Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)

Well, I'm not pretty sure why I will start this blog talking about the first Sonic ever released. Pehaps, it is just a coincidence. Let me explain.

Last year I got a Nintendo Switch, and I decided to unlock it to play old-school games. First and foremost, let me tell you right away: I always do it with my consoles (whenever it is possible, of course). My wife always tells me "it doesn't matter the video-game console you got, it can be the more advanced and powerful one in the market, you'll end playing Super Mario World on it." And you know what? She's right.

Ok, but as I was explaining to you before, I unlocked my Nintendo Switch, and on a Saturday morning after I wake up, I was waiting for my wife to get up so we could have breakfast. To kill some time I fetched my Switch and start playing Sonic. To make story short, on the next Monday afternoon, finally, I beat the game, and believe or not, for the first time with all the Chaos Emeralds (if you ever played this game, you know what I mean here).

Sonic, to me, has a special place in my heart, not because it is one of the most important games of all time for the game industry, but because it's one of those games I remember having on my Mega Drive (Genesis, if you live in the U.S.) back in 1992. Mega Drive was my first video-game ever. My older brother bought an imported one from Japan with the Shinobi Shadow Dancer game (probably this will be the next game I will write about), and I started playing the hell of it. I still remember, in a faraway afternoon, when my mother picked me up at school and told me - well, your brother got a new game. I'm not sure if at that point I knew they had bought Sonic or I just found it out when I got home. My memory fails me now. But anyway, I FINALLY got home from that never-ending ride from my school to my home (about 10 minutes probably) and played it for the very first time. The rest is history.

Well, I have to say that the game holds up pretty well to this day, the 2D graphics with its vibrant colors aged very well, the speed, the great level design, everything is there. It still amazes me how some games never get old. Sonic is one of them, hands down. The first stage, Green Zone, is one of the best Sonic stages ever created. The music is nostalgic, the feeling of warm sun, the ocean behind, the way everything has been drawn, everything is so perfect. Well, perhaps it's just the nostalgia talking here. However, in my opinion, it's exactly like this.

Playing the game today, is a lot easier than it was in the past. Now we can save progress, and finish the game another day. I made it to the end, and there is something that bothers me. The level design seems to get worse as you progress through the game. I mean, it is still good, but some stages as Star Light Zone (it has amazing music, by the way) and Scrap Brain Zone, they don't seem quite polished as the first ones. Not that they are bad, they aren't just so good as the first ones. I don't know.

The gameplay flows perfectly and it still feels nice to play it on modern game consoles. The gameplay is probably one of the main reasons that make this game so fun & special, even for its age.

Oh, I almost forgot. The bonus stages where you have to grab all the Chaos Emeralds, they are all annoying to me. I sucked in the past, and I still suck nowadays when I play these bonus stages, or maybe the bonus stages suck themselves. But anyway, this time I managed to pick all the chaos emeralds and I finally got the ending where Robotnik is jumping angrily on the "END" word. Oh I'm sorry, spoiler here. :)

Well, that's it. I have just one more strong memory that I want to share here. It's a small one, almost insignificant, but I still remember it every time I play this Sonic game. At some point in my past timeline, I remember I and my older brother playing this game late at night, and I don't know why this memory is so strong. Nothing special happened, we were just there, having a good time, playing it, laughing, trying to beat the Labyrinth Zone stage. I also remember my mother getting into the living-room and saying -hey you have to wake up early to go to school, go to bed. But I didn't mind, I and my brother continued playing it. It's a small memory, but it's special. This game was special in so many ways and still is. I'm happy for having this space here to talk about it after so many years.

Cheers.

SEGAAAAA