The Mini Sonic The Hedgehog Companion
We take a look at some of the best Sonic The Hedgehog games in gaming history…
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Mega Drive, 1994
Another game, another new character – and this time it is a foe in the form of Knuckles, a hot-tempered echidna. Beyond that, Sega Technical Institute’s game plays it relatively safe, although bosses now appear at the end of all stages. The inclusion of a save game feature was criticised for making the game too easy, especially given its relatively short length, but it is another high-quality platform game.
Released just eight months after Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles sees the two titular rivals joining forces, as Knuckles realises that Robotnik is a tad evil and joins the playable cast. The game’s cartridge includes another cartridge slot, allowing players to plug other games into the top. Plugging in Sonic 2 makes Knuckles available in the older game but connecting to Sonic 3 is the far more enticing prospect, as Sonic & Knuckles is essentially the second part of that game. Combined, they become on large adventure that stands as the best 2D outing for Sega’s mascot.
Sonic Triple Trouble
Game Gear, 1994
If you are looking for a solid Sonic platformer on Sega’s handheld, you cannot go wrong with Aspect’s sequel to Sonic Chaos. It has Sonic and Tails facing off against Knuckles, but they receive additional hassle from a weasel treasure hunter called Nack. It is arguably one of the nicest-looking Sonic games on the console and has some great level design across its six areas. It is not the most inventive game in the series, but if you are looking for some entertaining platforming you can’t really go wrong.
Sonic Spinball
Various, 1993
This was the first of Sonic’s major spin-off outings, released to cover the lack of a Mega Drive platformer for the 1993 holiday season. Inspired by the pinball action of Sonic 2’s enjoyable Casino Night Zone, the game expanded on the pinball formula with large multi-table environments and boss battles. Although it only contains four stages, they are relatively tough to complete. Sonic Spinball is a perfectly serviceable game, but nothing incredible. It showed up nearly a decade later on Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Chaos
Master System/Game Gear, 1993
Having done a good job with the 8-bit version of Sonic The Hedgehog 2, its developer Aspect was tasked with creating an exclusive platformer for Sega’s low-end formats and the final game isn’t bad at all. Sonic Chaos introduces a playable Tails to the 8-bit consoles and gives Sonic some nifty power-ups including spring shoes and rocket shoes, but exhibits an uneven difficulty level and slow framerate, with regular stages being far too easy and special stages often rather tough. It certainly has its fans, though.
Sonic CD
Mega-CD/PC, 1993
Sonic’s only outing on Sega’s expensive add-on was an unusual affair, with character designer Naoto Ohshima taking over as game director. Sonic was able to travel back and forth in time during each stage in an attempt to fix the future, experiencing different level layouts as a result. This necessitated a different style of stage design compared to his other 2D platformers, as he is expected to backtrack often and explore each stage thoroughly. It is topped off by an impressive 3D-style special stage and a CD soundtrack.
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Keywords: Sega, Sonic The Hedgehog, Gaming, Videogames, Nintendo.