OK. Full disclosure time; I’ve been playing Sonic games since 1991. For reasons I don’t quite understand, I’m still obsessed now almost thirty years later. Well. Ok. Maybe I do know why I got into Sonic all that time ago, just can’t work out why I haven’t mellowed with age.
Summer of 1991; Dave’s house in Stockport. His big brother had bought himself a shiny new Sega Mega Drive, along with a game about a blue hedgehog. My brother and I had been exclusively Amiga up until that point (Complete with faithful 500 back at home whirring away on Speedball 2 and whatever other gem Sensible Software had coughed out that month) so my experience of console gaming was zilch. Hell, I hadn’t really realised that console gaming was a separate entity from Computer Gaming. We were PC gamers through and through.
Lets just say Sonic popping onto our tiny CRT TV screen was a revelation. Full speed ahead! Was all I could think when watching him careen around Green Hill Zone. My Amiga could handle sprite movement pretty admirably, but this was on another level. Dave’s brother was showing off obviously playing it for weeks by now, looping around every loop-to-death and ramp jumping while I stood open-mouthed and silly as a clown. Platform games to that point had taught me patience. Strategy. Careful navigation etc. Sonic was chaos, but in the best possible way.
Needless to say I didn’t go out and buy myself a Mega Drive that day. I’m a stubborn sod who liked to think us Amiga loyalists could teach the likes of Sega a thing or two. About three months later I eventually caved and pleaded my parents into getting me one for Christmas. In fact, they probably only gave in to silence me; we fought that one a lot. Under the tree that Christmas was The Mega Drive and Sonic The Hedgehog, and I swear to God I didn’t leave my bedroom for three days. Mum was having to wheel a trolley upstairs with dinners microwaved next to the TV so she didn’t disturb me whilst I perfected every level.
One thing I love about Sonic, and something I feel many young gamers today don’t appreciate, is how Sonic changed our perceptions of what a platformer could be. Prior to Sonic, we’d all been getting by on Mario clones; sprite based games built around precise jumping and consideration for your surroundings. Enter a blue hedgehog wearing a onesie screaming at you that if you run FAST and take risks and build momentum you’ll do better. It was a game changer, literally. Those engine physics were astounding; it was necessary to learn how Sonic would react, how speeding up affected your jump distance and how momentum carried you from bounce pad to launch star etc.
My worlds view was officially rocked with Sonic 2 the year after. How could they top near perfection? Well… The Spin dash. Oh my days! Rewind the clock back to Sonic 1 after playing Sonic 2 and you might as well have had your hands tied behind your back. Also, Tails. Fucking genius. Someone else to play with! Who couldn’t hold your own but also wasn’t likely to wipe you out at the first goop. Suddenly multiplayer family game sessions that didn’t end in someone crying wasn’t just a dream.
Chemical Plant Zone underwater bit still sends shivers down my spine. Those long open straights where you can just fly along, so different to anything that had come before, then those nightmare tunnel sections full of spikes as a child had me proper convinced I was going to die. The drowned_charset; none of us got over that.
And then Sonic 3 and Knuckles came out and showed us all how to use lock-on camera technology properly. Two cartridges that could be plugged together to continue through one gigantic game? Insane. I must’ve spent months chasing collectables; every last Chaos Emerald and every secret path through every stage of each level. Variety of routes through the levels was phenomenal; there was routes for players who lived for the speed and players who liked to take their time and explore. Loads of secrets. And the music! SolidGoldLasers ruined me for any other Sonic game with that soundtrack. Never mind the MJ controversies clouding it’s production, that game’s music was top drawer.
Awkward chat incoming. We all know what happened when gaming made the leap to 3D. Sonic fared about as well as anyone else at the time, but watching it happen a felt like a personal betrayal. So yes, I bought Sonic Adventure on launch day. *whispers*.. IMPORTED it from Japan while I was still waiting for an EU release date. I was that desperate. Visually, everything I could’ve wanted. Loved the openingrunningscene where Sonic’s tearing through city streets like a man on a mission whilst being chased by a psychotic killer whale. Played it again and again just to witness that awe-inspiring level design; then tried to actually play as Sonic and DIE A THOUSAND DEATHS. That camera hated me.
It did though. Have one or two gorgeous moments; learned a lot from Sonic 2 and they nailed those speed-based sections. Flying down mountains, tearing around open environments… cruising round Station Square was an utter game changer for me. Must’ve spent hours just roaming around, talking to dumb natives and feeling like I was IN A SONIC GAME rather than playing one.
Admittedly, Sonic Adventure 2 showed them how it was done. City Escape is in my top three Sonic levels of all time. Nothing beats speeding down San Fransokyo highway with AC/DC’s “FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK” blaring out as you annihilate foes whilst hawking around like a man unleashed.
Then Sonic introduced me to Chao. And I lost many, many hours of my life. Career IT guy here. I pretended to get on with adulting so I could raise virtual pets in a videogame. Won’t lie to you, I still cheque my old Xbox sometimes Hoping he’s managed to live happier outside of that lab cage I put him in…oops.
Er….lost years time. Started strong with Sonic Heroes but never really clicked for me. Felt like solutions to problems I didn’t know existed. Shadow The Hedgehog had guns!? Honestly Sonics what were you thinking? Just going to finish this off now so I don’t cry…I bought it.
Sonic 06. FUCK YOU SONIC TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I queued outside Game on launch day excited for what these trailers were telling me the future of Sonic gameplay looked like, I was a dumbass. Everything I disliked about Sonic Adventure multiplied ten-fold. LONG loading screens (for a Mega Drive GAME BITCHES!) incessant bugs that resembled an ants nest on ketamine more than a video game, a story so dumb it made Sonic 3’s stint in Casino Saturn look likegraduate level Physics.
What could have been is still there if you dig deep enough. It slotted enough screws in wrong for me to give up on Sonic for a good few years. He did try redeem himself near the end there. Kindof. Like buying a dog then forgetting about it until it croaksule days before Christmas.
The slew of Sonic Colours and Generations were just what the doctor ordered. Jumping back into that newly minted Green Hill Zone felt like revisiting an old lover. Welcome to SonicMania kindof summed it up for me. Celebrate what made Sonic so great back in the day, but also remind us why we fell in love with him in the first place.
They even remastered the old school GHZ as a bonus stage as if they knew I’dneed some therapy upon entering that damn game. Cue me sobbing for fifteen minutes whilst playing Chemical Plant Zone with the lovely new artwork.
Its been… fascinating watching the evolution of his character design. Sonic went tiny for a while didn’t he? Then super skinny. And then this.. abomination. From the trailer for the first Sonic movie. I can’t even.With zero interest in gaming my wife literally gasped out loud at the design when I showed her. THANKFULLY they listened to us outcry and got it sorted. Some choices worked. Some… didn’t. Watching my friend cycle through dodgy fashion ensembles isn’t too dissimilar.
Touching blue crap now. Sonic Mania was basically the game I’d been waiting 25 years for. Christian Whitehead and team of fans-turned-developers really did nail what SEGA themselves seemed to have long forgot about their Mickey. Beautiful pixel work, amazing remixed soundtrack and physics that just felt… right. Like someone had rummaged through my greasy teenage hair and extracted the magic formula of what made those early games so special.
I could talk all day about Sonic Mania and still not cover everything wonderful about it. Prehaps it’s because they nailed hiring people who actually cared about Sonic’s legacy. Couple that with a desire to make something fresh, yet faithful; Christian and his team struck gaming gold.
Sonic Frontiers though…. what a whirlwind. Open world Sonic was always going to sound incredible on paper. Actually watching it hasn’t had the same effect. Kindof makes me sad watching the world’s favourite hedgehog lose himself in these barren spaces. It felt liketeamed up BotW with Sonic and boom nailed it into a Word document with zero explanations. Title it “Sonic Frontiers” then sold it to SEGA for a quick buck.
Combat finally works though. Been ages since that was a strong point of a Sonic game. Although a fair few of these puzzles leave you hanging for ages, reminding me of a Manchester United player taking a WHOOPS injury each time I die.
I always found it odd how Sonic stayed relevant through all of gaming’s eras. Even when the gameplay was at it’s worst he was drumming his little hooves into Pop-Culture. Still is. Kindof. People who weren’t born when Sonic 1 launched know who the hell Sonic is. My neighbours daugther. Top video gamer in my eyes.
Guess I’ll just keep playing him until he decides to retire. He’s fallen over plenty of times during his tenure, but seems to have a knack of getting right back up again. Takes one heck of a punch Sonic can withstand. Kindof reminds me of myself really. Still buying into new Sonic games at 49, knowing full well there’s a 50/50 chance it could be pants. Ain’t learnt my lesson yet..
Oh. Why do I love Sonic? Ok. Slowing down to speed238 mph to answer that one….
Remember how I said how amazing it felt when you finally nailed a level in Sonic 1? Like you were teleporting around as you flew through loops, hopped tubes and power slid under obstacles without missing a beat? Yeah. Thats gaming magic right there. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. Even with a few grey hairs and a bald patch appearing quicker than Sonic Team can fuck up a decent game idea, my fingers still twitch and my heart races when that ringing sensation kicks in and tells you you’re flying. Nobody does it quite like Sonic.
Elena is a librarian in Dublin with an encyclopedic knowledge of obscure European computer games that most English-language gaming sites completely ignore. She champions forgotten systems—the Commodore 16, the Spectrum 128K, the Atari ST’s untapped potential—with infectious enthusiasm and genuine expertise. Her writing documents regional exclusives and hidden gems that barely made it to print before the companies folded, preserving gaming history that would otherwise disappear entirely. She approaches retro gaming as cultural preservation, not mere nostalgia.
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