Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox Live Arcade) Review
Posted by Steve McHugh on 08.30.2007
Classic all the way.
This should be the easiest review I’ve ever done. I took a look at Sonic the Hedgehog in my column a few weeks ago when I reviewed the Sega Megadrive Collection. I gave it a 7, so there you go, job’s done, lets all go down the pub.
However, since that game was a part of a collection and this is a stand alone title I’ll just have to review this based on its own merits. That in itself should be pretty easy as seeing how when it was released back in 1991 on the Megadrive it was a landmark title.
It still is a landmark title too, as it certainly helped put Sega on the map and gave Nintendo a great big kick up the backside. Whilst Mario was slow and ponderous, Sonic was quick and energetic and looked utterly stunning doing it. You still had to collect items (rings instead of coins) and there was still plenty of platforming and trap negotiating but it did all of this in a way that hadn’t been done before.
If you're not paying attention you'll soon find yourself in trouble.
Fast-forward to today and the game finally comes to Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade after appearing on pretty much every other console in the past 10 years in one form or another. Sonic still does so many things right that it puts to shame the latest 3D attempt that shares its name. It’s still fast and an enormous amount of fun and unlike other games on XBLA it doesn’t matter that you can finish the game in just over half an hour.
In fact you get an achievement for completing the game in less than 40 minutes, so it knows full well that you should be shooting through this game in a quick manner. The point is that to get to the point where you can finish the game that quickly it’s going to take you some work. You’re going to need to know where all the shortcuts and traps are and you’re going to have to practice to get there. It’s something I did a lot of when I first got this game at 12. I played it again and again and not once did I feel like I’d had enough. It was fresh and exciting and even today it can stir fond memories in anyone who played this in their youth.
However with the passage of time things change. Graphically it’s not the power house it once was. It still looks colourful and nice but at no point is it a showcase for what the 16bit era could do. The XBLA version comes with the ability to smooth out the visuals which does the job well enough to make it look slightly better. One thing that still looks nice is the crisp animation which has retained all of the charm that it had back in the day with Sonic moving at a fair pace without any problems. It’s a testament to just how talented the developers were back then that it can still look as good as it manages to.
Unfortunately they seemed to have kept the big 50 Hz borders around the game which they had during all PAL games of long ago. Frankly these should never exist these days and the fact that they do really isn’t good enough. You can stretch the screen to get rid of them but that’s hardly the point. They shouldn’t be there in the first place.
Iconic.
The gameplay is still fast and furious, but the ability to save the game at any point is a wonderful idea. As such it means you don’t have to do the same levels over and over again every time you want to play. Unless you want to of course and then you still can but for those of you who don’t want to play the Marble Zone 100 times this is one of the best additions.
The thing about Sonic is that I don’t need to do some huge review stating every little detail. What you see is what you get. You run from one end of the level to the other collecting rings and if you get over 50 in each stage you can try the bonus game and get a Chaos Emerald. Simple doesn’t even begin to describe it but it’s so addictive that you won’t care and you’ll come back again and again to get better times to post to the leaderboard.
Then there’s the achievements, which are mostly just ‘get to stage ‘X’ but some of them are a little special. You’ve got a few ‘finish the level in under ‘X’ time’ ones but the really good ones are the 3 you can get for finishing the game. Each of these 3 requires you to play in a different way and all 3 extend the replay value immensely. Completing the game without dying once for example, is a lot harder then it sounds as is the aforementioned finish it in less than 40 minutes. You’ll need to be very good to get these without serious time being put in but if you want the majority of the gamerpoints then that’s what you’ll have to do. But at no point does it seem like a chore.
The 411
When I looked at Sega Megadrive collection I gave this game a 7 and by itself that’s a fair score. It doesn’t look as good as it once did and the underwater level is still horrible to play (as are all underwater Sonic levels) but you won’t care because the rest of the game is so very good. The addition of the excellent achievements, for once, add something to an already classic game and for 400 points its cheaper then the VC version. If you want to play the best version of Sonic since it came out in 1991 then this is it.
Graphics
7.0
Animation is great but everything has dated and doesn’t look as nice as it did all those years ago.
Gameplay
8.4
Simple and fantastic. Labyrinth level is still horrible but the rest make up for it.
Sound
8.0
This game always sounded good and that hasn’t changed after all these years.
Lasting Appeal
7.2
Not huge but with achievements that actually add to the game and are worth going after it’ll last longer then the average XBLA game from the same period.
Fun Factor
9.0
It’s Sonic and if you can’t have fun playing this game then there’s something wrong with you.
