Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit video game)
Sonic the Hedgehog | |
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Single-player |
Sonic the Hedgehog
The premise and story of the 8-bit Sonic are identical to that of the 16-bit game: as the
Reviewers acclaimed the 8-bit Sonic for its level variety, visuals, gameplay, and audio. Many believed that it compared favorably to its 16-bit counterpart, although some criticism was directed at its low difficulty and short length. Game journalists retrospectively considered it one of the best Game Gear and Master System games. The 8-bit Sonic has been rereleased through Sonic game compilations and Nintendo's Virtual Console. It received several sequels, beginning with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992. It was also Ancient's first game and the only Sonic game they developed.
Gameplay
The
Sonic travels through six
Development
In 1990, Sega released the Game Gear,[10] an 8-bit handheld game console designed to compete with Nintendo's Game Boy.[11] Around the same time, Sonic Team worked on Sonic the Hedgehog for the 16-bit Genesis and Sega wanted to increase consumer awareness of the Game Gear by producing a version of Sonic for the system.[12] 22-year old composer Yuzo Koshiro had recently started working with Sega, having been asked to compose the soundtrack for the 16-bit version of The Revenge of Shinobi (1989). After, he told a section chief he could develop games himself.[13] As a result, a general manager,[c] whom Koshiro met while working on The Revenge of Shinobi, asked him to start developing a Game Gear version of Sonic.[12][13] Koshiro founded Ancient to develop the game because Sega could not make contracts with individuals.[13] His sister Ayano Koshiro served as director and his mother Tomo Koshiro had a "behind the scenes" role,[13] while the first programmer he hired was Shinobu Hayashi. The 8-bit Sonic was created specifically for the Game Gear, but Sega also had Ancient develop a version for the Master System, which was selling well and had similar hardware.[12]
Porting the original game to the 8-bit hardware was impossible, so Ancient built their Sonic from scratch.[14] The team decided to make their version completely different from its 16-bit counterpart.[9] According to Koshiro, the game had three phases of development. In the first phase, Ancient developed the game with the 16-bit version in mind.[12] The second and third phases were largely Ancient's own ideas, with Sega supervising their work.[12] Koshiro thought reinventing Sonic for 8-bit hardware was challenging, as he did not work at Sega and had never developed a game before. However, Sega had faith in him because of his relationship to the company.[13] Koshiro composed the soundtrack and sought to retain the feel of the 16-bit version. He converted Masato Nakamura's 16-bit Sonic score to the 8-bit programmable sound generator to start, but ended up using only three of those tracks; the remainder of the music is Koshiro's work.[15]
Release history
While the Game Gear version was developed first,
The game has been rereleased in
Reception
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Mega Zone | 90% (GG)[26] |
Reviewers acclaimed the 8-bit Sonic.
Reviewers criticized the relatively low difficulty and short length, although Computer and Video Games (CVG) wrote these were also problems in the original[7] and Go! considered the game more challenging than its Genesis predecessor.[25] However, most found the problems did not detract from the experience;[6][7][23] CVG wrote that the game still offered the player plenty and was just as good as the Genesis version.[7]
Retrospective reviews for the game's rerelease on the Virtual Console were likewise positive.
Legacy
Some fans have independently developed new ports of the game to run natively on other platforms. In 2019, a fan remake of the game was released for
Notes
- ^ Japanese: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Hepburn: Sonikku za Hejjihoggu
- ^ Unlike the original game, Sonic cannot re-collect rings when hit.[4]
- ^ Koshiro only referred to the manager as Takami-san and said he oversaw the Genesis and Game Gear. According to video game journalist John Szczepaniak, he is likely referring to Tomio Takami, who created the Sega CD hardware.[12]
- ^ GamePro provided perfect scores for graphics and challenge, and scores of four out of five for sound, gameplay, and fun factor.[5]
- ^ GamePro provided perfect scores for graphics, sound, gameplay, and fun factor, and a score of four out of five for challenge.[24]
References
- ^ "On The Shelf". Games-X. No. 29. Europress Interactive. November 7, 1991. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ "On The Shelf". Games-X. No. 30. Europress Interactive. November 14, 1991. p. 5. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Thomas, Lucas M (August 4, 2008). "Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System Version) Review". IGN. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Angel, Earth (December 1991). "Sega Master ProReview: Sonic the Hedgehog" (PDF). GamePro. No. 29. p. 110. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 12, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sega Review: Sonic the Hedgehog" (PDF). Mean Machines. No. 15 (December 1991). November 28, 1991. pp. 136–138. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Rignall, Julian (November 15, 1991). "Review: Sonic the Hedgehog" (PDF). Computer and Video Games. No. 121 (December 1991). p. 34. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sonic the Hedgehog (instruction booklet). Sega. 1991. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Thorpe, Nick (March 22, 2014). "The History of Sonic on the Master System". Retro Gamer (179): 46–51.
- ISBN 3-0001-5359-4.
- ^ Buchanan, Levi (October 9, 2008). "Remember Game Gear?". IGN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-0992926007.
- ^ a b c d e f g Parish, Jeremy (June 19, 2017). "Yuzo Koshiro: Legendary game composer, family business owner". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
- ^ Towell, Justin (April 16, 2008). "Sonic's 2D classics re-reviewed". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^ Boecker, Thomas (February 2011). "Interview with Yuzo Koshiro". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ Kohler, Chris (May 16, 2017). "Collecting Sega Master System Games Is A Huge Pain In The Ass". Kotaku. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c Ronaghan, Neal (June 21, 2013). "Grinding Game Gears: An Overview of Sonic's Portable Origins". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
- ISBN 978-1926778969.
- ^ a b Baker, Chris (November 1, 2004). "GameSpy: Sonic Mega Collection Plus". GameSpy. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- ^ ACE (54): 87. March 1992. Archived(PDF) from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Mortis, Rigor (February 1992). "Game Gear ProReview: Sonic the Hedgehog" (PDF). GamePro. No. 31. p. 106. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Rand, Paul; Boone, Tim (January 1992). "Review: Sonic the Hedgehog" (PDF). Go! (3). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- Mega Zone. p. 31.
- ^ "Best Sega Game Gear games of all time". GamesRadar+. March 6, 2014. p. 5. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ "Top Ten Master System Games". Retro Gamer. February 11, 2014. Archived from the original on December 11, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ "Best Sega Master System games of all time". GamesRadar+. June 19, 2017. p. 5. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ Baxter, Daryl (September 4, 2021). "How fans have created the Sonic games you've always wanted". TechRadar. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ Lynch, Gerald (December 24, 2021). "A new Sonic the Hedgehog game quietly released this week... for the Commodore 64". TechRadar. Future plc. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
External links
- Sega of Japan Wii Virtual Console page (in Japanese)
- Sega of Japan 3DS Virtual Console page (in Japanese)