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Back in 1990 I was fortunate enough to attend the launch of the UK launch of the Sega Megadrive at Wembley Arena. At time I was a bit of a Sega nut but straight off the bat I didn’t see much promise in this next-gen console as all it really offered were better looking games that I used to play on my Master System like Golden Axe and Altered Beast. In fact I was so disappointed I moved over to Nintendo for the SNES, and hey they had Street Fighter II. But something made me slightly regret my decision and it was all due to one game which at the time made my jaw drop.

In 1991, Norwich welcomed its first Virgin Megastore and I went to the grand opening. As a pull to promote the event they hired Gamesmaster’s very own Dominik Diamond who presented a challenge using the game in question. That game was Sonic the Hedgehog. The challenge was to complete the first level of the Green Hill Zone in the fastest time, and even though I took part that person was not me, I did however get a 10 quid Virgin voucher for taking part with which I purchased REM’s Automatic for the People. Are we feeling old yet?

What I did take away was how awesome Sonic was as a concept and its execution. Never before has we seen a game that moved like this. As soon as you see that little blue hedgehog traverse his first 360 loop you were hooked, and it just got faster and faster. I was just amazed that the hardware at the time could keep up. The levels were varied enough to maintain your interest and some levels actually required you moving quite slowly and using your wits to get around.

As well as completing the levels in the fastest time, collecting as many rings as possible and destroying the end of level baddies you could also warp into bonus levels where you could collect the various chaos emeralds which if you were a hardcore player were a must. Also there were plenty of hidden areas for you to discover.

Graphically it looked beautiful and still does today and even though many versions of Sonic came after it nothing beat the feeling of the original. You can also get them of various mobile platforms and consoles.

This year see’s the release Sonic Mania an update to the original concept so if you want more spiky action in your life you’re covered.

Now here is a treat for you. My good buddy Ollie (yes, he's from Norwich) has created this gameplay video for you so if you missed it completely or just want to relive those 90’s gaming memories this will fulfill your wildest dreams. You can also check out some more of his creations here.

Author

Paul Wright

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