Current Events > I know I'm nit-picking on an old game, but Sonic 1 is fuckin bullshit

(+) Yeah! (+)

I haven't really dove into a playthrough since I was a kid, but good lord this game has aged terribly. Really, it doesn't show its age until the third stage - Spring Yard Zone, and by the Labyrinth Zone, you can see how FLAWED the level design really is. To get air, Sonic must go into his "sucking air bubble animation" which leaves you vulnerable to getting hit.

And don't even get me started on the Sonic "instant death squished" bullshit. It's so ridiculous how easy you can die by walking into a tight space - and the last zone has that shit ALL OVER THE PLACE. And the game will PUNISH you for trying to find secrets. Oh, you want to a find a hidden extra life? Just try exploring. :)
Unless you try to jump over there where we have nothing but spikes and no way out. :)

And why doesn't the star power protect you against spikes? No, you still die if you're on that area in the first zone with those platforms that go up and down.

And one of the first time you get the boots - is a beginners nightmare. You just run right off into death - LITERALLY next to a pit area. WHY? WHY? WHY SEGA?

And why...WHY...WHY Are their FOUR levels of Labyrinth Zone? They just did a palette swap on the final stage to be the ultimate 'fuck you' like "Oh you thought you were done with the worst and most poorly designed zone in the game? Think again."

And...the emeralds. Half the time you just fall into the wrong area and "sorry better luck next time!"

You need fifty rings to even have the CHANCE to collect the emeralds - only at the end of the stage, and once Laybrinth Zone starts - you'll be LUCKY if you have a single ring by the time you get to the end.

And even if(by some miracle) you collect all the emeralds your only "reward" is Robotnick just jumping on the end logo in anger? That's it? No gameplay mechanic to be offered in another playthrough? Not even giving us 99 lives as a reward?

No, just Robotnick jumping on a logo in anger. That's all your hard work gets you.

LMFAO what is even the point?
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git gud
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Sonic has never been a good series, tbh
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bump for truth.
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Modern gaming spoils us.
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You can run on spikes when invincible
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Bloodychess posted...

You can run on spikes when invincible

True. But not the spikes that hover over a pit. You will die. It's deceiving.
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Caution999 posted...
To get air, Sonic must go into his "sucking air bubble animation" which leaves you vulnerable to getting hit.

lol, so don't get hit. Time when you want to get air, scrub.

And don't even get me started on the Sonic "instant death squished" bullshit. It's so ridiculous how easy you can die by walking into a tight space

So don't walk into a tight space.

and the last zone has that shit ALL OVER THE PLACE.

*gasp* it's called a challenge.

And the game will PUNISH you for trying to find secrets. Oh, you want to a find a hidden extra life? Just try exploring. :)

This isn't a game for exploration. It's about going forward. Don't try to find things, just let them come to you.

And why doesn't the star power protect you against spikes?

it does <_<

And one of the first time you get the boots - is a beginners nightmare. You just run right off into death - LITERALLY next to a pit area. WHY? WHY? WHY SEGA?

Just because you got the super sneakers don't mean you should not care about what's ahead of you.

And...the emeralds. Half the time you just fall into the wrong area and "sorry better luck next time!"

Special stages have always sucked, yeah.

You need fifty rings to even have the CHANCE to collect the emeralds - only at the end of the stage, and once Laybrinth Zone starts - you'll be LUCKY if you have a single ring by the time you get to the end.

So don't suck at the game.

And even if(by some miracle) you collect all the emeralds your only "reward" is Robotnick just jumping on the end logo in anger? That's it? No gameplay mechanic to be offered in another playthrough? Not even giving us 99 lives as a reward?

Touche.
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I didn't even read your post. Sonic 1 is one of the best games ever made. I own 4 copies. I still play it sometimes. The gameplay is amazing, the sound is good, and the graphics aren't too bad, even now. My only real complaint is the erratic difficulty, and sometimes the colour palette is too dark. Excellent game.
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Sunhawk posted...

I didn't even read your post. Sonic 1 is one of the best games ever made. I own 4 copies. I still play it sometimes. The gameplay is amazing, the sound is good, and the graphics aren't too bad, even now. My only real complaint is the erratic difficulty, and sometimes the colour palette is too dark. Excellent game.

Whoa, now. I'm not saying it's a bad game - my point is that it has aged terribly. Take off the nostalgia goggles and accept the fact that it's hard to replay in 2017. It was still a fantastic game for its era - much like Goldeneye.
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Yeah Sonic 1 is a freaking mess.

It's like they were gonna make it some generic platformer but then at the last minute just added a zero to the running speed and only bothered to make a few changes to stage design to compensate.

Literally a game about running fast where you have to ride on slow-ass blocks over lava, can only a tenth of a second ahead on the screen at full speed, have a freaking underwater level (a damn underwater level in a game about running fast!) and have constant dumbassery like random enemy in the middle of a long stretch for running, or a spring that makes you go the wrong way, or the ground just ends with no platforms to jump to or anything.
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The worst part is the spike glitch, is when you get hit by spikes, lose your rings, fall onto another set of spikes, and then die.
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Jayjar100 posted...

The worst part is the spike glitch, is when you get hit by spikes, lose your rings, fall onto another set of spikes, and then die.

I think this is what I've been describing and have been unable to illustrate.
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I still like Sonic 1 but you have valid points. The soundtrack still holds up.
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Don't forget the scary easter.
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DevsBro posted...

Yeah Sonic 1 is a freaking mess.

It's like they were gonna make it some generic platformer but then at the last minute just added a zero to the running speed and only bothered to make a few changes to stage design to compensate.

Literally a game about running fast where you have to ride on slow-ass blocks over lava, can only a tenth of a second ahead on the screen at full speed, have a freaking underwater level (a damn underwater level in a game about running fast!) and have constant dumbassery like random enemy in the middle of a long stretch for running, or a spring that makes you go the wrong way, or the ground just ends with no platforms to jump to or anything.

Exactly. Hell, at the end of Spring Yard Zone 3 - you get star power, and my natural response to this is to run fast. Wrong. You'll fall off the edge of the world because the next area is jumping onto moving platforms. Beginners trap.
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LittleBirdy posted...

I still like Sonic 1 but you have valid points. The soundtrack still holds up.

Oh I still like the game, too. This isn't a topic that is saying "this game is bad!" it's just a topic how I never realized the faults of the game before.
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Agree about it aging poorly. There really isn't a reason to go any farther back than Sonic 2 anymore, unless you really love Sonic 1.
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Caution999 posted...

Bloodychess posted...

You can run on spikes when invincible

True. But not the spikes that hover over a pit. You will die. It's deceiving.

wrong, you can walk over those spikes just fine. You just can't walk over the end-of-screen pit of death, there are no spikes there.
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And about collecting all the gems and beating the game:

There was no excuse to give you NOTHING for that. I know the game is old, but you know what's even older? The first Super Mario Bros. And - while there is no challenge to collect - at the end of the game, you still get an option to play a 'harder' mode with different enemies.

There's no excuse that they included nothing for, frankly, a difficult special zone - which is for children. Granted, I had a much easier time as an adult - and from experience, but as a kid, these special zones were very hard.
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FireTemple posted...

Agree about it aging poorly. There really isn't a reason to go any farther back than Sonic 2 anymore, unless you really love Sonic 1.

Yeah, which speaks VOLUMES about Sonic 2. Hell, just having that charge up ability makes it sooo hard to play the first one. It really speaks about how GREAT of a gameplay mechanic that was.

Compare it to - say, the slide or charge in Megaman 3 and 4. While they're great improvements, they don't make it harder to go back and play Megaman 2.

EDIT: I really think Sega should go back and re-master this game. Add the speed up charge. Make things a little more fair. I think they could really make this much more replayable. Unless...they already have done this...because I have no clue.
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Caution999 posted...

EDIT: I really think Sega should go back and re-master this game. Add the speed up charge. Make things a little more fair. I think they could really make this much more replayable. Unless...they already have done this...because I have no clue.

they have
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Seeing as you can get through the entire game without taking a hit, imma tell you to get gud
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S1nharvest posted...

Seeing as you can get through the entire game without taking a hit, imma tell you to get gud

Yeah TAS runs or people who speed run through it have played the games hundreds of times to know EXACTLY what's going to happen - is the sign of well, bad game design.

That's an artificial challenge to make the game harder. Not knowing what's coming up on my screen next and falling for a beginners trap isn't considered difficulty in my book. That's bad game design.

Nevertheless, I was playing this game since the early 1990's - so I've likely played it well before you. I remember being BETTER at the game when I was younger - and that was because I had nothing to do all day - except memorize everything about the game.
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I only like Marble zone

All the other zones are meh
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4 labyrinth zones? Huh?

P sure you can straight up skip the last zone and go right to the final boss.

But yeah, Sonic 1 is bullshit. All the 2D sonic games are, but Sonic 1 especially.

I love them though. And there hasn't been a platformer yet that captures the same sense of pacing and kinetic energy.
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Marble Zone and Star Light Zone are the best levels in the game. First zone is "OK" and the rest are crap.

Spring Yard Zone isn't hard, but it's a cluster-fuck. At least it isn't as cheap as Labyrinth Zone. Labyrinth Zone feels like it was designed by a child. Just trolling all over the place.
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Caution999 posted...

That's an artificial challenge to make the game harder. Not knowing what's coming up on my screen next and falling for a beginners trap isn't considered difficulty in my book. That's bad game design.

this doesn't happen that much on the original sonic games

also going fast is a choice you make, doing it when you're unfamiliar with what's coming up is foolish but again, you'll never be seriously punished for it.
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I like Labyrinth Zone. It's relaxing.

But it's outclassed in every way by Tidal Tempest so...
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Labryinth Zone.

Relaxing


Pick one, ffs.

I guess the idea of running out of air is "relaxing" to you :P
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Caution999 posted...

Labryinth Zone.

Relaxing


Pick one, ffs.

I guess the idea of running out of air is "relaxing" to you :P

Oh, well, I guess back when I was 7 the level was the gaming equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis. But I'm good enough at the game now that I never worry about running out of air. <_<

Anyways, here's some Tidal Tempest to take the edge off. >_<

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv2Dj19WFic
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Labyrinth Zone was my favorite zone.
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Bloodychess posted...

You can run on spikes when invincible

Not in certain versions.
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Dragonblade01 posted...

Sonic has never been a good series, tbh

This. Even what is considered the pinnacle of the series, either Sonic 2 or S3&K, are mediocre platformers at best.
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DevsBro posted...

It's like they were gonna make it some generic platformer but then at the last minute just added a zero to the running speed and only bothered to make a few changes to stage design to compensate.

I've never seen sonic summarized so concisely and accurately before
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voldothegr8 posted...

Dragonblade01 posted...

Sonic has never been a good series, tbh

This. Even what is considered the pinnacle of the series, either Sonic 2 or S3&K, are mediocre platformers at best.

let's not get carried away now
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