Sonic The Hedgehog
by Chris Thomas on Tuesday 9th Jun 2009

A chance to play the game that started it all.

We could talk at length about the crimes committed by SEGA when it comes to their once beloved mascot. Indeed it’s become such a worn out discussion at this point that it seems thoroughly futile, SEGA don’t want to hear it and judging by our recent hands on with Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing at E3 it’s safe to say the trend isn’t about to be bucked. Still, we can always cling to our memories of the 16 BIT era, a time when Sonic was about running very fast from left to right. A time when Dr Robotnik was still called Dr Robotnik and a time when each new Sonic game won over not just the fans but non-believers and critics too. This memory is what SEGA hopes to tap into with each re-release. Now we are presented with another opportunity to play the game that started it all.

If you don’t know what the original Sonic games are about you are on the wrong site. In a nutshell you play as Sonic, a blue hedgehog in sneakers that can run at high speeds. In the game you make your way from the left to the right while negotiating through some truly classic platform based levels all the while defeating badniks (small robot enemies) by jumping on them (or rolling through them). Unlike Capcom, SEGA had the good sense not to change a thing. Everything is just as you remember it, at least in terms of the levels and art assets. This isn’t surprising in the least however because from the moment you tap through to the first menu it becomes clear that this isn’t even a quick and dirty port. You’re playing a Sonic ROM on an emulator.

This wouldn’t be deal breaker if the emulation was well handled but sadly it is not. Within minutes of cracking into the first act of Green Hill Zone you will encounter some woeful slow down, not just in terms of the frame rate but even the music slows down and becomes the distorted soundtrack to your own disappointment. The longer you play the game the worse it gets as background processes (such as your email fetching) absorb the much needed processing power of your device. If there is one way to swiftly ruin a classic game this is it, but it’s not the only way. The controls also suffer, to the credit of the team however a lot of this is down to the limitations of the hardware. Movement is handled by a virtual D-pad embedded into the bottom left of the screen while a jump button occupies the bottom right. The jumping is fine but controlling Sonic during some of the more tricky sections of platforming can be an exercise in futility and frustration when you have no tactile feedback from the controls.

All is not lost; there are redeemable qualities to the game. For one, the winning Sonic formula is still here. The levels are just as well designed as they were back in the day, the characters as charming and the gameplay as pure. We also have a choice of two different ways to view the game. Full screen mode where everything is blown up from the original resolution or a windowed view that keeps everything as it was in a smaller area. Both work fine although sometimes you may find your thumbs obscuring the action in the full screen mode. You can flick between the different views at any time through the pause menu. It is probably worth mentioning that all of the menus are hideous, just truly hideous. They share no consistency with the games art and look like the kind of assets you’d expect to find in a non-brand game sold from a budget supermarket in Europe.

Sonic on the iPhone is a missed opportunity. The game doesn’t perform well, the controls are a compromise and the presentation is lazy. There is nothing new to unlock, no hidden features such as concept art or a remix mode (perhaps let us use the spin dash attack from Sonic 2? That would have been nice). The original game is here, more or less, but this is far from the optimal way to experience it again. You’ll want to love it but the plethora of problems will stop you at every turn. Bottom line? Wait for an update before investing or join me in waiting for Sonic 2.