It’s great to revisit some of these games, even the bad ones. Some of the Game Gear games have been ported to the Master System and Sonic 3D Blast got that sweet director’s cut from original programmer Jon Burton himself.
There’s only so much you could do with the flawed game design but the camera improvements alone make it so much better! Plus all the added features like the world map make it feel like a more complete game. Awesome that Jon decided to revisit the game after all these years, pretty sure it’s the first time someone who actually worked on a game originally made a ROM hack for it.
I'm imagining a world in which the people who worked on, say, Super Pitfall write long blog posts about how the game failed to fulfill their original vision and then release an improvement patch for it in 2024. And I think I'd want to live in that world, even if I'm still not sure how much time I'd spend playing Super Pitfall DX.
I remember playing Sonic Adventure for the first time at an Electronics Boutique in the mall, and it blew my mind. So vivid, so 3-D, so big and so graphic. But on the Dreamcast it was sadly no Mario 64. Clunky and confusing and not memorable. Still gave it another shot on GC. Fortunately the system had other gems like Skies of Arcadia and Soul Calibur.
Oh yeah, Sonic Adventure in 99 was revolutionary. Crazy how the game already seemed outdated within a couple years. And yeah, definitely a mess, but an endearing mess.
Good overview! A lot I didn't know here or had forgotten. I think I might have been able to come up with 10 of these on my own.
I'll share some random impressions and memories:
The Pico:
I had the opportunity to play on a Pico one time, and I don't think I've thought about it since then. IIRC, we were at the house of one of my mother's out-of-town cousins, a person I've met once in my life. I asked if they had video games. They told me they had the Pico.
They didn't have anything edgy like Sonic for it. What I remember was playing a game based on the works of Richard Scarry. Which, to be sure, are excellent children's books, but I was like 12. Still, it was better than listening to the adults talk.
On Sonic CD:
>Still, as lukewarm as I am on the game, I can’t front on the animated intro, the cheesy “Sonic Boom” title song, and the debut of Metal Sonic.
Call it cheesy if you want, but I've always loved "Sonic Boom". It's really all I took away from that game after playing it at a friend's house. At one point I shared it with my oldest son and it remains one of his favorite songs, years later. He likes the Crush 40 cover of it best. He informs me that it's "The loudest song in the world," which is a statement of approval. We sing it together; my wife doesn't get it.
Sonic Spinball:
>Sonic Spinball isn’t a great Sonic game, but it is a great video pinball title.
I can concur with this one. I had a friend who owned Sonic Spinball and was obsessed with it, to the point of becoming insanely good. He kept a notebook in which he diligently wrote down all his high scores. This is the last instance I remember of someone caring about a high score in a video game. Except that time we attached a laser sight to the Zapper as high schoolers (a laser pointer + duct tape) and managed to score so high on Duck Hunt that the score rolled over to 0.
I wonder how many times this very question-and-answer were uttered throughout America in the mid-90s, haha. What was playing the Pico like? It looks like a toy laptop to me.
Haha, no edgy Tails and the Music Maker, huh? Crazy Tails with his odd time signatures, leading kids straight to hell!
Aww man, that's awesome that you and your son love Sonic Boom and sing along together! Sonic Boom is great, no question, but it's also a little cheesy. But that good cheese, like solo Phil Collins in the early 90s.
Yeah, something about Sonic Spinball, if it gets its hooks in you, watch out!
My memories of the input are very fuzzy, but I think there was a stylus on a not-very-responsive track pad. From that video, the game is begging to be played with a mouse and I think I was old enough to recognize this fact and be annoyed by it. The thing had a laptop gimmick but pretty sure it was hooked up through the TV; I don't think it had a screen of its own.
If you want to know about something more obscure than the Pico, we had the Socrates growing up:
I remember this much better than the Pico. And I actually played it, voluntarily, during the NES era! Why, you ask? Well I think the main reason was that in those days I was allowed to play Socrates on the "big TV" (32" or so) in our sunny living room, where I could sit on the sofa and use its unresponsive wireless keyboard/gamepad thing, while all my other consoles were hooked up to the 13" TV in my cramped bedroom, where I had to sit on my bed to play.
It's funny thinking back that my parents preferred I keep all the games sequestered in my bedroom, whereas now it's often seen as a no-no for kids to have TVs in their own rooms.
AGH! My cousin had the Socrates and we played it all the time during the NES era! What a strange thing. Specifically in my grandparents' living room on the "big" TV, whereas the other consoles were stashed away in the Arizona room. Are you sure you're not my cousin, Thomas?
I've completely forgotten about the Pico now, haha, but thanks for sharing your fuzzy memories.
I bet Mario tops Sonic, honestly, between all the handheld and console releases. Unfortunately, I don’t have a concrete number for Mario, though. Followup article incoming!
It’s great to revisit some of these games, even the bad ones. Some of the Game Gear games have been ported to the Master System and Sonic 3D Blast got that sweet director’s cut from original programmer Jon Burton himself.
Dang, had not heard about that director's cut. How much of an improvement is it?
There’s only so much you could do with the flawed game design but the camera improvements alone make it so much better! Plus all the added features like the world map make it feel like a more complete game. Awesome that Jon decided to revisit the game after all these years, pretty sure it’s the first time someone who actually worked on a game originally made a ROM hack for it.
Yeah, that's fascinating. And really great.
I'm imagining a world in which the people who worked on, say, Super Pitfall write long blog posts about how the game failed to fulfill their original vision and then release an improvement patch for it in 2024. And I think I'd want to live in that world, even if I'm still not sure how much time I'd spend playing Super Pitfall DX.
I remember playing Sonic Adventure for the first time at an Electronics Boutique in the mall, and it blew my mind. So vivid, so 3-D, so big and so graphic. But on the Dreamcast it was sadly no Mario 64. Clunky and confusing and not memorable. Still gave it another shot on GC. Fortunately the system had other gems like Skies of Arcadia and Soul Calibur.
Oh yeah, Sonic Adventure in 99 was revolutionary. Crazy how the game already seemed outdated within a couple years. And yeah, definitely a mess, but an endearing mess.
I never ever knew there was that many. Developers obviously lived by the same mantra as Sonic: "Gotta go Fast"
Gotta race towards that sweet profit!
Good overview! A lot I didn't know here or had forgotten. I think I might have been able to come up with 10 of these on my own.
I'll share some random impressions and memories:
The Pico:
I had the opportunity to play on a Pico one time, and I don't think I've thought about it since then. IIRC, we were at the house of one of my mother's out-of-town cousins, a person I've met once in my life. I asked if they had video games. They told me they had the Pico.
They didn't have anything edgy like Sonic for it. What I remember was playing a game based on the works of Richard Scarry. Which, to be sure, are excellent children's books, but I was like 12. Still, it was better than listening to the adults talk.
On Sonic CD:
>Still, as lukewarm as I am on the game, I can’t front on the animated intro, the cheesy “Sonic Boom” title song, and the debut of Metal Sonic.
Call it cheesy if you want, but I've always loved "Sonic Boom". It's really all I took away from that game after playing it at a friend's house. At one point I shared it with my oldest son and it remains one of his favorite songs, years later. He likes the Crush 40 cover of it best. He informs me that it's "The loudest song in the world," which is a statement of approval. We sing it together; my wife doesn't get it.
Sonic Spinball:
>Sonic Spinball isn’t a great Sonic game, but it is a great video pinball title.
I can concur with this one. I had a friend who owned Sonic Spinball and was obsessed with it, to the point of becoming insanely good. He kept a notebook in which he diligently wrote down all his high scores. This is the last instance I remember of someone caring about a high score in a video game. Except that time we attached a laser sight to the Zapper as high schoolers (a laser pointer + duct tape) and managed to score so high on Duck Hunt that the score rolled over to 0.
"Do you have video games?"
"We have the Pico."
I wonder how many times this very question-and-answer were uttered throughout America in the mid-90s, haha. What was playing the Pico like? It looks like a toy laptop to me.
Haha, no edgy Tails and the Music Maker, huh? Crazy Tails with his odd time signatures, leading kids straight to hell!
Aww man, that's awesome that you and your son love Sonic Boom and sing along together! Sonic Boom is great, no question, but it's also a little cheesy. But that good cheese, like solo Phil Collins in the early 90s.
Yeah, something about Sonic Spinball, if it gets its hooks in you, watch out!
I can just barely remember the Pico, but Googling around, I think this was the game:
https://youtu.be/IiQBH967LhE?si=YMi2xPEUVAye8Szj
My memories of the input are very fuzzy, but I think there was a stylus on a not-very-responsive track pad. From that video, the game is begging to be played with a mouse and I think I was old enough to recognize this fact and be annoyed by it. The thing had a laptop gimmick but pretty sure it was hooked up through the TV; I don't think it had a screen of its own.
If you want to know about something more obscure than the Pico, we had the Socrates growing up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTech_Socrates
I remember this much better than the Pico. And I actually played it, voluntarily, during the NES era! Why, you ask? Well I think the main reason was that in those days I was allowed to play Socrates on the "big TV" (32" or so) in our sunny living room, where I could sit on the sofa and use its unresponsive wireless keyboard/gamepad thing, while all my other consoles were hooked up to the 13" TV in my cramped bedroom, where I had to sit on my bed to play.
It's funny thinking back that my parents preferred I keep all the games sequestered in my bedroom, whereas now it's often seen as a no-no for kids to have TVs in their own rooms.
AGH! My cousin had the Socrates and we played it all the time during the NES era! What a strange thing. Specifically in my grandparents' living room on the "big" TV, whereas the other consoles were stashed away in the Arizona room. Are you sure you're not my cousin, Thomas?
I've completely forgotten about the Pico now, haha, but thanks for sharing your fuzzy memories.
Robotnik mean bean machine if one of my favorite game ever.
I still play it with my kids.
Always a blast.
This game is perfect.
I also loved the Sonic on Saturn. And Sonic 1, of course.
Heck yeah, Robotnik Mean Bean Machine is a classic. Glad to hear you play with your kids too!
Dang, I was a Sega kid and I've not played even half of these. Do you know how many Mario titles were released in the 90s? Is it comparable?
I bet Mario tops Sonic, honestly, between all the handheld and console releases. Unfortunately, I don’t have a concrete number for Mario, though. Followup article incoming!