Sonic the Hedgehog was originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1991. Near the end of that year, a version was released for a new handheld Sega gaming console called the Game Gear. The game that was released on Game Gear was a totally different version from the one on the Genesis. There were new levels, an overworld map, new music, etc. I remember playing this game whenever I was a kid at a friend's house in my neighborhood in the summer of '93. I was really impressed with the Game Gear at the time because it had color and was a handheld system just like the Gameboy.

Nowadays, I'm not as impressed with it as I was back then. That is especially true for this particular game. Some of the other Sonic games on Game Gear were nice looking games, but this one isn't all that great. When looking back at the Game Gear in general, there weren't that many games released for the console. It's almost as if it wasn't as popular as Nintendo's Gameboy, and in retrospect, I can see why. Most of the games I've played on this system aren't that great, and this version of Sonic the Hedgehog is one of them. It's a game I have sort of mixed feelings about, but one thing I know for a fact. I don't like this one as much as the original.  

Graphics 7/10: The graphics of this Sonic game were nothing like those of the Genesis. Sonic looks entirely different and weird looking in this version. Also, the backgrounds don't have as much life to them like they had in the original Sonic game or a lot of other video games too for that matter. Even though the game has color, it lacks a lot of detail with the sprites and backgrounds. It's similar to a lot of the older NES games, and I guess this was due to the hardware of this new handheld 8-bit system. I don't think this is a very good looking Sonic game. It feels like Sega was just experimenting with these new handheld games at this point.  

Music 7/10: Sonic the Hedgehog on the Game Gear has a soundtrack with quite a lot of variety. Unfortunately, most of these sounds don't sound that good. I liked the theme for the Bridge Zone the best, and the Jungle Zone theme was pretty nice as well. I hated how the Green Hill theme was just ported over from the Genesis. Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone both sound different and not as good. They're not bad tracks, but when compared to the original, these versions aren't near as good. Most of the music in this game doesn't sound very impressive except for about two tracks.  

Gameplay 8/10: The gameplay of the handheld Sonic is really the same as the original. You have get through the level as fast as you can while avoiding enemies, spikes, etc., but you have 10 mins (plenty of time) to do so. Rings can be collected in the levels that give Sonic extra lives, and if the player collects 50 rings they can play a bonus game at the end of the first 2 acts in each zone. These bonus games are different from the original Sonic game. Sonic bounces around on springs trying to get rings and hit continue boxes. These bonus areas also have a time limit, and Sonic has to reach the goal before he runs out of time or you'll lose your continues.

The 6 Chaos Emeralds are hidden within the levels this time, and are easier to collect than in the Genesis version. However, you can't go back to a level once you have cleared it, so you only get one chance to collect the Emeralds. If the player hits a shield box, they can keep that shield when they advance to the next level. The shield (like in the first game) gives Sonic an extra hit. This comes in handy on the boss fights because you have no rings in this area meaning if you take damage you die. That's where this version become unnecessarily hard. I constantly find myself dying on these parts because of glitches where I get hit, lose the shield, then die. This just slows down the pace of the game.

You don't have as smooth of movement in this Sonic game. I hate how Sonic is ringless so much in this version. It really becomes a problem for a lot of players. However, the stages do have quite a lot of variety to them which makes the game fun and interesting to play. Although, Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone aren't that original. The Chaos Emeralds are a nice extra challenge to go for, but the game doesn't reward you much for going after them. When you put it into perspective, this version is fun but only to a certain extent. Jungle Zone and Bridge Zone are cool, but some of the other levels are just like the original game on Genesis just dumbed down for the Game Gear.    

Story 6/10: The story of GG Sonic is mostly the same as in the first one but with a few differences. Dr. Robotnik has taken over South Island and plans to transform all of Sonic's animal buddies into robots. Sonic frees some of his friends as he destroys Robotnik's creatures along the way to the Scrap Brain Zone. Once he makes it to Scrap Brain, Robotnik takes off for his Sky Base Zone. Sonic follows him there where they have a final showdown. The plot's basically the same but with a few twists that make it a little more interesting.

For me, it's really just the same as in the original game, but I did like how Eggman runs away from Sonic and lures him into a trap. I guess it isn't exactly the same story, but it all feels pretty basic. There isn't all that much to it this time either. The few changes that were made keep it from just being a carbon copy of the original. So, I feel like it is somewhat better, but Sega still kept a lot of the same ideas. I'm really mixed on this part, but mostly it's just a simple storyline.  

Content 7/10: The handheld Sonic game is broken up into 6 zones like before: the Green Hill Zone, Bridge Zone, Jungle Zone, Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone, and the Sky Base. The Game Gear version has some of the same type of levels from the original, but new ones have been added that give it a different twist. I liked the addition of the: Bridge Zone, Jungle Zone, and Sky Base. Green Hill Zone and the other areas from the Genesis game aren't the same levels as before either. They have the same names and have sort of the same kind of design, but they aren't just ported over from the original. This game has about the same amount of content and takes a little less than an hour to finish.

Difficulty 8/10: The difficulty of the GG Sonic is harder than Sonic the Hedgehog for the Genesis. Sonic can only take one hit in a lot of parts, and to make things even worse, the controls and gameplay feel very glitchy. There also seems to more blind jumps in this version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Finally, the worst part of this game is that you are ringless for the boss fights, and if you get hit, you're dead! To make up for all this, you can earn up to 15 to 20 lives and about 5 or 6 continues. If it weren't for this, I would just give up when it came to the 2nd stage in the Sky Base Zone. Why is Sonic ringless here?! That's the worst part of this whole game! Very unbalanced difficulty in this handheld Sonic game.  

Overall 7/10: Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear isn't the game that Sonic was on the Sega Genesis. I got to play this game when I was a kid on my friend's Game Gear. I enjoyed it back then, but now, about 25 years later, I see how flawed of a game it is. The screen crunch is a big issue and makes the gameplay harder. I also can't understand why Sonic is ringless throughout a good bit of the playthrough. The graphics and soundtrack aren't very impressive either and neither is the story. This Sonic game gets the bare minimum grade, but I felt like the later Sonic games on the Game Gear wouldn't be much better. In some ways, they're probably even worse.