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Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (XSX) game cover art
Publisher
Region
Released
NA
06/23/1991
EU
06/23/1991
JP
07/26/1991

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) screenshotSonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) screenshotSonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) screenshot


Staff Reviews

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed December 20, 2003

Marc Golding says: "The fast and the furious Green Hill Zone. Barreling over bright green hills, digging your heels in as you race through lush valleys of green, leaping for coins and coming back down to green earth - this is what the entire game should have been about. Sad that the heights of enjoyment should be reached in Sonic’s first mission, sad that gamers should be teased so cruelly, as the roaring velocity of his run, (increased even more with the special speedy shoe icon, and even more while Sonic spins) comes to an abrupt halt with the conclusion of the zone, never to reach such intensity again. "
Masters's avatar

Reader Reviews

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed July 29, 2018

dementedhut says: "Prime"
dementedhut's avatar

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed March 14, 2004

ethereal says: "Competition made games better. More specifically, vision and imagination in a time of competition made games better. Such is the only reason there is an existence of my favorite gaming lineage ever, that of Sonic the Hedgehog. Without the opponent and then tyrannically dominant entity that was Nintendo, I never would have been able to play one of the most important games I believe the world has ever seen. And without this competition, Nintendo would have transformed years ago into the dormant ca..."
ethereal's avatar

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed January 15, 2006

mariner says: "You can imagine my surprise when I played this game for the first time since I was a kid. You mean this was supposed to be Mario's biggest rival? This was the game the Nintendo haters trumpeted? Well, ok, I take that back. This isn't a bad game after all. Or, at least most of it isn't. But it's also not exactly great either. Or, once again, at least most of it isn't. It's a game that doesn't know what it wants to be, trying to move in too many directions at once. And while some o..."
mariner's avatar

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed November 18, 2004

overdrive says: "So, why was Nintendo kicking Sega’s butt early on in the rivalry between the two companies? Personally, I’ve always felt it was because Nintendo had all the recognizable characters. They had Mario, Link, Mega Man, Simon Belmont and others. Our friends at Sega could boast little more than some Alex Kidd fellow. It wasn’t that the Master System was overloaded with inferior games or anything like that — it was just that they never really had a good marketable character to captivate the imagination ..."
overdrive's avatar

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed December 22, 2009

phediuk says: "Playing the original Sonic the Hedgehog is a lot like revisiting your old elementary school: you know your way around, and you’ve got some good memories, but the place just isn’t as big as you remember it. Sonic 1 feels like a footnote in platformer history—it’s so slight that it’s hard to comprehend why it was such a big hit. It’s decent, but the gameplay feels unrefined, the level design is a mixed bag, and the game’s look is neither as fast nor as colorful as its sequels. Sonic 1 plays like e..."
phediuk's avatar

Sonic the Hedgehog review

Reviewed March 16, 2005

retro says: "We all know the history of Sega vs. Nintendo. Nintendo probably had at least an 80% share of the market, and it was hard to imagine a company doing better than becoming Pepsi to Nintendo’s Coca-Cola. So here comes Sega with its version of a mascot that could presumably outrun the fastest cheetah, Speedy Gonzales, and of course, Mario. "
retro's avatar

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