[Jayextee]

For everyone but spindash babbies, it holds up.

[Spinksy]

Sonic 1 with a MegaDrive was the first console I had at the age of 8, therefore it sticks as a favorite.

Will never forget struggling with some of the levels when I was 8/9 and never completeing it till me and my mate got a cheat from a magazine lol.

What fascinates me is how people obsess over sonic being stupidly fast - when in reality the first game never was THAT fast (just quick for that time peroid)- it had fast paced bits but the majority of the game was good platforming, the speed was to me just what made him stand out!

[Vangar]

W.A.C., on 03 February 2014 - 04:46 AM, said:

Sonic 1 is my second favorite game in the series and has been ever since I've played Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It was the slowest paced game of the original trilogy and that never bothered me (which might be why I love Sonic 3D Blast and enjoyed the 3DS version of Sonic Lost World). The lack of spin-dashing made it easier to balance the levels where you're not accidentally spin-dashing to a death trap and that helped some levels maintain their higher difficulty without feeling cheap. Maybe I'm just a sucker for lava based levels with a big emphasis on platforming, but Marble Zone is my favorite zone in the game. I love every zone in the game for a variety of reasons (including Labyrinth Zone) but I can't say the same about Sonic 2. I only love about half of the zones from that game.

Emerald Hill: Love it.
Chemical Plant: Love it.
Aquatic Ruin: Levels that use water as a punishment instead of a fun aspect to a stage will always be the least enjoy water levels. This level also started the low areas = way less fun trend. I can be in any higher or lower area of any level from Sonic 1 or S3&K and still have a great time.
Casino Night: Started possibly my least favorite level trope in the entire Sonic franchise. People bitch about Sonic 1's slow pace, yet this level has you waiting for elevators to move you up and down without anything else to do during that time.
Hill Top: Enjoyable stage, but I don't love it. Also the least interesting lava level of any 2D Sonic game I've played.
Mystic Cave: Love it.
Oil Ocean: Enjoyable, but not a favorite by any means. Also strangely one of the more forgettable stages despite its unique trope.
Metropolis: Love it.
Sky Chase: Love it.
Wing Fortress: Love it.
Death Egg: I've always found the final boss to be more of a pain in the ass than fun.

I love 11/20 stages from the game, where as I love every stage from Sonic 1 and S3&K. As for Sonic CD, the level design was a very different beast but I enjoyed the maze like level design except for the cheaper level design and act 1 of Wacky Workbench. Act 2 and 3 of Wacky Workbench were great though. I always felt the boss fight in that zone was one of the more unique boss fights in the series. Sonic CD's boss fights were some the strangest of the classic games in that they didn't follow the traditional 8 hits to death rule for Robotnik's machines and varied a ton in quality. Sonic 1's bosses weren't the best in the Sonic series, but all of them were enjoyable and diverse. S3&K pulled off boss fights the best of the classic games and its level design is second to none in the entire series. Seriously, why didn't future 2D Sonic games get level design that complex designed for multiple characters? The Advance games had five playable characters, yet nearly anyone could access any area of the first two Advance games. Can't quite comment on Advance 3 with the level design because I didn't play that game anywhere near as much, but I don't remember any sections that felt like they were designed with specific characters in mind.

You're going to have to explain this to me. Sonic 2 only has 12 stages, unless you are breaking them into acts? In which case you only like one some acts of some zones? From your love it hate it list, 8ish out of 12 zones isn't bad?

You also mention you love every zone in Sonic 1 but hate Casino Night because you have to wait for platforms? How about the platforms in Spring Yard. Like the multiple marathon of them up and down? You mention you like it because it is slower paced, or at least it doesn't bother you... so why is 1 - 2 platforms in CNZ an issue? CNZ and spring yard are extremely similar, Spring yard is kinda like a less-featured CNZ. You still get bounced around all over the place.

ARZ and LZ are similar too. Both punish you underwater - ARZ only has a few falling stones while LZ has spikes all over the place, quickly moving spike balls and the boss is more frustrating.

As for CD, I always felt that the level design and tropes were closer to Sonic 1 then any other game. Slow paced, obscure level genres and more of a 90's japanese theme. Where as sonic 2 onwards became more western.

Does Sonic 1 hold up today? Does this retro forum still exist? Well it's sure not here because of Lost World or '06!

This post has been edited by Vangar: 03 February 2014 - 07:24 AM

[LordOfSquad]

It still holds up, it's just got more of a basic, arcadey feel to it than the others. It's certainly still more charming than Sonic 2.

[Nova]

Oh, most definitely - whether it's as good as the later entries in the series is highly questionable. I'm a little biased towards it as it was my first video game ever and so many of my formative experiences came from it, but Sonic 2 and 3 came out when I was a little older and as such, I was able to appreciate the advances made and they are definitely the better games in my opinion.

Again, Sonic 1 definitely, definitely holds up. But it has a totally different feel - I think it was Guess Who who brought up in the IRC that Sonic 2 was the first game where they learned they could do more than a slightly-fast-platformer using the momentum-based physics, and Chemical Plant Zone was the first level where they truly showcased this. Going back to the old games, this kind of 'flowing' gameplay is so much more emergent and fun than Sonic 1's. Still, definitely not a bad game even by today's standards.

[D.A. Garden]

Yes, it holds up. I still play it from time to time and the platform-game lover inside of me has a soft spot for the slower sections that break up the pace of the game.
I also love the simplistic, artistic style of the levels as it shows that even with a limited amount of style, it still shone through. I'm also a sucker for the higher difficulty curve that I feel is presented. I can't see it too much now, but when I was a kid I found this game hard as nails compared to Sonic 2 and 3. And that was a good thing as it made me come back for more; determined to finally beat it.

Let's also not forget that Sonic 1 was the game that was created to rival Mario (specifically rivaled against Super Mario World) and over here in the UK at least, it succeeded. If that doesn't help hold it up then I don't know what will.

This post has been edited by D.A. Garden: 03 February 2014 - 08:47 AM

[Captain L]

I've got bias towards Sonic 1. I bought it on my click wheel iPod years ago, and since I had very few legitimate games on that thing, Sonic was my go-to game. I must have beat that game over 30 times. I got to learn everything about it, the level design was completely memorized, so playing through the entire thing was a breeze.

Sonic 2 and CD, I think had some major lapses in level design. It felt like each one punished you for not memorizing the levels, with enemies you couldn't see coming, springs you couldn't see in CD's case, and paths far too easy to miss while moving. CD also relies way too much on bumpers and springs. I don't think either of them is a bad game, but I just feel Sonic 1 doesn't have those problems.

[Cooljerk]

Sonic 1 is still awesome, and only Sonic CD surpasses its visual style (mainly because Sonic CD is Sonic 1 on acid).

[Caniad Bach]

Captain L, on 03 February 2014 - 09:02 AM, said:

I've got bias towards Sonic 1. I bought it on my click wheel iPod years ago, and since I had very few legitimate games on that thing, Sonic was my go-to game. I must have beat that game over 30 times. I got to learn everything about it, the level design was completely memorized, so playing through the entire thing was a breeze.

Haha totally this! I've always liked Sonic 1 but playing it a couple of times a day on my iPod back and forth from work a few years back really made me appreciate it.

Mechanically, I feel Sonic 1 is the best of the lot, as speed is a reward that you have to master the game for. The game can get hard but never feels unfair, and it's not afraid to slow you down for some proper platforming. Modern Sonic can learn a lot from Sonic 1, and not just from Green Hill Zone and its badniks.

Sonic 1 is awesome and all you haters need to learn how to vidya =P

[.Luke]

Jayextee, on 03 February 2014 - 06:33 AM, said:

For everyone but spindash babbies, it holds up.

^ Probably the best post in the thread. I had a problem with the lack of spindashing at first myself, but by playing Sonic 1, I could see it didn't really need it. SEGA wouldn't be porting Sonic 1 to every phone and your toaster if they themselves didn't believe it still holds up.

W.A.C., on 03 February 2014 - 04:46 AM, said:

Seriously, why didn't future 2D Sonic games get level design that complex designed for multiple characters? The Advance games had five playable characters, yet nearly anyone could access any area of the first two Advance games. Can't quite comment on Advance 3 with the level design because I didn't play that game anywhere near as much, but I don't remember any sections that felt like they were designed with specific characters in mind.

I have a cartridge of Sonic Advance 3, and there are lots of places specific character types can't get into easily; I've had it for years and haven't really seen the half of its alternate paths. I felt like the level design in the Advance games was at its best in SA3, it had a fair balance of speed and exploration, (Much like Sonic CD, so reckless running like in SA2 gets you killed.) but SA1 comes the closest to feeling like Sonic 1 and 2.

[Andrew75]

From a technical standpoint Sonic 1 has the most complex collision geometry (tiles) as seen in green hill zone vs any of the later sonic game's levels.

This post has been edited by Andrew75: 03 February 2014 - 01:17 PM

[Overlord]

It holds up well, in my opinion. That said, 2 eclipsed it. =P

[Sodaholic]

Jayextee, on 03 February 2014 - 06:33 AM, said:

For everyone but spindash babbies, it holds up.

Please don't make assumptions like that. I actually never use the spindash except when it's required in certain sections of S3, and I prefer the more punishing spike behavior and wish they kept it. All I'm saying is that the art isn't nearly as polished and that the levels didn't embrace the unique physics as much as they could have.

[KingOfBunnies]

It definitely hold up. I really like to compare Sonic 1 vs 2 and 3 to say Super Mario Bros. VS SMB 3 and Mario World.

Yeah, SMB1 was a huge game changer, but 3 and Mario World took that formula and expanded on it making bigger and better games. Which is essentially the same with Sonic.

Sonic 1 was great. But 2 came along and overshadowed it. For me, I like 2 more because 2 is better paced than 1. With Sonic 1, you go from Green Hill to Marble Zone, and Marble zone is pretty slow, so that really turns me off from the game. But Sonic 2 goes from Emerald Hill to Chemical Plant which keeps the fast pace going and keeps me playing.

That's just me, honestly, but Sonic 1 has still held up and is till fun to play, I just think maybe change the level order and you've got a better game.

[JaredAFX]

I think this relates most closely to the problem Crash/Spyro 1 have compared to 2 and 3: the reality tends to be that because they're missing features found in later games makes most of us hesitant to go back. Ignoring the fact that Spyro/Crash 2 and 3 are usually considered less cheap, more expansive and generally better than their first outings, Crash is missing the slide and Spyro is missing the mid-air float-stop-thing. Those are vital control features to later games, and people see places where they could be useful in the first games. It doesn't make them bad (although some would argue against that on Crash's side), it just makes you wish you had something to enhance an already fine game.
Sure, some of the Acts in Sonic 1 will kill you if you speed through them, but people see where the Spindash would be useful and want it. Nowadays we can with Stealth and Taxman's port, but that doesn't change the fact that it still wasn't originally intended and most of the game is "slow" compared to future games. This is why I can't really get into Sonic 1. Of course, I'm 16 in two weeks and my first Sonic game was SA2B, so that says a lot.

EDIT: I love CD, 2 and 3, but I just can't get into 1. It's not as fast-paced as the others. That doesn't make it bad, it just doesn't make it my thing.

This post has been edited by JaredAFX: 03 February 2014 - 04:02 PM