Green Hill Zone. Basically, the music is extremely nostalgic, taking you back to the days when life was cheaper. The lake/sea water at the back being dyed a blue color and the hills, while the crabmeets serenade on the ground and the buzzbombers fly gracefully over the blissful flowers that turn on the grassy landscapes. Filled with moving platforms, loops and the dangers of spikes, Green Hill Zone is a marvle in it's beauty. I am crazy.
The graphical style and music in Sonic 1 was by far superior, and because the gameplay isn't much different, I naturally prefer Sonic 1's stuff. EDIT: Though I do agree with OP on one point. Marble Zone was my introduction to the Sonic series at a friends house, and for a while I thought it was the first level, so it probably left a greater impression on me at first. Overall though, this is part of why I liked Sonic CD so much (and why I complained about the Tails sprites in the CD remake.) Visually it mimicked Sonic 1 far more than it did the other Sonic games, and it was easily my favourite looking Sonic game until CD showed up.
Now I'm not about to say which zone I feel is better in terms of level design and gameplay, but in terms of memorability, I feel Emerald Hill is less memorable because it is essentially a clone of Green Hill. Emerald Hill really didn't bring anything new to the table other than the corkscrew. Other than that, its a bright level with green grass and loop-de-loops, Another thing is the amount of time spent in the level. On a normal play through of both games, one would spend more time in Green Hill than Emerald Hill due to the three act structure in the original Sonic game. Due to that, a person would gain a better feel for Green Hill because they'd spend more time in it. Also, Green Hill has been remade so many times, music remixed so often, its just natural for a person to have been more familiarized with a zone that constantly reappears in Sonic games than a stage that has, to my knowledge, only appeared once in the entire Sonic series
Green Hill Zone for me, I always wanted Emerald Hill Zone to be over and done with because one of the best zones come after it. Another note is that I hated the boss at the end of the zone because he was boring compared to the boss in Green Hill Zone. Also this guy really pissed me off because he's a cheap dirty monkey:
I picked Emerald hill because it does a better job at being a first level. I don't know if it is just how Sonic 1's gameplay is (Lack of Spindash, Spike bug, etc) but it seems to have a lot more difficult little parts in it that I have always hated, like that part when you get out of the S-tubes and there is a rock with a spring on it pushing you backwards and some of the hidden places where you need to jump over a row of spikes in just the right way (Too high, you jump on the area above it, too low and you hit the spikes) Emerald Hill is more streamlined, but still has its share of secrets and hidden stuff, it also is better for being a good example of the multiple routes in a level. That and it is one of the three 2-player levels. That, and I played Sonic 2 first, so it has stuck more.
Green Hill Zone > Emerald Hill Zone Word Association: When I think of GHZ - Sonic. Vague blurry memories of 2 year old me picking up a controller and trying to play this game after it came out (and failing). Also getting the system 4 years later for Christmas with Sonic's 1 and 2, cuz my mom is the best mom ever. EHZ - Lazy GHZ ripoff placed quickly to get the first zone out of the way. Aside from the wonderful corkscrews, I don't really like EHZ, sorry... The music of EHZ though, that's another story. I do like that a lot!
GHZ. Nostalgia + way better visual style + way more interesting gimmicks and level design + dat atmosphere + music + everything else… Oh, a better boss, too! Which isn't saying much when you consider EHZ's one, mind you. Well, it couldn't mimic games from the future, could it? :P CD was your favourite-looking game until CD? Um. Or do you mean, confusing re-targeting of the word it aside, that S1 was your favourite until CD? In which case, I'd probably agree.
For me it'll always be Emerald Hill simply as Sonic 2 was the first game I ever had that was mine and mine alone. GHZ will continue to pop up as the defining zone of the franchise though, simply as it's so well known and the S1 speed aside is a perfect representation of what a Sonic level is all about. I don't think Sega will stop referencing it any time soon =P
I do wish they fucking would though! Having said that, oversaturation of GHZ hasn't made me love the original any less. To answer the question, I think I love GHZ and EHZ equally. Before I had a Mega Drive, during the phase of wanting one (very badly I might add!) I was very familiar watching older kids playing through Sonic 1 in HMV/Boots/Virgin Megastore, so Green Hill Zone was etched in my mind before I owned my first Sonic game (Sonic 2) of which I have equally fond memories, but that has no bearing on which one I prefer or find more memorable... or on the original fucking question for that matter, so... Now we've got the personal shit out of the way, Green Hill is by far the more memorable zone.
Green Hill Zone. Sonic 1 was the first game in the franchise I played sometime in late 1991. I can still remember my young 3 year old self dying all the time in that level, always wondering what came next. The music, the visuals, ect just speaks alot more to me then Emerald Hill ever has. The level itself my have been done to death and back, be it the general trope or a full on remake, but one thing that always urked me about the clones/remakes is that none bring back the one trap that caused me the most trouble way back when, the spiked log!
Green Hill Zone to me, simply because it's got the better level design. Much better level design. EHZ kind of puts me to sleep.
Sonic CD could have mimicked Sonic 2 closer in style, but I didn't really play Sonic CD till after Sonic 3 was out as well, so I was counting that in my complaint, though I know CD couldn't possibly mimic Sonic 3 even if it wanted to. And to clarify, it is exactly as you said. Sonic 1 was visually my favourite Sonic game until Sonic CD, which remained my favourite visually for a long time and in a few respects still is.
W-what!? A gimmick that forces you to take your time!? What are you ON man Although actually, yeah, why was there no spiked log in the Green Hill of Generations? such a wasted oppounity, and it could've easily fitted in the Modern stage, just by using boost to stick to the log (Which would probably be a lot larger), as you run around the nonspiked part. But anyways, ontopic; I actually kinda find this one to be a tough one, although I'd have to say Green Hill due to how iconic it is. While Emerald Hill does hold a lot of nostalgic value for me, nearly everyone and their mother remembers Green Hill with all it's loops, swings, spikes and wooden bridges. Emerald Hill doesn't really bring anything new or exciting to the trope.
*runs* Seriously, there have a been a few over the years. The nuts in Metropolis, the tank track things in Death Egg...
My first Sonic game was Sonic 2 and I enjoy Emerald Hill more because you can power drill dash, grab running shoes and it has parts where you use the springs for heaps of fast progression through the level...oh and Super Sonic using cheats.
I know this, I was just saying how in recent games which has remakes of older levels, such as Sonic Generations, there isn't much in the "gotta go slow to do dis" gimmicks. And that barrel man, the other day I played Sonic 3 with my cousin and she didn't know how to beat the barrel, so when I did she was like "oh my god"
I'm pretty sure if you asked a gamer if he/she recognizes the GHZ or EHZ theme, 9 out of 10 times they'll say, "What the hell is that?", for both songs. Sonic isn't that popular.
