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Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis, referred to as simply Sonic the Hedgehog on the title screen, is a Game Boy Advance port of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). It was released in November 2006 exclusively in North America to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, marking the franchise's final release on GBA. The game was poorly received, mostly due to the screen crunch, low frame rate, and clunky physics, amongst other aspects.

Plot[]

Gameplay[]

Sonic 1 GBA Title screen

The title screen of Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis.

Trying to emulate the physics of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is a 2D side-scrolling platform video game. As with the original game, the only playable character here is Sonic the Hedgehog. The game also uses an autosave feature that saves the player's progress at certain points.

Like in the original game, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis is divided into seven Zones, all of which have three Acts each with a battle against Doctor Eggman at the end of the third Act (with the exception of Final Zone, which is a single, short Act). The goal is to complete each Act in a Zone before ten minutes are up. Rings are found throughout the Zones in which they grant points, as well as earn Sonic an extra life if he obtains one hundred of them. They also serve as a form of protection from enemy attacks and other hazards. If Sonic takes damage, he'll lose all of his Rings. And if he is hit without any Rings, he loses a life and must restart the current Act from the beginning or at the last Star Post. Sonic can also lose a life if he does not finish the current Act in under ten minutes, drowns underwater, gets crushed or falls into a bottomless pit. The game is over once Sonic loses all of his lives, but the player can use Continues to keep playing.

Controls[]

Button formation Sonic-Icon-Sonic-1 Movement[1]
Directional buttons left/right Walk/run
Directional buttons up Look up
Directional buttons down Look down
A/GameboyB Spin Jump
Directional buttons down + A/GameboyB Charge Spin Dash
(Anniversary Mode)
Directional buttons left/right + Directional buttons down Spin Attack
START Pause

Changes[]

Sonic 1 GBA Green Hill Zone

Screenshot of Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis showing Green Hill Zone, the first Zone in the game.

This port loosely uses the base and game engine from Sonic the Hedgehog Mobile, and thus shares many similarities between that version.

  • Due to the screen size of the Game Boy Advance, the screen ratio has been changed from 330x224 in the original version to 240x160. The levels are not altered to accommodate the screen crunch, making it harder to see ahead and notoriously making the Egg Crusher more difficult to defeat.
    • The title screen had to be re-drawn due to this issue. In compensation however, the text "PRESS START" was added.
  • The title cards have been redrawn. They are also much longer than in the original version.
  • All horizontal Springs are now drawn upside down.
  • Sonic's normal death animation is only shown for a split second. Later, the drown animation is shown instead, although it is flipped from his death sprite.
  • The music and some sound effects were modified due to the limitations of the Game Boy Advance's sound chip, with some of them being completely missing, along with some sprites and textures.
  • When dying, the title cards will not run, and the music will not restart; Sonic simply respawns at the previous checkpoint with little transition.
  • The game experiences significant lag and the frame-rate quality is extremely poor. Turning off the music in the Options menu helps remove a good amount of the lag.
  • Several changes have been made to the physics:
    • Horizontal momentum is now retained when hitting a wall in the air, and if the wall is cleared, Sonic will return to the speed he was traveling at before hitting the wall.
    • Slopes generally have less of an effect on Sonic, and it is now possible to stand still on and walk up slopes that it was impossible to do so on before.
    • The bounce height off Item Boxes is now fixed, which most noticeably affects a section in Star Light Zone.
    • When being knocked back by an enemy, the backwards momentum Sonic receives is carried over into the grounded state, causing him to run backwards when he lands.
    • Changing direction when facing in the direction Sonic is moving in is much faster. Conversely, if Sonic is running backwards, it takes longer to come to a stop and begin running forward.
    • Sonic's speed will drop off more slowly when no directional input is being made.
    • The Power Sneakers appear to have either a reduced effect or no effect at all, aside from speeding up the music.
    • In special stages, Sonic noticeably breaks through Color Blocks at a faster rate, allowing him to easily drill through thick layers of these blocks as long he is simply atop of them.
  • Debug Mode is completely removed.
  • If the player quits the game without getting a Game Over, retrying can be selected at the menu screen so that the player can continue the game with any Chaos Emeralds and score, and the player will start on the Act they left off on.
  • The player now has less time to jump into the Giant Ring at the end of Acts to access the Special Stages.
  • Some enemies have altered collision detection, sometimes being deceptively large, such as with Batbrains and Jaws.
  • Doctor Eggman is placed lower than usual on boss stages where he is in his Egg Mobile. As a result, many bosses can be easier to defeat since the player can attack him with a simple Spin Jump.
  • Most of the time, Goal Plates will not be centered when passed through them, and the camera position sometimes will not change, revealing an empty space under the ground.
  • Most items can be seen floating or wedged into the ground.
  • In Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone Act 3, the water does not affect the life HUD. Sonic also has a different color palette underwater, and objects are lighter than in the original version.
  • Beating the game with all six Chaos Emeralds collected will not fill Green Hill Zone with flowers.
  • Unlike in the original version, all switches in Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone have the same graphics as those in Marble Zone.
  • In the Egg Crusher boss fight, the spark balls are produced a bit slower and more orderly. Also they remain solid and flashing all the time instead of flashing with an electrical ring of energy before descending. The spark balls are also lethal at any given time when they are on-screen (in the original game, the spark balls were only lethal when they were descending).

Modes[]

Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis features four different modes, which can be chosen while on the title screen. These are:

Original Mode[]

Original Mode[2] is the standard mode of the game, with the same gameplay as that from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

Anniversary Mode[]

Anniversary Mode[2] is the same as Original Mode, but with the Spin Dash from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 added.

Juke Box[]

The Juke Box allows the player to play different soundtracks and sound effects from the game. It is unlocked after completing the game for the first time.

Options[]

Options[2] is the settings menu for Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis, which features the following settings:

  • SE:[2] Turn ON or OFF the sound effects from the game.
  • BGM:[2] Turn ON or OFF the background music from the game.

Reception[]

 Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
Metacritic 33%[3]
Review scores
Publication Score
GameSpot 2.5/10[4]
GameSpy 2.5/10[5]
Nintendo Power 6.0/10[6]
Modojo 1/5[7]

Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis received mixed-to-negative reviews, holding an aggregate score of 33% on Metacritic.[3] The game's poor frame rate and bad emulation were the main points of criticism.

Chris Hoffman of Nintendo Power was more positive of the game, giving it a rating of 60%. He wrote that "considering that Sonic Mega Collection for GCN already boasts a perfect version of the original Sonic, this game is a bit of a tough sell, but at least the inclusion of the 'hogs[sic] trademark Spin Dash adds some appeal".[6] Play Magazine was a little more negative, rating the game 40 out of 100. It wrote that the "few minor twists featured in Anniversary Mode did not matter when the fundamentals are so thoroughly screwed".[3]

GameSpy was more critical of the game. Though it cited that the graphics looked passable and the levels were short, it panned the low frame rate, the lack of speed, and the sudden "pop-ins" the game had. It also wrote that the game "more closely resembles an adaptation of the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog rather than the Genesis version". It ultimately concluded that "this doddering version of Sonic the Hedgehog has an appointment with the glue factory for sure".[5] GameSpot gave the game a score of 2.5 out of 10, meaning "terrible game", writing that "the jumpy graphics transform this classic side-scroller into a crushing disappointment".[4] Modojo called it "an insult to the Sonic legacy and the fans alike" and "a piece of garbage port of a fifteen-year old Sega Genesis game with only a battery save and a new spin dash move to spruce it up".[7]

Trivia[]

  • The colors on the front box artwork have been edited to be much lighter than the original artwork, mainly on Sonic's body.
  • This is the second Sonic game on the Game Boy Advance to be a reissue, with the first being Sonic Spinball, which was featured in Sega Smash Pack.

Gallery[]

Box artwork[]

Gallery

Magazines[]

References[]

  1. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Game Boy Advance) United States instruction booklet, pgs. 5-6.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Game Boy Advance) United States instruction booklet, pg. 7.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis. Metacritic. Retrieved on June 16, 2021.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Provo, Frank (November 20, 2006). Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis Review. GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 1, 2012. Retrieved on June 9, 2019.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Graziani, Gabe . Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis Review. GameSpy. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved on June 16, 2021.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Hoffman, Chris (January 2007). Nintendo Power (211): 112.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Falcon, Robert (November 16, 2006). Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis. Modojo. Retrieved on June 16, 2021.

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Sonic the Hedgehog handheld games

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