Retro|Spective 061R: Sonic the Hedgehog

[Asura]

Game 58 - Sonic Shuffle
Made by Sega, this Dreamcast based party boardgame title aimed at recreating Nintendo's success with the Mario Party franchise but with a card playing spin. Using semi-cel shaded visuals the game saw players take turns to move around the board before facing off in mini-games after each round.

Should it have shuffled off its mortal coil?

I ****ing loved this game and will defend it to the death.

I know that people knock it, and it's obvious to see why. There's a trend where people argue that Sonic sometimes just borrows concepts from Mario, but does them worse - and not only is Sonic Shuffle arguably the moment people started to say this, it's also probably still the most egregious example; because it's a Mario Party game, with precious little attempt to conceal that. I think it's even by some of the Mario Party developers.

But as anyone here will hopefully agree, sometimes you don't judge a game by some kind of objective measure of quality, but rather by the fun you had with it. This came along during a time when I had housemates and between us, four Dreamcast pads, and consequently, we had an absolute blast with this game.

And that criteria helps it, honestly, because so much of it was jank as hell. I seem to remember that one of the "outcome" type places on the board played these weird story scenes, where it was transparent something was meant to happen, but the game was clearly rushed and they weren't implemented, so they jammed in some filler content instead.

But still, a knock-off Mario Party is better than no Mario Party, and with three friends and some beers, I insist that Sonic Shuffle is a great time, sometimes because of and sometimes in spite of its faults.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 58 - Sonic Shuffle
Made by Sega, this Dreamcast based party boardgame title aimed at recreating Nintendo's success with the Mario Party franchise but with a card playing spin. Using semi-cel shaded visuals the game saw players take turns to move around the board before facing off in mini-games after each round.








Should it have shuffled off its mortal coil?

[Asura]

Game 57 - Sonic Labyrinth

Crap. Practically unplayable. So much so that honestly I'm really surprised that Sonic 3D Blast ever got off the ground, considering how similar the games seem on paper.

And really, it shouldn't have been bad. Marble Madness is a good game, with a pretty decent Game Gear port. I've got to assume that this started life with someone pointing that out.

This might actually be the worst Sonic game.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 57 - Sonic Labyrinth
Another Game Gear entry and once again the franchise tried out an isometric viewpoint. Maze like levels were the order of the day and following its release reception was mixed though it's only become worse as time has passed.








Underrated or another circuit of the Sonic Cycle?

[Ouenben]

Hadn't seen this thread until now!

Sonic 1 -
I have a lot of nostalgia for this as it is one of the first video games I'd ever played, I remember being in hospital as a very young child (maybe 4?) and struggling to beat the boss on Green Hill zone, on the Mega Drive they had in the ward. Still go back and play it every year or two, but I do prefer its sequels. Great soundtrack especially Green Hill, Spring Yard, Star Light and the invincibility theme. 8/10

Sonic CD -
I don't get the love for this one, I finally got to play it on Sonic Gems collection when that released for the Gamecube, having played S1-3+K on the Megadrive and again on Sonic Jam and again on Sonic Mega collection, and I was quite underwhelmed. I found the level design so messy and just all over the place, and spending time pissing about trying to find a place to go back to the past or in the future got old fast. I replayed it when Origins came out, and enjoyed it a little more when I just went for the time stones and didn't bother time travelling, but definitely won't be playing through it again anytime soon. Very disappointing final boss too. 6/10

Sonic 2 -
Fantastic sequel to the original. More zones, better bosses and another banging soundtrack. Love replaying this one, and then replaying from the start with super sonic. Only real gripes are the special stages and lack of draw distance, and the entirety of Metropolis Zone, f*** that zone.
9/10

Sonic 3 & Knuckles -
My absolute favourite Sonic Game and in my top ten list overall. Longer more varied levels, the brilliant storytelling through the short level transitions and cutscenes. Love the art style of this one and the special stages are fine! Then there's the lock-on tech with knuckles, super/hyper forms, 3 playable characters who feel distinct from each other, and an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack. I was gutted when I got origins on xbox and some of the sonic 3 zones didn't have their OG music, especially Ice cap and Launch base zone. Having a full final level and boss only playable when you collect all chaos/super emeralds was a nice touch too. 10/10.

Sonic 4 - I was so so so excited when this was announced and followed the updates on the game's website like a hawk. There are no words for how utterly disappointed I was by this utterly abysmal entry in the franchise. 1/10

Sonic Mania - This is the real Sonic 4, this is what I wanted since finishing S3+K for the first time in the 90s. It's fantastic and earned a solid 2nd place in my list of best sonic games. Took me a while to adapt to the new 3D special stages, and I didn't find the new stages quite as memorable as the Megadrive stages but they were still great gun. Overall a really solid return to form for Sonic. 9/10

[Cassius_Smoke]

I liked this one, and thought it's a shame that the idea didn't catch on. It's essentially a slow-paced, almost Metroidvania-style adventure (in the limited manner that the Game Gear could muster), in that it involves visiting levels multiple times, using different items you find in other places to access new areas you couldn't reach before.

I only got to play it a couple of years ago, but it was pretty compelling, honestly. I would've loved it had I got to play it back-in-the-day. But then, during its whole life, the only Game Gear games I owned were WonderBoy, Castle of Illusion, Micro Machines 2 and Sonic: Triple Trouble. Videogames were expensive back then

Castle of illusion was impossible!

[Asura]

Game 56 - Tails Adventure
A platformer for Tails to have to himself, the game played at a slower pace than the Sonic games making for a lighter adventure. It had non-linear levels but broadly matched the playstyle of the main games, though this led to mixed reviews as some felt it took away more than it added.
An Adventure worth having?

I liked this one, and thought it's a shame that the idea didn't catch on. It's essentially a slow-paced, almost Metroidvania-style adventure (in the limited manner that the Game Gear could muster), in that it involves visiting levels multiple times, using different items you find in other places to access new areas you couldn't reach before.

I only got to play it a couple of years ago, but it was pretty compelling, honestly. I would've loved it had I got to play it back-in-the-day. But then, during its whole life, the only Game Gear games I owned were WonderBoy, Castle of Illusion, Micro Machines 2 and Sonic: Triple Trouble. Videogames were expensive back then

[Neon Ignition]

Game 56 - Tails Adventure
A platformer for Tails to have to himself, the game played at a slower pace than the Sonic games making for a lighter adventure. It had non-linear levels but broadly matched the playstyle of the main games, though this led to mixed reviews as some felt it took away more than it added.







An Adventure worth having?

[Dogg Thang]

Going back to the racers, they are currently stupidly cheap on Steam and so I got Sonic All Stars Racing and Transformed and they are both so much fun. I’m really enjoying playing them again.

[Asura]

I've played this and remember nothing. Should say it all really

[Neon Ignition]

Here's a bonus one for the weekend because I realised at some point I missed a day:


Game 55 - Tail's Skypatrol
Hitting Game Gear in 1995, this side shooter saw Tail's take the lead role and has seen two rereleases in the wake of its original launch but despite this the game was poorly received with both its gameplay and difficulty being cited as faults.








Any fun to be found or high-Tails it outta there?

[Cassius_Smoke]

Spinball and MBM are OK. They just struggle on the mega drive. I don't know if they ever got a 32x, CD or saturn version but I feel it may have worked better on them.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 54 - Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
The other super well known MD era spin-off, this Eggman themed puzzler used the incarnations of characters from the animated series and rebranded Puyo Puyo, This widened the game type's appeal and resulted in a well received release with only the games difficulty being called out.







One Mean Bean?

[wakka]

Yeah, a missed opportunity of a game. Can’t believe it was developed in just 2 months. Goes some way to explaining why it isn’t great. A shame.

[Dogg Thang]

[MENTION=3144]Dogg Thang[/MENTION], saw your comment; have you tried the NTSC version?

I'm not sure. The last time I played it was on the Mega Drive Mini but that might still have been the PAL version.