Lets see, I'm 24, so it was about 19 years ago. My parents walk through the door with a box. I don't remember too much, I didn't exactly read yet, so I didn't take time to enjoy the box art. Before I knew it, I was staring at a strange black square that just happened to hook up to the tv. I didn't even know how to use a vcr, let alone a gaming console, though I had played some Nintendo before, so it wasn't too far beyond my tiny brain's comprehension. After some manual reading, my older brother had the console set up and ready to go. It just so happened that this thing came with a game. How fortunate for us, right? So, we throw in the game, and hit the power button. A flash of blue and the words "SEGA" mark one of the most memorable times in my life. As you might have guessed, it was a Genesis 2 with a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, they were meant to go together. And that was when I found out about the blue hedgehog for the first time. Come to think of it, Sonic 2 was the first thing that made me swear. I was having a rather difficult time getting past one of the levels, so I started whispering "shit" under my breath. I didn't know what it meant, I just knew people said it when they were pissed. Apparently I had died one too many times to control my own volume, and yelled "SHIT!" while my mother was in the next room. I didn't get to play Sega for a couple days after that...
I first saw and played Sonic at a Sams Club back in 1991 (my Dad bought candy there in bulk to sell at his pharmacy), and was instantly hooked for whatever reason. Until I got a Genesis years later, I only really played Sonic games at friends houses, stores, and by rental if my grades were good enough, so I'm sure that being unable to play Sonic games regularly had something to do with it. I was into the shows and comics for a while as well. I got a Nomad in '96 (Mom had originally said the NES and SNES were enough), so I was able to master Sonic 3 & Knuckles on a teeny tiny screen in my bedroom, probably during a period where I was grounded from video games.
I can't actually remember, it wasn't the first Megadrive game I played though. I have memories of being thrilled by the bright colours of GHZ and how good it felt to control Sonic, it was quite different to anything I had played at the time.
I remember first seeing it at a friend's house. (He had a Sega Genesis but never wanted to play Sonic. So it was kinda hard to play Sonic 1.) After that I remember falling in love with Sonic. He replaced Mario in my heart. Like the cartoon used to say: He was the cool blue dude with an attitude... However, I never owned a Sega Genesis to this very day. One day though, my Uncle got me Sonic 3 & Knuckles Collection Disc. (or whatever it's called for the PC) I love the shit out of that game. In fact, it was not only my First Sonic game to beat but my first game overall to complete 100% (I got all Super Emeralds and beat Doomsday Zone... which was pretty hard when you were younger.) Sonic 3 & Knuckles still remains my favorite game of all Sonic games... and possibly my Favorite game ever.
I don't know when the real first time was that I was introduced to Sonic, but the time I became a fan was in the summer of 2000. I was coming home from summer camp, and my brother had picked up a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog #86 for the trip over. I read it and immediately became a fan. Started following the comics, watched whatever episodes of the show I could track down, and played as many games that I could find released on PC at the time. I got hooked pretty quickly.
It came with our Mega Drive in 1993. I would have been two, so I don't remember that. I remember watching it though and actually playing it age about 4. I also used to watch the TV programme AoStH and my older brother collected Sonic The Comic which I had a lot of contact with. I had toys and plushies too. The 90's were awesome. We got Sonic 1 after my dad got given it by a colleague at work, so the first game I played was Sonic 2. Luckily my uncle had Sonic 1 so I got to play it a bit there.
I was probably about 4 or 5 at the time, and I was visiting a friend's house. We played Sonic 1 on his MegaDrive and I thought it was absolutely amazing. At the time the levels seemed huge to me, and I couldn't even beat Green Hill Zone. (Even though these days I can speed through Green Hill Zone Act 1 in less than 30 seconds) My friend could get as far as Marble Zone, but no further. I just remember feeling that this was the best thing ever and wishing I had a MegaDrive to play it. It wasn't until I was 10 or older that I got a MegaDrive of my own, and that's because one of my other friends was getting rid of his, as he had lost interest in it when he got his Playstation. However, before then I bought Sonic & Knuckles Collection, and going back to Sonic 1 seemed to be a huge disappointment. Luckily my friend also gave me Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles.
First time's the same as my first Sonic game, Seeing my 2 oldest brothers play Sonic 2 on their MegaDrive, which me and my other older brother then tried. Few years later we inherited the Mega Drive XD
I was at the workplace of a friend of mine during one of the Bring Your Kid to Work days. Someone there lent me his Pocket PC to play with, which happened to have an Game Gear emulator and Sonic 1 on it. I remember getting the speed shoes and invincibility in Green Hill Act 1 and just running right off the screen. Later, I decided to try out the other Sonic games for SMS/GG. Sonic Chaos is where I discovered the spindash, which I thought was awesome at the time.
I can't really remember a time before Sonic really. I used to go to a latchkey club after school because my Mum worked late hours and my Dad worked away, and they had a SNES and a Mega Drive, and I remember being amazed by Sonic 3. I bought a Mega Drive II from a car boot sale for £15, and it started there. I can't remember which game I owned first or anything, but it was at a time where you could pop down to a boot sale and pick up games for between £2.50 and a fiver, so I'd get them quite often. I also owned an AoStH VHS with 2 episodes on it, which I watched tirelessly. I was fairly obsessed and used to spend my spare time drawing Sonic characters.
I remember getting a MEGA DRIVE for my birthday and getting into an argument with myself as to if it was "Sonic the Hedgehog" or "The Sonic Hedgehog". This was when I was 8.
The first time I saw Sonic was in 1991. It was summer IIRC and my parents said they had a surprise for me. (At the time I wanted either an NES or Genesis) As any kid would I was filled with excitement and could hardly contain myself. My parents then walked in their bedroom and stayed in there for about 5 minutes, of which felt like forever. Then I heard the door knob turn and that's when they opened the door and walked out with my Sega Genesis complete with Sonic. Ahhh yes, little Cornholio was bouncing all around the house. My Dad then told me, "I knew you wanted a Nintendo or Sega, but this is 16-BIT and I thought Sonic looked cooler than Mario." And damn was he right. I had the Genesis hooked up in less then 10 minutes and then came the coup de grace, I inserted Sonic 1 and powered on the Genesis. My jaw dropped at how amazing Sonic and the 16-Bit wonder was. The visuals were vibrant and detailed. I had never seen anything like it before. I had also never HEARD anything like it before. Later that night when I should have been sleeping, I was up playing Sonic complete with Headphones plugged in the Genesis. I do remember spending about an hour in the Sound Test menu just listen to the great tracks. It was a great day indeed.
Christmas 1991, my parents bought the Megadrive+Sonic 1 bundle pack. So of course being the youngest and a spoiled brat I played it the most in the house.
I watched my Dad play Sonic 1. I tried it and enjoyed it, but got frustrated with the sluggish nature of the game. Spring Yard was my favorite zone. Infact, whenever I played, I kinda just played till there, and switched it off after getting halfway through Labyrinth zone. Not that I couldn't beat it, but I just didn't enjoy it. But then Sonic 2 appeared. I don't remember how we got it, but when I had the Mega Drive to myself (my Dad went and got himself a 64 :v, that was all I played. The spindash clinched it for me.
I saw my brother and his friend playing Sonic 1 back in the beginning of '92, and the first time I got my hands on that hedgehog was in the game aisle of Toys 'R Us, the day I got a Sega Genesis and Sonic 2. They're vague memories, but I remember one in particular: Dad: You can either have a Sega Genesis or a Super Nintendo. Me: I want a Super Nintendo! Dad: But everyone in the neighborhood has a Super Nintendo. Why not get a Sega Genesis and everyone can come over and play. And it has Sonic. And then my parents hated video games for years when I was failing classes and lying about grades.
December 25 or 26, 1993, Dunmore, Ireland. My cousin got a MegaCD for Christmas and he played Sonic CD into oblivion. I got a chance to play a couple times, but I was terrible at it since I was six at the time.
My dad got a Genesis when everyone had either an Atari or SNES, followed by a Sega CD later on when I was about 4 years old (around 1993 I believe) My mother was the one that played the most out of it as she was an Atari fan. She recalls she could beat any game like Aladdin, Talespin, Ecco, etc. Just Sonic the Hedgehog one and two were the only thing she couldn't beat because she couldn't stand how everything "went so fast". After that, she says I always played those because I felt being "better" at them, even though the only game I was able to beat was Sonic CD.
My family raised me on Nintendo during my early years, so I had no idea what this "Sonic the Hedgehog" thing was until the new millennium. My brother was coaxed into buying Sonic Adventure 2: Battle because it had flashy characters on the front cover. My initial impressions from reading the instruction booklet were a bit...off. I don't know why, but, until I played the game, I was convinced that Knuckles was a female. I would learn my lesson after being stuck in his first stage for nearly half an hour... I thought that Sonic was cocky (appropriately), so much so that I was kind of turned off from him. I actually kept playing the game for Shadow, just because of how mysterious and dark him and his past were. My brother and I actually grew really attached to him, so much so that he was, very temporarily, one of our top 5 video game characters ever. You should've seen the shock and despair on our faces when we finished the game. "Shadow...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Oh, the days before I played the classic games.
I wish I had the memories if playing Sonic for the first time like you guys; I was too young to remember. However, one of my earliest memories is my mom teaching me how to beat the Green Hill Zone boss in Sonic 1. Basically, I've been playing Sonic for as long as I can remember. I still have our original Genesis from the good old days, it's pretty beat up though.
the first time I played Sonic was on my Sega Master System, the console came with Alex Kidd in memory and a Sonic 1 cart.
