Sonic the Hedgehog: Cure for the Plumber
User Rating: 9.5 | Sonic the Hedgehog GEN
If Mario can be thought of as Nintendo’s Great Dragon of gaming, then Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog can be thought of as the dragon slayer. Sega was in trouble—Nintendo was kicking its ass all over the place and m any believed it was a matter of time before Sega simply fizzled out and died. In a last-ditch effort at saving itself, Sonic was born. This speedy blue hedgehog game played like no other platformer had ever played before. Sonic’s method of attack was something unprecedented in games at the time when either shooting or jumping on top of enemies killed them. Sonic’s method was to curl up into a protective ball and hurl himself at enemies. Instead of focusing on crazy jumps, Sonic team put more emphasis on speed—Sonic’s levels played more like races to the finish. It is astounding how powerful the Sega Genesis was that it could handle the speed of this character with little to no lag. The only lag takes place underwater at times when the character is about to drown.
Game physics are excellent—players may move and jump at precise angles—and the ground is often gently sloped or rounded into a loop-de-loop, a huge step away from the flat terrain or sharply angled ground of other games at the time. Underwater, players experience drag—and drowning is always a problem.
The game plot was simple enough—save the cute little forest dwellers from evil Dr. Robotnick (Dr. Eggman in Japan). This is simple—but fine, navigating each level is fun enough to make up for this (there are many different paths and secret spots for Sonic to take to the end).
HeadshotJackal’s Rating:
I give this game a 9.5/10. It is a fun, simple title—but a graphical and gameplay breakthrough in the history of videogames. I highly recommend it. 
