Baloo
06-07-2020, 01:30 PM
I was feeling nostalgic so I decided to play a couple of the Sonic Game Gear games on Retroarch with my phone the other night. Does anyone else think these games have for the most part aged horribly in comparison to their 16-bit counterparts? Let's do a rundown:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Developed by Yuzo Koshiro's Ancient as their first game development job, this platformer is a mixed bag in 2020. Serious slowdown on the bridges, odd-sized enemies ranging from quite tiny to overly large causes you to get hit while trying to hit them, no ability to gain rings back after being hit once (ALL are lost), and a resolution that is totally gimped from the Master System version, resulting in it being very difficult to see oncoming obstacles, like the gigantic spikes and pits. Hard to go fast when the resolution is too small for you to see what is coming next. The special stage is the same each time, with the Chaos Emeralds instead being hidden at one act in each Zone. This is a neat feature. But it's The music is a higher point with some catchy tunes. While the level design is actually fairly good, this one hasn't aged well enough in comparison to its 16-bit counterparts to warrant a full playthrough. The Master System version is better, but still not great.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic 2 suffers from many of the same problems as Sonic 1. Another port from the Master System, the inability to recollect rings and gimped resolution make a reappearance here. It is particularly noticeable in the Level 1 boss missing a platform that makes him nearly impossible to beat with no rings, while in the Master System version he is unreasonably easy.
The level design in Sonic 2 is much worse than Sonic 1, with outrageously difficult Act 3s that require pinpoint precision and generally feature next to no rings. Level design gimmicks like moving mine carts, and a difficult to control hang glider seem to detract from the gameplay more than it adds to it. While there's not nearly as much slowdown, the resolution and level design hampers this game to the point of unplayability to its modern counterparts.
Sonic Chaos/Sonic & Tails
Improving on the flaws of past games, Sonic Chaos managed to make the landscapes a bit less barren, and the level design feel a bit more like its 16-bit counterparts. Enemies are sized a bit more to scale with Sonic, and the music is memorable. Level design seems much more conducive to the screen resolution. Special Stages are actually varied and different. The issue with the rings has been fixed, where now you only lose some of your rings instead of all of them. But the biggest flaw of this game is the difficulty. You can breeze through this game no problem if you're just looking to get to the end. It seems to be a response to the immense difficulty of Sonic 2 for Game Gear. I will say that speedwise though, this game plays considerably slower than 1 and 2, but not as slow as Triple Trouble. It's the most playable Sonic game, but there's zero challenge to this game. It seems the fangame crowd has recognized the good elements of this game, as it is being remade in Sonic Mania style. And I think this game deserves that with some more challenges, you're looking at a very solid Sonic game.
Sonic Triple Trouble
The only Game Gear exclusive 2D Platforming Game, it used to get a lot of hype on these forums as the hidden best 2D Sonic platformer. But playing it now, I don't see the appeal. Sonic Triple Trouble builds upon what Sonic Chaos did well. But the game is too ambitious for its own good. The entire game is plagued with what feels like slowdown throughout, and tons of input lag. Sonic runs as if he is moving through molasses, and some of the sprite placement and level design is so poor that rings are placed in areas where Sonic's sprite can't collect them, and you're bouncing all around a level on various springs trying to get to where you need to go. For once the resolution is not an issue, because this game was designed for the Game Gear in mind and not the Master System. But the level design destroys any pacing or fun factor that this game otherwise might have had. The overall art design and sprites look better than they ever have on Game Gear in this release, but a lack of speed in this one cases me to say that there is a lack of fun.
Sonic Drift 2
A straightforward cartoonish racing game in the vein of Mario Kart that plays like Outrun or Hang-On. Tech wise, it's impressive for the Game Gear, but the core gameplay is just too boring because the system can't handle enough graphical distinction to differentiate the maps and when someone gets hit with an item. There are so many better games to play that work well in this genre and are portable, that I don't see the appeal. It's aged worse than Super Mario Kart.
Sonic Blast
Woof. The graphics in this one are atrocious. Since SEGA treated its games more as tech demos than focused on the actual gameplay at this point in the 90s, it's clear they wanted to keep up with Donkey Kong Country in an attempt to get pre-rendered 3D sprites onto the Game Gear. But Sonic's resulting sprite is so large, and the level design so atrocious, that this game is also borderline unplayable. Sure, the game looks impressive from a technical perspective, but the art is just not pleasing to the eye, and the gameplay once again, is unbelievably slow. The resulting resolution and aspect ratio issues once again plague any resemblence to an actually good Sonic game. Hard pass.
Tails Adventure
This game is a bit more intriguing. While a little rough around the edges with how slow Tails walks around, this game is actually quite interesting. There's a lot of unique items to use and puzzle elements to this game that make it worthwhile for anyone who likes a more traditional platformer. The game reminds me a bit of Ronald McDonald's Magical Treasureland Adventure for the Genesis. It's not a Sonic game, so don't expect it to be one. But as a platformer, it's actually pretty good. Pacing is a little slow and the screen resolution is still way too small, but I'll take this as the best of the bunch.
What do you guys think? I know I missed Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Spinball, and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Maybe I'll do a quick recap on those later. Do you agree that Sonic Chaos is the only playable Game Gear sonic game?
Sonic the Hedgehog
Developed by Yuzo Koshiro's Ancient as their first game development job, this platformer is a mixed bag in 2020. Serious slowdown on the bridges, odd-sized enemies ranging from quite tiny to overly large causes you to get hit while trying to hit them, no ability to gain rings back after being hit once (ALL are lost), and a resolution that is totally gimped from the Master System version, resulting in it being very difficult to see oncoming obstacles, like the gigantic spikes and pits. Hard to go fast when the resolution is too small for you to see what is coming next. The special stage is the same each time, with the Chaos Emeralds instead being hidden at one act in each Zone. This is a neat feature. But it's The music is a higher point with some catchy tunes. While the level design is actually fairly good, this one hasn't aged well enough in comparison to its 16-bit counterparts to warrant a full playthrough. The Master System version is better, but still not great.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic 2 suffers from many of the same problems as Sonic 1. Another port from the Master System, the inability to recollect rings and gimped resolution make a reappearance here. It is particularly noticeable in the Level 1 boss missing a platform that makes him nearly impossible to beat with no rings, while in the Master System version he is unreasonably easy.
The level design in Sonic 2 is much worse than Sonic 1, with outrageously difficult Act 3s that require pinpoint precision and generally feature next to no rings. Level design gimmicks like moving mine carts, and a difficult to control hang glider seem to detract from the gameplay more than it adds to it. While there's not nearly as much slowdown, the resolution and level design hampers this game to the point of unplayability to its modern counterparts.
Sonic Chaos/Sonic & Tails
Improving on the flaws of past games, Sonic Chaos managed to make the landscapes a bit less barren, and the level design feel a bit more like its 16-bit counterparts. Enemies are sized a bit more to scale with Sonic, and the music is memorable. Level design seems much more conducive to the screen resolution. Special Stages are actually varied and different. The issue with the rings has been fixed, where now you only lose some of your rings instead of all of them. But the biggest flaw of this game is the difficulty. You can breeze through this game no problem if you're just looking to get to the end. It seems to be a response to the immense difficulty of Sonic 2 for Game Gear. I will say that speedwise though, this game plays considerably slower than 1 and 2, but not as slow as Triple Trouble. It's the most playable Sonic game, but there's zero challenge to this game. It seems the fangame crowd has recognized the good elements of this game, as it is being remade in Sonic Mania style. And I think this game deserves that with some more challenges, you're looking at a very solid Sonic game.
Sonic Triple Trouble
The only Game Gear exclusive 2D Platforming Game, it used to get a lot of hype on these forums as the hidden best 2D Sonic platformer. But playing it now, I don't see the appeal. Sonic Triple Trouble builds upon what Sonic Chaos did well. But the game is too ambitious for its own good. The entire game is plagued with what feels like slowdown throughout, and tons of input lag. Sonic runs as if he is moving through molasses, and some of the sprite placement and level design is so poor that rings are placed in areas where Sonic's sprite can't collect them, and you're bouncing all around a level on various springs trying to get to where you need to go. For once the resolution is not an issue, because this game was designed for the Game Gear in mind and not the Master System. But the level design destroys any pacing or fun factor that this game otherwise might have had. The overall art design and sprites look better than they ever have on Game Gear in this release, but a lack of speed in this one cases me to say that there is a lack of fun.
Sonic Drift 2
A straightforward cartoonish racing game in the vein of Mario Kart that plays like Outrun or Hang-On. Tech wise, it's impressive for the Game Gear, but the core gameplay is just too boring because the system can't handle enough graphical distinction to differentiate the maps and when someone gets hit with an item. There are so many better games to play that work well in this genre and are portable, that I don't see the appeal. It's aged worse than Super Mario Kart.
Sonic Blast
Woof. The graphics in this one are atrocious. Since SEGA treated its games more as tech demos than focused on the actual gameplay at this point in the 90s, it's clear they wanted to keep up with Donkey Kong Country in an attempt to get pre-rendered 3D sprites onto the Game Gear. But Sonic's resulting sprite is so large, and the level design so atrocious, that this game is also borderline unplayable. Sure, the game looks impressive from a technical perspective, but the art is just not pleasing to the eye, and the gameplay once again, is unbelievably slow. The resulting resolution and aspect ratio issues once again plague any resemblence to an actually good Sonic game. Hard pass.
Tails Adventure
This game is a bit more intriguing. While a little rough around the edges with how slow Tails walks around, this game is actually quite interesting. There's a lot of unique items to use and puzzle elements to this game that make it worthwhile for anyone who likes a more traditional platformer. The game reminds me a bit of Ronald McDonald's Magical Treasureland Adventure for the Genesis. It's not a Sonic game, so don't expect it to be one. But as a platformer, it's actually pretty good. Pacing is a little slow and the screen resolution is still way too small, but I'll take this as the best of the bunch.
What do you guys think? I know I missed Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Spinball, and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Maybe I'll do a quick recap on those later. Do you agree that Sonic Chaos is the only playable Game Gear sonic game?