Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog is a port of the classic Sega Genesis platformer. While this game is also included in the Sega Genesis Classics collection (you can read my review here), the Sega Ages version has its own bells and whistles that may make it worth a look separately.

For those unfamiliar with the very first Sonic the Hedgehog game, that is an amazing rock you’ve been hiding under, but I’ll catch you up to speed – this was one of the finest platformers back in the glory days where Sega and Nintendo were the hottest contenders on the market.

I would argue that Sonic never reached the same heights as Mario – Sonic has a focus on speed rather than Mario’s focus on exploration and precision platforming, but a typical Sonic level has all sorts of traps to punish you for taking it too quickly, with even a single run-in with a spike or enemy losing you most of the rings you’ve collected thus far. Sonic games are at their best when you can just run forward and blaze through a level… but that also means you’ve not really interacting with the game as much. In addition, the first Sonic game had arguably some of the weaker level design of the series, with Sonic 2 generally seen by most fans as a series highlight.

However, having said all of that, don’t make mistake my criticisms above – this game is still a superb platformer that stands the test of time, with some top-notch game physics, memorable levels and characters, great music, and fun and challenging gameplay.

The Sega Ages version of the game brings some interesting new features to the table here as well.

Notably, there’s the addition of the spin dash move (added in Sonic the Hedgehog 2) and the drop dash move (added in Sonic Mania) to bring the gameplay of this title up to speed with the rest of the series. It’s nothing that radically alters how the game plays, and doesn’t make the game especially easier, but it’s a way to keep the momentum going and it’s a nice touch (which purists can disable in the game menus if they prefer). There’s an optional stage select, as well as an optional “ring keep mode”, where getting hit only halves your ring count, rather than nearly eliminating it.

Included here are the Genesis, Mega Drive, and Mega Play versions of the game, for those who nitpick over the little details that differ between them. But in addition to this, there is a new Time Attack mode and a Score Attack mode, both with online leaderboards, for those who want to challenge the Sonic skills of players around the world. Players can also use multiple save states, just as in the Sega Genesis Classics collection.

Also, for those looking to compare this release to the Sega Genesis Classics version of the game, I should note that I didn’t detect the sound being a bit odd like in that release. I’d argue that the emulation here is slightly better than the one in that collection, though most players probably won’t notice. Oh, and while we’re comparing, this game doesn’t have the rewind/fast forward feature of that collection, although I would argue that’s the only thing that version of the game has going for it over this one.

In the end, Sonic the Hedgehog remains a platforming classic, and this version of it adds enough features that it’s more than just a lazy port. Are they enough features that you should get it even if you have the Sega Genesis Classics collection? Wellllll… I suppose that depends how big a Sonic fan you are.

tl;dr – Sonic the Hedgehog remains a classic platformer, and this release of the game adds in a slew of special features and challenge modes that aren’t in the Sega Genesis Classics collection.

Grade: A-

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