Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)

onic the Hedgehog Genesis

A new version of the game, which was entitled "Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis", was released for the Game Boy Advance in November 2006 as part of the celebrations of the original game's 15th anniversary. The game is a remake of the original game as opposed to a port. It includes a new save feature and a special "Anniversary Mode" featuring the Spin-Dash move that was added in later games. In addition, the view is slightly zoomed in and adapted for the GBA's widescreen aspect ratio, and the level select and debug codes have been left out, the former due to the fact that there is already a zone select screen. [cite web | url=http://www.NintendoWorldReport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=11750 | title=News Article: Sonic on GBA for 15th Anniversary | publisher=Nintendo World Report| accessdate=2006-10-23 | author=Jonathan Metts] The reception was negative, as many reviewers criticized the game for its slow frame rate, music, and glitches -- most called the game "unplayable."

Compilation releases

Compilations that include the game are "Sonic Compilation" (1995) and "Sega 6-Pak" (1996) for the Sega Genesis; "Sonic Jam" (1997) for the Sega Saturn; "Sega Smash Pack" (1999) for the Sega Dreamcast; "Sonic Mega Collection" (2002) for the GameCube; "Sonic Mega Collection Plus" (2004) for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC, and "Sega Genesis Collection" (2006) for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and Sega DX Collection for the Wii, PlayStation 3, PSP,PC and mac.

The "Sonic Jam" version, like all of the four games included in the title, was given "easy" and "medium" options (as well as an "original" option, the game as it was) that removed acts, bosses, enemies, spikes, traps and pits. These "easy" and "medium" options were not included with any other versions of the game. In addition, the Spin-Dash, a move that did not debut until "Sonic 2" the following year, was implemented in the first game. It is interesting to note that the spike bug from earlier versions of "Sonic the Hedgehog" can be triggered if Spin Dash is turned off.

"Sonic Mega Collection" and "Mega Collection Plus" feature all three revisions of the game. The GameCube PAL edition of "Mega Collection" for the GameCube supports a 60 Hz option, which not only allows the game to be played full-screen and at its original speed, but also allows either the US or Japanese version 2.0 iterations to be played via a cheat code (the first Japanese version is the default). If the 50 Hz option is selected, these cheat codes do not work and only the PAL edition of the game can be played.cite web|url=http://www.cheatscodesguides.com/gamecube-cheats/sonic-mega-collection/|title=CCG: Sonic Mega Collection Cheats|publisher=CCG]

In "Sega Genesis Collection", both the US and European releases of this collection contain the US version of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Releases on other platforms

The original game was converted into a Famicom game called "Somari" by a group of software pirates in Hong Kong. The game, which is mostly playable, replaces Sonic with Mario wearing Tails's shoes.

A J2ME conversion for mobile phones running Java was released by I-Fone in 2006. This version, "Sonic the Hedgehog Part 1", includes only the first three zones, with the remainder released as "Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2" by Glu Mobile in 2007. This version mostly follows the Mega Drive version, but some features have been removed, most notably the Special Stage. There has also been a second, not as widely known version the game for Verizon phones, that has everything the original version did, although strangely removing all sound effects from the game. The mobile phone version also came bundled with some Panasonic cell phones in Europe and Japan.

In 2006, "Sonic the Hedgehog" became available for Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console service from launch cite web|url=http://wii.ign.com/objects/827/827869.html|title=Sonic the Hedgehog (Virtual Console)|publisher=IGN] , and in 2007 entered Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade, under the title "Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade".cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/sonicthehedgehogarcade/index.html?tag=tabs;summary | title=Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade | work=GameSpot | publisher=CNET | | accessdate=2007-09-30] The 360 version does not allow the use of cheats to prevent undue earning of Achievements. It also has options for graphic smoothing, saving and loading current progress in-game and to resize the gameplay window.

The game was also present on the Danger Hiptop's Sidekick 3, Real Arcade and GameTap (along with most classic Sonic games).

In 2007 the game was made available on the iTunes store as a game for the iPod nano with video, the iPod classic, and iPod with video.

Credits

* Game Plan: Hirokazu Yasuhara (credited as Carol Yas)
* Program: Yuji Naka (as YU2)
* Character Design: Yuji Uekawa, Naoto Ohshima (as Bigisland)
* Design: Jinya Itoh (as Jinya), Rieko Kodama (as Phenix Rie)
* Sound Producer: Masato Nakamura
* Sound Program: Hiroshi Kubota (as Jimita), Macky

References

External links

* [http://www.sega.com/sonic/ Sonic Central] Official American website
* [http://sonic.sega.jp/ Sonic Channel] Official Japanese website
* [http://www.sonic-city.com/ Sonic City] Official Europe website
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/sonic-the-hedgehog MobyGames]