Sonic The Hedgehog: Happy 20th Birthday!
Whilst I am constantly amazed at the levels of playability, graphics and ingenuity in modern gaming, I am forever drawn to the past. I am a retro gamer, and I don’t mean Gamecube’s or PsOne’s. I mean the Mega Drive/Genesis. That was my console and still is, as the Golden Axe drinking game is a testament to. But to riff slightly on some song lyrics:
I left my heart in Sonic The Hedgehog.
(The notes for which are UP,DOWN,LEFT,RIGHT,A+B+C+START)
Picture the scene. I’m 7 years old. The carpet is a slightly off colour 80s hangover brown. I’m in front of a TV that has big buttons to change its four channels and before my feet lays this majestic black box. The Mega Drive. Next to it a smaller box, about the size of two DVD cases stuck together. It has a picture of a small blue hedgehog on a cream background. The cartridge was put into the console and my love affair began. It in fact looked like this:
I pressed Start and the next 3 years of my gaming life changed forever. I waved my Spectrum goodbye and found my new vice. Speed. It was fun, exciting and dangerous. This little blue blur when moving was so responsive and electrifying to play. That’s all you cared about. No one cared about the level design, the story or feasibility of a hedgehog wearing sports shoes.
But that is exactly the reason that this game and this character has survived. On the strength of this, and arguably the following two games, Sonic The Hedgehog actually became the benchmark game. Of course sales compared to Mario would never be matched and the whole idea of the character was to compete with the little Italian that could have single-handedly turned turtles into an endangered species. But 20 years later, we are still trying to find something for the blue dude that can match his original triumph.
Everything about the game, from the words “Green Hill Zone Act 1” is absolutely perfect. The level design is accessible yet challenging and is multi layered enough to still be fun. The simple premise of collecting coins and putting a timer on makes the competition with friends that bit better. Artistically the game, as many other 16-Bit games appear to have done, still holds up brilliantly even now. The speed isn’t impaired by slow frame rates and other such technical terms we live by these days. The soundtrack? Well, what can words say that the music can’t. Perfect for the game and instantly memorable.
But this isn’t a review. As gamers, we’ve become rather selfish. Judging things, as we do, against others. We’re amazed by better technology and graphical excellence. Yet we seem to have lost a certain element of magic that came with enjoying a game. Something, that for me, only Bioshock and Red Dead Redemption have managed to do in recent times. The youth of today will play their Wii’s and DS’s (probably, that’s a bit of a stereotype) and just put on a game and have fun. But none of them will sit there, with their mouths open and mind aghast at the incredible revolution that was in front of my eyes when I was 7 years old.
Download it on your console system, play it on an emulator, go and buy a console off EBay or get it out and plug it in to your TV if you still have yours. Don’t think about gaming history or how it looks or what the relevance of turning innocent animals into metallic monsters is. Just sit back, clear your mind and play.
Happy Birthday Sonic The Hedgehog.
