Cube Tries to Play (Almost) Every Sonic Game

[Dufniall]

45 minutes ago, Cube said:

B1. Super Sonic Ball

Weird, this sounds a lot like a game I'm playing on the Switch at the moment, Super Kazuma Ball. Then again, Super Sonic Ball sounds much more plausible so I'm afraid I bought a knock-off or counterfeit game. I mean, why would a Yakuza character roll around in a Green Hill Zone?

[Cube]

64. Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble

• Original Platform: GameGear
• Where to get: Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Gems Collection, 3DS eShop.

For the Game Gear, this is an impressive title. As it was made for the Game Gear specifically, and not ported from the Master System, it utilises the Game Gear’s screen estate properly, the sprites are smaller and you can see more of the screen, leading to far fewer issues of jumping into the unknown.

As the actual game is concerned, there really isn’t a lot to talk about. It’s a decent Sonic platformer but doesn’t really have anything special about it, nor does it really have any glaring flaws. If you want to play a Sonic platformer and haven’t played Triple Trouble before, then I’d say it’s worth it, as it’s still a fun title, but I can’t see myself wanting a second playthrough.

There are a few fun set pieces, I did like the train boss, which was probably the most unique part of Triple Trouble, and the gameplay and graphics feel better than what you would expect from a Game Gear.

 

65. Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure

• Original Platform: Neo Geo Pocket
• Where to get: Second hand

A Sonic adventure that was made for the Neo Geo Pocket, this game is essentially another 8-bit version of Sonic 2 (with a couple of elements from Sonic 1) like the Master System/Game Gear version of Sonic 2, except that the Neo Geo Pocket was a much more advanced console, resulting in a far better conversion.

The Zones in Pocket Adventure are based on levels from Sonic 2, but renamed slightly (Cosmic Casino Zone instead of Casino Night Zone, for example), with a few taking some graphic design from Green Hill Zone and Scrap Brain Zone from Sonic 1. While the themes are the same, and the layouts are loosely based on the originals, to me these felt like “new” levels in terms of how they played, making it feel more like a remix of Sonic 2 more than a port.

The gameplay in this is also great, feeling close to the original Mega Drive games in terms of physics and speed. It’s a ton of fun to play and I think this one definitely deserves a re-release as it’s well worth playing, even if it is derivative of Sonic 2.

[Cube]

66. Sonic Advance 2

• Original Platform: Game Boy Advance
• Where to get: Second hand

Sonic Advance 2 looks absolutely fantastic, the animations are wonderful and everything moves around extremely smoothly. The sound effects and music are also top notch, too. It’s definitely a treat to the senses as you play through the game.

You can also see DIMPs starting to do their own thing with Sonic games, as you can see the beginnings of the Rush games in Advance 2. There’s a focus on speed as if you go fast enough for a long period (made shorter if you have more rings), you will enter a “turbo speed mode” where Sonic will go even faster, except that it’s much harder to stop.

This focus on speed also comes alongside one of the main flaws that cropped up in the Rush series, with unseen bottomless pits and obstacles that are impossible to dodge. The high speed mode makes it even worse as it feels quite unresponsive, and can activate when you don’t want it to. Another new system is the trick system, mainly used for an extra jump. If you’re going fast, you really don’t have time to react when you see a platform slightly above you that you need to use it for. This wouldn’t be an issue if it was solely for extra routes, but sometimes you’ll end up falling down a pit because you didn’t react to something before it appeared on screen.

The level design also doesn’t seem to match the focus on speed well, as the later levels are much more enjoyable to play at a slower pace. There doesn’t seem to be any sections to just enjoy the speed for a moment. The entrances to the special stages are also really well hidden, meaning you’ll have to slowly explore the levels if you want to collect them. You also need to collect them as the four main characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and newcomer Cream) to unlock Amy – 28 in total, it goes a bit too far.

Visually, Sonic Advance 2 is great. I just think it’s a step down from the first Advance in terms of gameplay.

67. Sonic R

• Original Platform: Saturn
• Version Played: PC (with fan patch)
• Where to get: Second hand

This is definitely as bad as I was expecting it to be. It’s a Sonic racing game with bad controls, very little content, poor level design and an extremely awesome soundtrack.

A racing game where Sonic actually runs (instead of using a car) does make a lot of sense, but the movement in this just feels off, it’s unresponsive and sluggish. Simply coming in first is trivially easy, as you can jump past huge sections of track while the AI tries to run along it, sometimes getting stuck.

The main challenge comes from the collectibles. Hidden in each track are 5 coins and 1-2 chaos emeralds .To unlock the chaos emeralds, you’ll need to collect rings and open a “ring gate”, then collect the emerald and finish in first place (for levels that have two, you can do them individually). Collecting all coins and finishing in the top 3 will let you race a character to unlock them. There are a total of 5 levels, although the final one doesn’t have any coins or emeralds.

The characters are a bit odd. Even when this was made, there were a few additional characters they could have picked. We have the main characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy (who drives a really slow car) and Dr Robotnik. Metal Sonic makes sense, then it shoves in a creepy Tails doll, metal Knuckles and a random egg robot. You can also unlock Super Sonic to make the game even easier.

While Sonic R is an awful game, I think it’s worth just seeing it for yourself. There’s not much to see so you’ll get through the levels finally quickly.

68. Sonic the Hedgehog: Dice Rush

• Original Platform: Board Game
• Where to get: Some new copies still available in USA/UK (as of Nov 2011)

This board game is sort of like a speed Yhatzee. There is a pile of cards, each worth different numbers of points and all with a dice requirement such as a pair, four of a kind, 4 straight or even just free (these are negative points). A number of cards are drawn at the start of a round equal to the number of players and everyone starts rolling.

You have to reroll your dice as quickly as possible (you can re-roll all or just a couple) until you get the needed result and then put your character card on top of the card you want to claim, you need to be the first to do so as once it has been claimed, nobody else can do so. After everyone has claimed a card, they all check to see if they can afford it and place them in their level. If they didn’t have the required dice, they must place it face down and not score it (free cards must always be added face up).

Some enemies had badniks on them, which are worth negative points. If you have any leftover 6 dice after claiming a card, you can use them to kill them, adding a flicky token which is worth one point.

After all cards have been claimed, you count up the points and the highest score wins.

It’s a basic game, but surprisingly entertaining, and a pretty fun fuller game that takes less than 20 minutes. The Green Hill Zone artwork is nice, and it’s nice to see classic artwork in use for a more modern product.

[Ike]

@Cube

Any chance of a review of these candles?

https://www.segashop.co.uk/collections/candier-candles

 

[Glen-i]

Trying to sell Green Hill Zone with candle propoganda is bloody hilarious!

[Cube]

I'm more into the perfume

 

 

Also, it's scary how both scents are lemon. It's like they had an actual meeting to officially decide that Sonic canonically smells of lemon.

 

(Also, the Sonic plays are mostly on pause until Jan, playing some different things for a bit).

 

[bob]

https://mobile.twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/1468582690618175493?s=20

LMAO they just keeping making new ones!
@Cube is never going to get to the end!

[Ashley]

I assume that's the game they announced a little while back and is just poorly worded

[Dcubed]

10 hours ago, Ashley said:

I assume that's the game they announced a little while back and is just poorly worded

Sonic Frontiers hasn’t actually been officially announced yet.  It’s basically a worst kept secret thing that we’ve all known about for ages though.

[Cube]

45 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Sonic Frontiers hasn’t actually been officially announced yet.  It’s basically a worst kept secret thing that we’ve all known about for ages though.

The name isn't officially announced, but we've had a very short trailer for the game.

[Ashley]

Yeah during some anniversary thing a while back they showed a trailer (well, rendered footage not in game) for a new game and then a day or so later said "oops, might have been too soon". 

[Ike]

I know it’s just a collection, but they’ve gone quiet about Sonic Origins. 

[Aperson]

When Cube gets back on this let it be known that I've found a very important inclusion for the list

 

 

Original tweet was this:

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Aperson

[Sméagol]

Do you do play unofficial ports?

Looks impressive actually.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Sméagol

[Dcubed]

On 23/12/2021 at 8:44 PM, Sméagol said:

Do you do play unofficial ports?

Looks impressive actually.

If we started including fan games he’d never end! (And yes, that is an incredible port!)

[Ike]

@Cube is going to have to get himself a Tesla now.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2021/12/soon-teslas-will-be-able-to-play-sonic-1-for-some-reason/

[darksnowman]

3 hours ago, Ike said:

@Cube is going to have to get himself a Tesla now.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2021/12/soon-teslas-will-be-able-to-play-sonic-1-for-some-reason/

Well, the Patreon tiers were needing updated for 2022 anyway!

[Cube]

First update in ages, progress is very slow as I don't have the same setup in the new house, plus other things being sorted in the house having a higher priority and some gaming stuff still in boxes.

69. Sonic the Hedgehog (Retro Engine)

• Original Platform: Mega Drive
• Versions Played: Android and Xbox Series S

The best way to play the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Originally only playable on mobile phones, then later on other platforms. It works wonderfully in widescreen. On the mobile version, the touch controls aren’t great, but thankfully you can plug in a controller, which makes it play beautifully.

 

70. Sonic Unleashed (Java)

• Original Platform: Java Mobile

A 2D version of Sonic Unleashed. I tested out the “touch” and “non-touch” versions of this. The touch one looks nicer and supports higher resolutions, but the button version is just so much nicer to play. Despite its choppiness, it’s not a bad game, probably better than what I expected from a Java version of Sonic Unleashed.

71. Sonic CD

• Original Platform: Mega Drive CD
• Version Played: Retro Engine (Xbox Series S)

Sonic CD has two separate soundtracks – both of them great. Unfortunately, that’s really all the positives I have about Sonic CD, as everything else I think is a complete mess. The level design is completely chaotic (from both a visual and layout perspective) and the time travel mechanic is needlessly confusing and completely disrupts the flow of the game.

Sonic CD is really not fun to play at all, and I was glad when it was over.

72. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

• Original Platform: Mega Drive
• Version Played: Retro Engine (Xbox Series S)

The true successor to Sonic the Hedgehog, refining the gameplay and adding in Tails, with a sort of co-op mode which brings back a lot of good memories, and Chemical Plant zone will be forever one of the best levels in a Sonic game (especially with that music). My biggest issue is that the final boss is a bit ridiculous, in that it’s two bosses that you have to figure out a strategy for, but with limited lives.

73. Sonic 3 & Knuckles

• Original Platform: Mega Drive
• Version Played: Retro Engine (Xbox Series S)

Originally released in two parts due to time constraints, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the final part of the original Mega Drive series. While the gameplay has some great new features like the elemental shields and plays really well, I don’t think the levels are as good as the first two games. It could be purely because of nostalgia (my initial experience was the Sonic & Knuckles Collection on PC, I never had them on Mega Drive), but some of the levels do feel a bit like rehashes of previous ones (a problem Sonic has a lot of recently). That said, it’s still a brilliant game.

74. Sonic Colours (DS)

• Original Platform: Nintendo DS

The DS version of Sonic Colours is sort of the third Sonic Rush game, featuring gameplay similar to them both while adapting elements from the console version of Sonic Colours, mainly the wisps. Boosting is gained from wisps and damaging enemies, which I think is a downgrade from the trick system, but the various wisp abilities translate really well to 2D and compliment the level design really well.

One interesting thing is that it has its own slightly different take on the story, with fewer jokes and an extra part at the end of the game, with a final boss that isn’t in the Wii version.

[Dcubed]

What you did there with Sonic 3 & Knuckles… I see it

[Ike]

Saddened by the Sonic CD hate on here. I grew up with it so it has a nostalgia bonus for me, I see why people wouldn't like it.

Still hate the UFO special stages though. Thank goodness Origins let's you retry

[Jonnas]

I actually really liked CD when I played it back in 2014. It's chaotic and messy, but really fun to explore and discover.

It is hard to argue against its detractors though, as most of the things they dislike about the game are also things that I fully agree with. They just don't bother me in the same way.

[Ike]

The levels are designed to be explored rather then just going straight to the goal. The level designs have a lot of places that you can use to activate the time travel. It is odd seeing things you can't interact with in the current timezone though. They are supposed to be hints at what you can do/access, I guess.

Altering the future stages was a pretty cool mechanic I thought.

Some of the bosses are quite different as well, with some you don't even need to attack (which they repeated in Sonic & Knuckles). The Metal Sonic race is a highlight.

[Dcubed]

Sonic CD is a game which has some interesting ideas, but fumbles the execution in most aspects of its level design.

Like with the time travel aspect.  Originally it was supposed to change the level layout dynamically in real-time as Sonic ran past the Past/Future posts, but that proved to be impossible to pull off with the Mega CD’s slow loading times.  So instead we got this separation of level variants with a lengthy loading sequence inbetween, that makes the mechanic a drag that grinds the game’s pacing to a halt.

Sonic CD is a game with big ambitions that ultimately couldn’t be lived up to with the actual game itself… Which is kind of Sonic Team’s career in a nutshell really.

[Cube]

So, it's been a while since I've updated this, and I plan to reorganise and continue doing so.

I've completely changed how I've posted them to my website, previously it was a massive list of them in order of completion, but I've since realised that while it creates a mix of games, it's a pain for someone to find particular ones. 

I've now reorganised them to be based on date (I'm sure people here recommended that to begin with), all games I haven't done are also on the pages for each year, so you can see which ones I haven't gotten round to.

https://djcube.co.uk/history-sonic-the-hedgehog-games/

I will be going through all the remaining ones like this. I will be posting any games I haven't posted here before as I go though the remaining ones. I've also created a Twitter account for posting them

https://twitter.com/allsonicgames

Rad Mobile

• Original platform: Arcade
• Original release: 3rd October 1990

While I will be limiting Sonic’s appearances in other games to its own article, the Rad Mobile appearance is of significance because it’s the first ever appearance of Sonic The Hedgehog, before his first game was released.

Rad Mobile is a timed checkpoint racing game with some impressive graphics for the time (particularly the 3D road), dangling from the top of the screen at all times is a swinging Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car

• Original Platform: Arcade car
• Original release: 1991
• Where to get: Unavailable

Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car was a video game that was installed in a coin operated car ride – the type that children sit in and it moves around for a couple of minutes.

In Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car, Sonic is a police officer on his daily rounds. You have to dodge traffic and can give hand signals to slow cars down. Towards the end of the “ride”, you have to fight Dr Robotnik, who is throwing bombs at you. You can use a jump attack to hit him a few times as you dodge bombs.

Once you finish, you get awarded a score out of five. It’s an extremely simple game, but for the audience, it’s much better than just sitting one one of those rides.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog LCD Wrist Game

• Original Platform: LCD Game
• Original release: 1991
• Not Played: Game is only available second hand and is very expensive.

The first Tiger Electronic Sonic game, this one part of a watch strap. The game consists of four levels where Sonic has to move right and jump to defeat enemies.

Due to the nature of how these games are made (sprites are only in one location, it works similar to a digital watch screen), these games are always extremely simple, and are more of an amusement for a few minutes.

[Cube]

Sonic The Hedgehog Card Game (Board Game) 

• Original Platform: Board Game
• Original Release: 1992
• Not played: expensive to get second hand

A Sonic board game from 1992. It’s hard to get a great idea of what the gameplay was like from the images online, but it sounds like you’re trying to collect emeralds while trying to screw over the other players.

The description on the back, each player has a hand of six cards, then will draw a card and play a card on their turn. They can attack their opponent to get rings or choose to protect their own rings. If you collect all emeralds, you win automatically. If not, the game ends when all Zone cards come out and the winner is the player with the most rings.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog Game (Board Game)

• Original Platform: Board Game
• Original Release: 1992
• Not played: expensive to get second hand

A Sonic board game from 1992. This is actually a lot like a Mario board game from around the same time. Each player takes turns rolling the dice, moving Sonic (everyone uses the same token) and collecting coins. Once you get to the end of the board, the person with the most coins wins.

Each person has three tokens to help themselves and three tokens to hurt other players – even though you’re all trying to get Sonic to defeat Dr. Robotnik, you want the other players to do poorly.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog (LCD game)

• Original platform: LCD game
• Original release: 1992
• Available to buy: No

A full size version of the Sonic LCD game. The gameplay in this seems to be similar to the watch version, but with different sprites. This also has a background based on Marble Hill Zone.

In the game, you move right and jump into enemies, trying to avoid attacks. There’s not really any “platforming”, the four stages are just flat. Once you get to the end, you reach Dr. Robitnik and jump into him to defeat him and move on.

The action is very difficult to see due to the nature of the device it is on, and these devices are never fun to use for more than a couple of minutes.

 

SegaSonic the Hedgehog (LCD game)

• Original platform: LCD game
• Original release: 1992
• Not played: Was only available in Japan for a limited time.

A Tiger Electronic game available in UFO Catcher machines in Japan. This looks like a fairly typical LCD game where you have to avoid projectiles, which will increase in speed in each “level”. The aim of the game is to get the highest score before you lose all of your lives. The only controls are moving left and right.

 

SegaSonic Bros

 

• Original Platform: Arcade
• Original Release: Unreleased (Finished 1992)
• Available to buy: No

 

A colour matching puzzle game. In this one, you have to form lines and loops with colours, rather than matching in rows. Sets of four Sonics will come down from the top and you need to move and rotate them to get to your desired location. Form a suitable line or loop and you will zap Dr. Robotnik. Get to level 30 and a fourth colour will be introduced for extra difficulty.

This game was completely finished, but failed location testing and was never released. I can see why, as I really could not get my head around how you plan the acceptable lines to form links to remove blocks, I had far more luck just putting them down randomly. Although, I do appreciate the colours used as I can see the differences easily, despite my colourblindness.

It’s fascinating that a game can reach its final state but still be cancelled, so it’s a lost Sonic game that can actually be played.

 

SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol (Arcade, 25th April)

• Original Platform: Kid’s Ride
• Original release: 25th April 1993
• Available to buy: No

Similar to Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car, SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter is another little game built inside a children’s ride. This one is a simple scrolling space shooter, where Sonic must fight through enemies and defeat Dr. Robotnik to save Flickies.

You can swap between different weapons, which are all powerful and defeat enemies with ease. Getting hit will cycle you back one level, but you can just change back to the next weapon up. There’s no way to die.

When you finish, Sonic will rank your performance out of five. It’s a very basic game, but I can see it being a fun part of a simple ride for a child.

 

Sonic Chaos

• Original Platform: Master System
• Version played: Game Gear
• Original Release: 25th October 1993
• Available to buy: No

Sonic Chaos is quite possibly the easiest Sonic game. The levels are short, and there aren’t many obstacles. In a way, this is good, as it’s a stark contrast to the many obstacles you couldn’t see in the Master System version of Sonic 2. That said, there are still a lot of blind jumps, it’s just that in Sonic Chaos, they usually lead somewhere.

Other than being easy, Sonic Chaos doesn’t really try anything new or different. It features two Green Hill Zones – one called Turquoise Hill (that looks exactly the same) and Mecha Green Hill, which is a decent twist on the level.

Sonic Chaos is a fairly safe Sonic game, it doesn’t doing anything bad, but is very unremarkable overall.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball

• Original Platform: Mega Drive
• Original Release: 15th November 1993
• Available to buy: Yes

When I was a kid, I never fully understood what this game was. I thought it was just a pinball game. I played it on and off, but never saw much outside the initial starting area.

Playing it now and it’s more of a pinball platformer game. You have to hit Sonic around levels with paddles, but also have a degree of movement to adjust his course mid-air and can even move him around if you land on flat surfaces.

The main part of the game is having to figure out how you unlock routes to the Chaos Emeralds in each level. Once you’ve found all of them, you can then fight the boss. This is repeated across the four levels. While the game has enjoyable moments, it can often be frustrating, and random bounces can often mean being sent back to an earlier part of the level, having to work your way up.

It’s an interesting concept and has some great music, but I think it could have done with feeling a bit more consistent in terms of controls.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Play)

• Original platform: Mega Drive
• Version Played: Mega Play Arcade
• Original release: 1993
• Available to buy: Yes

The original Sonic the Hedgehog had two arcade releases. The first was on the Mega-Tech system. That one was just the original game where you would play for time, while the Mega Play was a proper arcade adaptation.

In the Mega Drive version of Sonic the Hedgehog, some zones were cut out – Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone are gone, along with the third act of Scrap Brain Zone. As most of you will notice, these are the “slower” stages, as the focus here is on speed. Each level has a time limit that counts down. If it reaches zero, you lose a life.

Losing all your lives will result in game over and you can submit your high score initials. You can continue from where you left off, but your score will start from zero.

This is certainly an interesting version of the original Sonic, and is one of the few times where people will actually care about the score.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (LCD game)

• Original platform: LCD game
• Original release: 1993
• Available to buy: No

 

The LCD version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This features a background of Oil Ocean and even adds loops to (awkwardly) run around. It’s the same basic game – move to the right, defeat enemies and then defeat Dr Robotnik – but the loops make you go to the left of the screen before moving around them.

Later stages feature gaps you can fall down, although seeing the difference between these and “gaps” that are just a flat surface is very unclear. There’s a surprising amount of different enemies for an LCD game and the Casino Night Zone level even has a gimmick in the form of flippers.