What we have here is Japans version of Sonic the Hedgehog. It is I believe to be the best version of the game. Why you may ask? Well for various reasons I will get to in a bit on this very review. First off I played Sonic the Hedgehog when I got my Sega Genesis back when the game first came out back in June of 1991. I fell in love with not only Sonic and the game but with the console and Sega as a whole. Now on to why I like Japans version over America's. I wont go into much detail in the intro but I will say it mostly comes down to tighter controls that make for better game play. Well lets get to the actual review.

   Difficulty 10: Cause of the tighter controls then the U.S version the Japanese version is a littler more difficult. And for me I prefer a harder Sonic games as it keeps wanting to play it over and over multiple times through. As I said the controls are tighter and a lot more responsive then any other version of the game I have ever played.  

   Depth 10: The game is pretty in depth. Going through all the stages and bonus stages will keep you busy for the next four to five hours. Granted it took me shorter then that to fully beat it. But then again I have played the U.S. Version which is more or less the same game.

   Story 6: Not much of a story in the game. All you really do is rescue woodland animals and Stop Dr. Eggman (Robotnik) at the end of every second level. Was, rinse and repeat till you finish the game.   

   Addictiveness 10; Oh boy is this game ever fun and addictive to play. No matter what version you are playing. I find my self playing the U.S. Version on my Genesis from time to time a few times a year. Great fun and very well worth a few play troughs.

   Sound 10: The sound is just outstanding and a total enjoyment to listen to. Sometimes I wish I had the full soundtrack so that I could listen to it all the time. The music is that good.

Graphics 10: Graphic wise I have to give the nod to the Japanese version over the U.S. Why I hear you ask? Well when the game came over to Japan they went through and tweaked the graphics to show off the Genesis's use of parallax scrolling. Something like scrolling in a game back then was really unheard of. So as I said it deserves the 10 I gave it just cause I enjoy the look of it over the U.S.

   Overall 10: Overall I give a very well and deserved solid 10/10. It is so deserving of it. To me it is the better version of the game then we got in America or in Pal territories. I will always have a place in my heart for our version of Sonic the Hedgehog cause it is the first game I ever got with my Genesis. Both of which I still have today.

Final Thoughts: For my final thoughts as much as I love the U.S. Version I have and will always give the nod to the Japanese version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Why? To me it is far better then the U.S in terms of game play, graphics and sound.

Japan version? Has it not been released for both the Sega Master System and the Game Gear? Also, was it not released BEFORE the Genesis version? An I thought there were THREE acts per zones...

Anyway, that was a well-structured review with good details as to why you liked the game. But you could have used more; for example, talk about how the emeralds are hidden in the stage rather than in a special stage. 

huntra1291 : As janus:has described, there's noticeable factual errors in the review, which are never a good thing. But other than that, it's well-formatted, although I don't understand your reasoning sometimes. Also, this version isn't exclusive to Japan. In fact, this version never CAME to Japan at all. It was exclusive to North America and Europe.

If you're gonna write in details about the game's development and release, make sure they're correct before you post the review. But other than that, it's a decent review.