Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

At 18 years of age, this game was the oldest one in my backlog aside from a few Mega Man games. I just finished it up on a lazy Sunday morning, and I can say that I'm impressed. It came out in North America a month or so prior to Nintendo's Super Mario World, the definitive platformer of my childhood, but I feel as though its graphics engine is superior. That doesn't mean this is a better game, however; no 2D platformer is superior to Super Mario World, and there's nothing more to it. In fact, in many ways, Sonic the Hedgehog can't even measure up to it. Super Mario World had over 100 playable levels. Sonic has 18. Super Mario World had a save feature that is noticeably lacking in Sonic. When I first died in Sonic and had to start all over from the very beginning, I thought I was in for a long and frustrating experience. After all, who wants to pound through 18 levels in one sitting without dying more than twice? There aren't even passwords; you're literally given three lives and told, hey, go beat this game. Extra lives are few and far between as well. However, lo and behold, the Internet provided me with a solution. No, I'm not speaking of an emulator or a flash version of Sonic. We're talking cheat codes. A simple pressing of up, down, left, and then right while on the title screen brings up a level selection screen. Beautiful. Using this, I was able to beat the game without the nerve-wracking experience of seldom being allowed to die. Whenever I did, I could easily just start the game again from whatever level I had just been on. Now, a purist would tell me that I have not truly beaten the game, for to do so, I would need not to use a cheat code. But you know what? Fuck that guy. I've got a list of games 70-deep that need beating. Is it worth it for me to play the game for a week straight worrying about every single chasm that needs jumping? Of course not. I'd much rather have fun with a game than get pissed at it. That's why I rarely play things on the hardest difficulty setting when prizes aren't involved, unless I'm really good at said game. Look, beating 70 games is enough of a challenge; I don't need to impress anyone, least of all myself, by never taking the easier way out of a few of them. As far as the game itself goes, I must say, it was a lot of fun. It felt great to finally play through a true classic that I'd only ever really seen bits and pieces of before. If you've never tried the old-school Sonic games, I do heartily recommend them. There's nothing like them out there: a fast-paced platformer with semi-linear levels. It may have taken me 18 years, but I'm glad I finally got around to playing through this game.