Man am I going to get a lot of heat for writing this review. But I believe I have a unique opinion of this game, and I would like to share it with the world. I have had my share of rage quits with video games that I found irritating, and almost unplayable. But for some reason I find some room for love in my heart for this under-rated yet sadly over-hated Sonic Anniversary port. I agree that Sonic Genesis has its flaws and is much different from the predecessor it is trying to recreate, however as a game in itself, I find that it has some good qualities that can make it enjoyable. Just enjoyable in a different way than you would find in a standard Sonic game. Please allow me to explain my reasoning as I break down the game, and provide my opinion-driven evidence.

   Graphics: I am actually not troubled by the screen crunch and the zoomed-in effect. I feel like it had to be done in order to make the game playable. The SEGA Genesis version had a lot more room for larger scenery, and the size of the screen was based on the size of your Television screen at home. So whether you are playing on a tiny TV the size of a bowling ball, or a huge projector screen, The game would be stretched and shrunk proportionately to the screen's size. And although the Game Gear's screen was small, it was still at least twice as big as the Game Boy Advance's screen. And they could barely fit 8-bit Sonic 1 on the Game Gear let alone the Genesis version if they ever even tried it. The Master System version was a little zoomed out and hard to see, but it was playable. The Game Gear version was a little zoomed in but was still playable. It was just a matter of the player adapting to the differences between versions that helped them enjoy the games better. Apart from being a little absurd, the zoomed-in nature of Sonic Genesis is tolerable for me. For one thing the scenery is much clearer and you can see the detail better. If you notice how smooth and seamless the graphics really are, and how much detail they actually put into each object. It's like looking at a diamond through a microscope, and finding that the smaller details are even more amazing than the ones you see with your naked eye. Also, the screen crunch actually makes the levels a little bit faster. In Marble Zone I could bounce on Buzzbombers seamlessly across the air and reach the entrance to the underground section in seconds. Much faster than in the original version. It tempts you to take leaps of faith that you would never take in the original, since you already see the danger ahead, and the feeling of danger causes you to hold back and not try out certain stunts. And some stunts are even impossible. But in Sonic Genesis those leaps of faith usually reward you with a feat that you never knew Sonic could perform before. For example, right before you reach the boss of Green Hill Zone, there is the tree with the invincibility box in it. In the original version you would have to waste time getting your just pixel-perfect enough to reach the proper height. In Sonic Genesis you can just hop from the ring box in that one tree, bounce on the buzzbomber and then you will just crash right through the invincibility box. The momentum will hurl you all the way to the boss fight, and you won't waste any of the invincibility while running those extra few pixel-feet. And the screen crunch can make platforming smoother, safer, and faster, in some instances. Like in Scrap Brain Zone, I had no problem traversing the platforms that are moving on a conveyor belt above a bottomless pit. I almost over shot one of the platforms. in the original version Sonic would have been going to fast, and plummeted to his doom. But in Sonic Genesis, I was able to slow Sonic down before he toppled over the edge and made it to the end of the act without a single death. What's more, at the part with the red trap doors that open and close there is a sparky electric gizmo and across the way there is a flame shooter. In Sonic Genesis, you are able to jump over those trap doors in a single leap and reach the other side before the flame shooters can even activate. It makes you feel like the most bad-ass person in the world after all the trouble those things gave you in all the other versions of Sonic 1. But that's just the Graphics!

   Sound: The music in this game may sound like someone tried to play them on a kazoo, but in a way they are lovable. You are not just hearing the same old music that you heard in every other incarnation of Sonic 1. It is using a low-class Game Boy Advance sound system to recreate music that was originally created for a system that could be hooked up to the TV and had much stronger sound capabilities than any Nintendo products back in the day. SEGA was forced to regress to a crappier sound system when they decided to make Game Boy Advance Sonic games. They were very limited in what they could do, and in my opinion it sounds like they put their all into it. Perhaps the original music sounded even worse, and what they did was only a way to make it better.

   Addictiveness: The game feels longer because of the slower pace (which really is not that slow if you are good at the game) so by the time you beat it the first time, it is not likely that you will play it again the same day. But it is the kind of game you might want to put on the shelf, and save for a rainy day. Even if you don't like it, you may still feel an urge to try it again after a while. Personally, I definitely would play this game again, even though it is near the bottom of the list, I would not feel ashamed to come back to it every now and then.

   Story: The story is exactly the same as in the original version. In a way Sonic had one of the best stories of all back in the day. Sonic was not running around just to save one princess, he was saving an entire world of helpless animals who were being turned into evil mechanical monsters, by a corrupt, obese human who wanted everything to rule the world, and enslave everyone while wiping their minds of who they were so that they could never free themselves or each other. If that doesn't bring tears to your eyes than you must be heartless.

   Depth: However great the story is, the game does not have very much depth, unless you count the watery depths in Labyrinth Zone which have a lot of depth.

   Difficulty: I actually found this port quite easy to beat despite the limitations. In fact I found it to be easier than the original version. The only times I died were because of my own stupidity for not holding down the jump button long enough or getting a running start before I tried to jump over a long row of spikes. In Labyrinth Zone, you can move faster in the water than in the original version. Also, the spots that eject bubbles in the air, form them at a faster rate. So if you have only 3 seconds left to get some air, you will be more likely to find an air bubble before you run out of time. In the Final Zone, it is much easier to react to the pistons before they crush you, and you have a better chance of seeing Eggman and jumping to the correct side so that you can hit him. Sometimes you can even hit him twice in one go, which was pretty much impossible in the original version.

   Overall: I cannot blame any of you for disliking Sonic Genesis. When you pick up a Sonic game you expect it to be breath-taking and mind-blowing. Especially from a remake. But I just can't help feeling like this game can still be enjoyable. I played through the whole game before I wrote this review, and rather than discouraging me from writing positive things, I actually felt like my opinion became more firm. I do not feel ashamed for liking a video game that is generally disliked. I guess I am just one of a kind.

That's the first Sonic review I read from someone who played (seemingly?) the later versions first. I loved your perspective, how you showed the strengths and weaknesses of a console you probably never played like I did. I found it pretty objective!

janus : On the contrary, I grew up with a SEGA Genesis and Sonics 2, 3, & Knuckles. It was not until I bought Sonic Mega Collection that I was able to experience Sonic 1 for the first time. But it was still my first Sonic game after the ones I had for Genesis. This review is coming from a guy who owns and has played/completed nearly every Sonic game.

Then way to go, "kiddo" . You have an even better perspective than I do since the most "advanced" Sonic I ever tried was Sonic 3d blast for Genesis, and it was only a trial at a video game store.