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GAMES OF MY YEARS: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG - by Mr Biffo

23/6/2016

22 Comments

 
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Sonic the Hedgehog will always be inextricably linked with Digitiser, in my mind. The first event Mr Hairs and I ever attended was the launch of Sonic 2, at Hamleys toy store in London.

On our first day on air, following the index page, the first thing on the first page of the first section was a large graphic of Sonic - an attempt to assure readers that we could be every bit as visual as print mags.

And then, of course, we upset an enormous number of Sega fans because we dared to give Sonic 3 a mere 72% score - at a time when all major releases were all supposed to receive a minimum of 90%, by law.

I even stole liberally from Doctor Robotnik when it came to finding an antagonist for Turner The Worm, the teletext cartoon strip what I wrote and drew.

By the time I stumbled into Digitiser, I was already a fan of the 'hog. I couldn't afford the game when it first came out - on this very day, 25 years ago - but I'd read about it. I'd seen the screenshots. I had a friend who'd seen it running on a stall at Wembley Market, and pumped him so hard for information that he suffered a collapsed bowel.

​I kept asking whether it really was as good-looking as it had been in the magazines. And get a load of this information: it actually was.
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CONFIDENCE IS A PREFRENCE
We weren't used to games which looked and played as good as Sonic.

There was a confidence about it, from the iconic design of the main character, to the assured way it all held together. It was a sublime example of video game design.

And for a game that was so shamelessly cartoon-y... it was cool. It subverted its own cuteseyness, with cybernetic woodland creatures, and its speed. I remember being blown away by the parallax scrolling, the big spinning 3D rings...

It's only now, looking back, that I can realise that it wasn't the individual elements of that first Sonic the Hedgehog which sold me; it was how they came together, creating a whole that few other games could compete with. It knew exactly what it was.

Furthermore, it was the game which most existing Mega Drive owners felt at last justified their purchase. Prior to that, I'd loved Revenge of Shinobi... but mostly just liked the other games I'd played on the Mega Drive. Prior to Sonic, it had spent the best part of the year just gathering dust.

TAILS IS HERE NOW, MMM
Sega was quick to capitalise on Sonic's popularity. Sonic 2 come out less than 18 months later, with the introduction of Tails and a two-player mode. It was another massive hit, though overall sold less than its predecessor - the beginning of a downward trend for the series. It lacked the impact of its forebear.

By the time Sonic 3 was released, I was beginning to tire of the formula; we'd already had Sonic CD, which seemed more concerned with animated cut-scenes than new gameplay ideas.

Even this early in its life, the series seemed to be flailing around for purchase: Sonic 3 & Knuckles - with its bizarre "lock-on" cartridge - was released later the same year as Sonic 3, to confusion from some of the franchise's established fans.

Unlike Nintendo's approach to its flagship characters - which effectively reboot with every game - it also felt like Sonic was getting mired in story, in its own mythology. 

Worse still, the franchise was beginning to be watered down. Sonic Spinball failed to be the Sonic-themed pinball game many had been clamouring for, while Sonic 3D Blast was an isometric departure too far from the established template.

When the Saturn was released, Sega failed utterly to make the most of the new technology, and severely dropped the ball by not preparing a new Sonic game upon which the console could piggyback.

The only Sonic games developed exclusively for the Saturn were Sonic R - a limp Mario Kart knock-off - and Sonic Jam, a sort of 'that'll-do' half-measure compilation. The heavily-hyped Sonic X-Treme - intended originally to be the first bona-fide 3D Sonic game, and Sega's response to Mario 64 - was, ultimately, cancelled. 
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SKIP IT
Sonic effectively skipped a generation, finally dragging himself back into the spotlight, aboard Sega's well-intentioned, if ultimately doomed, Dreamcast.

By the time Sonic Adventure appeared - though becoming the best-selling game for the poorly-selling folly - Sonic's capital had been all but expended. It didn't help that the game was far from the Mario 64-esque Sonic epic most people thought it should've been.

I found it dripping in extraneous story and characters, with weird fishing mini games, RPG elements, a glitchy camera, and a discordant mix of the series' stylised characters with a more grounded aesthetic. It was all over the place, and while its sequel - released in 1999 - was more focused, the two Adventure games failed to stop the wholesale throttling of Sega's hardware horse.

From then on, Sonic was a corporate mascot without a home of his own. He seemed to drift, never quite knowing what he was for. The games over the past 15 years have veered from what are essentially on-rails endless running games, to side-on nostalgia blasts; none of them have come close to recapturing the profound confidence of the original. 

IsCON'T SEE YOU
And it's not just the games which seem to be ploughing a disappointing furrow. Sonic himself seems like a bit of a dick these days - just look at his baffling, self-aggrandising, official Twitter account if you want proof.

That hipster scarf he now wears, those desperate bandage wraps around his hands and feet... Though he still has his fans - over 300,000 people follow him on Twitter - his once-refreshing attitude now feels as woefully anachronistic as Arthur Scargill scuttling around an Apple Store, while wearing a pair of deelyboppers.

And yet... Sonic remains an icon, a testament to the design of the character, and how beloved those first few games were. It's telling that the industry has produced precious few icons, in the 25 years since that first Sonic game, which come anywhere close to matching the sort of awareness people have of Sonic. 

And for that, I suppose I can be persuaded to raise a begrudging toast to Sonic the Hedgehog: here's to another 25 years of dickishness and disappointment!
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
CHART CAT: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG COSPLAY
EXCLUSIVE SCRIPT EXTRACT: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
21 EXAMPLES OF THE WEIRDEST EVER SONIC FAN ART

22 Comments
Arthur Ottar
23/6/2016 12:54:43 pm

STRANGE BLUE FOX

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Lorfarius
23/6/2016 12:55:03 pm

You forgot about Sonic Jam! The closest we ever got to a 3D sonic on Saturn.

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Mr Biffo
23/6/2016 01:22:38 pm

Oh god yes! How could I forget that thoroughly forgettable nonsense..? Crow-barred it into the article now.

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Boogie MacGhoo
23/6/2016 01:00:36 pm

Don't forget, he's the main inspiration for poorly drawn, pornographic, fan art. He'd be nowhere without those anime nonces.

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Super Bad Advice
23/6/2016 01:41:41 pm

Back when I did reviews for Gamerseurope (don't bother looking it up love, the website died on its arse years ago) I had the misfortune of reviewing the Xbox 360 reboot (the one just called Sonic the Hedgehog). It's the only game I've ever had death threats over, because I pointed out it was essentially unplayable.

In fact, here's a bit of what I said, which has somehow been retained by Metacritic:

'This is an absolutely diabolical game, a bloated, leaden, enjoyment-free shambles which Sonic Team should be ashamed to have their name on and you should under no circumstances part with any money for. The only way it could have been any worse is if a representative from Sega had put an actual dead hedgehog in every box.

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Mr Biffo
23/6/2016 01:49:18 pm

Hahaha. God. You're a brave man. You don't mess with the Sonic fans...

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Sleepydays
23/6/2016 02:54:21 pm

Is it possible to resurrect Sonic in any meaningful way at this point? The chances of a truly amazing new game are slim to none at this point.

Beyond that: he appears to be firmly trapped in the moist paws of internet pervdom. Do we want him back, all suspiciously-stained and shivering?

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Spiney O'Sullivan
23/6/2016 07:07:53 pm

Short answer: no.

Long answer: there are two main reasons that Sonic just doesn't work any more. The first is that as an icon, he's the ultimate Poochie, focus-tested to be a perfect early 90s icon as a probably-unconscious mix of Mario, Mickey Mouse, and Bart Simpson (with a conscious dose of Michael Jackson thrown in). The world has moved past him the same way Bart Simpson stopped seeming like a rebel a decade or so ago.

Secondly, the gameplay. I watched a video on why Crash Bandicoot has ceased to be relevant, and it pointed out something interesting: Crash pushed the technical boundaries of the PS1, cleverly using geography to obscure the draw distance so that the game moved smoothly, never displaying more plus than were necessary. It's a masterpiece of pushing technical limitations. But Crash failed to make the jump to PS2 in part because the system jump destroyed the boundaries that made his games so impressive. Sonic is the exact same way. It pushed the Megadrive, and was truly incredible at the time. But come the next generation, smooth 2D scrolling wasn't just possibile easily, it was passé. Sonic was the best at doing something nobody cared about anymore, and worse still, his gameplay doesn't translate to 3D very well. He was hard enough to control skilfully in 2D, and 3D meant that more concessions had to be made. That said, I do think Generations nearly had the formula as good as it was possible to get before Sega destroyed it all for no reason.

So yeah, it's probably too late, but I'd love to be proven wrong. I really would.


As an aside, I quite like the Twitter account. His little jab at Mighty No 9 was unexpectedly spiteful, but fairly deserved, and harkened back to the abusive blue dickhead I remember from Sonic the Comic, whose main interaction with Tails was calling him "pixel-brain" for no real reason.

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Rakladtor III
23/6/2016 11:22:26 pm

Totally agree about the technical wow factor diminishing. I think as a mascot he still does ok since a young relative of mine and his pals were all massively into Sonic just a few years ago. I'd be interested to see how a VR Sonic might turn out

Spiney O'Sullivan
23/6/2016 11:53:27 pm

I suspect that the answer to that is "vomit, loss of balance and seizures".

Paul Jon
23/6/2016 03:57:28 pm

My copy of Sonic Jam on the Saturn has no music, just an eerie buzzing sound. It's pretty atmospheric, all told.

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Rakladtor III
23/6/2016 04:58:24 pm

How lazy Super Mario World's graphics looked once Sonic hit the scene. I sold my MD to fund a snes, but remained appreciative of Sega for raising the bar so high.

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Voodoo76
23/6/2016 09:49:54 pm

I made up a stolen mountain bike story for an insurance claim to fund a snes. I couldn't resist those pilot wings graphics!!

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Rakladtor III
23/6/2016 10:41:16 pm

if you'd claimed a stolen Rolls Royce it might have funded a real aeroplane lol

kelvingreen.blogspot.com link
23/6/2016 07:54:53 pm

The Sonic Advance series on the, er, Gameboy Advance is quite good, but the whole thing peaked with Sonic 2 for me. The sequel took the first game and improved on it, but everything after was either more of the same or took things in bizarre and unworkable directions.

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Rakladtor III
23/6/2016 09:27:45 pm

I went through Sonic 2 for the first time recently. Personally I found it slightly inferior to the first, bar the spin mechanic. That glitched to hell final Robotnik encounter had me furious at points

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Spiney O'Sullivan
23/6/2016 10:29:22 pm

Sonic Advance 1 is the closest thing to a "new" original Sonic game. Sonic Advance 2 was decent, but far too much of a "just hold right"-type Sonic game.

Sonic 4 can just do one, though. Absolute waste of everybody's time to the point that I just quit midway through episode 2.

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Christopher Wyatt
23/6/2016 09:27:15 pm

I had Sonic Jam; goes great with toast.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
23/6/2016 10:34:30 pm

Also thank you for having the courage to say what nobody has: Sonic CD isn't all that. The level design is a hideous mess compared to the tight design of the other 2D titles. Now that's a Sonic game worthy of 72%.

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Shoggz link
24/6/2016 12:08:00 am

For me, the original Sonic was my gaming equivalent of Star Wars.

It opened up a whole new world of interest (nay, obsession!) in a subject that previously I had been ambivalent about.

Now, personally, I disagree slightly with you Mr Biffo in that I felt Sonic 3 and Knuckles (yes, the lock on business) was the pinnacle of the series..

..and again, we have the Star Wars comparison. I am also odd, in that 'Return of the Jedi' was my favourite...

I also loved how you could pop Sonic 1 or 2 into it and get Knuckles in those games alongside other changes and additions. It just seemed like a cool use of technology to me!

I suppose I just loved the level design, sound effects and atmosphere the most in No.3, hence why it resonated with me the most.

I did buy the two Sonic Advnture games on the Dreamcast, but, in yet another Star Wars parallel, found what enjoyment I gleaned was really just from liking the characters and worlds, not the game design or mechanics. A bit like a certain set of prequels!

From there, I'm afraid I pretty much lost interest..

Here's hoping the series has its very own 'Force Awakens' return to glory!

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Spiney O'Sullivan
24/6/2016 01:13:28 am

Have you tried Sonic Generations? It's pretty much the perfect distillation of what they were trying to do with the 3D Sonic games.

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Random Reviewer
25/6/2016 09:30:49 pm

Agreed. Sonic 3 was sublime and Sonic and Knuckles was a great add-on (replaying the levels with Knuckles really did add an extra gameplay dimension) and a great game in it's own right. The music for Sonic 3 was pretty amazing too.

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