DAY 81 / GAME 81
Sonic the Hedgehog
We never had a Nintendo growing up. I had the impression that my parents didn't want to get us one, like perhaps it was inappropriate. I definitely wanted one and I think I may have hinted at it, but I never asked for one directly. Eventually the Sega Genesis was released and with it, Sonic the Hedgehog. Suddenly things changed and both my brother and I decided it was time to ask for a console. One Christmas, when Sonic the Hedgehog was released, our Grandmother bought it for us.
This was what it was all about. A side scrolling platformer with way more polish than you'd find on an 8-bit system. High colour sprites, rich, multiplaning backgrounds and fantastic audio; Sonic was fast and stylish. I'll always consider this the game the true beginning to my love of video games. Thinking back I always imagine that if games never developed to this point, or if I had been born earlier and only had Atari or Colecovision in my teens, I may have never locked in any interest. It wasn't until I connected enough with a character I could draw my own narrative from that this started to become a form of media I could really appreciate.
The game itself was pretty straightforward. You could take your time with the levels, but they were designed to be powered through at high speed. The levels all had this fantastic design. Even though it was all raster graphics, everything was rendered so it had a hint of 3D. Extra colour range meant you could include shadows in your design, water and skies that looked obviously different and all the locations felt very interesting. The bizarre tropical first level, the shifting ruins and magma of the second. The terrifying underwater level, a pinball based zone, starry nightime zone and a final metalic robo-zone.
I remember it took me about a month of trying to eventually beat the whole game. It was a pretty big deal. Actually, it would be the first time I had ever completed a whole game. And I'll still always associate the smell of cardboard and styrofoam with the first time we opened our own home console. It's actually a pretty cool though too, that Leia also loves Sonic the Hedgehog, 20 years after I was first introduced.
Sonic the Hedgehog
This was what it was all about. A side scrolling platformer with way more polish than you'd find on an 8-bit system. High colour sprites, rich, multiplaning backgrounds and fantastic audio; Sonic was fast and stylish. I'll always consider this the game the true beginning to my love of video games. Thinking back I always imagine that if games never developed to this point, or if I had been born earlier and only had Atari or Colecovision in my teens, I may have never locked in any interest. It wasn't until I connected enough with a character I could draw my own narrative from that this started to become a form of media I could really appreciate. The game itself was pretty straightforward. You could take your time with the levels, but they were designed to be powered through at high speed. The levels all had this fantastic design. Even though it was all raster graphics, everything was rendered so it had a hint of 3D. Extra colour range meant you could include shadows in your design, water and skies that looked obviously different and all the locations felt very interesting. The bizarre tropical first level, the shifting ruins and magma of the second. The terrifying underwater level, a pinball based zone, starry nightime zone and a final metalic robo-zone. I remember it took me about a month of trying to eventually beat the whole game. It was a pretty big deal. Actually, it would be the first time I had ever completed a whole game. And I'll still always associate the smell of cardboard and styrofoam with the first time we opened our own home console. It's actually a pretty cool though too, that Leia also loves Sonic the Hedgehog, 20 years after I was first introduced.
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