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LttP Sonic 1: It Sucks

SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

I love pineapple on pizza!
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,510
Earth, 21st Century
I love Sonic 3 and Mania, the only other two classics I've played.

Going back to Sonic 1 now is painful.

Sonic can't spin dash

There's tons of bullshit pits even in the beginning.

Three acts wtf

If you die you GO BACK TO GREEN HILL

No Tails or Knuckles

I don't like this game
 
FloatOn

FloatOn

Member
Jan 24, 2018
1,496
Sonic peaked with part 2

after that the novelty wore off and Mario stayed winning.
 
mrmickfran

mrmickfran

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
26,845
Gongaga
Out of the old Genesis games, i think Sonic 1 is my least favorite. Unless we bring CD to the mix, fuck CD.

Ranking would probably be Sonic 2 > Sonic 3 & K > Mania > 1 > CD
 
nbnt

nbnt

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,814
Nah Sonic 1 is good. Not as good as 2 or 3&K, but still good nonetheless. Also, I think all of the recent re-releases added the spin dash, why play the OG if you want it?
 
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Manu

Manu

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
17,191
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The only annoying thing about Sonic 1 is that they never fixed the spikes glitch.

Basically, your immunity after getting hit by spikes doesn't work, so if you hit spikes and bounce into the same spikes you'll die every time.
 
Pasokon Deacon

Pasokon Deacon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,686
Devil Halton's Trap
The Sonic Jam version fixes the spike glitch and lack of spin dash. It's a damn good platformer for the time, but I feel like they found a better balance with Sonic 2 going forward. We could use more methodical platforming like in some parts of this game, though.
 
eXistor

eXistor

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,305
Later games gave us more options (obviously), but I can still very much appreciate Sonic 1. Just like SMB1, it's still really good because it was good at release so that means it will forever remain so.

I can kinda understand people getting down on Sonic 1 (moreso than Mario 1) because its levels have been reused so many times in later, more advanced games, but it's still a solidly designed game.
 
The Almighty Tria

The Almighty Tria

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,411
It has some good points, but it is honestly pretty confused in its design. The game wants you to go fast, but too many levels are built around slow as hell standard platforming challenges.

It is still a fun game, but Sonic 2 blew it out of the water. It was all downhill after Sonic 2 though.
 
The Spoony Hou

The Spoony Hou

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,933
Brazil
Manu said:
The only annoying thing about Sonic 1 is that they never fixed the spikes glitch.

Basically, your immunity after getting hit by spikes doesn't work, so if you hit spikes and bounce into the same spikes you'll die every time.
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Sonic Jam and I think mega collection fixed it (probably 3d classic too). But other re-releases just use the genesis roms, so they kept the bug.
 

Deleted member 3815

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Oct 25, 2017
6,633
SolVanderlyn said:
Sonic can't spin dash
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Go play the 3D Sega Classic version, they added the Spin dash. Or you could wait for the Switch version and play it with the Drop dash and Spin Dash.

SolVanderlyn said:
There's tons of bullshit pits even in the beginning.
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Such as? Because I have played the game many times and don't recall any of those, heck my little brother was a kid when he played Sonic 1 and he managed just fine.

The only bull shit moment that I can think of is Spring Yard Zone Boss, as you can screw yourself over.

SolVanderlyn said:
Three acts wtf
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You played Sonic 3 and Mania, both of which have very long acts. You can handle three short acts just fine.

SolVanderlyn said:
If you die you GO BACK TO GREEN HILL
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Wait, are you telling me that you got a game over in Green Hill Zone. How did you even managed that?

SolVanderlyn said:
No Tails or Knuckles
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A bit of a dumb reason since Sonic 1 was the first game in the series.

SolVanderlyn said:
I don't like this game
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Okay. Personally I think that you're just bad at the game but I will admit Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles surpassed Sonic 1.

Still though, I still do love playing it.
 
Lozange

Lozange

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,103
Hot take: Sonic 1 was my second favourite classic Sonic game (next to CD) until Mania came along. It's not a great example of how to make a sonic game outside of a couple of zones, but it's also just so slow paced in some sections that it manages to avoid some of the notable problems with 2D sonic design by just being a regular platformer with brief breaks where you go fast occasionally.
Would I call it a great game in hindsight? Oh no. Despite my problems with the games that came after, that was probably the right direction for the series as a whole, and a regular platformer where you go fast occasionally isn't a great sales pitch, but I have fun with it on the whole.
(And yes the lack of saving is an issue. At least there's the level select code if you don't care about chaos emeralds? It's not like the true ending has any extra content)
 
RM8

RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,906
JP
It's my favorite Sonic game, lol. Since I'm not a Sonic fan I appreciate that it's a more traditional platformer.
 
ckareset

ckareset

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt account
Banned
Feb 2, 2018
4,977
It doesnt suck, it's just not as good as the other more polished ones
 

Deleted member 4021

Oct 25, 2017
1,707
Sonic 1 is an interesting game. They had the basics down for Sonic in terms of physics, and the idea of branching levels which reward effective use of that physics. But overall I think the level design holds it back, with too many levels that are unavoidably slow and ponderous. Only Green Hill and Star Light Zone really show the potential for Sonic games that were realized more fully in the sequels. Also the special stages suck.

I almost feel like Sonic 1 8-bit is the better game. The level design feels more in tune with Sonic's abilities in that game, the acts aren't as long and do more interesting, experimental things, and the climactic levels are a true challenge. I think everyone should try Sonic 1 for Master System/Game Gear at least once in their lives. Plus, Bridge Zone:
 

Deleted member 3815

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Oct 25, 2017
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mrmickfran said:
Out of the old Genesis games, i think Sonic 1 is my least favorite. Unless we bring CD to the mix, fuck CD.

Ranking would probably be Sonic 2 > Sonic 3 & K > Mania > 1 > CD
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Same, Sonic CD is the only classic Sonic game that I never finished as I don't like some of the level design.

I want to go fast and CD level design just doesn't allow for that.
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

Member
Oct 31, 2017
9,627
I think some of the things you describe OP are part of the games' charm, but I can get why going back to the original Sonic today could be disappointing.

Personally, I like its more simple game design, with a lesser focus on purely going fast through zones. And no spin dash makes the player really have to consider Sonic's positioning and momentum at times. It's definitely rough around the edges though, which the sequels do smooth out, especially the S3&K complete package.

As individual games, I'd probably say my opinions of the Genesis games looks like this: Sonic 2 > Sonic 3 > Sonic 1 > Sonic & Knuckles.

If I consider Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles as the complete package game it should be, it'd be: S3&K > Sonic 2 > Sonic 1.

I still really like Sonic 1, for reasons that differentiate it from the other games. And I think as individual titles, I probably prefer it to the S&K portion of S3&K, but if you look at all the games collectively, the original probably is the weakest.
 
WestEgg

WestEgg

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
14,047
Sonic 1 will always be tarnished if you've played the later games, which encouraged consistently fast game-play and great QoL features like the spin dash. It's not a bad game, just massively improved upon by later instailments.

2 was the peak of the series, don't @ me.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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Oct 28, 2017
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nekkid said:
Mega Drive/Genesis or Master System?

Please be clear, OP.
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The master system one is great though and i will fight anyone who says otherwise

The system limitation made it more of a traditional platformer instead of GOTTA GO FAST and the game is better for it
 
krs

krs

Member
Oct 25, 2017
192
SolVanderlyn said:
If you die you GO BACK TO GREEN HILL
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You need to earn continues in this game by first collecting 50 rings in the levels, which makes the large ring appear at the end. Jumping into that takes you to the bonus level where you also need to collect 50 coins to earn a continue. The bonus level is also where you find the emeralds.
 
tommyv2

tommyv2

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Nov 6, 2017
1,425
Sonic 1 is the best Sonic game. Pure, thoughtful pinball physics, great level design and wonderful music.
 
Mzo

Mzo

Member
Nov 30, 2017
1,165
Sonic 1 looks amazing and plays amazing. Scrap Brain Zone can be a little much but that aside it's a great game.

I'm not hearing any of this other noise.

Sonic 2 is ridiculously good until Metropolis Zone when it falls off a goddamned cliff. Still a great game.

We don't even need to discuss the glory of 3 and Knuckles.

Sonic, like many older games, was made to be replayed and enjoyed over multiple playthroughs. You're not going to get everything out of it the first time you pick up a controller and stumble through it. I saw a recent write up of the Souls games that can be applied to basically all old school video games. Play to learn and improve, which leads to higher enjoyment of the game. Or don't, but don't come at the game with your hot takes from the future like it's not a classic.
 
Molto

Molto

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Oct 27, 2017
1,022
I mean, what do you expect playing it for the first time in 2018? Especially with playing it after the games that improved on the formula.

Back when this game came out it was fucking sublime. I had already played plenty of NES games including SMB at my neighbor's house, but it wasn't until I saw Sonic doing loops through this colorful world with the best music of all time that I actually fell in love with gaming.
 

Deleted member 11626

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Oct 27, 2017
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It's my least favorite of the genesis games but still pretty good. You guys are something else sometimes lol
 
Xenon

Xenon

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Oct 27, 2017
1,266
Sonic was a great game for it's time. In the Sonic mania thread someone mentioned a comparison to Tony Hawk which is perfect. You had to really learn the levels to find a good path to keep up your speed, but suffering through tons of dead stops and cheap deaths was the price to get there. Once you did thought it was very rewarding. Back when there weren't as many games vying for our attention it was actually a plus. Now it's just unreasonable to expect people to put that much time into a game.
 
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