Sonic the Hedgehog Review

By Kristan Reed Published 16 July, 2007

Back when it was good.

Version tested: Xbox 360

SEGA on Xbox Live Arcade? About bloody time. Having lovelessly thrown anything and everything onto the Megadrive channel of the Wii's Virtual Console - complete with those wonderful 50Hz borders we know you all love - we knew it was only a matter of time before it started repeating the trick on the Xbox 360. And with typical determination to eke every last cent out of its biggest franchise, it has rolled out one of the big guns first. Yes, the inspirational Yuji Naka Mega Drive masterpiece, which catapulted the firm to worldwide success way back in 1991, Sonic The Hedgehog. Truly, if there were a proper gaming Hall of Fame to speak of, Sonic would be one of the first entrants.

As such, the game's ubiquity and endless re-issues ensures that this 16-bit platformer needs absolutely no introduction. By now, the blistering side-scrolling, ring-collecting gameplay and distinct, detailed visuals will be etched in your minds to such an extent that you'll already be humming the various theme tunes as if they'd just been on the radio. We've all been exposed to the game that many times over the years, you could practically relive the entire experience in your head by just sitting back, closing your eyes and sinking into a Sonic-themed trance for a few minutes. There. I've just saved you some money. Donations via PayPal, please.

When Mario was The Enemy

'Sonic the Hedgehog' Screenshot 1

Grab fifty rings before a level ends and play a bonus round to snag the Chaos Emeralds.

As with a lot of games of its time, it wasn't especially long, but that hardly mattered one bit. In fact, taking a glance at the 12 Achievements, one of them is finishing the entire game in under 40 minutes, or finishing Green Hill Zone One in under one-minute-thirty-five. The challenge, really, is being so practised at the game, and so aware of its secrets and shortcuts that you can just bomb through it in a dizzy frenzy of timed leaps of faith. At times it's just so intense and relentless, your eyes might never be the same again. But like any good platformer should, it ebbs and flow, with more considered trap-laden sections breaking up Yuji Naka's grin-inducing desire to show off just how much the Megadrive could do. At the time, it was as much of a tech demo to wow people into buying the console as it was a game. It worked.

Then, as now, it's a well-honed, refined, secret-packed yet lovably simplistic jump-and-collect affair, complete with an almost unending number of traps designed to catch you out and send you careering back to the last checkpoint. But with a paltry three lives to get through the game, such arcane design mechanisms don't really wash with today's less patient gamers - so SEGA has thoughtfully included a save-game function that allows you to chip through the game at your own pace, and mercifully avoids the potential irritation of having to replay the same levels over and over again. If doing it the old school way is your preference, you can do that, too, but it's good to see SEGA considering that not everyone has Ninja 1991 skills, and might just, you know, want to get through the game and see what the later levels have to offer. Such an approach works in other senses, too, in that it gives players the chance to practice specific levels as they see fit, before, perhaps, playing the whole thing in one go. Not everyone really wants to have to play the same zones over and over again, and rightly so.

A word of caution, though. Although Microsoft and SEGA might make a big deal about upscaled graphics and so on, the effect of having the game displayed in high definition really doesn't help mask the limitations of blowing up low-resolution retro games onto gigantic high-definition screens. Naturally, what looked sharp, bright and beautiful in 1991 doesn't look so great in 2007. But, helpfully, they have provided a solution, with the option to smooth out the visuals within the game's menu. It's a bit weird to begin with. Your eyes might not appreciate the stylistic change, but, on balance, it does a decent job of retaining the cartoon quality of how the game was intended to look. Either way you want to view it, the game still stands out as a landmark title even now. The very fact that it represents a huge leap for 2D games back then has meant that it hasn't actually dated that badly at all - and with its fast, smooth-scrolling, excellent character design, and cute animations all looking great even now, it's not hard to see why.

The halcyon days of borders

'Sonic the Hedgehog' Screenshot 2

The smoothed out graphics aren't as offensive as you might expect.

What is harder to accept, though, is the curious decision to leave small borders on the top and bottom of the screen by default - as if SEGA and Backbone Entertainment were actually trying to remind European gamers what it was like in the days before console games were properly converted for PAL. We can only assume it was to ensure it complies with 50Hz TVs, but you don't see this on other XBLA titles, so who knows? Maybe our US readers can tell us if their version is bordered initially, too. Either way, it seems like an odd thing to do. Happily, you can go into the settings and stretch the screen out (both horizontally and vertically) - just as you can in the SEGA Mega Drive Collection, so it's no big deal.

Beyond that, there's really very little to report about Sonic The Hedgehog on Xbox Live Arcade. There's a single 'All Time Best Score' leaderboard, but no attempt at injecting new modes, new difficulty levels or any kind of multiplayer, thankfully. It matters not. For your 400 points you get an absolute nailed-down classic that is, in many respects, just as much fun today as it was back when it was released. Sadly, you can't talk about Sonic without also making reference of the fact that it has been released on goodness knows how many compilations for, comparatively, a fraction of the cost, and that most of you will have played the bloody thing to death. But sod that argument for a moment: this is undiluted, old-school platforming goodness at its most refined for a few quid, and a true landmark title that any fan of the genre should have in their collection. And with a free trial available for the doubters, it'd be rude not to have a peek.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (65) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Eighthours #1 5 years ago

    Good game, a classic, but I was surprised at just how short it is.

  • GitSomE_UK #2 5 years ago


    Great to see this on XBLA... for 400 points ... BARGAIN!
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 11:36

  • skillian #3 5 years ago

    A true classic. Glad it still scores highly.

  • superdelphinus #4 5 years ago

    da da de da de da da
    de da da de da de da da
    deladede

  • Fernando #5 5 years ago

    great game but

    Sonic 3 & Knuckles > 1 & 2

  • souljacker2000 #6 5 years ago

    This will live on throught the ages.. One of my favourite games of all time

  • huxathon #7 5 years ago

    Green Hill Zone 1st level speed runs, that's what it's all about.

  • Steroyd #8 5 years ago

    OMG back when Sonic was good, this feeling... it's been a long time since I felt it. ;_;

  • Arcadiian #9 5 years ago

    It's the first game i ever played, i used to love it, but i just don't have the patience to play it anymore.

    SEGA give you a character made for speed, then cover the levels in so many traps it's almost impossible to walk a few steps without hitting something. Needless to say i bought it. o_O

    Edit: "or finishing Green Hill Zone One in under one-minute-thirty-five" - I don't mean to be a pedant, but i think it's just 35 seconds. That or i raced through the level for nothing.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 11:43

  • DanMW #10 5 years ago

    Great game, as fun as always.

    Default borders for me too.

  • stampax #11 5 years ago

    Better than the VC version? I couldn't work out a way to save my game progress on that - so always had to start at the beginning each time.

  • ilmaestro #12 5 years ago

    The thing saves your progress automatically on the VC, as long as you quit out to menu rather than just, say, turning the machine off.

  • monkey_man #13 5 years ago

    Aw man, they needed to add an online speed league, or something.

    I can muster 28 seconds on the first level, with the 50+rings - I've seen others do it in 25 :,{

    Your turn for faceless/proofless virtual penis comparison - the shorter with the more rings snagged the better...!
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 12:03

  • paul_haine #14 5 years ago

    27 seconds is where it's at.

  • Ryze #15 5 years ago

    @groovemeister

    'Mario with coons' - is that some kind of old skool racist propaganda game?

    /runs


    XD

  • konniehuqfan #16 5 years ago

    a beautiful game

  • Arcadiian #17 5 years ago

    @ groovemeister.

    There isn't an achievement for completing the entire zone in 1m 35s. I got 200/200 the other day, and don't remember seeing that one.

  • Monkey_Puncher #18 5 years ago

    There's one for Green Hill Zone 1 and one for Marble Zone 1

  • spongebob #19 5 years ago

    I think they should sell some of these classics for less. 300 points or maybe even 200 points.

  • Brogan #20 5 years ago

    sega to bring all the old meagdrive classics to XBLA? one less reason to get a Wii. sega fanboy that i am
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 12:28

  • Johnson #21 5 years ago

    >> 'Mario with coons' - is that some kind of old skool racist propaganda game?

    It's the crossover game with LocoRoco.

  • MrGrumpy.au #22 5 years ago

    Well my Phillips TV claims it's using NTSC for Sonic and there is slight borders, which you get rid of easy enough as was mentioned in the article (definitely is playing faster for both the game and its music, also it remembers all your video settings which is nice). And I do have the 360 set to PAL60, so I'm not sure why I get "Mode: NTSC" when I hit the screen info button on the TV remote?

    Also turn on smoothing which seems to be 2xSAI so it looks even better/cleaner on the larger screens (don't do this if want a pixel perfect Megadrive experience though), I like it though cleans as the edges up just enough to make it more pleasing on the eyes.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 12:32

  • afghan_jones #23 5 years ago

    can we have wonderboy 1, 2, & 3 next please? they were ace.

  • SBfistfun #24 5 years ago

    @groovemeister

    "Mario with coons was better in that respect"

    SUPERROFLMAOADVENTURE!

  • stormuk #25 5 years ago

    Great!! cant wait to get this one - though wait I must, Im still waiting for my replacement 360 :o(

    Der der der der etc etc....

  • Benno #26 5 years ago

    better than gears then?

  • captainrentboy #27 5 years ago

    I remember the Splatterhouse games being good on the mega drive, not sure who developed that though, and it probably plays like shite nowadays.
    Ohhhh, and one of the Mickey Mouse games was excellent too.

  • Ryze #28 5 years ago

    Brogan

    Ah, that all depends on whether the Saturn version of Nights ever appears on the XBLA.

    Likelyhood - judging by Sega's relentless porting of Sonic & Golden Axe... zero.

    ryz

  • bdc #29 5 years ago

    Better than Ha- *gets shot*

  • Ryze #30 5 years ago

    Mickey & Donald: World Of Illusion was fantastic back '93.

    No doubt we'll have to wait for the PS3, Ngage & Gizmondo versions of Sonic and Golden Axe before they even consider porting... Streets of Rage pt. 1 and Alex Kidd, followed by Altered beast on all formats...

    I bloody well lost my copy of Mickey & Donald - along with Shadow Dancer & Mortal Kombat - somehow...

    bloody theiving Longsight kids (or bloody absent minded young ryze)!!

    ryz.

  • Arcadiian #31 5 years ago

    I used to love an old Mickey Mouse game on the MegaDrive, and thought it was Castle of Illusion because it was so popular, but it turned out to be Mickey Mania. Quite a few people confuse the two. Would be great to play it on XBLA.

  • secombe #32 5 years ago

    Great game, but Sonic 2 has the edge.

  • Malek86 #33 5 years ago

    A good purchase, but I'm pretty sure I can find an used Sonic Mega Collection Plus for Xbox at no more than 15€. It even works with VGA.

    Of course, same goes for the Wii owners and the GC version of the game.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 13:10

  • #34 5 years ago

    Seeeeega!

    Rolling staaaart!

    Fiiiiiiinish!

    If there is one thing that sega are awesome at, it's singing words in such a way that it's etched into your brain forever.

  • kenty #35 5 years ago

    "Better than the VC version?"

    MUCH better than the VC version, pisses all over it. It doesn't run in slow motion for a start.

  • Walshicus #36 5 years ago

    To he who said Sonic 3 + Knuckles is the better: ++++
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 13:45

  • Ryze #37 5 years ago

    yep!

    Gotta say - Sega were my Disney.

    That's how good Sega once were.

    Fond childhood and teenage memories of:

    Outrun
    After Burner
    Hang On
    Turbo Outrun
    Sonic
    Virtua Racing
    Virtua Fighter
    Daytona
    Sega Rally...
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 13:49

  • Nobuo #38 5 years ago

    No, Sonic 3 was good, but the Sonic & Knuckles levels were suck.

    Wondering how this doesn't deserve a 10.

  • skillian #39 5 years ago

    better than gears then?

    Hell yes!

  • Lutz #40 5 years ago

    Sonic CD next please Sega, that was the best of them all.

  • Oceadge #41 5 years ago

    I never had a Megadrive but I did get to play Sonic occasionally. However, I never really knew what to do... Are you supposed to try to collect all the rings or are you supposed to get to the end of the level as fast as possible?

  • Rodney #42 5 years ago

    Who remembers the level select cheat from the main menu?

    up, down, lef, right, A,B,C, start...something like that?

  • Lutz #43 5 years ago

    Level select was:
    Up, down, left, right, A+Start.

    Editor mode was (IIRC)
    Up+C, down+C, left+C, right+C, A+B+C+Start. (May have been A+Start)

  • skillian #44 5 years ago

    Are you supposed to try to collect all the rings or are you supposed to get to the end of the level as fast as possible?

    Doing it fast was just for fun, but 100 (I think, tho that sounds a lot) rings at the end let you into the weird, pinball-style bonus stages to get the emeralds (and a crap-load of extra lives, back when number of lives actually meant something).

  • BBIAJ #45 5 years ago

    I'm pretty sure that Sonic 2, Streets Of Rage 2, and Ecco The Dolphin have all been confirmed for XBLA.

  • Nobuo #46 5 years ago

    "10/10? It's a classic but I'd give it 8/10, personally.

    S&K levels were teh awesome, moreso than S3 but of course that's no issue when it's S3&K."    "

    Meh, I only liked Lava Reef Zone. And it was not worth going through Sandopolis. The whole game was a bit of a grind for me.

    This game is platforming perfection.

  • Nobuo #47 5 years ago

    Finish with 50 rings to get to the special stage.

    Also on the first special stage, if you don't press anything from the start you are automatically taken to the crystals.

  • skillian #48 5 years ago

    Also on the first special stage, if you don't press anything from the start you are automatically taken to the crystals.

    Wow, is that true? I feel kinda sad that I never found that out.

  • Nithron #49 5 years ago

    Ah, good ol' 2xsai smoothing. Looks pretty awesome on Sonic, but like someone else mentioned, it looks like absolute *crap* on Golden Axe.

    Guess it depends on the art style?

  • Tyronne #50 5 years ago

    Picked up a megadrive with 12 games at a car boot sale this weekend for a fiver, including sonic 1 to 4.

    No need to get it for the 360 now.

  • Dermoth #51 5 years ago

    One scoreboard means I might not buy this. Maybe I'm spoiled by the excellence of Prince Of Persia Classic's leaderboards, but Sonic is SCREAMING for more emphasis on time trialling. If the PoP remake can feature downloadable ghosts, why can't this? (obvious answer - cos PoP is a 800 point remake, and this is a lazy 400 point port. I'd much rather pay 800 points for a version that took full advantage of Live).

    It's a classic, obviously, but I'm still disappointed.
    Edited by 2 at 16/07/07 @ 16:07

  • Azazel #52 5 years ago

    S3&K = the win, I used to play that game to death. Sonic on the GameGear got a lot of hours play as well, thought it was a fun version too.

    EDIT - Also, can anyone remember what happened when you plugged in the other games into the knuckles cart? I vaguely remember that you got some bonus stuff on Sonic 2 as well.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 16:25

  • Nobuo #53 5 years ago

    "Wow, is that true? I feel kinda sad that I never found that out."

    True it is.

    "Also, can anyone remember what happened when you plugged in the other games into the knuckles cart? I vaguely remember that you got some bonus stuff on Sonic 2 as well."

    You get to play Sonic 2 as Knuckles, but since the levels weren't designed for his abilities it doesn't really add much.

    When you 'locked-on' Sonic 1 you got to play hundreds of Sonic 3 style special stages.

  • Nithron #54 5 years ago

    @Nobuo
    You get the same thing as Sonic 1 if you lock-on *any* megadrive game, regardless what it is.
    I think it might've coloured the background according to the game's colour palette, too, but i'm not sure.

  • AlpTighen #55 5 years ago

    "If there is one thing that sega are awesome at, it's singing words in such a way that it's etched into your brain forever."

    You don't say.

  • convercide #56 5 years ago

    Nobuo: "You get to play Sonic 2 as Knuckles, but since the levels weren't designed for his abilities it doesn't really add much. "

    There were two other differences: The last special stage was easier (the rings were not dotted around but actually in loops) and Knuckles didn't jump quite has high. WHICH MADE THE LAST BOSS VERY ANNOYING. He jumped and then glitched into Robotnik's spikey arm A LOT. AND DIED. A LOT.

  • secombe #57 5 years ago

    I used to love an old Mickey Mouse game on the MegaDrive, and thought it was Castle of Illusion because it was so popular, but it turned out to be Mickey Mania. Quite a few people confuse the two. Would be great to play it on XBLA.

    The Disney efforts seem to have vanished as far as re-releases go. I've always wanted a Disney Classic pack consisting of...

    1) Quackshot (MD)
    2) World of Illusion (MD)
    3) Aladdin (MD)
    4) Castle of Illusion (MD)
    5) Toy Story (MD)
    6) Lucky Dime Caper (MS)

    ...and probably a few others for good measure, Jungle Book, Lion King etc, they didn't make many stinkers.

    Sadly the rights are/were all over the place, Virgin Interactive made quite a few and none of their games have ever resurfaced iirc, Mickey Mania was made by Sony so you won't see that on XBLA, and the rest were made by Sega (I have all of these on my shelf!)

  • dryden555 #58 5 years ago

    Just get the Sega mega collection which has a whole bunch of the sonic games on it.

  • Arcadiian #59 5 years ago

    @ secombe.

    Didn't realise Sony published it, i'm quite shocked. Turns out Traveller's Tales developed it though, so there's at least the smallest chance. Great game though.

    Not that this thread is still going anymore, but just for the record i'd love to see something like Sonic 4 on XBLA, or a brand new MegaDrive-style Sonic. The old stuff is alright, but some new SEGA games would be great.

  • smelly #60 5 years ago

    >or a brand new MegaDrive-style Sonic.

    like the one on the ds you mean?

  • Arcadiian #61 5 years ago

    @ smelly.

    Either of the DS games on XBLA would be good.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/07 @ 23:58

  • JYM60 #62 5 years ago

    Sega roll these bad boys out all the time so that they at least have a few games getting decent review scores.

  • Nobuo #63 5 years ago

    "You get the same thing as Sonic 1 if you lock-on *any* megadrive game, regardless what it is.
    I think it might've coloured the background according to the game's colour palette, too, but i'm not sure."

    IIRC Sonic 1 gave you hundreds of stages to work through, and locking-on any other MD game jumped you to a specific one.

    EDIT:

    Yep - [link url=http://en.wi kipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Sphere
    ]http://en.wi kipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Sphere
    [/link]

    Evidently it would take 255 years of non-stop playing to beat the game. That's VFM.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/07 @ 10:05

  • Hugundo #64 5 years ago

    Sonic?

    Never heard of him.

  • reality_cheque #65 5 years ago

    I might buy this, just to save the hassle of having my megadrive out. All the good games will be out on Wii or 360 eventually :D

    *puts MD in loft where it lives for 100 years*

  • Adaptor #66 5 years ago

    Didn't anynody notice the sounds of the rings being a bit off? When I collected, let's say, three rings it would only make the famous ring sound for the first and the third. As if the sound processing can't keep up.. Can't remember this being the case on the Megadrive version.