Sonic the Hedgehog was released for the Sega Genesis in the summer of 1991. I never grew up with these games the same way in which I grew up with the Mario games. I got to play them some on a Genesis that a couple of other kids in my neighborhood had. However, this first Sonic game was rarely ever played by them. They mainly liked to play Sonic 2 and, later on, Sonic 3 on their Sega Genesis. This one was played but maybe only 2 or 3 times throughout 1992 and 93. It wasn't until about 5 years ago that I started playing it online on another gaming site called "Game Oldies.com".

The original Sonic the Hedgehog was the start of a whole new gaming franchise for me. I never had a Sega Genesis, but I did get to play Sonic 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog on Game Gear at my friends' house. When this game came out, the series hadn't done much. Later on, there would be cartoons I watched a lot of, but that wouldn't be until after Sonic 2. Sonic is a game franchise I loved as a kid, but the way I to experience it was a lot different from the classic Mario series.    

Graphics 10/10: The Sega Genesis was a 16-bit home gaming console, and it produced games that were like none other at that time graphically. Sonic the Hedgehog is one of those games. The backgrounds were very well detailed and drawn out and so were the sprites. There is no doubt that all the Sonic games that were released on the Sega Genesis were very good looking games. Sonic 1 really looks just as good as Sonic 2. It may not look as good as the third game, but everything is still very animated. None of the Mario games around that time were this good graphically. There is so much crystal clear color to the levels as well, and everything looks so realistic!

Music 10/10: All of the music in Sonic 1 sounds great! There is not one track that sounds dull or boring. I know the other games were better, but all of them had this in common also. Green Hill Zone is my favorite, but then there is the music for the final battle with Eggman. In some ways, all of the tracks in this game sound amazing! A lot of people didn't like the theme for Labyrinth Zone, but I even liked that one too. There is so much variety to the soundtrack of this game, and all of it sounds fantastic. This was only the beginning of something that would carry on into the other games of the series.

Gameplay 10/10: The object of the game is to get through the levels as fast as you can. You have plenty of time to do so, but you have to avoid enemies, spikes, bottomless pits, etc. The player collects rings along the way, and if you collect 50 rings you get to play a bonus game at the end of the first 2 stages of each zone. In the bonus area, you can earn continues, extra lives, and if you are good enough a Chaos Emerald. Collecting these Emeralds aren't necessary for completing the game, but collecting all 6, I feel, is worth it if you want to get the good ending of the game.

You get faster at this game the more you play it, and that is what I like most about the gameplay. However, unlike with Super Mario Bros., you have 10 minutes to get through each level which is plenty of time for most levels. Although, it can be kind of rushed on some of the later ones. For me, Sonic can be quite challenging when trying to collect all the Chaos Emeralds and get 100%, and that's one of the things I like about it. I also love running through the level at such high speed and making Sonic spin through the loops and other parts of the game.

This game is designed in a way that discourages players from rushing through the levels until they get good at them. If you try to go real fast to start with, you'll find yourself back to the starting screen if you are not careful. Although, the sequels drove this gimmick home a lot more than this game, but Sonic 1 still had a lot of variety to the stages. The first area was a lush green mountainside with waterfalls, later on, you had an underwater cave called Labyrinth Zone, and the final Scrap Brain Zone where Dr. Robotnik lived. Sonic is a game where the player got to go fast but not until memorizing the layout of the levels. The Chaos Emeralds are also a nice extra feature, but first time players would want to go for the Special Stages anyway because that's where they could earn extra lives and continues.

I liked how enemies could be killed by simply jumping into them. This took some time for me to get used to, but once I did, I found this method better than the way you destroyed enemies in the Mario games. I also liked how Sonic could always take damage if he had rings. If you get hit by an enemy, you just lose your rings and have the chance to get them back and do it again. Most of the time, I usually died from drowning, falling into bottomless pits, and mainly getting crushed. I didn't like not being able to spin-dash and how Tails wasn't in this game. Those things would come along until a year later in Sonic 2, but this game is still a fun, fast-paced game with great-looking levels and great music that never gets old.  

Story 6/10: The story of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game is one that is similar to Mario but with a few differences. It has a new villain named Dr. Ivo Robotnik who has kidnapped all of Sonic's animal friends and plans on turning them into robots. Some of them have already been turned into robots but are freed when Sonic destroys them along the way. The setting takes place in an area called South Island. That explains all the lush, green palm trees and flowers in this game. Sonic must travel through South Island in order to reach Robotnik's Scrap Brain Zone, defeat him and save the island and all his friends. This kind of reminds me of the plot in the first Mario game on NES.

It is a pretty basic plot that would get better in the later games. For this one, there isn't all that much to it. Sonic just sets out on a journey to defeat Dr. Robotnik and stop his plans of world domination. This was before the cartoons, and there aren't that many characters in this game. There is no Tails in this one, but you do have the Grounder enemies that show up in Labyrinth Zone that were in the afterschool cartoons I used to like most. The storyline is actually pretty flat for the first game: Sonic vs. Eggman.

Content 7/10: Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis takes a little under an hour to beat if you know what you are doing. It contains 6 zones: Green Hill, Marble Zone, Spring Yard, Labyrinth Zone, Star Light Zone, and the Scrap Brain Zone where Dr. Robotnik lives. These zones are spit up into 3 acts, and at the end of the third act is a boss fight with one of Robotnik's vehicles. This kind of another downside to the first game in the Sonic series. There isn't much content to it. It will keep you occupied for a while, and I guess the other games were like this also. It isn't a big deal, but this is where Mario won out over Sonic in the console wars of the early 90s.

Difficulty 6/10: The player starts out the game with only 3 lives, and there aren't many ways to earn extra lives in this game except for in the bonus stages. Here, you can extra lives and continues. What's even better is that you can continue from the level you last died on. Although, these continues do run out after a while, so you want to be careful not to die. The ring system also gives you unlimited hits, and like I already mentioned, getting hit by enemies rarely ever gets you killed. However, the danger of getting crushed is something you really have to watch out for in this game. I feel like as long as you know what you are doing you're okay and can blindly fly through the game.

It's like Sega wanted players to learn the layout of the game and get comfortable with it before they worried too much about speed. Sega also gave players plenty of time to complete these stages in the first game, so you could still take your time and learn the ropes. Trying to beat the clock would be a problem in later games, and those games would also include more stage hazards too where: you got crushed, fell into bottomless pits, drowned, and even ran out of time. This game is pretty tame compared to the later ones and has a difficulty that isn't easy but isn't all that hard either. In some ways, Sonic 2 and 3 aren't that hard either, but they are more difficult than this one.

Overall 8.6/10: When you look at certain aspects of this game such as: the graphics, music, and gameplay you have a really great game. Although, when you start to think about the lack of creativity in the storyline, and how the game (and the other Sonic games) doesn't have much to it when compared to the Mario games at the time, you have a game that is good but not great. This was still an early title, and Sega was still in its experimental phase. Although, for a first game, this one is still pretty nice! The Sega Genesis produced some awesome music and picture. For me though, the second game was more memorable because that's the one that got played more by my friends and where the afternoon and Saturday morning cartoons came from. This Sonic game only just developed the blueprint of those things to come.