Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: 10-25-1991
There’s something surreal about playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System. It’s a game that the average person doesn’t even know exists. It was the last US game released, and it is exceptionally rare and expensive. A boxed U.S. copy is worth about $700. Because of its obscurity and appearance on an 8-bit system it’s easy to assume it is an inferior port of the Sega Genesis classic. Sonic on Master System, however, is its own game. The levels are different, and the gameplay is tweaked to make it work on an 8-bit system. Of course, saying that it works is an understatement. Sonic the Hedgehog positively thrives on the Master System.
The first thing that I noticed about this game, besides the cute 8-bit version of the Sonic theme, is how good this game looks. It very well may be the bests looking 8-bit game ever produced. The vibrant colors and crisp sprites pop with vividness and clarity. In some ways I like the visuals better than its 16-bit counterpart. The Genesis has a great pseudo-3D look, but some murkiness comes with that. Sure, the backgrounds in MS Sonic are simpler, but they also keep the game from getting cluttered. It really is remarkable how much effort they put into this game that nobody in America was even going to play.
The gameplay is different than its 16-bit counterpart but still engaging. It’s a more grounded game with longer straight stretches and none of the famous loops. However, this does allow for a good amount of speed. As much as Sonic’s speed was advertised, the first game doesn’t really use it all that much. The MS version gives Sonic much more room to run. Of course, his top speed isn’t as high as on the Genesis, but it’s a bullet train compared most other Master System games. It’s a system full of slow-paced action games. Sonic was just the dose of adrenaline it needed. Too bad it came out in 1991 instead of 1987 when they really needed a killer app.
Of course, this being Master System they had to go and make the game ten times harder than it is on Genesis. When Sonic takes damage, instead of a flood of rings only one shows up on the screen. This ring cannot be re-captured. That’s right, when Sonic is hit his rings are just gone. That gives you one free hit during boss fights and nothing more. This game has tough bosses too. They are the type that take a while to learn. It’s not the fast-paced pattern memorization of the 16-bit titles. It also introduces harder levels modes. It has and auto-scrolling level, and a level where you can go up but not back down again. All these are made to eat up lives, and with the ring problem and more linear paths it’s much harder to collect 100 rings. It’s a game where you need as many lives as you can get, but it’s very stingy with them. I couldn’t make it very far in this one without using save states. Of course, if you’re playing it in 2022 you are probably going to be using them. It’s still fun to play even without save states though. Like most early Sonic game it’s a bit top heavy. The first half of the game is more fun than the second half. I guess that’s the way these old games go though. I won’t hold it against Sonic.
Simply put Sonic the Hedgehog on Master System is a gem. It doesn’t quite equal its 16-bit counterpart, but it is easily one of the best action games on the Master System. When people my age think about Sonic, we typically think of those four classic games on Genesis. However, Sonic the Hedgehog is a much bigger and more interesting series than it gets credit for, even in the old days. It’s good enough to make it into my top 10, although I think there’s a few games below it that I overrated just a bit. I have Wrecking Crew higher than Pac-Man? I’m such a rebel. Anyway, I might try to burn through some Master System games in the near future because there aren’t that many US games for it. It will be interesting to see just how good the top 20 is. I think its quality is going to surprise some people, but I could be wrong. Keep reading to find out.
Images are from mobygames.com
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