• Original platform: Arcade
• Where to buy: Steam

Technically not a Sonic game, as Flicky was released before Sonic even existed. Nevertheless, Flicky does have ties to Sonic, as he appears in multiple Sonic games as some of the animals trapped inside the Badniks that Sonic has to save, and Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island is a semi-sequel to the Flicky arcade – it was even included in the Sonic Mega Collection.

In Flicky, you play as a small bird who has to rescue chicks. Once you run into them, they’ll follow you, but disperse if a cat touches them (if the cats touch you, do die). You have to gather them all up and take them to a door. These can be done one at a time, but you’ll score far more points if you cash them all in at once.

It’s a simple game, but surprisingly good fun. The jumping can be difficult in the tighter maze-like levels, especially as Flicky bounces off walls, but it’s all very charming – it reminds me of a game I used to play called QWAK.

11. Sonic Rivals

• Original Platform: PSP
• Where to get: Vita Store

Sonic Rivals takes the gameplay of Sonic into something closer to the original Mega Drive ones, just with 3D graphics. The levels are played in 2D (just with some parts closer or further away from the camera), and there’s no boosting like the Sonic Rush games. It’s an A-to-B platformer where sticking to the top route is generally faster. The main gimmick of the levels in Sonic Rivals is that there are obstacles where you can jump off either upwards or forwards. There’s usually a button icon (kind of like a Quick Time Event) recommending one, buy you can perform either move (sometimes it can even be better doing the opposite of the recommendation.

There are six zones, with unique styles and looks, and I quite liked the layouts of all of them (although there are a few bottomless pits). If Sonic Rivals was just what I have described so far, it would actually be a great Sonic game.

But it isn’t.

When you start the first level, Sonic will be with Knuckles, joking about who will reach Eggman first (because of a plot where Eggman can capture people in cards using a camera, making it seem like the story was accidentally taken from an AR card game). Take a few steps forward and Knuckles will attack you – Sonic Rivals is a competitive racing game, even with power ups.

Power ups activate in two different ways: if you’re ahead, it will drop behind you as a trap, if you’re behind, it automatically hits your opponent (a few work slightly differently). Almost every time you use items, your opponent won’t be visible, so you don’t get to see the effects. So power ups feel more like they’re just there to attack you. Side effects include: slowing you down, freezing you, swapping controls around, pausing you in place. These are not fun at all and are incredibly frustrating to be on the receiving end of.

The AI racer doesn’t help, either. Sonic Rivals relies on ridiculous rubber banding – but only in one direction. If you get far ahead, your opponent will still catch up and rush past you, sometimes they just teleport to be in front of you. If you fall behind, there’s no chance of catching up. The cheating AI just makes the power ups even more frustrating, and if one hits you in the middle of a large uphill section, you may as well just restart the level.

The last zone of the game excludes the “rival” element and, even though it has a strict timer, this part of the game is really good – showing that the major problem was the racing mechanics.

Sonic Rivals has the potential being a solid Sonic 2D Platformer, with similarities to the classic Mega Drive games, but it just feels like you’re playing one where the game will randomly make you lose control, and decide that you have to replay a level again because it feels like it.

[darksnowman]

Read this thread earlier with the morning coffee. I have to say, even if I haven't played the vast majority of these games, it was a pleasant read to kick the week off with. The coolest thing is seeing Flicky was looked at in the previous post! It's a simple game but fun for what it is and has that "one more go" thing that older games were so good at.

Any plans to continue with this series or is it on indefinite hiatus? Totally understandable if you've had enough and don't want to subject yourself to more mediocrity!

On 07/05/2021 at 1:39 PM, Cube said:

Also, have I gone too far?

 

 

I hope you weren't expecting us to laud this as going above and beyond.   

[Cube]

I will be playing more soon, just Mass Effect Trilogy and a new console has put it on temporary hold.

I did notice when I checked my owned games on my Xbox, the next game on my list was in there.

[Cube]

12. Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing (Java)

• Original Platform Java Mobile
• Where to get: “internet”

The graphics look quite nice for old mobile graphics, and the midi music renditions are all pretty good. One big flaw, however, is that some obstacles (such as green goo) aren’t very noticeable, so you’ll hit them a lot. For the main mode – racing through all four cups – this isn’t really a huge issue as AI racers are all very slow. As you only need some slight assistance with turns, you can experience everything it has to offer while half asleep.

The mission mode, however, is a different story. Creating a precise racing line is quite difficult due the controls, and hitting the barely visible obstacles can destroy your progress. There are four types of missions, such as one where you collect 10 rings in one lap (hitting the green goo takes your count to zero), and you simply complete them once on each track.

There are four cups, with three tracks per cup, resulting in 8 different tracks overall. This isn’t a maths error, some tracks are repeated in multiple cups.

13. Sonic Adventure

• Original Platform: Dreamcast
• Version Played: Xbox 360 on Xbox Series S
• Where to get: Steam, Xbox Store

I’ve dabbled a bit in this before, but never completed it. There’s some lovingly cheesy dialogue and a ridiculous plot – both of which are great for Sonic. The main levels are mostly a lot of fun, there’s a good sense of speed and when it flows well, it’s still a great spectacle.

There are some slower platform sections – which can be good in Sonic games – but unfortunately these fall victim to the wonky controls and camera a bit more than.the faster sections, and it can be sometimes difficult to be precise with jumps (there should be a more prominent shadow underneath Sonic). Overall, the main Sonic levels are an enjoyable experience.

Everything else in Sonic’s adventure is just poor padding. You have a city to walk around to get to the stages, but it’s not really utilised, with no side missions to do with the characters, it’s just more of a fancy level select. The Casino level was mainly just repeatedly playing pinball until you have enough rings (although it does seem like you get access to a much better level if you fail the pinball), and the flying stages are rather dull.

Other characters have their own adventures. Tails is mainly flying through altered versions of Sonic’s levels, trying to be better than him but others have more unique levels. Knuckles is a treasure hunt where you have to locate parts of the master chaos emerald. Amy’s story is surprisingly pretty good, with completely new levels (only three, unfortunately) with some slower, more precise platforming that works better than those sections in Sonic’s levels. Big the Cat makes an appearance with a dreadful finishing story, while Gamma has some fairly simple shooting levels.

The music is outstanding, with some great tunes and rocking songs.

[Jonnas]

I am legimately surprised to learn that the Sonic Adventure games aren't available on Switch.

 

[Julius]

20 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

I am legimately surprised to learn that the Sonic Adventure games aren't available on Switch.

I guess you could say that Sega were Switched off to the possibility. 

[Cube]

14. Sonic Generations (3DS)

• Original Platform: 3DS
• Where to get: Nintendo eShop

While I’ve played the home console version of Sonic Generations a lot, I never played the 3DS counterpart, and it seems I was missing out, as the 3DS version isn’t a downgraded port, it’s a completely different game.

Apart from Green Hill Zone, the 7 level choices in the 3DS version are different to the home version, you have as Casino Night and Mushroom Hill Zone for the other classic stages, Emerald Coast and Radical Highway for the Sonic Adventure games. For the modern games, there’s no Sonic 06 or Sonic Unleashed, instead you have Water Palace from Sonic Rush before Tropical Resort from Sonic Colours. Sonic Heroes also gets some involvement, as the Special Stages are based on the ones from Heroes.

The modern Sonic gameplay is heavily based on Sonic Rush in this version. It’s still a 2D platformer, but with 3D graphics. While playing as modern Sonic, the camera is more dynamic and will provide fancier angles, while the levels will twist in front of itself a lot more. It feels spot on to Sonic Rush and they’re all great Sonic levels. The spectroscopic 3D also looks fantastic, although I did end up turning it off as it doesn’t work well when you’re nodding the head to the game’s music.

Classic Sonic starts off feeling like the original Mega Drive games, and the first three classic levels are fairly faithful recreations of the originals, rather than mixing them up. Unfortunately, the game adds a homing attack to the classic Sonic levels. This blurs the line between the two gameplay styles even more, so you’ll find yourself sometimes trying to boost as classic Sonic. You can ignore the homing attack and still beat the stages, but you skip the better routes. Adding the homing attack is the biggest flaw of Sonic Generations.

But overall, it’s a great Sonic game, and a great counterpart to the main version. It’s not a cheaply made downgraded port, but a second Generations game.

[Cube]

15. Sonic Advance

• Original Platform: Game Boy Advance
• Versions played: GBA and Android
• Where to get: Physical Version, Wii U eShop (Japan Only)

Despite loving Sonic and having a Game Boy Advance, for some reason I never played Sonic Advance, but it seems I was missing out.

Sonic Advance is a lot like the classic Mega Drive Sonic games, although Sonic himself is more like his modern design. It takes the original level design philosophy of Sonic – multiple routes, higher is quicker – and creates some expansive levels to be explored (and you’ll need to explore them to find the chaos emerald, as the special stages are well hidden).

For most of the game, the stages have many secondary routes, and at some point I was even wondering if there were even any bottomless pits as every time I fell, I landed on another path (or even just a hole with a spring to get back up). This makes exploration much more fun. Later levels do have bottomless pits, so it doesn’t last forever, but for the most part the levels in Sonic Advance are great.

Then there’s Egg Rocket Zone. The core idea for the level is great – you’re on a giant rocket, and have to reach the next section before separation happens and the previous part of the level is jettisoned. Unfortunately, the level is a confusing maze which seems to only have one “correct” path through it. There’s lots of routes, including some that look like the “faster, more difficult” routes, but these will cruelly send you back to previous parts of the level. It’s needlessly annoying.

On top of the original Game Boy Advance version, it was also ported to N-Gage (which is difficult to try and play), and also for Android, but only in Japan (and no longer available). The Android port is a great port, with a wider screen for better viewing distance. Although a few bits of music (which were from the Mega Drive games) have been replaced. 

[Dcubed]

I didn’t even know there was an official Android port of Sonic Advance! And it even takes advantage of the higher resolution to increase the field of view!?

Shame it still uses touch controls though…

[Cube]

The touch controls surprisingly feel quite good. Some fans have made a modded version of it with and English translation and are trying to get controllers to work. 

It was originally a free game when it came out in Japan.

 

I do think Sonic Advance does deserve to be more widely available to buy.

[Cube]

16. Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine

• Original Platform: Mega Drive
•  Where to get: Steam

In Japan, this is not a Sonic related game at all. When Puyo-Puyo got a release in North America and Europe, Sega decided to overhaul the design to base it on Dr Robotnik, featuring a bunch of robots from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon.

Puyo-Puyo/Mean Bean Machine is a colour-matching game. Two “beans” will fall down at once and you can rotate them. Match four of the same colour and they’ll vanish. At the same time, an AI opponent is competing against you. If you chain multiple combos, you’ll send a bunch of beans that don’t match and can only be removed by triggering a group of another colour next to it. First one to reach the top of the screen loses.

I could only make it to stage 3, partly due to colourblind issues (although I am bad at this style of game anyway). The beans are slightly different shapes, but it’s difficult to identify the shapes quick enough for the reaction speeds needed to compete against the AI.

17. Sonic the Fighters

• Original platform: Arcade
• Version Played: Xbox 360
• Availability: Xbox Store, will be playable in Lost Judgement

Similar to colour-matching puzzle games, fighting games is another genre that I can’t get my head around properly, with combos that you need to remember and pull off. So I can’t say how Sonic the Fighters compares to other fighting games, but I will say that with the “automatic” mode for people like me, who are awful at the game, I enjoyed the rather brief game.

There’s something very charming about the low poly models for this game, there’s a really nice polygonal style to them. The stages themselves also look really nice, especially the ice stage which takes place on a giant mirror – it’s rather beautiful.

The characters include the main four heroes (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy), with characters from Knuckles Chaotix, Triple Trouble and some new additions to the franchise, with Metal Sonic and Robotnik as bosses. It’s a really odd mix. Each character’s moves do feel quite different, even with just the more basic moves.

18. Big Big’s Fishing Adventure 3

• Original platform: Flash
• Where to get: http://bigthec.at/

Technically an April Fool’s fan game, this was made for charity and was Tweeted by the official Sonic Twitter account, so I’m counting it.

Big Big’s Fishing Adventure 3 is about Big the Cat trying to make a video game. He’s spent most of his time sleeping. The day before the deadline, Froggy goes missing (of course), so Big heads off to find him. Most of the game is a visual novel, with text referencing lots of Sonic games. Every now and then you’ll get a choice, which will determine which minigame you play.

Based on your choice, you’ll get to play a simple maze or a flappy bird clone. This follows more visual novel segments, where the wrong choice will get you a game over (although it lets you undo the choice). Pick the correct one and you’ll get to play a simple 2D fishing minigame to catch Froggy.

[Dcubed]

Mean Bean Machine is a cracking puzzle game, even though it's far from the best version of Puyo Puyo available today.  I played it for the first time when I got Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube.  I wasn't expecting all that much from it, but was blown away by its addictive multiplayer gameplay and fell in love with it!  Ended up being probably my most played game in that collection outside of S3&K!

Nowerdays, I'd turn to other, more fleshed out takes on the Puyo Puyo series, as the first game is a bit basic.  But I can't deny that I have a real soft spot for MBM, including its surprisingly good soundtrack! Was thrilled to bits to see it appear in Sonic Mania!  

[Cube]

My second failed game:

2. Sonic Athletics

• Platform: Arcade
• Status: No ROMs, not much interest in backing up.

 

 

Available only in Sega’s Tokyo Joypolis, this arcade game looks to be a collection of three events based on Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics, but without Mario & Co. There are eight cabinets in a line, all with a treadmill and a button.

As this is only available in one location (and I’m not sure if it’s still there or if the 2016 and 2020 versions replaced it), along with it being built for unique inputs, it’s not an easy game to preserve – even if someone wanted to do so.

As the 2016 and 2020 arcades are based on the Mario & Sonic series, I won’t be including them here. Athletics is only here due to it’s unique branding.

 

And my latest playthough :

 

19. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GBA)

• Original Platform: Mega Drive
• Version Played: Game Boy Advance
• Where to get: thankfully, nowhere.

As part of this collection, I’m playing a bunch of ports of Sonic the Hedgehog. I’m focusing on just the first game, and more significant ports and not emulation (as found in lots of collections, the Steam version, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, etc). First up on my random ordered list is the Game Boy Advance version. As this was made after three Sonic Advance games, and was sold for £20 for just the one game, you would think it’s something special.

And in a way, it is. It’s a spectacular failure filled with many issues. Frankly, this port was not sold in a playable state, just thrown out to cash in on an anniversary. The first issue you’ll find is the music. The GBA doesn’t quite have the same sound chip as the Mega Drive and it seems that instead of modifying the music to fit what the GBA can do, they instead just had it attempt to play what it could from the Mega Drive. What you have are very tinny version with zero bass. I had to put the game down in Spring Yard Zone because I just couldn’t stop laughing at the music. It starts off not too terrible, but after around 20 seconds it attempts to keep up with the original and just spits out an incoherent mess.

The music is the least of this port’s issues, though. There is a lot of slowdown, and it affects how the game plays massively, as your jumps are slower and shorter. Then after each bit of slowdown usually follows some super fast movement where you launch uncontrollably to the side, flying over platforms with no hope of stopping. Not helping matters is the cropped screen, so some obstacles can’t be seen, especially where jumping up is concerned. The final boss doesn’t fit into the screen, so you have little time to react to it. It’s a complete mess.

And to make matters worse, the physics just feel off, particularly jumping on slopes. You’ll either barely move or fly off to the side, and this includes downwards slopes. There’s other minor things as well, such as the wrong death animation used (Sonic always “drowns” in this version), a way to exploit Robotnik fights by jumping on top of him and just bouncing on his head, all the sounds are extremely weak (especially explosions).

If you want someone to hate the original Sonic, get them to play this version.

 

 

[Dcubed]

On the plus side, Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis for GBA is what eventually enabled Sonic Mania to happen… as this absolute pile of Sonic shite lead to Stealth showing up SEGA with his own Homebrew port!

… which eventually lead to the modern Sonic CD port, which eventually lead to Sonic Mania!

So it’s not all bad.  It actually left quite the legacy in the end!