Sonic the Hedgehog - Master System

Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Master System is the very first video game I’ve ever played, and I got it when I was around 5 years old. When I got the game and the console as a gift from my father, it should have been around the year 1998 (the Games has been released in 1991). That is the game that made me love all the video game universes and why I have a sweet spot for the Sonic franchise.

Almost 3 decades later, I still own the game; unfortunately, the Master System is long gone (RIP). I remember spending hours playing the first levels of the game. I was too young and too unskilled at this time to go further the Labyrinth / water level. 

With my newly acquired Anbernic RG34XX, I’ve decided to play to this game again on the handheld support, but this time with the goal of finally beating it.

This is an 8-bit version that is not a port / downgrade of the 16-bit version released on the Mega Drive. That is a separate game specially developed for the SMS, but the plot is the same as the Mega Drive version. The evil Dr. Robotnik has captured the animals on the world to transform them into robots, and your goal is to free them, collect the chaos emeralds, and beat Robotnik.

The game has 6 zones, divided into 2 Acts + a third act that is a boss fight. And Sonic lives up to his name; he moves fast, really fast. Despite some level design that will force you to take up your pace, or are more vertically oriented like the Act 2 of the Jungle Zone. Gameplay is similar to the MegaDrive version, the major difference being that it’s impossible to retrieve the lost rings after taking damage. 

That’s also one of the more beautiful games of the SMS; Sonic has a bright blue color, and his sprites are really well animated.

Same for the music and sounds, It’s quite amazing what they’ve managed to produce given the limited chipset available.

The difficulty is overall well-dosed (5-years-old me may disagree with that). I only had some issues with the Labyrinth level (which is easier than his 16-bit counterpart) and I got lost in the second Act of the Scrap Brain Zone. Beating up Robotnik in the boss fight acts was fun.

I’m glad to have started my gaming journey with this game. And I’m happy to see that more than 30 years later, despite some down periods for Sega and Sonic, the Blue Hedgehog is still more relevant than ever with a 3rd movie which was a hit in theaters.