Sonic The Hedgehog on the Master System - Review

I've been thinking a lot about the Sega Master System recently, it was the first games console we had at home, and I felt really lucky to have one.  One of my favorites games on the Sega Master System was Sonic The Hedgehog, the experience is very different from that of the Sega Megadrive.  In a lot of ways, I think the Sega Master System Version is superior, especially as there are different zones and a great if not small soundtrack.   A couple of weeks back I went onto eBay and decided to buy back a little bit of my childhood and bought a Sega Master System II.


I like Wagon Wheels.  For those of you not familiar with them they are mallow and biscuit covered in chocolate.  While I don't eat Wagon Wheels as much anymore I do always enjoy my experience when having them, especially with a cup of milk or tea.  Playing Sonic The Hedgehog on the Master System I found myself asking was this still enjoyable?

Story

As a child, I never really thought about the story of Sonic too much, but thinking about it as an adult, it's kind of dark.  There's Sonic, who is just chilling out with all these happy other creatures on the islands they call home.  Out of nowhere, this evil scientist called Dr. Robotnik snatches up your friends and is looking to turn them into robots.  If that wasn't bad enough he is setting up shop and essentially destroying the beauty of the islands.  Sonic is a little unhappy about this and decides to put an end to Dr. Robotnik and his evil scheme.

Overall the story is pretty slim but for a game of this length, it's not really necessary to have anything more detailed.

Visuals

The game offers some great visuals, and my two favorite zones have to be Jungle Zone and Scrap Brain Zone.  Jungle Zone is exactly what it sounds like, it's fun, dangerous and very green.  Scrap Brain Zone is very industrial looking and very much has the feel of a place where dark things happen.

Sonic and the enemies are slightly more simplified by comparison of its Megadrive counterpart but still manage to look great.

Overall the game offers some great, fun visuals that hold up pretty well to the test of time.

Music

The soundtrack may only be short but is really diverse, everything from happy and almost peaceful sounds to darker and more mechanical ones.  The soundtrack was composed by Japanese composer Yuzo Koshiro, some of his works include, The Revenge of Shinobi, The Streets of Rage series, Half-Minute Hero and Project X Zone 2.

Koshiro manages to cram a lot into a soundtrack that is under fifteen minutes long, there are only a few tracks but pretty much all of them are gold.  My favorite tracks being, Boss Theme, Jungle Zone Theme, and Scrap Brain Zone Theme.  

Overall a great soundtrack!

Gameplay

Sonic is a side-scrolling game, that can be played by running through each level as quickly as possible or taking your time to explore.  Slow and steady is the better way to go so that you can collect all the rings and chaos emeralds.

Jumping is pretty much your own weapon with exception of some occasional rolling.  There are some powers up to be enjoyed including, invisibility, super speed, and a bubble shield.

The game works well most of the time and there are only a couple of times I felt like I was getting screwed.  The Labriynth Zone is one of the worst as the water makes it tough to get around and dying is a lot easier.  The final confrontation with Dr. Robotnik is pretty bad as I found it quite awkward to time attacks.

Overall though, with the exception of one or two things the gameplay is pretty good and a lot of fun.

Final Thoughts

So, after a few hours of playing how did I feel?  Pretty damn good, my childhood memory of Sonic was spot on and I look forward to trying it again in the future.  The story, visuals, and music were a lot of fun.  The gameplay had a couple of annoying parts, but nothing that spoiled my fun too much.  This one gets a solid 4 out of 5