The Sonic The Hedgehog Classics Thread!

LockOnRommy11 · Oct 4, 2010

Good day, ladies and gentlemen,

Sonic The Hedgehog 4 will be upon us in a matter of mere days. Whatever the feelings that are held towards the game; whether they are good or bad, it is still in essence the game- Sonic 4 - that players have waited sixteen years to play.

In light of this event, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to share our experiences of the classic titles in this short period.

Although there's a lot of anticipation for Sonic 4, there's also some worry, and some agitation among many.
Sonic Retro has always been about the connection we forumers have had, and still have with the classic games. They have brought thousands of hours of joy to all of us, and without a doubt we have all had wonderful experiences playing them. It sounds pretty nerdy, but we're all here on this site, and it's true. When you're sat here reading and writing, replying to the hundreds of other posts, you lose sight somewhat of what we're actually here for. I know I'm here purely because the original games have resonated with me in such a way to keep me playing, even over a decade later. The games made such an impact, that I became the fan I am today, and they kept me playing Sonic games well into the future.

This thread is a way to just discuss the games of old. Maybe there's a question to something that you have which you never previously understood? Maybe you know some odd things which you haven't heard or seen anywhere else? Or perhaps you remember a certain event or time playing your Mega Drive/Genesis? If you want to post a speedrun, post a speedrun! If you have a score which you're proud of, put it here!

I, for one remember travelling to Disney World's Epcot in Florida, and seeing a big games room with a SEGA booth, way back in 1996. Before this time, I had never owned Sonic 3 OR Sonic & Knuckles, and I distinctively remember being in a level much like Marble Gardens or Angel Island, and seeing Knuckles run off. I preceded to follow Knuckles with Sonic and Tails through a jungle-type area, which I always remember being a bit like a hallway, with a low ceiling. I also became desperately stuck, not being able to find a way out of the area I had gotten into.
Despite having played all of the games to death, none of the scenes I've seen have ever really matched the memory I had as a child, and I put that down to my young mind interpreting and changing what I saw at the time, as it was a very brief moment, in which I was excited as hell. I could even have been playing Knuckles Chaotix, because I remember Knuckles being there, and although I remember playing as Sonic, I don't know if I actually did. I remember feeling frustrated as it somehow wasn't what I was used to, and maybe being attached by cord to another character was the reason why.

It's quite random, but I also know of a way to load up Sonic and Knuckles when playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles, whether it's on the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, or Sonic Mega Collection, or the Sonic Classic Collection on the DS. It works on all ports and versions of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It also enables the player to aquire debug mode on Sonic and Knuckles. It's pretty nifty, and if it's not something that anyone else knows (as far as I'm aware, no one does), then I'll definitely be documenting it for you It's pretty odd.

It's actually because of my enjoyment of the classic games, because I've been viewing Namo's Sonic 3 & Knuckles thread (Which brought back some great feelings), and also in light of Sonic's upcoming adventure that I have decided to again replay the older titles in an orderly fashion, one per day.

I'm actually really interested to see how all of us fare on the games, and see how experienced we are as a community, so I'll be making notes, so my stats can be viewed. I think that would be awesome if others could read this, and think, “y'know what? I'm gonna have a pop at one of the games and see how good I am too”, because let's face it, that's what we're about, right?

I'm going to start of by giving MY experience as a Sonic player.

SpeedStarTMQ said:

Sonic to me has always been about the adventure, the fantasy, the skill and energy required to really enjoy the games. For me, it was never about ‘platforming' or about ‘pure speed' because those weren't terms I had ever even considered. When playing the games back in the day, I had never made a connection between level design, or what the developers were thinking, I was too worried about getting my behind kicked by Dr. Robotnik and using up my continues. Whenever I played Sonic, I was, and still am enthralled and entirely engrossed. It's like the ultimate arcade game. You (usually) can't save on the classic titles, so I find myself trying to up my score, get a faster time, and juggle other things like dying less in every playthrough. I was, and still am never worried that I'm going too fast, or not fast enough, because it is always balanced out in the levels. Sonic runs, and I never expect him to literally run so fast I can barely make him out, but even in the 90's, he would always run faster than other game characters, and would often maintain this speed for a while, which only improved with experience, which for me, was directly linked to my age, getting better as I got older.

That is something I believe affects a lot of us, particulary players around my age.

With age, and the enhancement of technology- with newer and ultra-realistic games about- you realise more and more that you're playing a game when you play Sonic The Hedgehog, and your reactions (excitement, awe or shock, or frustration when you get beaten) to things in the levels aren't quite what they would have been as a younger gamer and back in the early 90's, when Sonic was one of the more highly technical games about. It doesn't mean however, that the games become any less enjoyable, in fact, the more you enhance your skills, the better you become, and the more comfortable you feel playing. I remember that years ago, I would at least have to be Tails, or have someone being Tails to help me. Our experiences and our development in the gaming world could mean however, and I feel that it does, contribute to how we feel (oftentimes negative) when newer titles come out though, because our expectations for games have generally changed, yet Sonic never seems to go beyond what he previously was.
Click to expand...

Stats for the countdown playthrough:

Day 1- Sonic The Hedgehog playthrough;
Final score: 283,190
Time: 50 minutes.
2 deaths; Crushed by cork in Labyrinth Zone, spiked by ball & chain in Act 3 of Scrap Brain Zone.
All Chaos Emeralds by start of Act 3 of Spring Yard Zone (No opportunities missed).

Day 2- Sonic The Hedgehog CD playthrough;
Final score: 443,300
Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes.
2 deaths; Killed by Metal Sonic boosting in Stardust Speedway Zone Act 3. Killed by first buzz-saw enemy in Metallic Madness Act 1.
All Time Stones by start of Act 2 of Quartz Quadrant Zone (No opportunities missed).

Day 3- Sonic The Hedgehog 2 playthrough (with younger brother playing as Tails);
Final score: 368,900
Time: 1 Hour, 8 Minutes
1 death; super spin-dashing off the plane in Sky Chase Zone.
All Chaos Emeralds by start of Chemical Plant Zone Act 1 (No opportunities missed).

Day 4- Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles playthrough (Sonic 3 part) (with younger brother playing as Tails);
Final score: 241,130
Time: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes
1 death; Crushing glitch in Carnival Night Zone.
All Chaos Emeralds by start of Marble Garden Zone Act 2 (No failed levels, but likely missed many Super Rings).

Same day- Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles playthrough (Sonic & Knuckles part part) (with younger brother playing as Tails);
Final score: Unknown; Over 400,000
Time: 1 Hour, 40 minutes.
2 deaths; Sandopolis Act 2 by Scorpion Badnik, Death Egg Zone by Chainspike.
All Super Emeralds by start of Lava Reef Act 1 (5 opportunities missed, as well as missed Super Rings)

I forgot to take a picture in the heat of Doomsday, so I didn't photograph my overall score, but I know it was well over 400,000, so I apologise!

Same day- Sonic & Knuckles playthrough (as Knuckles);
Final score: 54170
Time: 1 Hour, 20 minutes.
6 deaths; 1 by evil ghosts in Sandopolis Act 2 as I spawned, 3 glitch deaths by getting stuck in Lava Reef Zone Bosses hand and crushed(?), 2 by messing about near spikes on chains. in LRZ.
All Chaos Emeralds by start of Lava Reef Act 1 (1 opportunities missed, as well as missed Super Rings)

I forgot to take a picture again, so I didn't photograph my overall score, but luckily I made a mental note.

I'm not going to boast, I've seen a LOT better. I would say that I'm pretty proud of my stats though, It's taken years of effort and probably thousands of hours of Mega Drive/Mega Collection/iPod playing to get to where I am today. I also didn't do anywhere near as well as I usually do on Sonic 3 & Knuckles this time around.

I did learn something though. There are at least a few unfair experiences in the classic games, most of which I experienced in Sonic & Knuckles with Knuckles. Of course at some point we have all been aware of a glitch or so at some point, so it can only be said that glitches can and will occur in any games, good or bad. As we've seen, things like these can't really contribute to how well made a game is, and we should at least respect, even with the newer titles, that some glitches can and will occur, and that it is nothing to start getting overly upset about.

Now, bring on Sonic The Hedgehog 4!.

Happy gaming! Thank you for your time, Retro.

Note; I apologise for the different colours of text, I imagined it would be easier on the eyes.

Deef · Oct 4, 2010

Lol, silly death in Sky Chase.

I'll bite on a few bits.

I ran through Sonic 2 & Knuckles last week. Sorry to say I used 1 life more than a continue, doh. But having said that I was watching TV at the same time and some lives just disappeared through 10 minute expiries heh. I got the first 4 emeralds no problems, but didn't even enter the 5th stage. But that's good enough for me. Oil Ocean and Hill Top really bore me, so it's not often I just go straight through Sonic 2. In fact, it's probably the classic I play least.

Two nights ago I decided I felt like playing some Lava Reef. I didn't have a working save file so needed to do the level select. I fired up Knuckles and Angel Island.... then I completely forgot. I just kept playing until I got to Sandopolis then fell asleep. It's a bit ironic that Lava Reef was practically the only level I didn't end up playing. I was pleased to see that I could still get all the chaos emeralds, with perfects, without messing up, but the super emeralds caught me a few times.

On the subject of Knuckles in these 2 games, has anyone else noticed the slightly different controls he has in Sonic 2 and Knuckles? There is one trick he just can't do in Sonic 2.

FollOw · Oct 4, 2010

I'll probably be celebrating the release in my own way by playing sonic 1-3 on my Genesis.

Dark Sonic · Oct 4, 2010

I personally can't wait until Sonic 4 comes out. I don't know if I'll play the classic Sonic games before hand to celebrate, but I play them enough anyway so it shouldn't matter.

LockOnRommy11 · Oct 4, 2010

Deef said:

Above Post
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was a stupid death, I revved him up, thinking I'd jump and hit the side of the screen, giving Tails a chance to catch me, but it didn't work, I didn't jump in time and I plunged to my death. Apart from that, it was a perfectly clean game.

I'm usually not as good on the Chaos Emerald levels in Sonic 3 & Knuckles than I am at the Super Emeralds, wierd, isn't it?

I've actually not noticed a difference in Knuckles controlling (not that I can remember anyway). If you say it, I'll probably know but never realised it. It's not the jumping and gliding off a box is it? Or the way you can control him to make him constantly face forward gliding?

I also love Lava Reef, it's such a hectic level. I love the way you can spot the Death Egg in the background, it makes it feel as if it's all connected seamlessly.

I can't wait for Sonic 4 either, I'm just trying to avoid directly talking about it and starting off a major discussion, seeing as the megathread is currently locked until further notice. The iDevice trailer came out today though, which pleased me, because I'm getting both that and the Wii version, so I can experience it pretty much ASAP.

DigitalDuck · Oct 4, 2010

Appropriately, I started playing through the classics in full again too today... well, sort of.

Since Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is coming to a console near me at the earliest of 13th October, it means I have 9 days. I figured 3 classic games x 3 characters = 9 games.

So, today: Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog
Score: 451160
Time: 29:30 (from starting up the emulator to hearing the SEGA scream after completing the game)
Chaos emeralds: GHZ1 GHZ2 MZ1 MZ2 SYZ1 SYZ2

It's easy to break levels in S1 by the badnik glide-bounce trick, but it's much more rewarding (and much faster) to do it on a speed shoes box.

Covarr · Oct 4, 2010

One per day? Good idea. I should steal it. As I plan to get the Wii version on October 11, I won't be starting playthroughs of the original Genesis games until the 7th. I already did a Knux playthrough of S3K last week, but that's okay.

Here's my schedule for the time being, if nothing changes:
October 4 - Clean my bedroom. Top it off with playing and reflecting on the Game Gear Sonic games, and how no matter what Dimps does, Sonic 4 will have better physics, level design, music, and EVERYTHING ELSE than these games.
October 5 - Get Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray. Invite a pretty girl over to watch it with me. More important than Sonic 4, because it's the best movie ever made.
October 6 - Sonic Spinball. Just gonna play around here, since there's no way in hell I can actually beat this thing.
October 7 - Sonic 1. I've never completed this game, but this time I will no matter what. I'll try for 100%, but not worrying if I don't get it.
October 8 - Sonic CD. I might play the hack that has the homing attack, because I don't like this game much and I just want to get it over with. Not even gonna attempt 100%.
October 9 - Sonic 2. Gonna play as Sonic alone, in light of Tails not being included in S4Ep1. Same deal as Sonic 1 as far as 100%ing.
October 10 - Sonic 3&Knuckles. Fortunately, my Virtual Console copy doesn't have a Sonic run yet (just Sonic+Tails and Knuckles), so I'll do that. Thanks to the magic of having a save file, I will be 100%ing this no matter what.

On the topic of memories of the classics, I played a good amount of Sonic 2 at my cousins house years ago, when I was about 9. One day, all we did was spent hours cheating our way to death egg, debugging so we could have rings to beat Silver Sonic, and trying to beat Robotnik into that giant robot thing. We obviously never pulled it off, though at the time his older brother swore he'd done it once.

Got Sonic and Knuckles collection when I was 11 as a gift from my 65-year-old neighbor Judy, who'd given up on it since she couldn't figure out how to escape from those vines in MHZ. This same lady gave me Final Fantasy VII (PC) after having completed it four times, as well as a ton of Humongous Entertainment adventure games. As elderly people go, she was about as cool as they come.

Eventually got into emulation at 12, and focused on one thing alone, Sonic-wise: cheating. Something about Super-Sonic'ing your way through Emerald Hill Zone is just satisfying, even if it is easy. I didn't beat a Sonic game without cheating until years later, but even now I enjoy the refreshing experience of abusing debug mode until the game breaks.

Mr. Mash · Oct 4, 2010

Oh, this is a cool idea! If Sonic 4 is released at Midnight, then I'll spend the day up until that point playing through Sonic 1, CD, 2 and S3&K. I'll be buzzed, I think my 8 year old self would be proud :P

MykonosFan · Oct 5, 2010

I'll be playing through Sonic 1, and maybe Sonic 2.

I finished S3&K on an emulator yesterday. First time ever through the game. I had to use save states and am not going to be playing it for celebratory reasons until I can blast through it the proper way. And I only got 2 Super Emeralds. Poo. So yes, Sonic 1 it is, since I"m actually good at that one. :v:

Spanner · Oct 5, 2010

I wouldn't mind streaming a few games online, but I don't think I have good-enough hardware.
I won't be playing Sonic 4 due to a lack of console, but there's always the other games! :specialed:

Azookara · Oct 5, 2010

I'm gonna play through Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles on my iPhone on and off for the next two days until Sonic 4 comes out Thursday. Sonic 1 and 2 through the iPhone apps, and S3K through a Genesis emu. :specialed:

Mr. Mash · Oct 5, 2010

Mykonos said:

I'll be playing through Sonic 1, and maybe Sonic 2.

I finished S3&K on an emulator yesterday. First time ever through the game. I had to use save states and am not going to be playing it for celebratory reasons until I can blast through it the proper way. And I only got 2 Super Emeralds. Poo. So yes, Sonic 1 it is, since I"m actually good at that one. :v:
Click to expand...

Hurry up and get the rest of them super emeralds and play through Doomsday Zone. The game isn't complete without it!

Vinchenz · Oct 5, 2010

I'm probably going to play through S3&K the day before, maybe Sonic CD too just for the music.

I like going through Sonic 2 but I always get pretty bored playing through the first Sonic.

Ravenfreak · Oct 5, 2010

Just finished the first one for the hundred millionth time. I'm kind of disappointed in myself, I died way too many times. (5 to be exact. :\) I used to be able to make it through the entire game without dieing once. But I did get all the chaos emeralds, but I forgot my final score. :v: On to Sonic 2 now. ^_^

HarrisonJ · Oct 5, 2010

I'm gonna play through 1 and 2 probably, maybe 3&K if I feel like it, but I've overplayed that one lately. Not like the same isn't true for the other two, but still...

LockOnRommy11 · Oct 5, 2010

It's great that you're all still playing the classics. I'm going to be starting my run through of Sonic 3 & Knuckles today, and I'll be postng my scores and other details in my original post. :v:

Also, what was that difference for Knuckles in Sonic 2? Deef mentioned it but hasn't said anything further.

I also know how to access Sonic and Knuckles through Sonic 3 & Knuckles on all versions, which also enables debug mode in S&K, so if anyone knows of the way already, let me know.

I'm going to be filming it for the community otherwise!

Also, DigitalDuck, I wish that I could play Sonic 1 & Knuckles, but I just can't seem to get emulators working properly on my PC! I even have a Play Sega Saturn Joypad Whenever I play a Sonic game, it's always on either my DS or Wii anyway to be honest!

Ravenfreak · Oct 5, 2010

There are a few differences in Knuckles in Sonic 2 than just plain old Sonic 2. For one thing, the random Rexon crashing bug has been fixed, and there's an extra life in Chemical Plant Zone that isn't in the original Sonic 2. (You wouldn't have access to that area without debug anyway if I recall correctly.) And Knux's life counter uses the HUD from Sonic 3K. Edit: I guess the ring requirements are the same... curse my memory it's usually good. :\

LockOnRommy11 · Oct 5, 2010

I did actually find them years ago, so I was aware Raven, but thank you nonetheless Although what is this Rexon crashing bug you speak of?

What Deef said was; "On the subject of Knuckles in these 2 games, has anyone else noticed the slightly different controls he has in Sonic 2 and Knuckles? There is one trick he just can't do in Sonic 2."

I've never noticed that Knuckles has any variation in the things he can do, not that I'm aware of anyway, and now I really want to know.

Namo · Oct 5, 2010

I feel like I should play through the classics again too. Even though I've beaten all of them, it'll be great to do it again while waiting for Sonic Colors. My order would be:
Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2, Sonic 3&K, Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic 3D Blast, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and Sonic Spinball. I'll probably throw in Sonic Advance or Sonic Battle too just because I love them so much.

LockOnRommy11 · Oct 5, 2010

I'll be leaving the others, and just playing the games running up to Sonic 4. I could never get into Spinball, although I think it's amazing that you like Sonic Battle, barely anyone plays that. I love that game!

Still looking for those answers people!

The Sonic The Hedgehog Classics Thread!

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