Those of you that have been watching me for
a while most likely know that I love Sonic Mega Collection. I still consider it the gold standard for
compilations; for 20 dollars you’d have access to most of the games that made Sonic
a household name, as well a few bonus games, special videos, high-resolution scans of cheesy
comic covers and instruction manuals, and an ethereal retro aesthetic that evokes a
powerful feeling of nostalgia. There’s a simple pleasure in flipping through
relics of Sonic’s past, and that has only become more apparent to me with time. Sonic Mega Collection is where I first immersed
myself in Sonic, and going back to it today always provides me with a comforting trip
back into my childhood. If it wasn’t already obvious…I didn’t
grow up with a Sega Genesis. By the time I was able to retain memories,
Sega had abandoned console development and began publishing games for other platforms. In that regard, the fact that my love of Sonic
truly began with a collection celebrating his history…is quite meta. I am celebrating a celebration of Sonic. But I think that is a huge testament to the
games included in the collection. I believe the original Sonic the Hedgehog
games are still some of the greatest platformers of all time, and they are the reason I was
once proud to call myself a Sonic fan. But that’s just it. These days, being a Sonic fan doesn’t bring
me the same feeling. In tone, gameplay, structure, writing, appearance,
and especially overall quality - Sonic the Hedgehog has become a wildly inconsistent
franchise. Any glimmer of hope that shines through soon
fades away. We’re at the point where the fans can’t
even agree on what is best for Sonic, due to the drastic shifts made in response to
each game creating factions within the fanbase, and with the consistent damage being done
to the franchise’s reputation - the image of Sonic the Hedgehog has been an absolute
mess for a long time. Because of all this, it’s almost hard to
believe that at one point Sonic was capable of dethroning Mario. There was a time in which Sonic was revered
around the world for everything that now divides its fans and critics. Its gameplay was ingenious and the games remain
incredibly rewarding and unique experiences that you can’t have anywhere else. It was able to convey a lot within the limitations
of its hardware, and this is true for its graphics, audio, personality, atmosphere and
even its story. There is a simplistic joy in revisiting classic
Sonic, and it’s something that I cherish amidst the chaos that has come about as a
result of Sonic Team trying to maintain the franchise’s colossal legacy. The name "Sonic Team” used to refer to a
talented team of Sega developers that formed an alliance and did the impossible. They worked together to flesh out the core
of Sonic the Hedgehog, saw continued acclaim after expanding their team and creating its
sequels, reunited in Japan to create an all-new IP and make the “Sonic Team” name official,
and successfully transitioned the Sonic series into 3D before going their separate ways. After that, Sonic Team was left without its
founders to guide them - resulting in the hit-and-miss output that we’ve seen since. Over that time period, there have been games
that I absolutely love and elements of games that I absolutely love, which are the reasons
I don’t doubt that there’s still passion left at that studio. But even Sega themselves have admitted to
“betraying” fans. Thankfully, things are looking up with Sonic
Frontiers. It is shaping up to be a complete reinvention
of what a Sonic game should be in the modern day, and that may be for the best. But if we have learned anything, it’s that
we can’t predict the future. And so - here I am. Playing these old Sonic games once again. For this video, I wanted to walk you through
my attachment to the classic era of Sonic. Everything that made me fall in love with
Sonic in the first place, how its creators continued to build on such an incredible foundation,
and what its eventual conclusion with Sonic Adventure meant for the franchise’s future. Ultimately, I want to show you why I come
back to Sonic Mega Collection when the going gets tough. I’m Liam Triforce and this is why I love
classic Sonic. Super Mario World was and still is the quintessential
2D platformer. It took the tried and true gameplay loop of
Mario, built upon the exploration and secret hunting established in Super Mario Bros. 3,
and created one hell of an engaging, rewarding and memorable platformer. You could progress from level to level, or
find all of those secret exits by using all of your abilities effectively. However you chose to play Super Mario World
would reward you with levels that perfectly challenge your skill level. There’s a lot more to be said about this
game, so in short - it’s awesome, and the contemporary response back then from critics
and audiences seemed to echo this sentiment. But even with some of Nintendo’s finest
work headlining the Super Nintendo in 1991…the Sega Genesis outsold it two to one that year
- all thanks to a speedy blue hedgehog. Sonic was born out of a corporate desire for
Sega to rival Nintendo in market share, with them even holding an internal contest - open
to anyone at the company - to see if someone would cough up a competent mascot. Sorry, Alex Kidd. You weren’t gonna cut it. But despite these corporate desires, there
were three bright young developers within Sega that made sure brilliant game design
took agency over this mascot being a shallow marketing ploy. First there was Yuji Naka, a talented programmer
looking for his next project. He had a desire to create a fast-paced action-platformer
for two reasons: The first being his recently completed work porting Ghouls n’ Ghosts
to the Sega Genesis, in which the protagonist would traverse across seamless landscapes
with hills and slopes. The second reason was Super Mario Bros. Obviously,
it was the first of its kind, but Naka was enamoured with its nuances. World 1-1 is perhaps the most famous case
of teaching a player through gameplay. The Goomba walking toward you, the blocks
above your head, the Super Mushroom, the importance of holding the B button - everything is conveyed
in an effort to eventually make players feel like they “own the game”. The part that Naka fixated on was the absence
of a save feature, which meant players would constantly have to replay the first level
and as a result - they’d keep getting better at it. They’d keep beating it faster and faster
using well-timed jumps and that famous shortcut. This is actually a huge part of what makes
Super Mario Bros. such a well-crafted game. Take World 4-1 for example. This Lakitu follows you throughout the entire
level, but if you maintain your speed throughout the level’s duration, the spinies it throws
will never touch you. This does not come easy, though. With deadly pits and tall Piranha Plant pipes
to clear, maintaining this momentum means clearing some tight jumps at full speed. Early in the level, a group of coins are arranged
in the exact arc of a full-speed jump, which teaches you that you can just barely clear
each piranha plant without getting hit. Naka wanted to build upon this sense of speed
you could earn in Super Mario Bros. and the levels in Ghouls n’ Ghosts. His initial ideas led to players controlling
a rabbit that threw objects with its ears, but the stop-and-go nature of this mechanic
led to it being scrapped. In order to realize his vision for this project
- he’d need some help. Coincidentally, Naoto Ohshima was also looking
to create Sega’s next big game. He wanted to create a game starring a fast
character that could run through loops, and make sure that the character would leave an
impact. Ohshima and Naka had previously worked together
on Phantasy Star, and Ohshima’s concept of running through loops fit perfectly with
the flowing landscapes and sense of speed that inspired Naka in the first place. Shortly after, Hirokazu Yasuhara was invited
to help the team with overall game and level design. With Naka and Yasuhara coming up with ideas,
Ohshima illustrating how they would look, and Naka implementing them - these three made
up the original “Sonic Team.” From here, the game began to truly take shape. Naka wanted the game to only use a single
button alongside the D-Pad, so Yasuhara suggested simply being able to jump on enemies. Naka recalled a mechanic he came up with in
high school wherein a character would somersault into enemies to defeat them. Yasuhara wanted the game’s progression to
feel like an amusement park ride, with each zone representing a new concept in layout
and in its mechanics. Ohshima took these ideas into consideration
when designing a new character for the game, eventually settling on a spiky blue hedgehog
with attitude. He wanted this character to fight for what
he believed in and refuse to take orders, which was evocative of 90’s sensibilities
and would eventually play a crucial role in marketing. The three of them collaborated on what worked
best, until finally - Sonic the Hedgehog was born. They had finally created a platformer that
was entirely built around speed. Land formations like loops and ramps demonstrated
Naka’s programming skills. The bounce and somersault attacks were beautifully
implemented and complimented the game’s flow of action; after a jump and depending
on how long Sonic is falling for before landing on an enemy, players could hold the button
while landing on the enemy to maintain their velocity - enabling some incredible traversal
tech throughout stages. The somersault is activated by holding down
during a run, and if you roll down any slope or curved surface, you’ll gain speed. Knowing how to use the roll effectively can
allow you to blitz through portions of a stage and plow through any enemies that stand in
your way. While sometimes levels could enable players
to gain speed inherently with accessible level design, Naka and Yasuhara also made sure that
problem-solving and repeat playthroughs would be required to see levels in a new light - echoing
back to the education and replayability on display in Mario’s design. Building enough speed with the use of the
terrain and knowledge of your abilities could lead to the player launching Sonic across
the level - a reward for the speed they’ve accrued. At last, they had their game. All that was left was to make sure it would
be a hit. With a strong and memorable marketing campaign,
hugely successful tests with focus groups and a pack-in deal with the Sega Genesis,
this new take on the classic platforming genre - paired with a cool, identifiable new character
- was enough to overtake Nintendo in market share by the end of the holiday season in
1991. The Sonic team was successful, and the rest
is history. There are other elements of this game’s
development that I find fascinating or otherwise really charming. Ohshima went through numerous design concepts
for the star of their game. Numerous. There would be lengthy debates about what
would work best for a character that rolls into things. Around this time, Ohshima had booked a trip
to New York City, so he decided to take the opportunity to ask locals which designs they
liked best. There he was, sitting in Central Park with
drawings of three cartoon characters next to him. These characters were a dog, a round, egg-shaped
looking guy, and an early design of our spiky blue hero. He asked people walking by which characters
they liked most, and everyone seemed to agree that the hedgehog was their favourite, followed
by the egg-shaped guy. Thus - Sonic and Dr. Eggman got their start. Cute story, I think. Another forgotten detail I always enjoyed
was the Roger Rabbit-esque relationship Sonic almost had with a human character named Madonna. Both designs are just adorable next to each
other because they don’t have that Warner Bros. comical grotesqueness. Ohshima’s earliest Sonic designs were super
cute; perhaps even too cute to be depicted as “cool”. Ultimately, I think cutting Madonna out was
for the best because her existence would’ve betrayed Sonic’s nature as a character. He goes his own way and fights for what he
thinks is right; somehow I don’t think he’d be interested in romance. Doing away with the damsel in distress trope
made a lot of sense. Anyway, I could go on about the details that
shaped Sonic, but in the long run - it was the game that made him a star. It’s been over 30 years since Sonic made
his debut, but it’s amazing how well games from the 16-bit era have held up. Along with Super Mario World, The Legend of
Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid have both stood the test of time and remain
some of the best games of their kind. As for Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis? Well, let’s start with the stuff that’s
still awesome. I think we all inherently understand why Sonic
is fun to control, and I outlined some of that while discussing the game’s development. It’s all about the dopamine that the engine
is capable of producing. Rolling down inclines to gain speed, bouncing
off of badniks and maintaining your momentum, ramping off of stuff - it’s incredible. The engine Yuji Naka developed is the stuff
dreams are made of. But simply letting players run wild with it
would not make for an engaging overall experience. Level design is just as important to Sonic
as speed. One cannot thrive without the other. And I can’t think of a better level to demonstrate
this than Green Hill Zone. Green Hill was redesigned from scratch several
times over the course of Sonic’s development. Naka wanted to make sure the levels in Sonic
felt wide and easy to navigate so that players wouldn’t get lost. If the layout of a level was confusing in
Sonic, gaining speed would take a backseat to endless navigation, which would betray
the heart of the game he was trying to make. On top of that, Green Hill Zone had to accomplish
a similar feat to the original Super Mario Bros., wherein the level could both be an
effective tutorial and a rewarding experience for those that had mastered the game. In the end, I think their work paid off. Green HIll Zone is a pretty fantastic introduction
to the game. Immediately, it establishes a captivating
atmosphere with its vibrant, rolling hills, gorgeous backgrounds, and Masato Nakamura’s
cinematic opening piece inviting you in. At the time, the game’s visuals were something
of a technical marvel. The Super Nintendo was capable of displaying
32,768 different possible colours, whereas the Genesis could only do 512. But Sonic the Hedgehog demonstrated that it
wasn’t about the amount of colours - it was about what you did with them. Sure, the aesthetic of Green Hill would become
tiresome as many future Sonic games would call back to it, but man do I love the sprite
work and colour coordination of the Genesis Sonic games. Putting aesthetics aside - let’s dive into
what makes Green Hill so special in action. It takes some crucial cues from World 1-1
by conveying a lot to new and experienced players through game design. Let’s start with rings. You have a ring counter, and rings are shiny,
so you can put two and two together. You accidentally let yourself get hit by an
enemy, and you drop all your rings. The more you have, the more you drop when
you get hit - which gives you more of a chance to recoup your losses. As long as you have one ring - you don't die. You know the drill. This is a unique evolution of the Mushroom
from Mario, and it runs deeper. Like Mario, collecting 100 rings will net
you an extra life, but holding on to at least 50 of them as you cross the goalpost will
make a giant ring appear - leading you to a Special Stage for a chance at a Chaos Emerald. The more you play, the more rings you’re
able to find. The more you memorize hazards in a level,
the better you get at being able to avoid them - all of this meaning you hold onto more
rings for longer. Not only is holding onto large amounts of
rings tangibly rewarding, but it’s also psychologically satisfying seeing that counter
go up because you’re able to avoid damage and collect rings in the first place. In Mario, the coin counter rolls over when
you hit 100 and it doesn’t reset at the beginning of every level, so it isn’t nearly
as gratifying to rack up the big numbers. In Sonic, the process of trying to maintain
high ring counts is representative of how much you are improving. Improvement is the name of the game with Sonic,
and in order to break that down - we need to look at Green Hill’s layout. First, let’s talk about how you are educated
on core concepts. If we assume that most players are just gonna
want to go fast, Act 1 enables that pretty well. You can run, jump, roll and carry your momentum
with minimal challenge. The branching paths are easy to understand
and the game will show the player what speed can do for them with that famous ramp up into
a group of rings. Act 2 attempts to make the player more cautious
when moving forward by using spikes and a perilous platforming section, before Act 3
comes along and says “Ok, hotshot - you can’t just hold forward without facing the
consequences.” This is done through spikes, a plethora of
enemies, and springs that send you flying backward. This is essential in managing the game’s
difficulty progression and pacing, as it gives you a sampling of the balance you can expect
them to strike in level design. The first fight with Eggman’s wrecking ball
goes against your natural jumping patterns and forces you to learn new patterns on the
fly, which is something you’ll need to get used to for each new Eggman battle. Going back to Act 2, this is where they start
to intentionally convey hidden goodies. For starters, one of the slopes will shoot
Sonic directly into an invincibility monitor, which makes dealing with the enemies in the
platforming section a breeze. This also subconsciously informs the player
of hidden objects in the trees. Toward the end of the act, you can catch a
glimpse of a spring next to a ring monitor, and jumping on it leads you to yet another
ring formation. This attentiveness also pays off with an invincibility
monitor at the beginning of Act 3. So that’s one thing, but there’s also
something else at play in Act 2. While zooming through this loop, you’ll
no doubt spot an extra life monitor on top. Well, how the heck do you get that? As it turns out, every single loop in Green
Hill has a monitor on top. Sometimes you can break them by finding alternate
paths, and other times you can use the environment to your advantage at high speeds. The shield on top of that first loop in Act
1 can be easily broken either by taking the top route with some patient jumping or by
simply riding the nearby floating platform up. This is a small example, though. Let’s say you fall into the lower half of
Act 1 by accident and decide to jump over the spikes. It’s a more perilous route, but waiting
for you at the end are 30 rings and an invincibility monitor. This communicates the risk versus reward factor
when taking the more difficult routes, which persists through Act 2. If you decide to make a tight jump over the
first set of spikes - bam. 20 rings and a shield. Ring insurance. You roll through the wall, and you find a
pair of speed shoes. If you manage to move fast enough, you can
finally make the jump and reach the extra life on top of the loop. The best part? That’s not the only way to grab it! You can also use the spring at the end of
the lower route as a reward for getting past all of the hazards. It all depends on how you decide to view the
levels based on your abilities - how you decide to play the game. You could take the top route in Act 3 to nab
the extra life atop the loop, or you could use the spring nearby to launch yourself up
to it. You could take the top route in Act 3 to avoid
the perilous hazards in the bottom route, or you could brave the worst of them and jump
beyond the spike pit at the end and into the waterfall to net yourself 50 rings and an
extra life. The balance between collecting rings and clearing
levels at breakneck speeds is reflected in the final tally at the end of the level, with
faster times and higher ring counts rewarding you accordingly. At this point in an average playthrough of
Sonic the Hedgehog, I am able to rack up lives in Green Hill Zone and prepare myself for
what’s to come. I’ve memorized most of the act layouts,
and that includes pathways, item boxes, and enemy placements, meaning I can collect a
ton of rings, bounce off of enemies successively to carry my velocity and multiply my score,
time my jumps accordingly to keep my speed going - all in order to maximize my ring and
time bonuses. The balancing act in achieving those bonuses
is precisely what makes Sonic so much fun to play. Not only does it balance raw speed with a
healthy dose of exploration beautifully, but it also enables players to play with the physics
engine in creative ways to find shortcuts, secrets, and more. Using momentum to blitz past the more difficult
platforming sections in Marble Zone. Flying through loops and bouncing off of springs
in Star Light Zone to find alternate pathways and secrets. Jumping off of a slope at the beginning of
Spring Yard Zone, Act 1 to find an extra life and speed shoes lying in wait, enabling you
to fly along the top route of the level and bypass some of the difficult portions with
some careful platforming. By timing my rolls in Spring Yard Zone once
again, I can get into a pattern with the rotating mines and zoom through each halfpipe without
having to sluggishly jump between them and risk losing my rings. It’s all a spectacle that I’ve been rewarded
with through honing my skills. And the best part about all of this? The game is incredibly easy to pick up. You run, you jump, you roll. A simplistic control scheme that is given
depth thanks to a balance between the speed you can gain and how the level plays with
that speed. No matter how many years pass and no matter
how old I get - I will always have respect for how they managed to make simply playing
as Sonic the Hedgehog endless amounts of fun. To say Green Hill Zone is an effective first
level would be putting it lightly. The sensibilities it establishes in the player
attempt to inform their decisions throughout the game, and based on how I’ve learned
how to play - I’d say it paid off. Green Hill Zone is the best level in Sonic
the Hedgehog. …Which is why the other levels don’t really
live up to it. There was a lot of back and forth between
the core team on how the levels in Sonic should be laid out. They valued this experience, but the end result
is a rollercoaster in terms of pacing and quality. Remember - Yasuhara wanted to make this game
feel like an amusement park ride as you go from start to finish, and in a cynical sense
- the game definitely evokes that feeling. One moment you’re zooming through Green
Hill, the next you’re slowly waiting for platforms to move in Marble Zone. Then, you’re launching yourself around Spring
Yard Zone, rolling through a half-pipe and bouncing off of enemies at high speeds, until
you hit Labyrinth Zone in which you have to slowly trudge through bodies of water. Star Light Zone liberates you from this watery
prison, giving you some high speeds through loops and slopes, while also keeping you on
your toes with some of the most dangerous hazards in the game. Scrap Brain Zone has some intriguing level
concepts like the spinning wheels that can launch Sonic, but it also has a few obnoxious
elements, too. Overall, I don’t think they could consistently
find a balance between speed and platforming like they could with Green Hill Zone. Let me elaborate. The intent behind Marble Zone makes a lot
of sense to me. It keeps the player in check if they previously
blitzed through Green Hill Zone and skipped a lot of the depth it had to offer. Some of the platforming challenges in Marble
Zone harken back to Acts 2 and 3 of Green Hill as well, which reflect that level preparing
you for what’s to come. However, the level tends to slow to a crawl
no matter how many tricks you’ve learned or how many shortcuts you can find. There are level elements that will have you
stand completely still or otherwise wait for platforms to move. Considering Sonic is a game about constant
movement in one way or another - usually at a brisk pace - this feels like the antithesis
to that. Thankfully, Spring Yard Zone can be a lot
of fun as I’ve touched upon earlier. Its overall bounciness and challenging enemy
and hazard placement make it a breath of fresh air after slogging through Marble Zone. In Act 3, there’s a cool jump you can perform
while rolling down the first slope to bypass a section right away. I always loved figuring that one out. Unfortunately, the curse of Marble Zone seems
to linger throughout a lot of Sonic’s level design from here. Spring Yard suffers from this a bit with its
slow moving block patterns; even if there are usually ways to avoid them, a first playthrough
will most likely lead to players dealing with them anyway. On top of that, this level is a bit TOO punishing
with its beginner’s traps. The spinning mines that go underneath the
level in tight corridors are just evil. Speaking of evil, Spring Yard Zone is immediately
followed by Labyrinth Zone. Designing a level around Sonic’s greatest
weakness isn’t inherently a terrible idea - it’s the execution that ruins it. We all know the pain. Sluggishly jumping around underwater trying
to avoid hazards and getting crushed - all while having to worry about your oxygen. There is some exploration here, but very little
speed. The water is an unavoidable problem that you
must face, and I think we all have some shared trauma here. Personally, my trauma is linked to the boss
section of Act 3. If you die here, you will not have access
to a single ring until you climb to the top. You can grab a shield, but that’s it. You have to avoid all of these obstacles and
outrun the water (which makes you slower once you’ve submerged), all without getting hit
by anything. At the end of the zone. You’d better not get a Game Over! It’s stuff like this that makes me understanding
of those that hate this game. I have no idea what the team was going for
here. I enjoy the concepts of managing oxygen and
finding ways to rise above the water, but this was not the way to go about implementing
them. In contrast, Star Light Zone feels like a
reward for climbing out of Labyrinth Zone. It is full of awesome design elements for
gaining speed, and it feels like a much more suitable test of your abilities up to this
point. And although Scrap Brain Zone has elements
that are reminiscent of the worst of the previous levels like this slow bit in Act 1, and this
repetitive section in Act 2 with the Ball Hogs, as well as obnoxious design elements
like the electricity and disappearing platforms - I genuinely think it has some great ideas
like the spinning wheels that launch you if you roll on them, or the obstacles that hang
out by the treadmills. But then the game deliberately sends you BACK
to Labyrinth Zone for Scrap Brain, Act 3 in the longest underwater labyrinth yet. So yeah, overall - Sonic the Hedgehog certainly
is a rollercoaster…but not in the way Yasuhara and the team intended. While attempting to balance speed and platforming,
it feels as though they isolated the two of them and alternated between them with each
level. None of the levels come close to touching
the brilliance of Green Hill. I think the game offers glimpses into what
can happen when the game engine and level designs intersect - as made apparent in Green
Hill Zone - but this isn’t always the case. But this video is about why I love classic
Sonic. I’ve gone on about how beautiful this game
can get. Green Hill was an incredible achievement with
its rewarding exploration and the sense of speed that was achievable, the game engine
is capable of exhilarating gameplay when complimented by brilliant level design - there was no reason
to think that it wouldn’t get any better from there. If they were to unify these concepts consistently,
build on the foundation of exploration and speed, create some exciting and memorable
setpieces, and expand on the art and settings in which the game takes place - we could have
one of the best platformers of all time on our hands. In 1992, that game would finally come to be. However, the original Sonic Team couldn’t
have done it by themselves. Yuji Naka quit Sega after finishing Sonic
the Hedgehog due to issues with management. At the same time, Mark Cerny had recently
formed the Sega Technical Institute in the United States. You may know him for being the lead designer
of the PlayStation 4 and 5, and for being a key player in the release of Crash Bandicoot
and Spyro the Dragon at Universal Interactive Studios. Cerny proved to be the catalyst for the development
of Sonic’s follow-up. His vision for STI was to combine American
and Japanese design philosophies, and while in Japan recruiting developers for his new
studio - he heard about Naka’s departure from Sega. Cerny visited him at his apartment and listened
to why he left. Arguments over his salary, the credit he received
for the final product, and the time and effort it took to finish it in the first place. Cerny promised him more money and creative
control, to which Naka agreed. Cerny had also secured Yasuhara, meaning two
of the three original Sonic Team members were ready to go. Unfortunately, Naoto Ohshima chose to stay
behind in Japan, and he’d end up working on a separate Sonic game. More on that later. STI worked on other projects while waiting
for the arrival of Naka, Yasuhara and other Japanese developers, but when the time was
right - Cerny would pitch a Sonic the Hedgehog sequel to Sega. Eventually - that day came. He pitched the game for a holiday 1992 release,
and Sega…said no. Apparently, it was “much too soon” for
a sequel to Sonic. So members of STI were twiddling their thumbs
for two months, until Sega suddenly reversed that decision and said “oops, yeah, please
make that game.” By the time the team had received this news,
it meant they only had roughly nine months to complete the game, and they just BARELY
met that deadline in the end. But it proved to be just enough time for the
team to pour their hearts and souls into it. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was a team
effort, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a testament to that. With a fusion of American and Japanese creative
and design philosophies, STI got to work creating the ultimate follow-up to Sonic the Hedgehog. Yuji Naka wanted to implement a two-player
mode this time around after being unable to do so in the first game, and Yasuhara felt
that the second player could also run alongside Sonic in the main game so that siblings could
play together. An internal contest was held to see who could
come up with the best sidekick to Sonic, much like the original contest that gave birth
to Sonic himself. In the end, the winner was character and level
artist Yasushi Yamaguchi with his two-tailed fox. He wanted to name him “Miles Prower,”
a corny play on the term “miles per hour,” but everyone else felt that a better name
for the little guy was simply “Tails.” He did sneak in references to the original
name across Sonic 2, ultimately making both names official. I love Tails. In some regard, I have more of a fondness
for him than I do Luigi. Let me explain - for many years, Luigi existed
as nothing more than a palette swap of Mario. The occasional spin-off games would attempt
to flesh him out, but nothing really stuck. By the time the Nintendo 64 came out, Luigi
wasn’t even sharing the spotlight with Mario anymore. It wouldn’t be until Luigi’s Mansion - 16
years after his appearance in Super Mario Bros. - that a charmingly timid and kind-hearted
personality would be established for him. His characterization in the Luigi’s Mansion
games is top-notch, and a huge reason why I became so attached to him. But this was a retroactive decision. Tails was killing it from the get-go. Despite being younger and barely able to keep
up with Sonic, he’s a genius for his age. He designed a plane for him and Sonic to storm
the Death Egg, and he saves Sonic with the plane after he falls out of the sky at the
end of the game. At least, in the normal ending. I also think his design is adorable through
and through, and it serves a purpose. With his fur being orange, it perfectly compliments
Sonic’s blue, and his overall reserved personality is a nice contrast to Sonic’s “way past
cool” vibe. These days, I tend to turn Tails off in the
options menu because he can put you in danger during boss battles and cost you rings in
the special stages, but sometimes I leave him on as a reminder of what he used to represent. Tails was intentionally implemented so that
younger siblings could feel as though they were on the adventure with their older sibling. They can fumble about and be of great help
in boss battles and special stages, but they aren’t going to be accomplishing much in
zones. Growing up, my brother used to play along
as best he could with a second controller, and seeing Tails help Sonic during the final
encounter with the Death Egg was a pretty powerful moment for him. I get a little emotional thinking about those
days when I was just a kid that loved Sonic, and he just wanted to be a part of that. Tails was an incredibly identifiable sidekick
back then, and they would continue to flesh him out in future games. In Sonic 3, he could pick Sonic up and carry
him as he flies around, and his narrative in Sonic Adventure focuses on him learning
how to be independent from Sonic when he needs to do things by himself. As Tails grew, the younger siblings grew with
him, and even though I was in Sonic’s position back in the day - even I took notice of how
lovable and identifiable Tails was for those in his shoes. Tails wasn’t the only brilliant idea to
come out of STI. Both the American and Japanese staff were
brimming with ideas for levels and mechanics. The team wanted to absolutely fill this game
with levels, and while the final product certainly features a plethora of unique level themes
- a handful of ideas had to be cut, and multiple artists (mostly the American ones) didn’t
have a chance for their art to make it into the final game. All of the levels designed by Brenda Ross
- a Wood Zone, a Winter Zone and a Desert Zone - were scrapped completely. Many of Tom Payne’s sprites went unused,
and his art for the scrapped Genocide City Zone would only see the light of day in the
spinoff game Sonic Spinball. (As an aside, that name would be changed as
the Japanese team member that named it didn’t quite have a grasp on what that word meant. I would say the name change was probably for
the best.) The American artists getting their work cut
was representative of a cultural divide that persisted throughout Sonic 2’s development. Mark Cerny’s vision for unified design philosophies
did not come without hiccups. Most meetings for the game were conducted
in Japanese, and although the meetings were led by Cerny himself - the Americans were
left a bit lost. The American and Japanese staff also had critically
different philosophies on work in general; while the Americans were used to the typical
9-5 working hours, the Japanese devs would work through the night due to their acclimation
to crunch. So although there were difficulties in unifying
the team, and there was some debate over why exactly the American art was usually first
on the chopping block - truth be told, plenty of things were cut from Sonic 2 for a number
of reasons, as its ambition could not be realized in the time allotted to them. For example, Yasuhara once outlined a time
travel idea for the game, and the large amount of stages they initially wanted to feature
would’ve presented a cohesive progression in that narrative. You’d start in the present, head to the
future, come back to a present day now in ruin from Eggman’s devices, and then you’d
head back to ancient times in order to fix things. This was a rough, unfinished concept, but
it helped guide the eventual look of the stages in Sonic 2. Remnants of this concept do appear in the
final game, though, as Hill Top Zone features dinosaurs and an active volcano, while Chemical
Plant Zone is no doubt a reflection of the damage Eggman had done to the environment. Overall, the concepts the team managed to
come up with are enthralling, and it’s a shame that not everything could be fully realized. But without a doubt, the most infamous scrapped
element from Sonic 2’s development was unquestionably the Hidden Palace Zone. Featuring art by future Spyro the Dragon and
Ratchet & Clank artist Craig Stitt, this elusive zone was heavily featured in promotional materials
- even being partially playable in leaked prototypes. The incredible use of colour in the material
we do have access to makes me wish we could have seen this in the final game. I love the way the bridge lights up as Sonic
walks over it. I see a lot of the influence that this level
eventually had on Stitt’s work for Spyro, with the sparkling, gem-like appearance and
strong use of ethereal colour coordination. The level’s purpose was even more intriguing,
though. After collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds,
the player would be warped to the zone and they’d have to navigate it in order to unlock
Super Sonic. Now, we’ll talk about the importance of
Super Sonic later, but just the idea that Hidden Palace is guarding such incredible
power and it’s a secret that YOU unearth through the demonstration of your skills…it
just sounds so awesome. But the only remnant of the level accessible
by normal means is the music associated with it via the sound test. Truly a shame to have lost out on this place. If it wasn’t already obvious, I am fascinated
by the development of these games. This is true for other games I love, too - Zelda,
Mario, Metroid, and especially anything by Valve. But there is an aura of intrigue surrounding
this era of Sonic that we haven’t seen since. Perhaps this is due to the absence of the
internet in the 90’s, so fans usually have to go digging for information surrounding
games from this era, but I also think it’s because I really admire the work that went
into solidifying these games as classics. Back then, these people were just a group
of developers trying to make it happen. It’s a passion that I will always respect,
and it’s one that I think has been passed onto the generations of Sonic fans that have
played their games. And in the end - when the game had finally
been released - the team celebrated together, finally being able to put aside their differences
and be proud of the work they’d done. The game shattered sales records and cemented
Sonic as a cultural phenomenon. Oh, and as for the game itself? It’s one of my all-time favourites. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is such a dramatic improvement
that it nearly renders the original game obsolete. Sonic’s speed cap has been lifted, meaning
that he can actually outrun the screen if he’s moving fast enough. To encourage high speeds, the levels usually
have much less vertical exploration, instead focusing on branching routes that occasionally
intersect. It’s all about giving the player options
in exploration without sacrificing speed. Emerald Hill Zone can balance fast-moving
set pieces and tricky obstacles on all of its potential routes without having to slow
the player down. It balances cork-screws, spike traps, bouncing
on springs, disruptive enemy patterns and sequential loop-de-loops beautifully. Aquatic Ruin’s two main routes both offer
completely different experiences, with the top route rewarding those skilled enough to
avoid the water. Even if you end up in the water, it’s clear
the designers learned from the mistakes made with Labyrinth Zone, because they still enable
you to go fast underwater. You can create plenty of opportunities for
yourself to just zoom on by, thanks to the flat route design and the springs that can
give you a boost. The possibility of gaining speed in the lower
route also makes managing oxygen a much fairer prospect than it ever was before. Mystic Cave Zone is designed to be claustrophobic
and filled with traps, while also giving players the freedom to play with slopes to find alternate
paths and whatnot. Despite the amount of stuff they’ve crammed
into this place, going fast is simply a matter of knowing when to jump, when to roll, and
when to use the springs, as always. Just from looking at the levels I’m discussing,
I’m sure you can agree - nearly all of the levels in this game strike a perfect balance
on speed and exploration without significantly altering the pacing, and almost all of them
have their own identity through art direction and unique level design concepts. On top of that, almost all of them only have
two acts instead of three, so it feels like there’s never a quiet moment. You’re always on the move, and you’re
always experiencing something new. Casino Night Zone places Sonic in a series
of pinball machines, and its plethora of half-pipes and opportunities for major air all harken
back to the best examples of Sonic 1’s physics engine. Oil Ocean Zone makes it a challenge to stay
on the top routes away from the oil, and even if you manage to stay up there - it isn’t
always easy to maintain your rings. Even Hill Top Zone - despite just seeming
like a blue reskin of Emerald Hill with lava - knows how to keep players moving. On multiple occasions, the terrain will shift
or lava will rise, forcing players to do their platforming as quickly as possible. But at the same time, you can also branch
off during these segments and be rewarded for it with rings, a shield or an invincibility
monitor. Along with the streamlined level design, the
Spin Dash was implemented to help strike that balance between going fast and looking around. By holding down and mashing a button, you
can charge up a burst of speed. This is a godsend for shooting Sonic up sloped
surfaces and ramming through enemies, and jumping OUT of a Spin Dash can allow you to
reach places that you might not be able to reach normally. While it doesn’t serve as a replacement
for building up momentum while rolling in a halfpipe or down a slope, and its addition
does take away some of the depth that Sonic 1 had with its momentum-based gameplay loop,
it makes exploring levels and overall navigation way more fun - which benefits the overall
design of Sonic 2. Now, Sonic 2 is a much more open-ended game
than Sonic 1. We’re talking Green Hill Zone level stuff
consistently without sacrificing speed. It has routes that deliver a lightning-fast
platforming experience for those just getting into the game, routes that require you to
think on your feet as demonstrated in places like Oil Ocean, Mystic Cave or Aquatic Ruin,
but it also rewards those looking for something more with the addition of the legendary Super
Sonic. While I may have given the impression earlier
that Emerald Hill was just designed to encourage high-speed platforming in all of its routes
- it is also one of the greatest tutorials for how careful exploration can reward you
in Sonic 2. Aside from the hidden extra lives and other
optional goodies you can find by getting creative (or by learning more about the game with each
playthrough), there’s also these checkpoints. While they seem to just be respawn points
for when you die, they can also serve as this game’s Giant Rings. Remember how you needed 50 rings at the end
of an act to access a Special Stage in Sonic 1? Well, if you cross a checkpoint with 50 rings,
a dancing Star Circle will appear, and you can jump into it to access one of this game’s
Special Stages. Let’s talk about these Special Stages for
a moment. You collect rings and avoid mines in a halfpipe. It’s a common trope among Sonic games now,
but Sonic 2’s were the first, and I still think they’re awesome. They’re not designed to be blown through
- they’re tough, and require a lot of memorization to get right. Practice will help you get through them. As soon as I learned that you can jump to
alternate between the sides of the halfpipe, I stopped trying to swerve through bombs. There are times where the rings are lined
up for you to do that, but other times it’s painfully obvious what pattern they want you
to get into. In hindsight, that is. These special stages can get pretty difficult,
but the more you play, the better you get, much like the main game. These are a far cry from the special stages
in Sonic 1. No matter how good I got at those stages,
there’s only so much you can do when you don’t always have full control over your
actions. That, and they got a little too nauseating
for me. In addition, you could only access them at
the end of Acts 1 and 2 for the first five zones. This means you only had 10 attempts at the
six Chaos Emeralds, and all for a slightly different ending. In Sonic 2, there are 62 checkpoints. That’s six times as many attempts at the
Chaos Emeralds - some of them being placed along the main path as a reward for hanging
onto your rings, and the rest of them being hidden away as a reward for thinking outside
of the box. Even if there are seven emeralds in this game,
the sheer amount of attempts you have, the difficulty of the stages themselves, the improvement
that they inspire, and the reward that you are granted for clearing them all make collecting
the emeralds a tremendously exciting endeavour to take on. Now, no matter the result of a Special Stage,
all of the rings in the zone you’re in will respawn as soon as you are transported back. This means that you could explore as much
as you like within the time limit, collect some more rings, and find another checkpoint
over and over again. There are seven Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 2. Guess how many checkpoints there are in Emerald
Hill? Three in Act 1, and five in Act 2. Eight in total. Know what this means? If you have completely mastered Sonic 2, you
can unlock Super Sonic before you even set foot in level two. This is why there are checkpoints in oddball
places across Emerald Hill. I mean, why else would there be a checkpoint
up on this floating platform with no enemies in sight? Or on top of a loop a la Sonic 1? Once I had taken the time to look around Emerald
Hill Zone like I did with Green Hill, I began to see all of my favourite zones in an entirely
new light. Take Chemical Plant for example. I adore this level. At first, it may seem like it’s all about
the exhilarating spectacle with its many slopes, loops and springs, as well as its scripted
tubes and plenty of rings to collect - it also has a plethora of alternate routes and
secret paths that reward experimentation with the physics engine and a bit of curiosity
to balance everything out. Your first look into alternate paths in Chemical
Plant comes during those primary routes. As you’re speeding through, you’ll catch
glimpses of ring boxes and checkpoints. This got me thinking about what would happen
if I took things a bit slower and followed the rings that act as guides. In Act 1, if you take the lower path at the
beginning, you’ll be led through to an area where you need to platform over moving blocks. If you fall down or decide to follow the path
of rings below the blocks, you’ll likely land in or next to a speed booster, which
shoots you right into a checkpoint. Pretty cool, but there’s even more lying
in wait. If you keep heading right and decide to fall
below the track, you’ll be rewarded with ANOTHER checkpoint. Then, you can keep that momentum going by
timing a jump or finding an alternate route in order to reach these moving platforms,
which lead you to… another checkpoint. But let’s say you don’t really like this
careful exploration. Let’s say you’re more of a fan of being
rewarded for good platforming and collecting rings along the main path. You’ll be a fan of how worthwhile Aquatic
Ruin, Act 2 feels. If you manage to stay above the water by maintaining
your momentum and using good timing, you’ll find at least two checkpoints waiting for
you - although there could be more. Honestly, there are countless examples of
this throughout Sonic 2, and I don’t want to spoil the locations of EVERY checkpoint,
or how to get to them. I think collecting enough rings and finding
them in the first place is all part of the learning process. Not to mention, it increases replay value
exceptionally as you continue to improve with each playthrough. And in the end - when you finally nab that
seventh Chaos Emerald, collect 50 rings, jump into the air and hit A - bam. Super Sonic is yours to use whenever you like. He can run much faster, jump much higher and
is invincible to nearly everything in the game. Of course, Super Sonic still has his limitations
in practice. Metropolis Zone is the only level in the game
with three acts, and it’s relentless. The enemy placement is hellish, and they do
everything in their power to prevent you from hanging onto your rings. Thus - no Super Sonic. Thankfully, the years of abuse I've suffered
by the enemy’s hands have paid off. I can usually predict when they’re going
to show up and dodge ‘em. Slicers are useless after they attack, and
you know what? I don’t pity them. They can go to hell. While you can get Super Sonic this late in
the game, he is best appreciated when you get knowledgeable and skilled enough at the
game to unlock him early. And that is precisely what makes Sonic 2 so
much fun to play. No matter how you decide to approach each
level, there will always be something that gels with you. If you decide to challenge yourself to improve,
the game will always have challenges in spades, and it’ll eventually reward you to take
them on. No matter how you like to find checkpoints,
there will always be one that suits your preferred play style, and that is simply beautiful. I’m at the point now where I can get five
Chaos Emeralds in Emerald Hill - SHOOT! Well, almost five. And I’m at that point simply from replaying
Sonic 2 over and over again to discover new things. For example - Chemical Plant Zone, Act 2. This infamous set piece right here. You’re rolling along, and then the game
traps you in a corridor with rising water and moving blocks. This part is infamous for inducing anxiety,
and I think it’s brilliant. If the player hadn’t already become familiar
with the oxygen meter, they will here. The only way to escape drowning is to climb
as best you can. What’s even cooler about this segment, though,
is that if you are familiar enough with platforming and thinking on your feet in this game, you
can actually outrun the water completely and carry on with the rest of the level. It’s another example of how Sonic 2 reflects
the player’s improvement with each playthrough, and you know what’s even better? You can completely skip this section by finding
an alternate route that leads you straight to the zone’s boss. I didn’t know about this until I was writing
this video, but if you stop before entering the loops that shoot you into that section,
you can perform a spin-dash jump into a secret route. There’s plenty of rings, a quick bit of
spectacle, invincibility for the boss fight, and a checkpoint as a reward for finding the
route in the first place - which means another shot at a Chaos Emerald. Like Sonic 1, the more you play, the better
you get. The longer you can hold onto rings, the more
shots you’ll have at a Special Stage. The more you experiment with the level design,
the more secrets you’ll find. The more rings you get, the faster you go,
the higher your score, which means more extra lives and continues for you when the hardest
levels and boss fights come about. And as established through the diverse level
design I’ve discussed already, a balance of the two core elements that define Sonic
as a game are so impeccably consistent in Sonic 2 that it becomes embedded into your
psyche. The feedback loop of running and jumping in
different ways to reach shortcuts and find secrets is so compelling that you can’t
help but want to replay this game over and over again. God, I love this game. Even the ending is kickass in comparison to
Sonic 1. You and Tails give chase in the Tornado, and
while this auto-scrolling section does get a little boring - the setting is inspiring. Wing Fortress Zone, however, completely subverts
expectations with its deadly, calculated platforming no matter the route you take. It’s an INTENSE level, but it serves as
an entree to the meal you’re about to take on. Upon climbing aboard the Death Egg, you’ll
quickly realize that you have no rings. You’ll have to beat Silver Sonic and the
Death Egg Robot without taking a single hit. This is where those extra lives and continues
you’ve racked up are meant to come in handy, although the levels preceding this one will
have definitely taken their toll. While it’s not terribly difficult to find
a pattern with Silver Sonic, the Death Egg Robot is a nightmare to figure out. Growing up, it took me ages to get past the
final boss of Sonic 2. I did learn how to get two free shots on the
robot’s booty, and I memorized the trick to some of his patterns, but I would die over
and over again trying to find the sweet spot. If you’re too close to the exhaust, you
die. If you’re too close to its hands, you die. With Sonic’s natural jump arc being countered
- it’s pretty difficult to find the right spot. Then, it hit me. The Spin Dash jump. I had used it in the past so many times to
reach places I would never be able to access otherwise. With enough space to pull one off, I could
easily land hits on the robot. Eventually, I was able to manipulate his landing
pattern so that I’d have enough space to jump, and I finally took him down. Probably one of the most satisfying finales
to any video game I’ve ever played; that beautiful “Dreams Come True” ending theme
plays as you fly alongside the Tornado. Even on my…I don’t know, one hundred thousandth
playthrough of Sonic 2, it still felt so gratifying to finish. Not only because I had mastered the boss itself,
but also because I had mastered the game to such an extent that I could collect so many
rings, find all those checkpoints, unlock Super Sonic to play with, and do it all at
lightning-fast speeds. No matter your level of experience with a
Sonic game, I believe you can have a good time with Sonic 2. With its much stronger and much more focused
level design, the game not only consistently delivers on speed in diverse ways, but it
also accommodates exploration in both its levels and mechanics. With its strong, Chaos Emerald-based feedback
loop, there are always plenty of opportunities for you to improve, and the level design will
reward your tenacity time and again. The art design is stellar, the story is simplistic
yet charming, and the music is infectiously catchy…but I’m sure you know all about
that by now. I cherish so many of the memories I made with
this game. As silly as it seems, one of my fondest is
with one of the most infamous hazards in Sonic history - the pit. Most pits are bottomless in Sonic and kill
you instantly. This one, however, forces you to face your
mistake and slowly watch as Sonic first loses his rings to the spikes, and then finally
dies. But that’s just with normal Sonic. If you fall in there with Super Sonic…yeah. With that said, it’s a beginner’s trap
that I will always find amusing. Anyway…that’s Sonic 2. It’s a miracle that it turned out this fantastic
considering the circumstances that brought it to life. Although the original Sega Genesis version
has aged like a fine wine, I personally recommend the Android and iOS ports by Christian Whitehead
and Simon Thomley. They have a ton of quality of life features,
and they are easily my favourite way to play Sonic 2. Ah, damn it. Into the pit I go. I, um… yeah. Thank you. While Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was an excellent
game…its feedback loop did have some holes. For starters - the checkpoint system. It’s awesome, but their frequency and ease
of access at times (especially when you consider the fact that rings RESPAWN as soon as you
return from a Special Stage)...is a bit too forgiving. Of course, you aren’t going to notice this
right away. After all, the designers did everything in
their power to make maintaining high ring counts a challenge, and the Special Stages
are no walk in the park. But when you’re at that point where you
can get Super Sonic in the first three levels…the rest of the game’s level design loses its
edge as you break it in half with your new, golden hedgehog form. Really though, all they had to do with the
Sonic formula was iron out that last flaw. Little did we know, however - the team was
about to do far more than just that. Of course, this did not come easily for them. Sega Technical Institute split in half after
finishing Sonic 2; one half was composed of American staff, while the other half was Japanese. Apparently, Mark Cerny’s idea for a unity
of philosophies didn’t exactly work out. Part of this was due to Yuji Naka’s problems
working with the American side of STI on Sonic 2. Some former staff recalled Naka as a difficult
person to work with, and it’s likely that he wanted to avoid a repeat of that with the
next game. In contrast, the team didn’t feel that way
about Yasuhara, and as it turned out - this likely foreshadowed his and Naka’s relationship
allegedly becoming strained as they worked together. After work on this new Sonic game concluded,
Yasuhara elected to stay in America as Naka would leave for Japan. But before that partnership would come to
an end, they would collaborate one last time, along with some new, enthusiastic faces like
Takashi Iizuka, the man who would eventually direct, produce or otherwise be involved with
nearly every Sonic game to come, and Jun Senoue - whom you may know better by the sound of
his guitar. Once again, the team had great ambitions for
this new Sonic game. Fourteen zones, all bigger than anything the
series had seen thus far. Sega’s marketing, however, had other plans. In preparation for the release of Sonic 3,
they pushed Sonic everywhere. McDonald’s, Lifesavers - he was even the
first video game character to be featured in the Macy’s Day Parade. Indeed, Sonic was a phenomenon, and Sega wanted
the game out to coincide with Groundhog Day in 1994. “Hedgehog Day,” they called it. So the game was split in two, with the second
half releasing in October of that year. Of course, I’m sure we all know the story. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles
are not separate experiences. When combined with the team’s special lock-on
tech, the game becomes Sonic 3 & Knuckles - the complete experience as the developers
always intended. Now, the signs that Sonic 3 was initially
released in an incomplete state were always there. There are only six zones, and the ending to
that final zone feels rather anticlimactic. On top of that, the level select in Sonic
3 - while being notoriously difficult to unlock - also contains levels that aren’t even
playable. It was a complete and utter mystery…for
a few months, anyway. Today, when someone is talking about Sonic
3 - they're referring to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and for good reason. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is what I would call the
definitive Sonic the Hedgehog game, and easily one of my favourite games of all time. Building on the excellent foundation of Sonic
2, Sonic 3's levels are thematically rich, reasonably massive, and thrillingly fast. Every single level feels wonderfully distinct
in appearance, layout, mechanics and the nature in which they create speed and manage pacing. But in order to fully appreciate them, we
need to talk about how they’ve implemented Super Sonic this time. The golden boy returns once more, and he is
unlocked through a more accessible yet arguably more challenging system. Hidden across each level are Giant Rings. There’s no prerequisite for making them
appear this time - all you gotta do is find them. They’re often placed in well-hidden areas
that require considerable knowledge of your abilities and how the levels are laid out,
but Angel Island Zone eases you into their existence fairly well. The very first Giant Ring is tucked away behind
some rocks. The game teaches you that these rocks can
be broken, and if you spin dash into them - bam. There it is. There’s also one situated in a similar area
after the island catches fire, and another at the beginning of Act 2 if you spin dash
into the tunnel right away and zoom over the collapsing bridge. Angel Island is a perfect first level in that
regard. While its second act does branch out significantly,
it isn’t overwhelming right off the bat. As for the Special Stages themselves - wow. They managed to create a pretty engrossing
game within a game here. In concept, it seems pretty simple. You’re constantly moving, and you need to
collect the blue spheres while avoiding the red ones. The longer you take, the faster you move. If need be, you can also jump to avoid certain
spheres. Usually, the stages are designed in such a
way that there is a pattern you can follow, but with your speed increasing as the levels
go on, it becomes more and more difficult to think on your feet and use lightning-fast
reflexes. The levels eventually go on to take a substantial
amount of memorization, practice and fast-paced puzzle solving to get right, which means you’re
gonna mess up a lot. As such, you gotta keep looking out for more
rings. Thankfully, there are 77 Giant Rings in total,
but because of their secretive hiding places, I’ve only been able to locate just over
a quarter of them in my lifetime. I’m still finding new Giant Rings to this
day - while recording footage for this video, I found a Giant Ring I had never known about
with Knuckles in an underwater portion of Ice Cap Zone. I had no idea they would think to hide one
down there, but that’s just it - Sonic 3 really wants you to think outside of the box,
and it is the best at doing that in the series’ history. With every playthrough, I’m able to unlock
Super Sonic faster. Not just because I’m able to locate more
Giant Rings each time, but also because I’m able to beat the Special Stages consistently
despite their increase in challenge. Like the games that came before it, Sonic
3 excels at making you FEEL the improvement in your proficiency at the game. Alongside Sonic, you can also play as Tails
and newcomer Knuckles the Echidna, which adds another layer of depth and complexity to both
level design and your own approach to the game. You can have Tails fly wherever he wants,
and while Knuckles can’t jump as high, he can glide and climb walls to access routes
inaccessible to Sonic and Tails. Tails is great for familiarizing yourself
with levels from an explorative standpoint, as his power of flight is perfect for surveying
areas that Sonic would normally require speed and momentum to reach. Knuckles usually goes through his own special
routes over the course of his campaign, which means exclusive Giant Rings, but he also has
his own uses through the usual Sonic and Tails routes. If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, this
game is colossal in scope, and when you factor in the Super Sonic feedback loop that this
game has going for it - the magnificent level design of Sonic 3 becomes all the more impressive. Hydrocity Zone has several opportunities for
players to create speed, and you can use that speed to run on water and launch yourself
to new heights and secret areas, but it still slows down when necessary with water-based
hazards and enemies littered across its higher routes. It is a prime example of how speed and creativity
can be used to find hidden goodies. Marble Garden Zone has plenty of steep slopes
for gaining sublime levels of momentum, but it is also a ridiculously detailed labyrinth
with plenty of methods of accessing its secrets, as well as tricky routes with spikes, enemies
and spinning balls on chains to be wary of. There are so many Giant Rings in Marble Garden
Zone that the level can feel like a Metroid game in terms of layout. This theme continues into Carnival Night Zone,
which features some circus-inspired setpieces and mechanics, endless optional routes, and
momentum generated through a series of slopes, boosters, spinning columns, balloons, the
wheels from Sonic 1 - it’s jam-packed with things to mess with, but its compact routes
make scouting for Giant Rings more manageable, and a healthy way to balance things out. Ice Cap Zone has a remarkable progression
in ideas, and it’s one of my favourite levels in the game. It begins with an iconic snowboarding sequence,
but after you crash and find yourself at the base of the mountain, you have to somehow
make your way up to the summit. The level employs a lot of problem solving
and careful platforming in both its main route and in finding Giant Rings, and a slip up
can cost you time as you’ll have to climb back up the mountain. After you finally make it to Act 2, the game
rewards you with level design that focuses on the simplistic joy of creating speed and
using it to your advantage, as well as music that symbolizes your arrival at the summit. Launch Base Zone balances that problem solving
and tight platforming with some spectacle thanks to its high-speed antics. Mushroom Hill Zone is just as open-ended as
it is exhilarating to rush through. Flying Battery Zone is just as intoxicatingly
fast as it is crushingly difficult and claustrophobic, and the music is one of the best compositions
you’ll ever hear come out of a Sega Genesis. Lava Reef Zone continues to ramp up the difficulty
and stuffiness in its level design and hazard placement, but its moderate pacing makes this
more manageable and invite more opportunities for you to search for Giant Rings - even this
late in the game, as Lava Reef is the last traditional zone in which you can look for
them. Lava Reef - in both of its acts - has so many
Giant Rings to find that I was able to find the majority I needed for the second half
of my playthrough there. Again, it’s absolutely staggering how much
they accommodate every play style in these levels. Even as the levels get harder and it becomes
more difficult to hang onto your rings, the Giant Rings don’t get any more difficult
to locate. They are always hidden in similar ways, and
they are always balanced in a reasonable manner. Some are easy to locate for beginners, some
require an adequate proficiency in the game’s mechanics and level layouts, and then some
of them are hidden for those that can really think outside of the box like that instance
in Ice Cap Zone with Knuckles. Of course, if you’re not one for stressing
over the Giant Rings and Special Stages, much like Sonic 2 - the game will still have more
than enough awesome video game to offer. Exploration is also made more accessible through
the elemental shields. To compensate for Tails and Knuckles’ abilities,
Sonic also has some new toys to play with. Although the Insta-Shield can help you take
out enemies in a pinch with some good timing - it doesn’t exactly compete with Tails
and Knuckles’ abilities. The elemental shields do, though. The Fire Shield lets you perform a mid-air
dash and survive fire hazards, the Electric Shield draws rings toward you, gives you a
double jump, and protects you from electricity, while the Bubble Shield lets you breathe underwater
and perform a bounce to get up higher than your jump would normally allow. In certain levels, searching for these things
can become a priority - outside of the exploration advantages they offer. Having a Bubble Shield in Hydrocity Zone makes
the underwater sections a breeze, the Electric Shield is a godsend in Flying Battery, and
the Fire Shield is almost a necessity in Lava Reef. So even if you don’t want to use them as
assistance in searching for Giant Rings, you can use them to just barrel through acts as
a reward for finding them in the first place. All that’s left is to not lose them. With all of these shields and characters to
play with, and on top of the endless replayability that Sonic games historically enable and encourage
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a rare game that I’ll never tire of playing. Of course I groan whenever I reach Sandopolis
due to its excessive length and confusing layout, but it’s not enough to derail any
of my playthroughs over the years. This game is a perfection of the Sonic formula…and
it gets even better. So. We know how the Chaos Emeralds work in this
game, and we have a general idea of why the system they’ve implemented works so well. But the truth is - it is much bigger than
a simple seven emerald hunt, and to talk about that - we must first discuss the story of
Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 gave us a glimpse into
what Sonic games could be like with a bit of heart backing its basic narrative, all
thanks to Tails. But Sonic 3’s narrative - while simplistic
- reveals itself in an endearing way that eventually ties itself into gameplay. All without the characters saying a single
word. As soon as you start a new game, Sonic and
Tails will ride above the ocean in the Tornado. Then, Sonic jumps off and goes Super, flying
alongside Tails. All they have to do is SHOW you what Sonic
can do for you to want to collect the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles proves to be a nuisance alongside
Eggman, impeding your progress at every turn up until Launch Base Zone. It seems silly in hindsight that Sonic 3 ends
here, because Knuckles falling over and the Death Egg being prevented from launching isn’t
all that special of an ending, nor does it explain who Knuckles is or why he is doing
what he is. It wasn’t until Sonic 3 & Knuckles came
to be that the answers would be made clear. Upon entering Mushroom Hill Zone, you’ll
see Knuckles exit from a hidden door. Behind that door is a Super Ring that leads
to this game’s “Hidden Palace,” complete with the Master Emerald and pedestals for
a collection of new emeralds. Here’s where things get interesting from
a narrative standpoint and ESPECIALLY a gameplay standpoint. First of all - Knuckles is guarding some pretty
powerful gems here, and the fact that he’s involved with Eggman is bad news. I mean, who knows what these things could
be capable of? Well, the best part about that is you can
find out for yourself. In the second half of Sonic 3, the Giant Rings
become Super Rings that lead to the Hidden Palace. Once you hop into one, you can choose any
Special Stage you want. This is a welcome decision because as you
might have guessed - the Special Stages are pretty difficult in this half of the game. Rather than repeating the same one over and
over again and continuing to fail, you can try an entirely new one or attempt one that
you’ve already become familiar with on a separate playthrough. Completing one of these Special Stages will
grant you a Super Emerald, and collecting seven of them unlocks a new hyper transformation
for Sonic or Knuckles. However, choosing to enter a Super Ring at
any point will prevent you from using your super form until the true final boss, as the
power of the seven Chaos Emeralds is what causes the Super Emeralds to appear in the
first place. This isn’t made apparent to you in-game,
but it does give you a choice. Either continue to use your traditional Super
form and blitz through the rest of the game, or you could challenge yourself. Guarantee that Eggman never gets the chance
to harness the power of the emeralds. Continue to unearth the hidden rings, master
the hardest Special Stages, and grant yourself unlimited power. This is Sonic 3 & Knuckles’ final test for
players to achieve their mark of mastery, and it is oh so sweet. To be honest, it took me many years to finally
unlock Hyper Sonic. I could never master the patterns and layouts
of the Special Stages, and the overall difficulty of the levels in the “& Knuckles” half
of Sonic 3 made it hard for me to find the Super Rings. But as the years went by, I got better at
the game. With every playthrough, I was accomplishing
new feats and making new discoveries. When I was at the point where I could unlock
Super Sonic in Hydrocity Zone - I knew I could finally do it. Eventually, I went all out. I dug deep into the level design, and kept
finding new things. I stagnated around four or five Super Emeralds
initially, and couldn’t find any in Sandopolis, but I pressed onward knowing that Lava Reef
was designed for players to jog rather than sprint, and take detours along the way. After missing so many Super Rings and failing
so many Special Stages… I pulled it off. I unlocked Hyper Sonic for the first time,
and I was completely overjoyed. He can move EVEN FASTER than Super Sonic,
and his mid-air dash is a screen nuke. One hell of a reward to mess around with,
and I’ll never forget how happy I was to finally conquer the Super Emerald hunt. Of course, the other characters have forms
to play with, too. Hyper Knuckles, for example, can glide ridiculously
fast and destroy all enemies on screen as soon as he connects with a wall. Because of that, I began to use his glide
all the time to beat stages as fast as I could. Tails, however, is in an interesting spot. Tails doesn’t get a super form with the
Chaos Emeralds; it takes Super Emeralds for that kid to go super. The end result, though, transforms Tails into
the Grim Reaper himself - Super Tails. If an invincible, flying fox wasn’t enough,
Tails summons a flock of Flickies while transformed that will home in and kill anything in sight. In almost every boss fight, you don’t need
to do a damn thing - the Flickies will do everything for you, and the game will essentially
crumble as the Flickies kill most of the enemies you pass in stages. Yeah…the Super Emeralds are worth it. The decision to include Hyper forms also keeps
the game’s later difficulty in check. If you choose to go for the Super Emeralds
and 100% completion, you won’t be able to use your super forms anymore, as mentioned. This means that you’ll have less opportunities
to blitz over the more challenging areas of the game. While it was rewarding in Sonic 2 to unlock
Super Sonic early and tear stages apart…it did make the game a little too easy to replay
until you made it to Metropolis, Wing Fortress and the final boss. Of course, you’d still need to collect rings
in order to stay Super, but that’s nothing. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles - because you can challenge
yourself to collect the emeralds one more time here, and the emeralds are much harder
to obtain - it keeps things tricky. That, and the levels aren’t always about
survival. Sometimes they’re about solving puzzles
or exploring to find the right path. So Hyper Sonic’s speed isn’t useful ALL
the time. Sure, if you’re good enough at Sonic 3 & Knuckles
- you can unlock Hyper Sonic in Mushroom Hill Zone and destroy the rest of the game, but
I also view that as rewarding due to the tremendous amount of skill it takes to get to that point. I mean, I’ve been playing Sonic my whole
life and I just recently unlocked Hyper Sonic, and I think that’s a testament to the captivating
depth of this game. This is why I love classic Sonic gameplay,
and especially why I love Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The game enters its climax with Knuckles realizing
he’d been tricked by Eggman. Coming together over a common goal, Knuckles
sends Sonic and Tails to the alluring Sky Sanctuary, which in addition to some precarious
platforming features a boss rush of some past boss battles with Eggman, portrayed by the
mysterious Mecha Sonic. After that, you climb a crumbling spiral staircase
to the Death Egg, and this place rocks. Not only is the music incredibly motivating
as you move forward into the base, the level itself is tough to clear - Hyper Sonic or
not. When all is said and done - you take on the
Giant Eggman Robo, who I’ve always favoured to the final boss of Sonic 2. It’s unquestionably intense in its second
phase, but the laser is much easier to create a pattern with. If you’ve unlocked a transformation for
Sonic, your final zone will be the Doomsday Zone, and this has to be my favourite final
boss in a Sonic game. If your ring count runs dry, you’ll fall
through the stratosphere, so it’s important to maintain your rings. They don’t make this easy, though, as you
have to collect rings and dodge meteorites while trying to catch up to the Final Weapon. Once you’re close enough, you’ll have
to redirect rockets into the weapon until it blows up. Now, you gotta do this as fast as possible
because no rings will spawn as you’re doing it. Then, along comes Eggman with the Master Emerald. You gotta keep on him while collecting rings
and continuing to dodge those space rocks. It’s tight, and this entire space chase
is set to one of the most adrenaline-fuelled, climactic Sega Genesis tunes of all time. Depending on your collection of emeralds,
you can get one of three endings. If you don’t have the seven Chaos Emeralds,
you don’t enter the Doomsday Zone and the Master Emerald falls back into Eggman’s
hands. If you do, you return the Master Emerald to
Angel Island, and it rises from the ocean and back into the sky where it belongs. An Eggrobo appears, signaling the beginning
of Knuckles’ playthrough. However, with the Super Emeralds collected,
you can prevent any further intrusion from Eggman and his robots, as well as watch Knuckles
bask in the glory of his island once more, seemingly grateful for Sonic and Tails’
help. So collecting the emeralds in Sonic 3 & Knuckles
is not only a gratifying quest emblematic of the series’ focus on player improvement,
but it’s also one that you feel compelled to see through to the end due to the immersive
consequences of your actions. All of this - conveyed without a single line
of dialogue. It’s hard to say anything new about Sonic
3 & Knuckles, but what is true is that my memories and experiences with this game are
intrinsically unique. This game is everything that I once loved
about Sonic the Hedgehog, and if this were the last Sonic game ever made - I’d be way
more than satisfied. Hirokazu Yasuhara - taking the role of director
AND lead designer on this game - was finally able to realize his and the original Sonic
Team’s collective vision of what Sonic could be. What defines a Sonic game to me? After revisiting all three of these games
- I have an answer. When Yuji Naka wanted to make a game that
captured the feeling of getting better at Mario - beating stages faster each time - his
colleagues took that philosophy and imbued it into all aspects of Sonic’s design. If Mario’s first level is about teaching
players how to “own the game,” then that’s what these entire Sonic games entail. They do this through exceptionally clever
level design that challenges players both on a surface level, and for wanting something
more. The ways I can create speed play a part in
what makes levels feel like open sandboxes for experimentation, and the act of going
fast on its own makes me want to keep playing - chasing that feeling each time. The ways I can observe levels, learn more
about how they’re laid out, and reap the rewards for finding new routes and secrets
each and every time I play them keeps me coming back for more. Not only do I want to collect more rings and
beat stages faster, but I also want to see how fast I can unlock Super and Hyper Sonic
each time. To do this, I get better at the Special Stages,
which are also inherently fun to revisit for being entirely different games within the
games, and yet they maintain the swift nature of Sonic itself. And finally, this is all rounded out with
a vibrant and diverse atmosphere, a lovable cast of characters, and a simplistic yet enthralling
narrative with heart. It’s something that I’ll want to replay
for the rest of my life. All of this is what Sonic the Hedgehog is
to me. Of course, my attachment to this era of Sonic
extends beyond the quality of the games. Let’s talk about all that stuff for a moment. The Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were the
last consoles to have identity in their sound chips, and the Sega Genesis sound is legendary. The composers for Sonic, as you’d expect,
took full advantage of the Yamaha FM synthesizer chip inside the console to create not just
the iconic rock and electropop that classic Sonic was defined by, but also some captivating
and resonant pieces. We’ve touched upon tracks that suit both
of these categories already, but if you want a full breakdown of why I love the music of
Sonic - you can check out the video I made a couple of years ago on the subject. Of course, I’m sure plenty of you have already
seen it, but in case you haven’t - I go into way more detail there. Browsing the extras on Sonic Mega Collection
and Sonic Gems Collection also reminds me of the obscure media I appreciate from the
classic era of Sonic. Sonic Jam on the Sega Saturn was a collection
disc with a prototype of a 3D Sonic game built into it, and when I was a kid - I felt like
I needed to own a Sega Saturn just for that. Speaking of which, Sonic spin offs from this
era had a lot of charm about them - regardless of their overall quality. It’s not like it was in the 2000’s and
the early 2010’s where you’d have an oversaturation of Sonic games on every system imaginable;
in the 90’s they were relatively harmless experiments that supplemented the excellent
main series, and sometimes their own merits would shine through. I’m not the biggest fan of Sonic Spinball,
but I know plenty of people that love its pinball-platforming feedback loop. I’ve made a video on Sonic R - that game
is pretty bad, but I learned to love it anyway through a situation not dissimilar to how
you improve at one of the games I discussed in this video. It’s all connected, I feel. Also - have you guys ever seen that Sonic
OVA from 1996? I’ve seen it in both English and Japanese
now, and while I don’t think the plot is anything special as an adult - I see a lot
of potential in it today anyway, and its simplicity was enough to make me fall in love with it
as a kid. First of all - the English dub is atrocious. It can be entertaining, and it did give us
one of the most quoted Sonic scenes of all time, but it is grating otherwise. When I finally watched it in Japanese, it
became much easier for me to see what could have been. The animation in the action-oriented scenes
is pretty stylish, with each character’s personality captured perfectly in their movements
- especially for the blue blur himself. I remember being giddy watching Sonic run
through the forests and plains for the first time, and seeing familiar elements from the
games represented. The character’s on-screen antics are without
a doubt the best part about this OVA. It’s like watching the games come to life,
and I also believe a certain Studio Junio animation inspired them here. The environmental artists went wild with some
of these places. The sheer scope of the locations Sonic and
Tails visit is unreal. At one point, they visit a flooded post-apocalyptic
New York City that looks straight out of Akira. Guess they got to it before Sonic Adventure,
huh? When Sonic and Tails are alone walking through
the streets, it feels so menacing. Reminds me of the feeling I get when I enter
a grotto in a Zelda game, as if you’re not supposed to be there. The soundtrack has some absolute bops that
sound like they could fit right in with the music of Sonic CD. Overall, the vibe of this OVA is perfectly
in tune with what I love about the games, and if that weren’t enough - Knuckles’
hat. I love his hat way too much. Also, yeah. Seeing Sonic and Metal Sonic face off for
more than 15 seconds was pretty awesome, but with that said I feel as though they could’ve
gone much further with the basic concept for this OVA. It probably wasn’t in their budget, and
they probably wanted to keep things simple for kids, but I’ll ponder the lost potential. More than anything, I think I obsess most
over the missed potential of Metal Sonic. At the end of the OVA, Metal Sonic is about
to fall into lava, right? Sonic extends his hand to save him, only for
Metal to reject him and say: “There can only be one.” The writers HAD something there. The concept of Metal running on Sonic’s
memories as personality could’ve been emotionally gripping. Perhaps with a longer runtime and a more focused
story (i.e. less pervy Eggman and no Sara), we could’ve witnessed Metal Sonic’s journey
into cognizance as he grapples between what he was designed to do and what his personality
is telling him to do. I mean, Sonic is always proud to be the one
and only Sonic the Hedgehog. It makes sense that Metal would be the same
way…even to the bitter end. I think about this OVA a lot…mostly because
of Knuckles’ hat. With the completion of Sonic 3 & Knuckles,
Yuji Naka left for Japan to reunite with Naoto Ohshima, and brought with him newcomer Takashi
Iizuka. The three of them collaborated on Nights into
Dreams. It incorporated a lot of the design philosophies
that made Sonic so fun to replay, and with Ohshima’s creative vision guiding the project
- it was a wonderful, dreamlike trip through colourful and ethereal sights and sounds. With this game, the name “Sonic Team'' became
something more than just a team of aspiring developers at Sega. They were trailblazers that had finally made
a name for themselves in the industry, and they made that name official in Japan. With Mario making his jump to 3D and passing
with flying colours, all eyes were on Sonic to do the same. Sonic X-Treme - STI’s final project before
unfortunately closing their doors - nearly killed its team to work on. Literally. While I don’t think Sonic X-Treme could
have saved the Sega Saturn on its own, it certainly hurt the console to not have a Sonic
platformer. Eventually, the weight fell on Sonic’s creators
to give him that jump, and the end result was Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast. While I’ll save my thoughts on the game
for a future video, it’s plain to see that it left a huge impact. Contemporary critics and audiences loved it,
and it proved that not only could Sonic transition swimmingly into 3D, it also proved that Sonic
- as an icon - could endure with an entirely new generation of fans. Sonic wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Of course, with such a guarantee - it can
grow tiresome working on something that you’ve already perfected. The Sonic Team had grown with their character. They’d given it life, nurtured it, and let
it blossom into what it had become at that point. Perhaps it was time to accept that they had
nothing left to prove, and leave things to the next generation. Shortly after Sonic Adventure was completed,
Naoto Ohshima left Sonic Team to form Artoon, and after serving as a producer for several
Sonic games in the 2000’s - Yuji Naka finally said goodbye to Sonic in 2006. The “Sonic Team'' was gone, and all that
remained were the people they chose to carry the torch. Takashi Iizuka remains at Sonic Team to this
day. At first, his direction for the series was
looking bright. He managed to successfully follow up Sonic
Adventure, and while Sonic Heroes was a little rocky - it too held promise for the future. It was shortly after that, however, where
the Sonic train derailed. Shadow the Hedgehog was a major flop, and
Sonic 06 severely damaged the franchise’s image. The scars from that game have never truly
healed, and since then, they’ve done everything in their power to refocus. Sometimes their efforts will have a positive
impact, but other times they’ll completely drop the ball. But we all know this story by now. If anything, the root of the problem may stem
from a much larger issue that had been trickling into the games as early as Sonic Adventure. With the balancing of multiple characters
and playstyles and the complexity of its overall narrative - several future games either attempt
to emulate what worked in Sonic Adventure, or try something new entirely, and both of
these approaches have varying degrees of success. As the series presses onward, it feels as
though it has moved further and further away from why I and many others fell in love with
Sonic in the first place, as it continues to change out of a necessity to stay afloat. But…change IS a necessity. In order for Sonic to evolve, the developers
must first be open to change. If it weren’t already blatant enough, my
favourite video game series is The Legend of Zelda. The only reason the Zelda series has endured
for so long is because the developers have been open to experimentation. It takes guts to commit to something like
that when you’re in charge of such a beloved series, but they stuck to their guns and I
believe the series has continued to evolve dramatically since Ocarina of Time. When people critique them from the sidelines,
it serves as crucial feedback that helps them take their next steps, and as creatives - it’s
important to embrace criticism. All of this is true for Sonic Team today,
too, and I believe that someday it will all pay off in the same way it did for Zelda. And you know what? The Sonic series experimented during its heyday,
too. Without that experimentation, we wouldn’t
have Sonic CD. While Naoto Ohshima was separated from his
colleagues that were working on Sonic 2, he would delve into a Sonic project of his own. With the Sega CD around the corner, his team
in Japan got to work, and Sonic CD was the final product. The game was nothing short of a passion project,
and I admire its ambition, but I believe I know why it remains the most divisive of the
classic Sonic games. Sonic CD takes more inspiration from Sonic
1 than Sonic 2 by design, which makes sense considering Sonic 2 and this game were developed
concurrently. A lot of this game is built on the old-school
philosophy of Sonic 1 that was gradually left in the dust - you have to earn your speed. This is driven by the Time Travel mechanic. In each act, you can travel to the past, find
a generator, and smash it to destroy all of the enemies in an area and create a good future. In order to get to the past, you need to cross
a Past sign and maintain your speed for long enough to time travel. In most cases, this brilliantly captures the
feeling that the original Sonic the Hedgehog wanted to capture. As you try to create enough speed to travel
into the past, you’ll start to view levels as these non-linear, versatile playgrounds. Collision Chaos is bouncy and vertical, with
plenty of halfpipes, slopes, springs and bumpers, Tidal Tempest feels rewarding for similar
reasons to Aquatic Ruin because if you are able to maintain speed along the top route,
you can time travel with ease. Quartz Quadrant has plenty of roadblocks and
obstacles to make going fast a challenge, but it proves to be one of the most rewarding
levels to time travel in. If you’re the explorative type, you can
also find what I like to call “time machines” in most levels. Essentially, they’re little pieces of the
level that are designed specifically for people to time travel. Sometimes, this means a sign next to a halfpipe,
but other times this could be as silly as a sign sitting next to two springs that perpetually
bounce Sonic back and forth. Remember that part in Hill Top Zone? Yeah, they’re like that. And yet, I still feel rewarded for finding
these things, despite how easy they make time traveling as a whole. Once you arrive in the past, looking for the
generators can vary in difficulty. In some instances, you’ll pass by the remains
of the generator in the present, where it has already done its job. Collision Chaos, Tidal Tempest and Quartz
Quadrant all have memorable instances of this occurring along certain routes, and in Palmtree
Panic - both generators are just at the top of both acts. Other times, they’re a bit more obscure. Metallic Madness, Act 1 has its generator
sitting in an alcove that you can reach with a spring, while Act 2’s can be accessed
through those tubes you can travel through in the past to find rings and stuff. Now, while this might not seem too bad, finding
openings to create speed in Metallic Madness - the hardest level in the game - can be a
bit frustrating. Yeah, finding ways to time travel isn’t
always a wonderful and creative process. Wacky Workbench is an awful level; perhaps
one of the worst in a Sonic game. No matter how careful you are, you’ll find
yourself bouncing all over the place. While this makes simply clearing the level
a bit of a chore, it’s hunting for the generators that is an absolute nightmare. The act of time traveling is a lot more difficult
when you’re bouncing all over the place looking for somewhere to run as you could
imagine, but they decided to go a little overboard with one of the generators. In Act 1, you have to get crushed by this
cylinder to be brought to the generator. I have no idea how they thought this was a
good idea, but this remained the only generator I couldn’t find for years. And while I do enjoy the overall swiftness
of Stardust Speedway, I feel as though its pacing contradicts the concept of the generators
to begin with. That is exactly why some people I’ve talked
to about this game are not very big fans of it. With the checkpoints and Giant Rings in Sonic
2 and 3 respectively, you had plenty of opportunities to net yourself the emeralds. While Sonic CD only places one generator in
each act, and the levels are more compact in comparison to Sonic 2 and 3 - every single
generator is required to create a good future and get the best ending. Personally, while I think the time travel
mechanic can be a nice way to become even more familiar with my favourite levels, its
implementation can be spotty at times, and the learning process can be frustrating. Even now, I still have moments where I’m
just about to time travel, but I run into a dead end and kill my momentum, or I’ll
accidentally cross a future sign before I’ve traveled to the past. This could be due in part to the 2011 remaster
increasing the amount of time it takes to time travel. Here’s a side-by-side comparison in Palmtree
Panic between the 1996 PC version and the 2011 remaster. Considering this is the most accessible version
of the game…it certainly doesn’t help with some people’s perception of the time
travel mechanic. This change may have been made to alleviate
situations where you accidentally travel to the future after passing a sign, and sometimes
it can enable more creative utilization of speed, but I think it does more harm than
good. I remember being so perplexed as I time traveled
in Quartz Quadrant; I had taken too long to time travel through no fault of my own and
went right over the generator in the middle of the stage. Had I done this from the same point in the
original game, I would’ve shot Sonic right into the generator in the past, which would’ve
been euphoric to witness. I’ve included a link in the description
to what I believe is an essential mod for the 2011 version of Sonic CD. Not only does it restore the original duration
for time travel, but it also happens instantaneously. Completely seamless with no load times whatsoever,
just as Naoto Ohshima always intended. It actually made me want to travel into the
future after smashing the generator in the same act, just to see how my work had paid
off. The blue skies in the good future of Collision
Chaos have never looked more dazzling. With that said - I believe the time traveling
in Sonic CD is ultimately gratifying. Sonic CD is an atmospheric game, and like
Ohshima’s later work on Nights into Dreams, you are constantly confronted with overwhelmingly
gorgeous sights and sounds in every level. The original Japanese soundtrack is otherworldly
and sublime, and paired with the artistry on display in the good futures of each level
- it proved that the time I spent looking for these generators was worthwhile. Just take a look at how these visuals and
music reward the player in each zone. Now…there is actually an easier way to achieve
this gratification. Just like Sonic 1, by collecting 50 rings
and jumping into a Giant Ring at the end of each act, you’ll have a shot at a Special
Stage. By clearing one, you’ll nab a Time Stone,
and by collecting all seven of them, you will guarantee a good future in every zone from
then on. No more generators - all you gotta do is beat
the game. This is how I most enjoy playing Sonic CD. The level of difficulty in most stages makes
it a test of skill to hold onto your rings, and you can appreciate the variety in each
stage without having to stress over time travel or looking for a specific object each time. I can foster a casual appreciation for what
the designers wanted to achieve in these levels, rather than obsess over time travel routes. Of course, you’ll only have so many attempts
at the Special Stages, but I don’t mind. That’s the name of the game with classic
Sonic - replay the games and improve in every aspect. The feeling of satisfaction when smashing
generators will never truly fade away, but the Time Stones accomplish the exact same
goal and yield the same results. What is different, however, is how I feel
when I create a good future. Since the Time Stones guarantee good futures
across the board, I don’t feel as though I’ve mastered the stages like I do when
I find the generators. I can still totally appreciate the good futures
this way…but it isn’t the same. Overall, I feel Sonic CD is very conflicted
on what it wants to be, but its time travel gameplay loop is admirable. It fits right in with the philosophies on
speed that drive classic Sonic, but it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. From an emotional perspective, however - it’s
a one-of-a-kind mechanic. Watching the levels change before your eyes
and seeing them reflect your actions is something that has yet to be replicated. And speaking of which - Sonic CD has a lot
of uniqueness that I’ll always appreciate. Studio Junio animated the opening and ending
sequences for this game, and they depict the Sonic the Hedgehog that I know best. The cool dude that fights for what he believes
in and doesn’t let anything stand in his way. The sense of humour, and the good that he
inspires. The character designs are gorgeous, the flowing
landscapes are hypnotizing in motion, and Sonic himself moves gracefully. This is my favourite depiction of Sonic, with
Tyson Hesse’s animated series being a close second. The race with Metal Sonic remains iconic. Every single time I race him, I can just barely
outrun him in the end. It’s always neck-in-neck, and it perfectly
symbolizes the immaculate reflection of Sonic that Eggman has created. Seeing this race represented in the ending
animation left an impression on my young mind that will always stick with me. Sometimes the game works, and sometimes it
doesn’t. Sonic CD was a worthwhile experiment, and
because of that - I still hold it near and dear to my heart. It also made me realize that while I hold
this era of Sonic in such high esteem…it can be just as fallible as the Sonic of the
modern era for a crucially similar reason - it dared to be different. Sonic Mania was pretty sweet. It had all of the elements that made Sonic
3 & Knuckles so great, some of the best Special Stages in a Sonic game, remixed stages with
some original ones for good measure, and some quality-of-life changes to the core gameplay
that made for one hell of an overall package. It was a revisitation of what made Sonic so
legendary in the first place, and I think Sonic fans needed that after such a rough
patch with the franchise’s seemingly endless growing pains. But if we were to continue receiving these
classic Sonic games, somehow I don’t think they would feel as special. Sonic Mania was a nice reminder of the past,
but for now - we should look toward the future. One of the original philosophies that drove
Sonic’s character design and personality was this idea that he was a “challenger.” After all, he was designed to challenge Nintendo
in the console gaming market, and to challenge the status quo is to inspire change. I revisit Sonic Mega Collection all the time. It’s a comforting window into the past,
when all the world loved Sonic. But I know that things will never be the same. In order for things to move forward rather
than stagnate, they’ll have to keep changing and evolving. I once feared that Sonic would eventually
move so far away from what I loved about it in the first place, but when I hear about
what Sonic Frontiers wants to achieve - somehow, I’m not bothered. Regardless of how the game turns out, I am
willing to fully embrace an entirely new interpretation of what Sonic can be because I know that change
is the only way forward. By nature, I think people fear change. We enjoy routine and familiarity, and that’s
understandable. I have a fondness for an era that will never
return, and that prospect used to worry me. But not anymore. Regardless of what the winds of change might
bring - I’m looking ahead. Have you ever wondered why Sonic was the colour
blue? I mean, it has to be because Sega’s logo
is blue, right? Well, that’s only part of the story. While Sonic’s colour obviously mirrored
Sega’s logo, it meant something more to Naoto Ohshima - the man who designed him in
the first place. His initial hopes for the character were for
him to be something more than just a protagonist for a platform game. To Ohshima, Sonic’s colour symbolizes his
sentiment that “the open sky is blue forever.” No matter how bad things get, the beautiful
blue sky will always be there. That’s why I’m glad the original Sonic
games are so replayable. Change will always have its ups and downs. Sometimes it’s good; sometimes it’s bad. But the classic era of Sonic will always be
there for me when I need it, like a warm blanket in the winter or a cold drink in the summer. As long as I can revisit my past from time
to time - the future doesn’t seem so bad. Good luck, Sonic Team. You’ll get it right again someday. I’ve been Liam Triforce. Thanks for watching.
