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SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Released June 1991

The birth of an icon! "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the SEGA Mega Drive is the brainchild of programmer Yuji Naka & designer Naoto Oshima, an attemp to make a mascot for "SEGA" after "Alex Kidd" failed to leave an impact. The final result is one of the finest 2D platformer I've ever played, a very short n' simple game that is easy to pick up, but hard to really master.

The plot of the game is simple, Sonic The Hedgehog is visiting South Island when the evil Dr. Eggman kidnaps all the animals and turns them into robots, making Sonic's goal being to defeat Dr. Eggman & save the animals. As Sonic, you can run & jump at breakneck speeds, and curl up into a ball to attack enemies or to gain speed down slopes. This game is all about momentum, learning to level design to optimize how fast you can complete a level. Most levels will take you about a minute or two once you get them down,

SONIC JAM

Released June 1997

In what I regard as the greatest Sonic compilation (to this day!), "Sonic Jam" is a collection of the first 4 Sonic titles released on the SEGA Mega Drive, ported natively to the SEGA Saturn. Because they're native ports & not emulated, they run even better than than they did back on the Genesis, along with additions like the Spin dashing in "Sonic The Hedgehog" & a save system for the first two games. Alongside this are difficulty options, including a "Normal" mode which is basically Sonic Team '97's revision of the original games, and the default for all extra modes. The only thing in these games that aren't left untouched is the Sound Effects, which have been retouched to use higher-fidelity sounds courtousy of the Saturn & its power. Yea, they're a lil' weird sounding, and I'll always prefer the original Genesis ones, but they're cool!

The standout feature of this compilation is the "Sonic World" mode. Once selected, you're dropped into a fully 3D hub world filled to the brim with secrets & an archive of Japanese Sonic material. The materials are all placed in specialized buildings, including a Sound Test, Concept Art, old promotional artwork, an archive of commercials & visual rarities, & a complete timeline of the history. Alongside all of this is a mission mode, which helps you familiarize yourself with the area along with unlocking the credits.

It's such a wonderful little package that I'm thankful I finally own! I used to see clips of it on "Sonic Mega Collection" as a kid and really wanted to play it, and now I do! If you can pick it up for a good price (I payed about $35) then I highly recommend going for this!

SONIC R

Released November 1997

"Sonic R" is a prime example of a game given a bad reputation by people that just can't understand it. In short, Sonic R is a basic on-foot racing game where you race against 4 other characters (or another player in Multiplayer). The game is pretty short, one negative commonly passed around that I will agree with. For years, word has spread around that this was one of the worst Sonic games, a spin-off during an era where Sonic was needed most with shitty control & a weird soundtrack is what I commonly heard the most as a kid. But for me that was hard to believe, I played "Sonic R" on "Sonic Gems Collection" when I visited my cousins as a kid, and it really wasn't like what most people described it.

I never owned the game properly until I purchased a copy for the Saturn back in 2021 (when I started purchasing Saturn games) and I was thoroughly surprised at how good the game was in comparison what I heard over the years. The controls, while a tad slippery, are simple driving game controls with wide turns that are easy to pick up & master, and the way the game is programmed leads to bumping off of walls to be a benefit rather than a hinderance. The stages are massive like the old titles, with multiple paths & secrets hidden in them that could help you win races. Really this game is like, trying to turn the classic games into a racing game, and I gotta say that it works. The game's too short though, another couple levels & I feel like I would be satisfied.

While this game was primarily programmed & developed by Traveler's Tales, Sonic Team were the ones who pitched the idea, and also submitted level & character designs. Yuji Uekawa designed the super cool Metal Knuckles, and Yoshitaka Miura designed the worst Sonic character known to man, the Tails Doll. Oh, and of course the levels were designed by the brilliant Hirokazu Yasuhara, who designed the levels for the previous numbered Sonic games.

Of course I am a very religious person, I never play as the Tails Doll past 2am because the creepypasta has forever haunted me, and I listen to the soundtrack regularly. See it's all cheesy Eurobeat tracks, but it's cheesy Eurobeat so it's like top 5 Sonic soundtracks. Also while I was getting screenshots for this, I found out that you can use the triggers to make the models bigger or smaller, which honestly freaked me the fuck out, but it's super cool. If you can also get this for a good price (I payed $30 for my copy) then I highly recommend it as a good short n' sweet game to beat!

_{Special Thanks to Dave, who I stole the background from. I quite like it. :)}