It seems like Sega is the one company that is reluctant to milk their base franchise, and with Sonic, if they only had made more classic 2D ones or more Adventure games (the classic 3D, I say), then they could have done so much better.
Sega really hasn’t known what to do with Sonic for most of his life it seems, unfortunately.
One thing that bugs me is they’ve re-released the Genesis games about a thousand times, but Adventure, Heroes, the Advance titles, are either on PC only or older consoles (or emulation, of course, but it’d be great to have an official collection).
Yes! Those are the games we want, lol. I have been buying consoles since the SNES and Genesis (or getting them), and I still haven’t found the occasion to play the first Adventure game. Sega, it’s free Money!
Funny story: for a time, my oldest son understood Sonic to be the very definition of speed.
"Let's run together like two Sonics!" Or, "Daddy, our car is moving like Sonic!" Or, "Now it's time to use my Sonic speed!" This was mostly from watching me play Sonic Generations.
As for Sonic 1, I agree it has aged well, even if the level design is uneven. You can actually play it in Sonic Generations, and I've even beaten it in that format. Green Hill Zone's music is the best track on Genesis IMO.
I don't think there's another top-tier side-scrolling platformer with a move set as simple as Sonic 1. The power-ups don't add any moves to his arsenal (unlike Mario's Fire Flower, for example). No spin-dash or any other moves besides running and jumping. Only a single button is used. This can be an awkward adjustment at times, but it also lends the game a unique charm.
Though I think the water levels are a downside of this simplicity. It's unfortunate that Sonic's water sections started bad and never really got that much better, as I guess the later games felt locked into that original decision. This is one of the reasons that, while Sonic is great, Mario has always been king. In retrospect, the decision to give Mario an entirely different mode of movement in the water levels, to give them such a different and intense feel (despite that peaceful music), was a pretty amazing leap in a game that was already inventing a beloved genre.
Haha, that's awesome! Love how kids view reality sometimes. And Sonic Generations rules, I'm glad they're bringing it out for modern consoles.
Good point on Sonic's simple move set, I'd never thought about that before. I guess his super power is his speed or something? At least at first before they added spin dashes and blast processing and fire shields?
I understand the complaint about Sonic's water levels, but I'll be honest, water levels are always the lesser levels in most platformers for me. Whether Sonic, Mario, DK, whatever, water levels just always bring the game to a halt.
All of the mainline Genesis games are great for different reasons, for sure. The first one has a purity, though. Six zones, all killer no filler (unless you hate Labyrinth Zone).
It seems like Sega is the one company that is reluctant to milk their base franchise, and with Sonic, if they only had made more classic 2D ones or more Adventure games (the classic 3D, I say), then they could have done so much better.
Sega really hasn’t known what to do with Sonic for most of his life it seems, unfortunately.
One thing that bugs me is they’ve re-released the Genesis games about a thousand times, but Adventure, Heroes, the Advance titles, are either on PC only or older consoles (or emulation, of course, but it’d be great to have an official collection).
Where’s our 3D Sonic collection, Sega?!
Yes! Those are the games we want, lol. I have been buying consoles since the SNES and Genesis (or getting them), and I still haven’t found the occasion to play the first Adventure game. Sega, it’s free Money!
Lol.
Funny story: for a time, my oldest son understood Sonic to be the very definition of speed.
"Let's run together like two Sonics!" Or, "Daddy, our car is moving like Sonic!" Or, "Now it's time to use my Sonic speed!" This was mostly from watching me play Sonic Generations.
As for Sonic 1, I agree it has aged well, even if the level design is uneven. You can actually play it in Sonic Generations, and I've even beaten it in that format. Green Hill Zone's music is the best track on Genesis IMO.
I don't think there's another top-tier side-scrolling platformer with a move set as simple as Sonic 1. The power-ups don't add any moves to his arsenal (unlike Mario's Fire Flower, for example). No spin-dash or any other moves besides running and jumping. Only a single button is used. This can be an awkward adjustment at times, but it also lends the game a unique charm.
Though I think the water levels are a downside of this simplicity. It's unfortunate that Sonic's water sections started bad and never really got that much better, as I guess the later games felt locked into that original decision. This is one of the reasons that, while Sonic is great, Mario has always been king. In retrospect, the decision to give Mario an entirely different mode of movement in the water levels, to give them such a different and intense feel (despite that peaceful music), was a pretty amazing leap in a game that was already inventing a beloved genre.
Haha, that's awesome! Love how kids view reality sometimes. And Sonic Generations rules, I'm glad they're bringing it out for modern consoles.
Good point on Sonic's simple move set, I'd never thought about that before. I guess his super power is his speed or something? At least at first before they added spin dashes and blast processing and fire shields?
I understand the complaint about Sonic's water levels, but I'll be honest, water levels are always the lesser levels in most platformers for me. Whether Sonic, Mario, DK, whatever, water levels just always bring the game to a halt.
All of the mainline Genesis games are great for different reasons, for sure. The first one has a purity, though. Six zones, all killer no filler (unless you hate Labyrinth Zone).