What was your FIRST impression of Sonic?

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
The first on the Mega Drive

2 - How did you find out about it?
My cousin bought his Mega Drive round with both Sonic AND Street Fighter 2' SCE

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
Pretty fucking awesome, yet frustrating in some respects. For years, I couldn't get past SYZ's boss, and then I couldn't get past LZ's boss. All in all, I was impressed, and although I didn't understand my reactions at the time, I somehow knew that it needed improvement. Either way, it was a turning point in my life.

 

1 - The First Sonic game I played was Sonic 2 which I played at someone's house. I made it to the second level, died, and turned it off (I've always sucked at video games).

2 - I found out about it in probably the same way many Nintendo fanboys did, the advertising and merchandising.

3 - My reaction to the early Sonic games was curiosity and awe. My grandparents bought me an SNES so I didn't have access to Sonic. So when I'd go to Sears and they'd have a Sonic 3 demo kiosk or to my friend's house 35 mi. away who had Sonic 2 (before his kid brother chewed off the power cord) it was like tasting a forbidden fruit, playing something I wasn't supposed to be playing, and may never get to play again.

I don't think this initial reaction says much about me though, because I was never able to actually sit down and play the games for real until I bought Sonic CD for the PC (back in 1999). Before then my real introduction to the series came from the SatAM cartoon and Archie Comic series which I got into mainly because there weren't any Mario cartoons on air at that time and because of the Endgame/Mecha Madness story arcs.

Coming from the comic series, my initial reaction to Sonic CD was of disappointment. It pretty much clashed with everything I envisioned Sonic to be about. He wasn't fast, the levels felt synthetic and unnatural (or was that the American Soundtrack?), and I thought the time-travel element was a terrible gimmick. I played the heck out of that disk, but even still it always felt empty and soulless with the exception of the opening/closing movies which I think personified what I wanted the game (and what I still want the series) to be. It wasn't until I bought a DC+Sonic Adventure at death's door prices that I really got into the game series, and until I bought Sonic Mega Collection that I was able to go back and enjoy the original trilogy like I should have from the start.

I know I may sound like the personification of everything that's wrong with new Sonic Fans these days, but hey that's just how I got into the series.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic 1 on the Genesis

2 - How did you find out about it?

My parents got a Model 1 Genesis along with Sonic during Christmas 93 for my older siblings, I was only 2 months old at the time, and have been playing Sonic as long as I can remember.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

In the 90s I'd play it for hours. Now I don't have as much time

 

1. Sonic 2, Genesis

2. Grandparents have a store that does electronics distribution and repair. At the time they also rented games and movies. They had this game and a Genesis, and I played it there.

3. Liked it a lot. I was like all of two or three years old at the time, though, so I'm not sure what got me. Likely it was just that it was colorful, fast, easy to control, and had simple yet functional graphics.

However, I only played the first level in 2-P for quite some time, as the boss scared me. Playing that first level in 1-P mode made it seem like it had really narrow graphics and I feel that since the screen was so big that it was quite overwhelming. In fact, if I got hit, I tended to hit the reset button because it would make me a wreck. The music for 1-P was also pretty damn mournful compared to the upbeat 2-P mode music.

I get the feeling that EHZ was heavily designed with the 2-P mode in mind.

 

Sonic 3 & Knuckles was the first Sonic game I got to play. It was advertised for PC (Sonic & Knuckles Collection) in one of those Scholastic Books and Software mail order magazines that came to my middle school. I was always interested in the Sonic series and this seemed like a good idea to me, I mean Sonic CD, Robonik's mean Bean Machine, Sonic R AND Sonic & Knuckles Collection for 24.95? You tell me if that wasn't a steal. Granted Sonic CD haet'd my computer and would never work for me up to this day.

My initial reaction was nothing short of euphoria. For someone who clearly had a soft spot for 2D Platformers and was born and raised on the Mario house, the game was like nothing else I had ever played in my life up until that moment. Whether it be the tightly focused "physics toy platforming" of Sonic & co. through the lushly detailed environments, the grandeur of the Act 2 Boss theme coupled with some of the most memorable boss intros and battles for a 2D game (Marble Garden Zone, Launch Base Zone, Mushroom Hill, Lava-friggin-Reef Zone, & DeathEgg/Doomsday Zone), actually going "uh oh" anytime prankster Knuckles showed up, the trippy and classic blue sphere special stages, or just the smooth progression of a really great story silently, it was really one of those "Best game ever" moments just playing through the whole thing. It eventually led to me going back and finding ways to play the other games and thus my immersion in the fandom. (No, not as one of those fans)

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic 3 via Sonic and Knuckles Collection

2 - How did you find out about it?

In 1999 my family bought a ridiculously expensive and powerful computer (Pentium 2/450! 64MB RAM! WINDOWS 98! Holy shit!!) from Gateway and along with it got some of their software bundles, one of them being a kids game pack. In that bundle was: Lego Island, S&K Collection, Sonic 3D Blast, Animaniacs Game Pack, and Carmen Sandiego. My parents only put Lego Island on at first so I played that a ton and wasn't even aware that the others existed until one day when I got home from kindergarten and my dad told me that he'd put a new game on the computer. That was S&K Collection.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

"OK, how do I go around the loop?"

Once I got past that, though (took a couple hours, sadly), I really, really liked it. I had never seen a game like it before, with its high speed and great music and visuals. The only games I had ever played prior to this were Lemmings, Super Mario Land, Lego Island, and a couple of stupid Macintosh educational titles, so this was like a massive jump into the future (even though my perception of the future was actually 5 years in the past). I was also attracted to the basic tone of the game, which was, compared to everything else I'd played, quite mature with its giant machines and explosions and stuff. Sonic quickly became my addiction.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Knuckles' Chaotix. I suppose that counts. Otherwise, Sonic 1.

2 - How did you find out about it?
My dad had game systems before we were born, from an Atari all the way up to a Genesis at that time. Since I grew up around so many consoles, it was natural I was playing games as soon as I could hold a controller. As I moved on to more sophisticated games, I came across Knuckles Chaotix in the ol' cardboard box of games (that's right, before "real" Sonic games). You can guess what happened from then on.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
Simply brilliant. A great mechanic for getting up speed, wonderful sound. Awseome art and colors, the palettes to match the times of day. It was like being in that little world. The only problem I ever had was with 2 player mode. You can understand why easily.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island for the PC.

2 - How did you find out about it?

This was my first game, but my original exposure to Sonic had been through the early Archie comics, which I thought were great. At the time there was a lot of hype built up for SA1 and I really wanted to try some of the older games for once, Sonic 3D being my first choice.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

I loved it. The visuals were stunning, the music was gorgeous, and it was just altogether fun running around zones and fighting the bosses. It was very strange to jump from Roman ruins to a wacky circus to an icy mountain, but I didn't care, because I hadn't seen so much variety in a single video game before. As a kid, I felt it had a very "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" feel to it, with this weird blue hedgehog dashing through levels that could only exist within the craziest of dreams, fighting an evil fat man who had a vendetta against him. And none of the levels felt boring to me at all because of this. Since this was my first Sonic game, it didn't strike me that Sonic was actually very slow here; it still felt kinda fast to me. But because of this game, I grew fond of the exploration aspect as much as I did for the speed, and so I've always known the old Sonic to seamlessly combine the two aspects. Sonic 3D was the damn coolest thing I've seen when I first played it.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic The Hedgehog 2

2 - How did you find out about it?
My step-dad gave me a Sega Genesis for my sixth birthday. I got a bunch of games with it, and as I was looking through the box deciding what to play first, the Sonic 2 cart caught my eye.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
I hadn't played many games before that except for Super Mario Bros. on NES, so I really didn't know what to expect. I remember playing it a lot, but always getting lost in Oil Ocean Zone. My favorite thing at that time was the music, especially Chemical Plant Zone. That's kinda how I found out about Sonic 2 Beta and the whole Sonic Scene. I was looking for music and stuff from Sonic 2 when I stumbled upon an article about Genocide/Cyber City. I was curious, so I searched around more and found out about Hidden Palace Zone, and the rest is obvious. When it came to actual game play, I loved the speed of the game, and the graphics were amazing to a 6 year old kid who had played nothing else other than Super Mario Bros. My biggest surprise was when I found out I had a Revision 00, but then I found out it isn't that rare anymore. Over all, Sonic 2 was pretty much my first video game, and even to this day, I think it is one of the best games I have ever played.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic 1

2 - How did you find out about it?

I found it in Service Merchandise when I lived in Miami and would play it every time we went there

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

OMG this is awesome, but sooooo hard! This cures my bordom of being in the store! I have to come play this everytime I'm here!




The funny thing, I don't remember playing it for more than just a few minutes because I didn't remember first seeing the boss till my parents bought me a Genesis with Sonic 1, 2, and John Madden Football '93 (And this is still a DAMN good football game!)




"Sonic & Knuckles. This was also the first time I played a video game."

- Wow....way to make me feel OLD! :D

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Sega Genesis model 2 (bundled)

2 - How did you find out about it?

Well, I had three older cousins. One of them had a NES and Sega Genesis. I played NES once in a while, SMB was okay, but what I really loved to play was Sega Genesis. I LOVED Sonic 2 and told my mom I wanted it so badly. She finally gave in and bought me a Genesis with Sonic 2 the following Christmas.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

I was too little to remember playing it at my cousin's house the first time. I remember playing it for the first time at my own house though - it was stunning. The graphics, colors, gameplay, it was all very detailed and it was mindblowing to see such a thing on my TV screen, with me controlling it. It was my first video game ever and is still my favorite.

----

Wow, I read all the posts before me, and I'm a bit amazed how young some of you are.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis.


2 - How did you find out about it?
I saw the commercials for it. I thought they were funny -- that mean old lady was putting him down, and at the end of each one Sonic would do something to get back at the lady. I got the game for Christmas that year. My brother hid it from me under the chair. He got a game, and I was wondering where MY game was. Finally he told me to check under the chair. I freaked out when I saw what it was!


3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
I fell in love with it! It took time to get used to because the physics were unlike anything I ever played. I couldn't get passed the darn loop-de-loops the first time I played it. But going through the tunnels and way up in the air was a blast. It was the most interesting thing I had ever played at the time.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic the Hedgehog/Sega Megadrive

2 - How did you find out about it?
After finding out my brothers friend had brought over the console to our home and hooked it up, I was impressed with the bright cartoon like colours, neat level music for each zone and simply because of the action and the speed it would take place at. To me it was phenomenal.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
I absolutely adored the game which led onto pestering my mother to get me the console and game for christmas. Of course this was back when Megadrives were considered somewhat pricy, so a substitute of the Master System II was received with great joy instead on December 25th 1991, due to the fact it was the Sonic1-Alex Kidd bundle. Two games with the console and two control pads? Kick ass.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic 1

2 - How did you find out about it?
Came with my Genesis

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
Shit sux, I don't see where you guys see the appeal. I never picked up another sonic game ever.
ever

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic 2.

...for the Game Gear.

2 - How did you find out about it?
Came with the console. Also got Mickey Mouse in the Land of Illusions, which was far more manageable.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
Jesus H. Christ this game is impossible

This was soon followed by me trying out Mystic Cave on Sonic 2 for the Genesis at a Blockbuster, with me getting the first three Sonics and Spinball alongside a brand new Genesis 2 a Christmas or two later. So yeah, there's a reason I'm still a Sonic fan despite that awkward introduction.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic 1 or 2 (Can't remember)

2 - How did you find out about it?
Well I always used to watch my Older Brother play.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
I was really young so I don't remember much, but I guess it was just a "easy" game to play considering my age. That was the start of finding my childhood video game hero

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on the Sega Genesis.

2 - How did you find out about it?
I didn't so much "find out about it" as I was forced to play it. My brother got a Sega Genesis for Christmas, but I thought it was stereo equipment (headphone jack and volume slider, you see). It as around New Years 1991 that my family was watching movies deemed too "adult" for children to watch, and the only other TV in the house at the time was my brother's... so he sat me down in front of his Genesis and put Sonic in.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?
I had never seen a game like that before in my life. After the movie was over, I apparently could not stop talking about it. Also that night, I attempted to draw Sonic, and everybody really congratulated me on it because it turned out so well. The next day at school everybody could not believe I had drawn that so to show them that, yes, I drew it, I kept on drawing Sonic, over and over and over again...

I became known as "that kid who draws Sonic all the time".

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

IIRC: Sonic 1.

2 - How did you find out about it?

Was given to me.

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

Meh. It wasn't until Sonic 2 that I had fun with it. When I played that I was like OGM SPINDASH.

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic 1 on the Genesis

2 - How did you find out about it?

'twas given to me and my sister, I can't remember if it was a birthday or Christmas

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

FUCK THIS GAME IS TOO FUCKING HARD
Seriously, I sucked all kinds of ass at the game, It took me days just to clear a single act, then I had to keep doing it over and over to get farther in the game because you can't save. But I beat it god damn it. It took me 2 years but I beat the shit out of that game

 

1 - What was the first Sonic game you played?

Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive.

2 - How did you find out about it?

It was the same advert as Jayextee saw, except I was a lot younger (five years old at the most).

3 - What was your initial reaction to it?

Similarly to Jayextee, I was hooked before I played it. I hadn't long got out of hospital and I'd been temporarily paralysed during that time, so a fast-moving character really caught my attention. Plus, it was something to distract me from the divorce that was happening around me. I must have been pretty persistent, because my dad didn't get his Mega Drive until some time in 1992. When I finally got to play the game, it was something else - prior to this point, my experience of gaming was my dad's Atari 2600. I genuinely felt like I was playing a cartoon, because Sonic was a little guy who would get angry if I left the pad alone, and appear visibly hurt when hit. Perhaps because of this, I took every single step with a sense of trepidation because I did not want Sonic to die. I would pick up every single ring I could reach, I'd cross bridges carefully, and the bit in Green Hill Zone Act 2 with the moving tower platforms had me scared to death. I'd also get dad to do "the hard bits" (fighting Robotnik). The stages genuinely thrilled me, because you could explore them and they had interesting features - waterfalls, bridges, tunnels and all sorts of other fun. Spring Yard Zone was possibly the most exciting thing I'd seen in my entire life, and my dad was good enough to show me how it should be played.

The only problem was that my dad had moved out of the house, and I only got to see him once a week. Eventually, my excitement at going to his flat was more about Sonic than it was my dad. Every week, I'd get to see a bit more of the game for myself. When I couldn't play it, I was asking my dad how far he had got. The game became something of an obsession, and my grandparents genuinely got sick of it (true story: the only way they could get me to stop talking about Sonic was to promise me Sonic stuff if I did). Eventually, this led to my mum buying a Master System for my birthday that year, with dad picking up Sonic 1 for Christmas (a whole three days later, as Christmas with my dad usually happens on Boxing Day). Oh, happy days...