Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic. That spiky blue hedgehog has been around for quite a while and is synonymous with Sega. He is often cited as Sega's answer to Nintendo's Mario, which is perhaps a little unfair given that the only real resemblance is that both are platform titles. Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System was my first taste of the speed freak's adventures and it demonstrated an alternative taste of platforming goodness.

Like most platform titles released at the time, the goal was to make your way from wherever Sonic started to the end of the level, passing by all sorts of obstacles along the way.

The controls are both responsive and very simply to manage. The D Pad moves Sonic and both 1 and 2 buttons causes him to jump. There's also a ground spindash that can be done by pressing down while running, but this is rarely used and it is possible to complete the game without ever using it once.

Sonic is a fast character and this translates into the gameplay. Although it's possible to tear through the levels at full speed you have to be careful of waiting enemies and traps that you could easily run into by accident. Thankfully it never gets to the point of being out of control and the level design is accommodating enough to account of all this.

There are six zones to play through, and each zone is split into three acts (or levels). The first two acts of a zone are the more traditional style of platforming levels, while the third act is the boss stage that consists of a short run up to boss battle.

Each level presents a number of jumps to test reactions, and these are generally done fairly well. You will find gaps of varying distances and heights, but never to the point of doing blind leaps. There will sometimes be enemies or other hazards nearby as well to carefully leap past. Springs are put in at certain locations to high jumping action. That said, jumping about rarely comes across as truely difficult in most cases but rather seems to exist just to make sure the player is paying attention.

Each stage is also filled with a whole selection of badniks (the enemies of the game that are basically animals trapped in mechanical bodies). Defeating these enemies is more or less done the same way, by jumping or spinning into them. However, the enemies themselves will vary their approaches and become more difficult as you progress. Just try jumping on the baddie with spikes on his head and see where that gets you. Of course, it's also possible to dodge past enemies, as it's really only the boss enemies that need to be defeated, so the choice is up to you. Again, these don't pose a massive problem so long as you're looking at what is happening.

The bosses at the end of each zone can be tougher to take out, and each generally has some trick to them that needs to be worked out. These boss acts start with a short run up that might present a hazard or two (although nowhere near the amount in normal acts) before the boss appears on the stage. These bosses will test Sonic's attacking skills more than the average badnik, but not by that much.

Rings form this series' common collectable item, as they are scattered through each stage. Picking them up adds to the score counter, and grabbing one hundred of them equals an extra life. The main way this system differs from others is that rings also form Sonic's defence. When Sonic gets hit by an enemy or hazard any rings held prevent him from dying, but at a cost of losing all the rings he had collected up to that point. Unlike later entries in the series you can't pick up the lost rings either. There is usually some rings nearby anyway to reset the defence, so the cost has more to do with picking up new lives and reaching the bonus stage.

Reach the end of a level with 50 rings or more and you will be dropped into a bonus stage. These stages are filled with springs and strange columns that Sonic rebounds off. Essentially you bounce your way through, picking up rings and trying to find the special TV that awards a continue, but against a timer you are pressured to reach the end. Control is weird in these areas purposely as players fight to reach the exit, but the task is kept managable as it's all about timing Sonic's aerial movement to bounce past the columns.

There are other items to grab during each level, in the form of special TV sets. The powerup or item received depends on the display on the TV and can range from extra rings, a life, temporary bursts of extra speed or invincibility or a shield that acts as an extra layer for defence for Sonic. These are spread at fairly common intervals through most acts and some must be worked for to grab them.

The level design is quite good. Each stage isn't just a series of ledges and the odd hazard. You will find these are fairly complex stages with multiple layers of pathways and plenty of obstacles to overcome. To compliment this there are six chaos emeralds in the game, with one in each zone. Finding an emerald often requires the player to deviate off the main path and find alternate routes.

The different zones also present varying challenges, but the one really worth mentioning is the Labrynth Zone. Unlike other stages this one mostly takes place underwater. Sonic can't swim so he still has to jump around, but here his movement is more sluggish and more difficult to get through. Since he's underwater then Sonic has to hold his breath, but he can replenish his air supply by grabbing air bubbles that float up from certain cracks in the zone. This zone represents quite the change of pace and is probably the most challenging part of the game.

With that said, the game is not overly difficult. There are few leaps that will cause you problems and the game is quite generous is handing you rings and lives to survive the various hazards. The Labrynth Zone and finding the chaos emeralds is probably as hard as it gets, which is a shame as I was hoping for a real challenge to get into.

The game also lacks a save system, and the game is lengthy enough to warrant one. This is pretty frustrating, as it makes quick plays impractical and forces you to put notable block of time aside to properly tackle the game.

The general plot of the game is... wait, is there one? I remember something about Sonic being the good guy and Robotnik being the bad guy turning animals into bad robots, but that's about it. I suppose it serves as an excuse to plough through different zones and smash badniks but it doesn't really add anything.

For an 8 bit title the game looks very nice. The sprites for Sonic and the badniks are suitably detailed, with the defining features clearly distinguishable and they also possess suitable animations for things like running and attacking. The levels themselves are well constructed, with each zone set to a specific theme and the graphics tuned to match that theme. Scrap Brain Zone really looks like an industrial junk ground, where Labrynth has a dank dark appearance with gushing waters on the land sections. The special effects work well enough with some sparkles and explosions but don't expect to be blown away.

The music is OK in this game. The tracks are all rather upbeat and fitting in with the Sonic universe but nothing I would call catchy or memorable. Sound effects work well enough to match up with the actions happening onscreen.

Sonic's first Master System outing is a decent platformer with some aspects holding it back. The game is just far too forgiving on the player and the inability to save progress is a real shame. There are some good traits in here though, so Sonic works as a fine alternative to, you know, that other platformer series.