In the world of video games, we have these guys called mascots, These are the guys who are the main stars of the video games themselves and in 1991 my mind was blown away when I saw the commercial for this very game right here, The commercial featured this spiky blue hedgehog who can run really and I say REALLY REALLY quick, the game went on to sell millions and millions, and who is this mysterious hero you ask? Well this guy is Sonic the hedgehog! Sonic has been around for a long time, and he has became very popular, so let's review the first game of this amazing SPEEDY legacy! This is Sonic the hedgehog for the Sega genesis.

Story-7/10
One day in the bright sunny hills of green hill zone, There lives a speedy and fun loving hedgehog by the name of sonic, This guy is like no other! He is cool, hip, and super fast! It is mainly because these red shoes he wears, (We all wish we could have his shoes) But anyways, one very day, An evil scientist by the name of Dr robotnik is causing havoc in sonic's world! What is he up to this time? Well guys, he is turning all of the creatures of the forest into robotic animals to do his bidding! It is now up to our friendly and heroic hedgehog friend sonic restore order to the world!

Gameplay-9/10
For the most part, Sonic the hedgehog is a 2D platformer, and a very high flying and radical one at that! In this adventure, you will take the role of our speedy and spiky protagonist Sonic, as you blaze through 6 dangerous, challenging, and big levels. Along the way, he will have to take out Dr robotnik's baddies! The controls are pretty simple, You use the D-pad to move, and all buttons will let you jump! Each world consists of 3 levels, 2 levels being main platform stages, and the 3rd being a boss fight with Dr robotnik, He is pretty tough! So be careful! Another thing, sonic will have to collect these rings in order to survive his quest, if he is hit, All of this rings are sent scattering through the level until you pick them back up, Collecting 100 of them will earn you an extra life, Having saved at least 50 rings by the end of the stage will you let play a special bonus game, here you are in a big spinning circle zone trying to get the chaos emeralds, and collecting rings to earn extra lives and continues. Now the main kicker of this game is especially the "Blast processing" as explained in the commercials, What they mean is all the super speed that sonic has in order to get through the worlds, This is easily one thing that made me buy this game let alone seeing it! The enemies in the game are all in all pretty simple to say the least, they are all of sonic's animal friends but just turned into robots by robotnik, they consist of snakes, worms, birds, fish, and so on. Sonic will be collecting tons of stuff in his quest, and those things include ring boxes which will give you more rings, sonic boxes which will give you an extra live, shield boxes which will give you a shield for protection, and so on. Anyways, that is pretty much it for the gameplay!

Graphics-9/10
The graphics in this game are absolutely amazing especially to this day guys, The genesis is a 32-bit console, So since this was one of the first games for the system, You can see they were trying to push the console to it's limits! I mean seriously, the graphics are nice, cartoony, and really make you feel that you are in sonic's big humble universe. All the worlds you will be blazing through are big, vast, dangerous, and just a blast to explore, You will blaze through temples, construction yards, robot factories, underwater labyrinths, and so on! Now as for the characters they are pretty cool and awesome as well! This was way before everyone else came in, So all we got was Sonic the super fast and blue hedgehog, and Dr robotnik, the evil scientist bent on world domination. The HUD is pretty self explanatory, it displays your game score, your amount of rings left, your remaining count of extra lives until game over, and well that is pretty much it!

Sound-9/10
This is without a doubt some of THE catchiest music I have EVER heard in a retro video game, well no duh! The game was released on a 32-bit console! But anyways, sonic games are known for insanely catchy music and sound effects and whatnot, and this is really no exception! Each level has really really catchy and upbeat music which helps you prepare for each level after the last, and that is a plus! Now as for the sound effects, they are pretty good to say the least! You get boings, booms, sproings, and well, yeah! The sound effects have been in my head for years to come, and today...THEY STILL ARE! Sonic games should always have an awesome soundtrack, and this is no exception!

Addictiveness-9/10
You best believe it when I say this game is heaps of fun! The first day I got this one, I just couldn't put it down! I mean seriously, the high powered graphics, the 32-bit sound, It is really music to my ears! And it is pretty fun trying to recover all the chaos emeralds, I mean, I have done it a couple of times, And It wasn't easy guys!

Depth-8/10
My my my does this game offer a heap of stuff to do! Well to start off, the adventure is over 6 worlds long, so it will most likely take you 1-2 hours to beat it all, and there are also the 6 chaos emeralds to collect, so that will have you coming back, But when you do get them all, you just get a different ending, and the ending is pretty cool to be honest!

Difficulty-7/10
For the very very first game in the series, this was a pretty darn challenging game to be honest! I mean, I could never get past that darn labyrinth zone for a long time! I mean, who thought that level would be a good idea?!?! Who did? But anyways, the game is made by Sega, so of course It is SUPPOSED to be challenging, I mean, that is the reason I play most games like this! To be challenged, and to have fun! We all love you sonic!

Overall-9.6/10
This game is just about the reason for everything, It is the reason to buy a Sega genesis, It is the reason why Sega exists, It is the reason why we love video games, it is the Rea- Oh well, you guys get the point! This is such an amazing game and I think all of you guys here on vizzed board need to play it! I gave this game a 9.6 because it is fun, challenging, cute, and just about everything else! Just buy this game now! You won't regret it! So anyways, this has been RedHotToddy's 110th review, and well, see you guys later in my very next review!