Page 18 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #5

trollable by the player. His purpose was
from hit videogames and cartoons to
ff to follow Sonic, lending assistance as
f
toys and lunchboxes bearing his image, needed (although you could play as him
there's no doubt the Sonic the Hedgehog in multiplayer mode).
series has become one of the most popu- By now, things were definitely looking
lar franchises today. With the upcoming up for Sega. They had achieved a firm
releases of Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic hold on the market, as well as making
Square for the Sega Dreamcast, there Sonic an instantly recognizable image.
seems to be no end in sight. But how did However, by then Nintendo had intro-
the legacy of the Blue Blur begin? Read duced the Super Nintendo to the world,
on to learn the "Genesis" of Sonic! along with Super Mario World! The little
In the late '80s, with the Master Sys- pudgy plumber (try saying *THAT* 5
tem miserably failing in the US and the by times fast!) had returned for another ad-
ironically named Genesis looming on the Henry venture, and everyone wondered what
horizon, Sega desperately needed a Hutcheson Sega had up their sleeve (if anything at
mascot, and fast! The first conceptions all) to counterattack . Well, as it turned
of Sonic the Hedgehog were a bit out, they had yet another Sonic game:
stranger than the final outcome, but ya Sonic the Hedgehog 3!
gotta start somewhere. So artists Yuji
Naka and Naoto Ohshima were put in Sonic the Hedgehog 3/
charge of designing Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic and Knuckles
(with quite possibly the fate of Sega rest- Sonic 3 featured longer and challeng-
ing in their hands). Now, don't get me acter, and, uh, well….great everything! ing levels, hidden areas, more awesome
wrong. . . with hits like Altered Beast, The storyline was also creative and in- music, and best of all, the introduction of
Sega would've probably survived, but triguing: In a science experiment gone Knuckles, the red, dreadlock wearing
they might have ended up as a third party wrong, Dr. Kintobor, a well-meaning sci- Echidna! Other new features in Sonic 3
developer for Sony or Nintendo (or even entist, was transformed into an egg- gave players the ability to finish their
quite possibly Microsoft). After going shaped villainous mad scientist we've all quest as either Sonic or Tails and the
through many different designs, Naka come to know (and love?): Dr. Robotnik much welcomed ability
and Ohshima came to rest on a final im- (aka “Eggman” in to save one’s progress.
age: a blue hedgehog with attitude. With Japan). Dr. Robot- This time around Dr.
that, Sonic the Hedgehog was born. nik captured all the Robotnik, in his quest to
The world of Sonic is a vast one. Mak- forest animals and obtain the Chaos Emer-
ing his debut in popular games, Sonic "roboticized" them alds from Floating Is-
later ended up on two different TV shows, (turned them into land, convinces Island
a series of toys, a comic book, and even mindless robots) resident Knuckles that
an exclusive deal with mega fast food and gave them Sonic and Tails are the
chain McDonald's. I want to delve into orders to carry out bad guys. Knuckles, in
what started it all: the games. his evil deeds. Our hopes of bringing peace
The early 90's was the perfect time for hero, Sonic, liter- to his island, lays traps
Sega: the Super Nintendo was too new to ally spun through and otherwise becomes
catch on yet, and the NES was nearly stages in hopes of a nuisance to Sonic and
dead. So Sega unleashed Sonic the retrieving the Chaos Emeralds, which Tail’s missions.
Hedgehog to an unsuspecting world and would destroy Robotnik’s nefarious plans Sonic the Hedgehog’s counterpart
got rousing applause. But what made the and return the forest animals back to nor- game, Sonic and Knuckles, featured eve-
games so special? Was it the colorful mal. rything imaginable in Sonic 3, and intro-
graphics? Perhaps the fast gameplay? To The success of this first Sonic game duced a seemingly revolutionary (albeit
understand all the answers, read the fol- turned Sega around and made them play- short lived) concept: Lock-on technology.
lowing overview of many of the best ers in the videogame console market. Of Lock on technology let gamers hook up
Sonic the Hedgehog games that were course in this day and age, marketing their older Sonic games to the Sonic and
created. rules, thus the inevitable Sonic sequel Knuckles cartridge and take Knuckles
was created. through levels in the older games. Re-
member that one spot with the rock in
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Sonic 3 that you couldn't figure out how to
With the tremendous force of Sonic’s beat? That's where the lock-on technol-
legendary Attack Spin, Sega released ogy comes in handy. You can easily get
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to a legion of fans past that part by gliding through with
begging for more. Basically featuring the Knuckles. With lock-on technology, plus
same storyline as the original, Sonic 2 all the improved features, Sonic and
managed to make considerable improve- Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3
ments in gameplay. Dr. Robotnik was were both perfect additions to any Sonic
back, but this time with new enemies and fan's library.
cooler bosses. The graphics were crisper,
the levels longer and more challenging, Sonic CD
Sonic the Hedgehog and there was even a new character in- The Sega CD was released as an
Sonic 1 had all the requirements of a troduced. Yep, you guessed it, Tails the add-on for the Sega Genesis, and Sonic
great game plus more: great graphics, Fox! Tails, the cute, two tailed flying fox CD made full use of its features: Scaling,
great gameplay, great music, great char- made his greatly welcomed debut in rotation, CD storage capacity, CD quality
Sonic 2. Unfortunately, Tails was uncon-
Classic Gamer Magazine December 2000 18