Retroactivity #1 - Sonic

Retroactivity: part review, part documentary, part fanboyism, but 100% retro.I start with Sonic Hedgehog.

Anyone who witnessed the fight between Nintendo and SEGA in the 80s and 90s, remember very well how cool it was that time. It was a dispute where the main winner was the player, because the two companies always fought creating games that even today are unforgettable. During the period 1985 to 1989, Nintendo reigned virtually absolute in the world of games, with its NES console, which really gave a beating on its competitor, the Sega Master System. The main factor that guarantees the victory of an 8-bit console from Nintendo on the rival was the large amount of games that had, besides the fact that many companies had contracts for exclusivade with Nintendo, that is, there were many series that already began to make out (Mega Man, Castlevania, Contra, etc) that could only be played on NES.Seeing that there was no dispute as to the NES, SEGA decided then to bet on a new console, which would be well above that of competitor. In the fourth quarter of 1989 the world knew then the Sega Genesis (which became known here as Mega Drive), the first home of 16-bit console. With its new console, SEGA managed to be considerably weaken the sovereign before Nintendo, but at the end of that year it launched the Super NES with the excellent game Super Mario World. Nintendo then returned in full force to stop another "fight" for good. To overcome that Mario was necessary to create a SEGA mascot for the Mega Drive.The planet's most famous hedgehog: Sonic.

Launched in 1991, Sonic was unquestionably a revolutionary. Its protagonist was the fastest character already set up for a game, something that surprised and enchanted to all the time! SEGA succeeded in creating a brilliant character to fight an equal footing with the big-bellied plumber from Nintendo, and that for many gamemaniacs,Sonic is better than Mario.Sonic is a hedgehog who lived quietly, until one day a lunatic scientist named Robotinik turned his friends into the forest malicious robots. Sonic, of course, would not be stopped: with its thorns and supersonic speed, he would in a great journey to save his friends and win Robotinik, as it wanted to dominate the world with the use of the Chaos Emeralds.

Graphically, Sonic is perfect! Naoto Oshima, who was the designer of the characters of the game, did a great job. Indeed the drawings of the characters are great, and many times it feels to be controlling a cartoon! The graphics of the scenarios of various levels of the game are very well prepared and detailed too. Speaking in the scenarios, they are well mixed. The adventure of Sonic passing through the widest array of areas such as forests, rivers of lava, caves and even futuristic cities.Musically Sonic is also exceptional. The soundtrack, composed by Masato Nakamura, is an absurd quality, with various themes, bringing to the player all the emotions of the game so perfect. Without Nakamura, maybe the tracks from Sonic would not be so bright. The sound effects are also of good quality, with many of them end up becoming c.lassics in the series, being re-used in several of the later games in which Sonic would be the protagonist.

The gameplay is simple, functional, revolutionary and perfect the same time! Sonic can achieve a high speed by running, and to attack its enemies quickly enough to jump on them and hit them with their sharp thorns. It is interesting to note that respects the game almost perfect way of the laws of physics: there is difficulty in climbing slopes, "loops" of 360 degrees is only completed if the player reaches a certain speed.

In conclusion, Sonic is one of the best platform games ever made! Revolutionary, captivating and utterly addictive, this was undoubtedly a great move for SEGA Master throughout its history. In 1992, Sonic was way more surprising recognized among children from six to eleven years than the world-popular Disney's Mickey Mouse! From a revolutionary game, Sonic has become a series of successful franchises and one of the most profitable and popular in the world of games! All games of the series has sold more than 44 million copies around the world, and new games with super sonic hedgehog still being created today. Today, the fight with Mario is nonexistent (until recently launched a game where the two characters are the protagonists, even if they are still locking "battles" between them), since even the mascot of the games were SEGA, and continue to be created for a wide range of consoles before its arch-enemy Nintendo. But that does not erase that Sonic was and still is for many, no doubt, the biggest rival that Mario has ever known!

Stay tuned for the next retroactivity!

Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed