back to article Sonic the Hedgehog

Pocket-money saved, game ordered, wait for the postman and... nothing. A friend had the game already – rubbing salt into the wound – yet my journey of anticipation home from school each day still arrived at a big hole of spiky blue hedgehog nothingness. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was especially hyped throughout its long …

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  1. Dave 126 Silver badge

    Not Sonic's first appearance in a Sega game...

    His image was in a previous game... +10 geek points to the first to name it! : D

    1. Babbit55

      Re: Not Sonic's first appearance in a Sega game...

      Rad Mobile wasn't it?

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        Re: Not Sonic's first appearance in a Sega game...

        Dang Babbit55, it only allowed me to reward you +1!

    2. TimChuma

      Re: Not Sonic's first appearance in a Sega game...

      Rad Mobile. This game was also featured in the movie Ecino Man.

      The Sonic series has some strange fans.

      Also there is a hacking community surrounding the original game.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Gimp

    The speed.

    When you first saw Sonic 1 on the Gamegear or Megadrive you couldn't believe the speed it moved at. Mario looked pedestrian in comparison and the 8 and 16 bit home computers had to play catch up.

    Sonic 2 on the Megadrive was perfection. It looks so simple but there are so many different routes and techniques to tackle each level that you'll always come back for more.

    All downhill after that. The modern incarnations just don't cut it IMO.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: The speed.

      Myself and my teenage mates didn't have a Megadrive, but we rented one from the local video shop for the weekend, with Sonic 2. It was ace!

    2. b166er

      Re: The speed.

      You were doing it wrong!

      I could complete World 1 1-4 holding B permanently. and it was far from pedestrian.

      Sonic was slick and fun too, especially if you finished with 100 rings.

      1. h3

        Re: The speed.

        When you play Mario (Or any game like that) you hold B permanently.

        (On the lost levels it is forced but it is a good idea to do it anyway).

        Only time I can think of that you don't is the warp zone in Super Meatboy where you unlock the kid.

    3. defiler
      Thumb Up

      Re: The speed.

      Sonic 1 on Game Gear = SMEEEEEEAAAAARRRRRR!

      As soon as you picked up any real speed you just couldn't see what was happening because the screen hardware wasn't up to it. Still, a damn fine game (one of the best on the GG), and pretty good handheld console for its day (despite the appalling battery life).

      My wife had a Megadrive. Still has it, not that it gets spun up these days. Got a Megadrive emulator on the XBox, with all her old games on it. Keep meaning to get around to wiring a Megadrive controller up to it...

    4. h3

      Re: The speed.

      The best one is Sonic CD (Stood the test of time much better than Sonic 1 or 2). I have played it fairly recently on my Xperia Play and it is still good. (Better than any of the Sonic 4 episodes). There is more too it (Or maybe I have just played it less).

      It is not as good and never has been as good as Super Mario World / Yoshi's Island though (Or Donkey Kong Country). I can still play Super Mario World and love it today (Even though I played it to death as a kid) I cannot say that about Sonic 1/2.

      Sonic on the Gamegear or Mastersystem (Same version) was pretty rubbish too slow.

      Sonic Dash on the DS is not too bad never really liked the 3d incantations though at all.

  3. MikeyD85

    Sonic!

    There will always be room in my heart for Sonic 2. That game was simply phenomenal.

    As a side note, you could plug in pretty much any game in to S&K and play a random bonus stage!

  4. Flawless101
    Mushroom

    Water levels...

    Screw the water levels with a rusty jagged piece of metal.

    1. eJ2095

      Re: Water levels...

      Yup Age of 11 running round like a demented person trying to find a air bubble when the clock was counting down lol.

      Still play it now on phone from time to time under emulation and on my xbox 1 console.

      Good Fun

      Oh and dont forget Yellow Super Sonic when u had to play the tunes in certain order..

      But always will remember the debug modes in sonic 1 think on title it was up c down c left c right a start. lol

      1. wowfood

        Re: Water levels...

        Is it sad that as I was reading this comment, my head was playing the dunda dunda dunda dunda tune as you run out of air, followed by the bwoing naa na na na naa na na na na naa naaa. game ove rscreen?

        Also as much as the water levels sucked like a mosquito, the casino zone more than made up for it.

        1. Test Man
          Stop

          Re: Water levels...

          wowfood - I HATED the casino zones with a passion!

        2. Fogcat

          Re: Water levels...

          "Is it sad that as I was reading this comment, my head was playing the dunda dunda dunda dunda "

          If you're sad then so am I - I was hearing the same sound

      2. Lamont Cranston
        Unhappy

        Re: Super Sonic

        Ugh, Super Sonic was a massive pain in the arse! All the gems, and then 100 rings transforms you, as I remember it, meaning that he was wont to show up in the later levels, usually when trying to navigate up the side of Robotniks plane (rocket, airship? I forget). His general inability to stop (he didn't touch the floor when he moved!), saw him regularly plunging off the side to his doom.

        Stupid yellow prick.

        1. Crisp

          Re: Super Sonic

          You needed a light touch with Super Sonic. He's a rapier, not a broadsword.

          1. Lamont Cranston

            Re: Super Sonic

            No analogue sticks on the Megadrive, so he either ran of the edge, or he didn't.

            What was the point of a invincible, super-speedy character, who could pretty much have just plowed through any of the early levels (just look at him, he should be the most awesome videogame character of all time!), if he only turns up once the precision jumps/disappearing platforms turn up?

            All those years, and I'm still bitter...

            1. RAMChYLD
              Boffin

              Re: Super Sonic

              "No analogue sticks on the Megadrive, so he either ran of the edge, or he didn't."

              You could get the Spectravision joystick to work on a Megadrive somewhat (and the fact that Sonic only used one button bolsters compatibility). Although the last time I tried, the stick only made the game harder to play.

            2. Jared Hunt
              Go

              Re: Super Sonic

              If you knew where to find all the hidden restart / save poles and knew how to get round all the special stages first time every time, it was entirely possible to have super sonic before the end of the first zone on Sonic 2. Then you could fly trough every level as super sonic without having the use any cheat codes.

              1. 1Rafayal

                Re: Super Sonic

                You guys must have hated 'Hyper' Sonic then.

                You you plugged Sonic 3 into Sonic & Knuckles and played the entire game from start to end as either Sonic or Knuckles, you get the opportunity to collect all the Chaos Emeralds twice.

                Once you had done this, you end up with the ability to turn into Hyper Sonic, who had a rainbowy colour scheme and went even faster.

              2. Lamont Cranston
                Unhappy

                Re: Super Sonic (@Jared Hunt)

                Damn, my childhood feels uttely wasted, now.

            3. h3

              Re: Super Sonic

              You could unlock him on Sonic 2 after the second level if you knew where the checkpoints are. (Quite a bit easier if you have someone to play tails on the special stages. But still not really all that difficult).

        2. Rukario

          Re: Super Sonic

          Snooping as usual, I see.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Super Sonic

          ... I vaguely remember it being possible to just turn Super Sonic just before you get to Metal Sonic... Last playthrough I did I ended up fighting Metal Sonic with no rings because Super Sonic runs out before it started.

          Those two fights with no rings is just ridiculous

    2. auburnman
      Unhappy

      Re: Water levels...

      Sudden flashback to desperately trying to scale the blocks that shifted under your feet and got in your way in Chemical Plant Zone as a 2 floating above my head becomes a 1...

    3. Annihilator
      Thumb Up

      Re: Water levels...

      I remember the terrifying moments of sitting by the water bubble source, waiting for one to generate while the perilous music started counting down to Sonic's death, followed by the blessed relief of the "bwup-wep!" sound of a bubble being breathed in.

  5. PaulyV
    Thumb Up

    Sonic

    I recall Sonic being featured in plenty of places around the early 90's. On the cover of the then highly hip ID magazine, giving wink of course.

    I also remember Sega's involvement in the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington, which was actually the Sega European Grand Prix. The pit girls were dressed up as Sonic, well, sort of, poor devils.

    http://www.mediastorehouse.com/image/formula_one_world_championship_2129689.jpg

    http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/donington-93.jpg

    Was the first game I played when I tore into my Megadrive...I was about 22 and its speed made me wonder, even back then, if I wasn't getting 'too old for this sort of thing'.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Headmaster

      Re: Sonic

      Off-topic but I believe that Donnington race was 20 years ago to the day (April 11th 1993)!

      1. EddieD

        Re: Sonic

        And one of the best races I ever saw.

    2. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Sonic

      I think there was a soundtrack album recorded by an orchestra, too!

  6. IronSteve

    No mention of the Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast....I quite enjoyed that one

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Too busy on the Dreamcast playing House of the Dead...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I think it did quite well in both the 3D aspect, while keeping the gameplay of Sonic 2 or 3, and the speed and flow aspect. Well, minus the massively OTT storyline.

  7. auburnman
    Happy

    Up Down Left Right A+Start. Remember that off by heart to this day. I miss the good old 16 bit Sonic games. Might have to dig out my old emulators.

    1. wowfood

      Wasn't one of them up c down c left c right c? Or was that sonic 2

      1. Babbit55

        that was a debug mode i think, sonic 2 was done thought the sound test with dates akin to releases

        1. MikeyD85

          Cheating bar stewards.

          19, 65, 09, 17 A+Start

          Start new 1P game with A+Start

          4,1,2,6 in hidden menu

          Win.

          Also, the Sega F1 race is one of my earliest memories of F1! I loved that as a kid!

          1. Spotfist
            Thumb Up

            Re: Cheating bar stewards.

            up, down, left, right, hold A and start.

            When Im 100 years old and I can't remember any of my childrens names I bet I will still remember the level select for sonic 1 and maybe... at a push sonic 2 lol

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dum, durdle, dum, dum, der... der, DUR DDDDDUUUUUUR.

    Oh, Sonic 2 special stages how I used to hate and love you.

    The sound of the "by the way, you are going to drown now" music still terrorises my soul. Especially relevant on just before you get to the right with Robotnik on Chemical Plant Zone.... where it fills up with pink ooze, and you have to navigate through possibly the most annoying sequence of moving platforms... and if you do make it, you can fall off the next one and have to do it all again.

    Sonic CD is actually up there as an equal for Sonic 2 in my opinion, though Wacky Workbench makes me want to kill myself.

  9. Crisp

    Not enough Tails love

    My favourite character of the game. With his two tails helicopter move, he saved Sonic's behind more than once.

    1. auburnman
      Facepalm

      Re: Not enough Tails love

      Miles "Tails" Prower, as the Title Screen called him. I didn't get that until YEARS later. He was at least as cool as Sonic.

    2. Lamont Cranston

      Re: Not enough Tails love

      He's indestructable, and he can fly (with or without his plane) - so why is only the sidekick?

    3. Rukario
      Thumb Up

      Re: Not enough Tails love

      Tails should have his own game.

      (Changed my Firefox icons to Tails.)

      1. RAMChYLD
        Boffin

        Re: Not enough Tails love

        He does. Look these titles up:

        - Tails' Sky Patrol (Game Gear)

        - Tails' Adventure (Game Gear)

        - Tails and the Music Maker (Sega Pico)

        Ok, maybe the last one is going to be boring. But well, the point here is that he does have his own games. Just needs much more :P

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The soundtrack to Sonic 2 was awesome.

  11. dotdavid
    Thumb Up

    Battery backup

    I think the main problem I had with Sonic 1 was the lack of battery backup. From what I remember you needed to play it all in one sitting as the state couldn't be saved on power-off.

    Also going back to Sonic 1 on emulators and whatnot I keep trying to do the "dash attack" (stand still, hold down and press A/B/C to rev up before releasing down and spinning off) which added a lot to the gameplay.

  12. SirDigalot

    my favourite game

    If I did not have 10 lives by the time I hit the labyrinth zone "finale" I was doing something wrong.

    playing it on the psp because I still enjoy it, though the American version is/was faster than the uk one.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: my favourite game

      On Green Hill Zone, couldn't you gain two extra lives, then kill yourself and get them again to slowly build up a reserve of 'lives'?

  13. Paul 135

    screenshots wrong

    el reg, your sonic 2 screenshots are mostly of sonic 3.

    The best sonic games are Sonic 2, only mentioned briefly, and Sonic Generations (not mentioned at all!).

    1. Babbit55

      Re: screenshots wrong

      Well sonic generations was kind of a rehash of the old games (while AWESOME none the less). Watch it with point that out, I did earlier and got my post deleted?!?

  14. Morphius
    Thumb Up

    Ahhhh, the GameGear

    I still to this day have the music from the Jungle level as my ringtone.... and I think I can still see that level if I close my eyes...

    Happy times....

  15. corcoran

    Sountrack

    Have Green Hill Zone Act 1 as my ringtone. I. Am. Awesome.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Genetic

    So good they named a gene after it - the sonic hedgehog gene.

    Geoff

  17. Steveir

    I've never really liked sonic cd personally, even now after getting it on my phone, although this time its more down to the fact ive just played both sonic 4s and keep trying to do a homing attack...and loosing rings/life in the process. Speaking of homing attack, i STILL havent completed sonic heroes because of the bit in mystic mansion act 2 where to have to use homing attack to get across a void via pumpkin heads, works so well in 2d, sucks in 3d does homing attack.

    My favourite sonic would have to be the combined sonic 3 & knuckles

    1. Captain Scarlet
      Thumb Up

      "My favourite sonic would have to be the combined sonic 3 & knuckles"

      Same here, its a shame it wasnt all released in Sonic 3 as it does mean the best overal game for me has to be Sonic 2 because of it.

      One thing I did enjoy was the tunes of most Sega produced games, Flying Battery ftw

  18. RAMChYLD
    Boffin

    7 chaos emeralds in the first title?

    "Here you were on the hunt for the elusive ‘chaos emeralds’ – seven in total – which you needed in order to complete the game fully, and beat Dr. Robotnik"

    I must be missing something (maybe it's because my cart is the Japanese release), but the version I played only has six emeralds. The seventh emerald was introduced in the second title iirc.

    1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

      Re: 7 chaos emeralds in the first title?

      Was it not "The Eggman" in the Japanese version, rather that Dr Robotnik?

      Sonic also spawned at least two cartoon series on TV. Not quite the 360 degree marketing that Nintendo had with Pokemon, but still quite high market penetration.

      I can still remember the nasal "I'm waaaaiting" from the cartoon series, which was akin to Sonic crossing his arms and tapping a foot if you didn't move in the games.

  19. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

    Can't believe nobody has mentioned Spinball yet!

    This was a really strange blend of Sonic and pinball, and yet it worked quite well.

    When I got my oldest son a Dreamcast (picked it up at 00:00 on launch day), together with a copy of Sonic Adventure, I remember watching in dizzy, sickened awe at the speed of the traversal of the 3-D ramps and loops with the background swooping and rolling around. I found it unbelievable that it was able to render the backgrounds as fast as it did.

    Whilst Sonic was undoubtedly a triumph, Sega had a stable of exceptional other titles that over the years included Alex Kidd, Ecco the Dolphin, Panzer Dragoon (particularly Saga), Knights into Dreams, and my personal favourite, Burning Rangers (the absolute heyday of the Saturn IMHO).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can't believe nobody has mentioned Spinball yet!

      It's a crying shame the Dreamcast was Sega's last console. It's a really good bit of hardware and in some respects bests the newer PS2 in terms of what it can do.

  20. Ofnir
    Thumb Up

    Up, Down, Left, Right, A, Start

    Enough said

  21. Steve78

    Sonic Two's Day

    Does anyone remember the day Sonic 2 was launched? I remember having an awful day at school as time was going SO slow. All I wanted to do was rush home and start playing Sonic 2 that my mum was picking up on her way home for me!

    The day seemed to go on forever and when it came to 3.45 I literally ran home as all I wanted to do was play the game.

    Good times.

  22. Glen Davies

    You've used the wrong image for the special stage on your Sonic 2 image El Reg.

    Sonic 2 used a half-pipe special stage - the blue/red orbs are from Sonic 3.

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