Sonic the Hedgehog is an icon of gaming and considered the equal of Mario. His Genesis/Mega Drive games are well remembered as classics and fans lament how far the current games have fallen from those days. But were those games really all that great? Or has nostalgia blinded us to many of the faults in those 16 bit installments.
Replaying the Sonic games recently, I enjoyed parts of them but also noticed many issues that stood out. Sonic was all about speed and that was a great gimmick to emphasize the power of Sega’s 16 bit system. But I also felt that the game was not only difficult to control at times, the level design in general felt strange to me. It seemed like there was more to discover but the game just wanted to hurry me along.
Sonic 2 was a big improvement but even with new additions to the gameplay, the main issue I had was still there. The world itself felt contradictory, as it had a lot to offer but just rushed me to the end point. I suppose its because I do not have the same nostalgia for these games, but I genuinely see the games as being all flash and nothing more.
When Sonic 2 came out, many compared it to Super Mario World and considered it the better game at the time. It was faster, flashier and seemed more intense. It was pushing gaming forward while Super Mario World was just another Mario game. Looking at both now, Sonic 2 stands out as style over substance, while Super Mario World has aged like a fine wine. Super Mario World has in fact aged better than any classic 2D Mario game, with only Super Mario Bros 2 coming close. Both of those games had a lot of secrets and encouraged exploration. As such, more hidden details were found in the games for years to come, whereas Sonic and Sonic 2 were a case of what you see is what you get.
Most of all is that for a platforming series, Sonic just seemed to fail at platforming itself. If you are all about speed, then precision is not possible and this is a flaw of the games. Even Sonic 3 has issues to it despite improvements. The world feels more lived in, and there is more actual platforming, but just like with Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, the platforming feels awkward, as if the game must force itself to act against its own nature. If you are playing as Knuckles, this is much less of an issue, but the fact remains that the base game and Sonic portions just feel off.
Sonic was a symbol of the Nineties and not in the best way. The games were all about speed and allure, but at the cost of gameplay. When someone without nostalgia for those games plays them, the flaws become much more apparent and we see how the games have aged poorly.
Disclaimer: The above was the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of ROG or its staff