Talking Point: Your Sonic the Hedgehog Memories

Sonic Adventure was the first Sonic game I got really excited about. I played it for the first time inside a comic book store on an imported Dreamcast five months before it launched in North America. I had never seen graphics like that before in my life. That and Power Stone were definitely the reasons I pre-ordered a Dreamcast.

Console Wars were much softer at that time, so even if I was totally into the Nintendo thing I used to like Sonic very much. I had a Game Gear and Sonic The Hedgeog was my first Sonic game; the Sega hero was cool, fast, and the levels were much bigger than in Mario games so there was a lot to explore. Great music too, expecially "Labyrinth Zone".

I remember going on holiday to Wales. I had just bought Sonic The Hedgehog and couldnt wait to play it. We were staying in a Camper and on the first 2 days I had completed it. They were the best 2 days of my gaming life since then Ive completed it many other times but that was my special moment. I only ever put it down to eat and drink. Wow I wish mum would let me do that now

Sonic for me was going round my mate's house and playing on his Megadrive. Mario was the comfort of home, Sonic was a faster treat!

Last christmas I bought myself Sonic 4, and I really enjoyed it, for me the perfect example of how a new 'retro' game should be done (take note, New Super Mario Bros. team)

Back when I still owned a Genesis I owned Sonic 1, 2, and 3, and Spinball. Me and my sister would play Spinball a lot because she wasn't very good at the others, but I loved them. I remember the first time I turned into Super Sonic. It was amazing seeing just how fast you could actually go. I always loved when the screen itself couldn't even keep up with me. It was almost like breaking the rules. I played it all the time, for years, up until my Genesis got thrown out. Some long years later I got Mega Collection on the gamecube, and the nostalgia was immense. Although there's been plenty of duds over the years, my love for the blue hedgehog hasn't diminished, and it was definitely a big part of my childhood.

My first experience with Sonic the Hedgehog was the first game. It was showcased in a store, which the name of it I cannot remember. Anyways, when I saw the game on demo, I noticed the screen had a bizarre rotation which any fan of Sonic today would recognize that part of the game as the Special Stage. That was first time I ever played Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was a game that drove me into insanity, not because it was difficult but rather not knowing how to pass Act 2 of the Carnival Zone. A family member would assist me to get past a rotating barrel blocking the path by jumping up and down on the barrel to force a small opening below the wall which was very difficult, but little did I know, just pressing on the Up and Down direction button would move the barrel up and down more efficiently and spare much more time for the boss.

I'll just repost what I said in the last article, since it perfectly sums up how I've felt about Sonic.

"Sonic never clicked with me, personally. I'll always refer to him as a "Super Saiyan wannabe" thanks to not only his Super Sonic transformation, but his "Piccolo" friendship with Knuckles, and don't forget about Vegeta, I mean Shadow. Also 7 Chaos Emeralds sounds a lot like 7 Dragonballs.
So yeah, Sonic never clicked with me, but he helped drive the pinnacle era of innovation in gaming due to his rivalry with Mario, pushing both Sega and Nintendo to do things they would not have done if the pressure wasn't as tense as it was. For better or worse."

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 for Gameboy was my favorite game of all time! Even though I could never beat it (I was 5-7) I had a LOT of fun with it. Thank you for making such a good game Sega!

@BedCommando
That's not a very good memory

My first exposure to Sonic didnt come from the games, but rather from the cartoons (The Adventures and SatAM) and a couple of comics. I did knew he was a video game character, because I read bunch of gaming mags at the time.

Then I befriended a guy who had a Megadrive and of course, he had Sonic games. They were all fun, fast-paced platformers and I fell straight in love with the blue guy. Later had another friend who had a Dreamcast, and of course he had Sonic Adventure, which even further made me like the guy.

To be completely honest, I always liked Sonic games and I think he's getting too much critisism. Sonic 3D (or Blast, whatever) is actually fun platformer which actually has quite cool graphics and even Shadow the Heghehog is really fun game that combines Sonic Adventure levels with some arcade action. I think the only genuinely bad Sonic games out there are the Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (The GBA port) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (and maybe Sonic Shuffle too, but I havent played that).

I remember it well. It was the 5th of December, Sinterklaas, and I got Sonic Heroes for the Gamecube. I loved the game a played it for HOURS (seriously, if I look at my old save it says I played over 40 on that game). So I decided to look in my local gamestore and discovered two other games: Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. Bought them, loved them. As I grew up I found out that there were a lot of other Sonic games thanks to the Internet, and since I've bought every Sonic game there is (for a Nintendo of course). Can't quite say I missed out on Sonic '06 cause I don't have an Xbox

I bought the Classic Collection for the DS to play all the old Sonic games I missed, so by now you could say I've played almost every Sonic game there is. And yes, I considder myself a Sonic fanboy.

I grew up with the Super Nintendo back when the great console wars broke out, so in Christmas of 1995, my family finally got ourselves a Model 2 Sega Genesis with Sonic 2 packed in. It was a good thing too, because my dad was staioned in South Korea and had to borrow our SNES to keep his sanity. Sonic 2 was the very first Sonic game I ever played, then we rented Sonic 3, and then Sonic & Knuckles (my personal favorite!) from Blockbuster. I never played Sonic 1 until we rented Sonic Classics. I still have my Sega Genesis, and it STILL WORKS!!

Mine are all of me dying way too easily in Chemical Plant Zone.

I personally don't have many Sonic memories (I was born in 1995, when the Genesis was just about dead), but I do remember playing a Sega Genesis with Sonic 2 at my mom's friend's house. Their kids were absolute beasts at that game, but I still had a lot of fun with them at 8 years old.

I said this on my last article as well:

"I had Sonic 3 and Knuckles when I was little, I don't know how I got it but it was so fun to play like and it was so colorful and I did really good at the game specificly the saving made me come back and play. It was so fun seeing my brother get ahead of me and unlocking hyper knuckles while I figured out how to beat the carnival level with sonic. Then we found that sonic and knuckles have alternative endings. I think Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the best sonic game and there is no way sega could make a better one."

I was born in 95 and we would get Genesis games that my grandpa who would buy them at the pawn shop. We had a copy of Sonic 2 with the sticker completely torn off. My cousin and I would pull the game out of the system and laugh when it froze up. I would always get scared at the second level of Chemical Plant Zone where the acid rises up and drowns Sonic. My lives would quickly dissolve away when I'd get to Mystic Cave. I had a lot of trouble with that level. And I think I only got to Oil Ocean once.

Unfortunately, our Genesis died, and our grandparents who failed to predict the coming of eBay, though that we'd never find a working Genesis again and gave all our games to my cousin's older sister. She then married, moved to Wyoming, put all the games in storage, and went with her husband to several different countries on business purposes and is rarely ever home. I now have a working Genesis with all four classic Sonic games, and Sonic 2 is my favorite game of all time.

Me, being born in '93 June 24, was a day and two years younger than Sonic so I guess you could say we grew up together.
Sonic The Hedgehog (Sega Genesis) was the first game I had ever played and was playing it before I could even walk! I've been playing video games ever since I could first pick up a controller. My uncle used to say that I was born to play games.
... I think I strayed to far off subject so I'll stop now.

Playing Sonic Adventure for the first time. My Dreamcast has never been the same......

My first game was Sonic the Hedgehog 1, my brother let me play it on his megadrive and in seconds I was hooked. Sonic became my favourite game character! It just felt like there was something different in his games

For me the sonic cd(mega cd) is the best sonic ever so far and the second one is the sonic 3 (mega drive) so many colors at once on screen,top quality sound and perfect control responce and the third and last one is sonic R (saturn) one of the best 32 bit game ever.

My earliest memory of Sonic was back in 1997. I remember going to my cousin's house where she would have the old Mega Drive out along with Sonic 1 & 2 and Sonic and Knuckles. I would always play these whenever I visited and since then, I was hooked on Sonic. I used to play them so much, that she gave me the console and the games she got for it. That was a happy day for me.

I went on to play the Sonic Advance series, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Mega Collection and I loved them all. Of course, there were a few stinkers (Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic'06, I'm looking at you) But no matter what, the Mega Drive games will always be the best. Even now, my Mega Drive still works after all these years and I still find myself going back to the orginal games every now and then.

Thanks for the memories, Blue Blur!

about 1992 I saved all my money to buy an SNES. Once I had enough saved my mom took me to the local K-mart. I get in the store and there was a wall, one half was filled with SNES and the other half was filled with Sega Genesis. After taking some time to figure out which one I wanted I decided on the Sega Genesis. Sonic The Hedgehog was the pack in game and at the time I thought Sonic blew Mario out of the water. The original 16-bit Sonic games are among the greatest games in history and will always be a part of my collection.

Sonic is one of the first few games that i managed to play when i was about 10, I loved it so much i used to cut school just to go to my cousins house to play it. I could never get passed the labyrinth zone lv3. But He's been with me since i first ventured into the gaming universe, and he sure as damn well will stay there. note the avatar.

when i was like 3 or 4 my sisters friend got a genesis with sonic 1 and 2 and i loved it. i played it as much i could i loved how the spindash sounded like, i could stop and spin and spin just for that sound. the water on level 2 scared the s**t out of me i got nightmares that i drowned in that water. sonic was the fastest thing alive back in the days and he still is!!

my first sonic games was sonic heroes and sonic rush. My freind and I traded games so i gave her a really good game and she gave me those two games. Ever since then I have been hooked!

My most fond memories were playing Sonic 1 with my sister when I was little and we owned a Genesis. My dad used to travel a lot for his job and I remember one trip he brought me back a Game Gear with Sonic for that, so I also get filled with nostalgia whenever I think about that game too. Last time I was ever truly excited for a Sonic game was when Sonic Adventure came out. I remember renting a Dreamcast and that game from Blockbuster and playing it SO much. Now that they are having that Sonic sale on the XBLA, it was great to pick up SA for cheap and feel that nostalgia again.

As a gamer, some of my fondest memories come from Sonic the Hedgehog. When I was young, I would visit my grandparents and play Sonic the Hedgehog on their Genesis. Sonic was the first game I could actually master without stinking. Later, I purchased a GameCube and Sonic Mega Collection so that I could experience all the Genesis Sonic games in my home. From those days and beyond, I was hooked on Sonics. I looked forward to the new Sonic games and wished that Sonic's glory days would return during his slump of mediocrity. When I realized that my wishes came true last year, I jumped for joy. Sonic still holds a special place in my heart.

My first ever Sonic experience was Sonic CD on Windows 95.

My first Sonic memory was when I was five, when my heart condition was first discovered (I no longer have it after an operation 3 years ago) and I was staying overnight at the hospital and they bought a TV over to my bed with a Sonic collection (can't remember which one) and I played the awesome first Sonic game on it. Unfortunately, I can't remember much of it though. I'll definitely get Sonic classic collection on DS as I haven't played many of the older Sonic games.

The Life of Sonic the Hedgehog
Ahhhh...I remember my very first time starring in a game. I didn't expect to become so popular, but it came true! I went on to make several sequels and became increasingly popular. Although, if I could, I would refuse to do...the terrible trio. You could possibly guess as to which game I'm refferring to. But, I'll tell you anyways. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic and the Black Knight. I hated being in those games and do you know how painful it is to turn into a werehog? :/ Although, I made a comeback in my hit game, Sonic Colors.

When I was about 6, my experiences with video games pretty much amounted to getting an occasional quarter to play Ms. Pacman at Pizza hut (and a couple times, playing some cop shooting game, though I wasn't supposed to play anything where you shot a gun). I don't remember asking for a specific brand. I just wanted "video games." My parents were opposed.

Until X-mas, 1992. Then, I received a shiny new Sega Game Gear bundled with Sonic 2 (same as the Master system version). I played the heck out of that game (even though it took me forever to get past the first boss, and even forever-er to get past the first hang gliding stage in the second world - I never actually beat the game until college). It was so fast, so colorful, so much more than a slow, black and white game boy!

Then came the ads for Sonic 3. Yes! A Genesis must be mine! Then Sonic and Knuckles! (Of course, my parents didn't get it. I had Sonic on my Game Gear). Fast forward to the day after Xmas 1995. The kids with cool parents are at home playing their brand new Playstations. My brother and I are pooling months of allowance, birthday, and X-mas money for a Sega Genesis - $150 for the system, Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles. I can finally play Sonic Teams Magnum opus. Luckily, a pretty massive blizzard hit that year, and we got nearly 2 weeks off school. When we weren't playing in the snow, we were playing Sonic 3. I beat it as Knuckles. Later as Sonic and Tails (but I never got all the SUPER emeralds from S&K until adulthood). Later purchases followed of all the other Sonic games - and even a used Sega CD for Sonic CD. It was awesome.

My mom realized that games didn't turn us into failures at life, so it was a bit easier to get the N64 for xmas and later the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure 1&2 as holiday/birthday gifts. The day the dreamcast was discontinued was a sad one in our house. The day Triple Trouble, the only missing Game Gear Sonic was announced for the VC was a happy one though. While I still have my Game Gear, I can't wait to have those first Sonic games I started off with, on a console that's actually, well, portable again. They will be Instabuys!

@TheChosen
I liked Sonic 3D Blast too. For the time, it was pretty impressive to see that level of 3D rendering on a Genesis. Definitely get some friends over and a copy of sonic shuffle (you need VMUs for everyone to see their cards too). My brother and I still play that all the time. The graphics aren't pushing the dreamcast and the loading times are terrible, but it is a super fun party game!

To me, Sonic will always be my introduction into the 6th generation of consoles. I was debating with my brother to see what game we would choose when we got a gamecube. I forget who wanted what, but I remember clearly it was either Luigi's Mansion or Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. So we argued for a good month or two before we saved enough money to buy a gamecube. In tyhe end, we got Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and played the hell out of it. He chose the villain side and I chose the hero side. Overall we had a blast playing it, and then we eventually got Luigi's Mansion. So we both won!

My memory of "Sonic 2" comes from the live Gamesmaster show at the NEC in the UK, back end of 1992 iirc. Dominic Diamond was doing live challenges on the stage periodically, so I managed to get selected despite never playing the game before. My opponent was someone who had rinsed the game. The challenge was to collect the most rings on one of the bonus stages. And I won. Easily. Cue my comments about how useless Sega players must be with some equally odd comments from the crown and Dom thrown in heh...

It was 1994, and our family's NES was traded in for a Genesis which came with 2 games (Lion King & Power Rangers, we got Ms. Pac-Man & Battletoads a month later). I enjoyed the Genesis games, but I still missed the games we had on NES, but when I forgot all about the NES when Sonic came to our house! (I forgot if I played Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 first)

This is a sad story for all SEGA fans.

It was 1993 and I played only C64, Amiga, PC and other home computers around the time. I was 12 years old and it was the first time I was allowed to have a video game console. I wanted the Mega Drive with Sonic so much! Sonic was just cool. So fast. And those awesome graphics. On first look Super Mario World's graphics were simple and basic compared to Sonic. And like every other kid I wanted graphics!

So on Christmas 1993 I got a SNES and not a Mega Drive, and I was very unhappy! But once I hooked it up, Super Mario World, F-Zero and Super Soccer turned out to be amazing games, and I realised I had been very lucky and somehow I forgot all about Sonic. I got Zelda, Street Fighter II, Donkey Kong Country, Secret of Mana, etc. I got my graphics and I'm a Nintendo gamer ever since.

I recently downloaded Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Knuckles on VC and well... I'm not very keen on those games nowadays, but I still love most of the music from the series. I'm sure they would have been a blast in the past.
In hindsight I can't help but feel SNES was a better destiny.

well, i never played the originals. The first Sonic game i played was Sonic Advance + Pinball and i loved the chao pets and the pinball game. Then i got SA2:Battle and had months of fun untill my copy of Sonic Advance + Pinball dissappeared....
Man i miss that game .

Well, i stil play SA2 on a regular basis.

As for the original games, i actually own them indirectly, they came with my copy of Sega Genesis Collection for the PSP.

I remember when I was at school and the buzz back then was ‘Do you own a NES or a mega drive?’ One day I said to my friends that I was going to save up and buy a NES, he turned to me to say no ‘Save up for the SNES’ Any way, I went to my local games shop to enquire about buying a snes for birthday. The guy said in the shop oh I don’t know when the Snes will be out over here, for £135:00 you can buy a mega drive. My mum paid a deposit for a mega drive and then I had to save up the rest of the money, I then went into a shop and bought a magazine that was covered all things Sega. I can’t remember what it was called but it could have been Sega Pro?

Any way the night before my birthday I was given my mega drive! Those old days of tuning in the TV in to playing game consoles, so once the TV was tuned the 'Sega' screen came and Sonic appeared pointing his finger. My sister was the first to complete the first level, it was her turn! Collecting all those Emeralds was the vain of my life back and even now it's tricky. You got to take your time I suppose; I will always remember playing Sonic in boots whilst waiting for my mum, I remember some time after getting my mega drive the SNES came out with a huge hitting game- Mario World back in the year 1992-1993 unless you had lots of cash you would either have a Sega system or a Nintendo one. I remember Sonic 2 coming out and what a game that is.
Sadly come 1993 I traded my mega drive in for a SNES with Super Mario All-Stars, even today it is my biggest regret but at the time I couldn't afford to have both. Looking back I should have washed more cars and saved up but I didn't. I have a soft spot for Sonic and downloaded Sonic 1 on one of my Wii's to celebrate his Birthday, I had never played Sonic 3 until Sonic Collection was released on the Gamecube. Good memories even for a 31 year old.....
What a shame it is that Sega have never released a Mega drive controller that you can plug into the Wii-mote, they could have done it! It does feel strange playing mega drive games on classic controllers knowing that only three of the buttons work for the games!

My best memories were spending the every Holiday season(November/December) playing the Sonics with my cousins.

I love the Genesis games. I hated Sonic CD (the level designs were confusing and generic).

When I first played Sonic Adventure I loved it, but the game hasn't aged well at all. Horrible graphics, bad voice acting, horrible camera, glitchy controls, poor level designs, etc.

Sonic Adventure 2 was a huge improvement, but it still had a glitchy camera.

Sonic 06 was bad. It was basically Sonic Adventure in HD, with the same problems that plagued the original.

Sonic Unleashed was great. They finally fixed the camera, the Sonic stages were fun and exciting, the controls were tight and responsive. The only thing I didn't like were the "Werehog" stages. God of War for kids? Lame.

Sonic Rush was amazing. It was fast, frantic, and fun. A nice departure from the Genesis-style gameplay.

Sonic 4 was a decent throwback to the Genesis-era games. The physics were horrible though. Sonic's acceleration was too slow (look at his walking animation). There was no momentum whatsoever, he could basically walk up the side of a hill without running at full speed! Dimps should have gotten the physics right before finalizing the game.

Sonic Colors is basically Sonic Rush in 3D. The graphics are amazing, the music is superb (no more rock music, though I do admire Jun Senoue's guitar work). The controls are responsive, but Sonic's jumping feels very stiff, you can't really adjust your turn mid-air, and he falls too quickly.

Sonic Generations looks to be a nice blend of Genesis-era gameplay and Sonic Rush/Colors-style gameplay. The best of both worlds! I really hope Classic Sonic is playable in future games, cause I love the character. Plus I'm glad Sega hasn't completely abandoned that gameplay style of PLATFORMING mixed with speed.

i remember my first video game. It was a sonic game. My dad found a sonic game in one of our boxes, and it was Sonic The Hedgehog for my dad's genesis. I am 14 so i was about 4 or 5 years old when i first played him. I asked my mom how many hits to beat Robotnik and she said 8. I was shocked to see a sequel to the game. And i was hook on sonic since. I still have the game and my dad's Genesis.

I played Sonic 1 and 2 so much on the Genesis when I was a kid. They were my favorite games. I liked them so much I began collecting the Archie Sonic comics. I never owned Sonic 3 and Knuckles, but I enjoyed that one as well. The Sonic Adventure games are still my favorite on Dreamcast. I never did like Sonic Spinball or Sonic Shuffle though. I don't like most of the 3D games as well. I have not played the Sonic Colors game, but I will get around to that soon. Lets hope Sonic makes good games in the near future starting with Sonic Generations

The first Sonic game I've seen was Sonic Adventure 2. It was around the first time I played Super Mario 64 and thought it was amazing and made Mario 64 look boring. I started getting into the series with the Mega Collection, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 and the Advance games. I also started getting into the comic book series which I have a nice stack of in a box. Sonic forever!

I sounded too harsh with my last comment and have to add that I really started to love some Mega Drive games too, and on the Master System I loved to play the Wonder Boy games at my friends house.

I've downloaded 3 Master System and 13 Mega Drive games from the Wii Shop, and I think I would have been very happy if I had gotten a MD instead of a SNES. Alien Soldier, Light Crusader, Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Landstalker, Gain Ground, Wonder Boy in Monster World, all great games for their time. If you can recommend more MD games I'm open to all suggestions. What should I try next? Is The Story of Thor or Pulseman any good? When is Monster World IV coming???

And I also have a Sonic game I really love: Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (Gamecube). That's an epic game with some killer soundtrack (my favourite of any Sonic game).

Sonic and me have had a weird relationship. My little brother used to rent your 3D games on GameCube and PS2 from Blockbuster all the time, and they were okay, and I had fun with them. We never bought one though. Sonic seemed strange. He was such an iconic pop cultural figure but his games were mediocre.
Then when the Wii came I downloaded the first Sonic Mega Drive and it was okay, worth owning, but nowhere near the brilliance of any of Mario's NES or SNES games. Then I got Sonic 2 and finally I could see why Sonic was liked. Once I got the chance to play Sonic 2 in 60hz, well, it pretty much became one of my favourite games ever.

My biggest Sonic memory was always playing the classics on the DS. I didn't necessarily like them at all, but mostly because of the annoying "Seeeeeegaaaaaaaaaaaaa" after everytime you click something.

My best Sonic related memories:

1. Playing it over and over again on the special Radica Plug-n-Play TV console (with 5 other awesome Genesis games) - didn't get further than Spring Yard Zone.
_
2. My neighbor carried a Genesis (one of the newer models) with Sonic over my house and we had loud Sonic noises blaring all day, with all the kids outside watching — this was in 2009 so I was very surprised,

(All memories listed took place in Jamaica.)

The fondest Sonic memory I have is playing Sonic and Knuckles with my friend on his newly bought Sega Genesis back in the early 90s.

One thing I love about Sonic games (the 2D ones), is that there are more than on way to get to the end of the level, and after playing Sonic Generation demo, I am looking forward to getting that game on the PS3, or I might wait for Wii U version.

As I was (and still are) a die hard Nintendo and Mario fan I had no time for him in his early days. My friend had sonic 1, and I was impressed with the speed of the game, but was not swayed in any way.

So it was not until Sega went under, that I purchased my first sonic game: Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on Gamecube. The game did nothing to improve my impressions of the hedgehog. It was not until I got Sonic Gems (and the sidescrolling games contained therein) that I understood what I had been missing. since then I have purchased Rush and Secret Rings for my DS and Wii and downloaded the original trilogy on the VC............. marvelous

Having a Gamegear.

'Nuff said.

I first played Sonic on my friend's Genesis. He had that Sega 6-Pack cartridge and of course, the original Sonic was one of the 6 games on it. That was back in '99, or maybe '00. I also remember playing Sonic R and Sonic 3D Blast on Windows around that time aswell.

One of my favorite memories was me and my friend playing Sonic R together. We would both select Robotnik and when the race began, we would stockpile rings and try to shoot each other with missiles, lol.

Those were some fun times, but I didn't really get into the series until a couple years later when I picked up both Sonic Mega and Gems collection for the 'Cube.

I first saw Sonic at my friend's house. We'd played long before on my NES, but when he introduced me to Sonic on the Genesis, I was blown away and the impression has never really left. Within a year, I'd asked for a Sega Genesis for my birthday and got Sonic 1, 2, and X-Men. It would be one of only two times I'd purchase a non-Nintendo system in my life (the other being the Game Gear). Although I didn't vary my collection too far outside of the Sonic games, Sonic was enough for me for a time. Even when I wised up and picked the more varied system in the SNES, I'd still frequently whip out Sonics 1, 2, 3, & Knuckes, Spinball, and Blast on my Genesis.

One of my most memorable moments, though, was finally BEATING one of those games. Sonic the Hedgehog 3. And it wasn't an easy fight at the end either. I had Super Sonic, but seeing Robotnik's grabber machine still throw Super Sonic around was quite startling as a kid. But beating him and seeing those final cinimatics was glorious as a kid.

...To date, I've only ever beaten it, Sonic 1, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles (as Knuckles) of the original Sonic games. I made a valliant attempt at Sonic 2 on Sonic's birthday, but... the sandman comes for us all and I can't let myself beat one of those games without EVERY Chaos Emerald. Sonic 3 and 4 made that easier, but it's a trial when you have no save points in 1 and 2... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am now 15 years old, and although a Nintendo fanboy, my favorite character is Sonic The Hedgehog. I've at least played if not owned the majority of Sonic's biggest titles; Sonic 1, 2, 3, & Knuckles, Spinball, 3D Blast, R, Advance 1, 2, 3, Adventure, Adventure 2 Battle, Heroes, Riders, (Shadow The Hedgehog), Rush, Secret Rings, Next Gen 2006, Black Knight, Rush Adventure, Unleashed, Chronicles, Colors, and just a couple others I'm forgetting.
Since this was and continues after (getting my first game system, the Genesis, in) 2006, people may expect me to say "Sonic Unleashed is the best out of all because it is the fastest and has the best graphics" or "the old ones suck because they're so limited". Nuh-uh, some of my favorites Sonics are the old and moderately old ones. One of my best ways to describe my opinion of Sonic and his games is that "he rivals Mario". I love how Sega was able to get the story across in Sonic & Knuckles, a 16-bit game. The environments were so clear and colorful. The physics of that game were easy to adapt to, and the gameplay flowed with the environment. What made up the rest of the 100 was the music. To me, Sonic is the guy with the best sounding games. What was the only good thing about Next Gen 2006? The music of course! The stage music is what gave the level its unique "personality" and "mood". I could spend hours lisening to sound tracks. I've even successfully played some themes on my flute!
This may seem freaky to people but these allow me to think and can actually influence my current genre of imagination. Every Sonic theme has become and retains the top of my favorites. The applicable ones introduced me to my favorite band, Crush 40. Their music fits Sonic's personality, and when first playing a game, a Sonic theme can practically tell me the mood and my future feeling of the game.
The current moment is a bit coincidental, for right now as I type this section of my comment at 11:00p.m. 6/26/11, I am thinking of the second version of the Lava Reef Zone theme from Sonic & Knuckles.
Sonic's stories have always amuse me and have earned my liking, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Chronicles rivaling for best and Next Gen 2006 sinking to "worst, but not that bad". I like how the main ideas of the games can keep themselves together and never turning out unexplained. But this only reminds me of one thing: Why does Sonic have two histories, a game one and an archie one? Though I know an extremely low percentage of Sonic's archie side, it is considerably deep and long! It's as dramatic as a novela, yet as cool and adventurous as Sonic's game history! This brings another thing to mind: Is Sonic Chronicles more like (a Sonic Heroes 2?) a part of the archie story ?
Anyway, Sonic The Hedgehog is my idol. To me, he has made Super Smash Bros. Brawl not "just another Super Smash Bros.". Him and Mario are what made the olympics more interesting. I have vowed to get Sonic games (with a story, not necessarily spin offs or multiple versions) if I can afford it and is for either of the systems I own. I will conitnue to look up to Sonic and look forward to Generations 3DS and Sonic on the Wii U. Happy Birth(yester)day, good luck, and don't die on me, Sonic! No matter what haters say and/or do!

lol, I got emetional... T-T
I need a hug... (>T.T)>

I have sooo many memories of Sonic, which is weird because I'm a Nintendo gamer, and was super hardcore with "The Big N" during the 16 bit wars:) But my cousin had a Genesis and I played all the Sonics on that system every time I went to visit him.

I just LOVED how Sonic brought the 90's attitude with him; places like Chemical Plant and Casino Night Zone reminded me of growing up in NYC, with the lights on the building contrasting against the dark sky. There were almost no night levels in Mario, so that was a really cool visual that stuck out to me in Sega's games. Also, the music. Guys like Yuzo Koshiro and Masato Nakamura brought beautiful, energetic music (the Labyrinth Zone theme was the first thing I ever learned to play on piano, and I taught myself!) with them to the games, as well as early 90's R&B/Hip hop flavor. I still remember the "urban legend" that Michael Jackson and/or his song-writing team contributed tunes to Sonic 3! My love of that kind of attitude and music in the series came to head when Traveler's Tale got their hands on the series with Sonic R, and gave us "Can you Feel the Sunshine" and "Living in the City" and all the songs by Richard Jaques and TJ Davis. To this day, Sonic R (and 3D Blast) have the most underrated OST in video-gaming history. I cannot believe that some people find that soundtrack cheesy. They must be joyless, horrible individuals:)

But since I've stuck with series the WHOLE TIME, and have been a huge supporter of Sonic on Nintendo hardware, I've got plenty of memories. I remember being pumped that Sonic Adventure 2 was gonna hit the Gamecube before Mario! I remember the first time I heard Crush 40 doing the epic, hair metal-style rock anthems for the Dreamcast-and-up Sonic games. The Sonic Advance games - specifically 2 + 3 - are some of the best games I've ever played with fantastic music, and did a great job expanding Sonic's moveset. And then finally, most recently, being addicted to hunting down the Red Rings in Sonic Colors to unlock the Sonic Simulator levels and, in turn, the chaos emeralds. Sonic Colors is fantastic.

I hope this 20th Anniversary reminds people that Sonic is awesome, because I'm tired of hearing people who have obviously long since stopped playing Sonic games tear into the series. There have been ups and downs, sure. But there really wasn't a prolonged period of suckitude. And Sega's always made sure that the right attitude has been there and the games have always been fun. Except for Sonic 2006...that one was 100% wretched. But hey, growing pains. It was their first HD title. A LOT of developers' first 360 games were dogsh**.

I have multiple Sonic memories with the Sega Genesis Sonic games standing out the most to most back when I was a middle School and High School student with my owning all the Sega Genesis Sonic games from 1992 to 1996. Sonic came out at time that I was accustomed to be playing Atari 2600 & 7800 games with me not playing a lot of Nes games due to the fact I didn't own Nes yet at the time. Here is a list of my favorite Sonic moments.

1.) The Sonic Memory that stood out the most to me was back in 1991. Sonic was the first Genesis game I ever played and I played at Target and my younger brother did also. It was different for us compared to the small amount of times we played Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 3 at other people's houses since we didn't own Nes yet at the time. Sonic 1 was different to my younger brother and I in terms of how fast the game, but was fun at the same. Sonic 1 was one of the reasons I got a Sega Genesis for Christmas in 1992. It turned out the Sega Genesis was the right system for me at the time because of my video game back ground on game consoles at the time considering what type of genres I was into at the time.

2.) My younger brother and I had a competition of going to the highest level as possible without using game genie when we first got the Sega Genesis for Christmas in 1992.

3.) The first time I heard some the music from the Sonic games on the Sega Genesis. Some of the music I heard from the Sega Genesis Sonic series is among my list of favorite video game music tunes including lava reef zone stage 1.

4.) My younger brother and I playing 2 player mode in Sonic 2&3. It went to the final stage for the 2 play mode most of the time we played against each other.

The main memory I have of Sonic is how his games used to be. I'll I know now is the increasing decline of quality in the Sonic games.

For me, it was the feeling of winning when I finally beat Sonic the Hedgehog. Before that, I could only make it to the Marble Zone before running out of lives.

Sonic 2 for the Master System, the hang glider level.
That game was ridiculously hard because you couldn't pick up your rings again.

I can't talk about the one I really want to talk about, since it involves a topic we don't discuss here at NL.

I guess my earliest memory is Sonic 2 at my friend Kurt's house in 3rd grade. The entire second factory area was such a trip to play--fasted game I'd ever seen that wasn't SNES F-Zero (and fastest side-scroller by MIIIILES). Truly impressive--and he had a TV in his room, which made him way cooler than he actually was. Which wasn't very. He got all piereced and douche-scener-emo later on too

But yeah Sonic 2 was awesome back in the day and probably still remains my favorite game in the series.

I was born 3 weeks after the realease of the first game, but I didn't get a Genesis until 1993.

My dad got one for my birthday, and it came bundled with Sonic 1, I spent most of that day playing it halfway, but never got past Labyrinth Zone.

At that time, I've never heard of Mario until a friend of mine had N64 during its launch in 1996.

While I do enjoy a few of Sonic's modern-day offerings, I always look back to the very first game, being credited to making me the gamer I am now.

Happy Birthday, Sonic!

I played Sonic Mega Collection Plus for my PS2 and days later i got Sonic Heroes for PC. He was the first video game mascot I have ever played before, I was 5. I soon discovered Mario with SM64DS in 2006.

I remember being slightly irritated when Sega started including Sonic the Hedgehog carts with all Sega Genesis consoles. I had already gotten a Genesis by that time and Altered Beast was the game that came with mine.

I started with Sonic one and it still is great to this day.

What made the game so good? Mario had exploration and a nice slow pace but Sonic had a fast pace but also a good level of exploration. It had a certain charm about it, it had the bright colours that we’d seen in a Mario though things were a bit different levels became Acts, worlds became Zones and they gave us a huge variety of things. Whether this was the lushness of the Green Hill Zone, avoiding fire in the Marble Zone, bouncing crazy in Spring Yard Zone, THAT countdown in Labyrinth Zone, the brilliant music of Star Light Zone or the mix of everything in Scrap Brain Zone Sonic the Hedgehog has something for everyone.

First game I ever played in my life was Sonic The Hedgehog for the Sega Master System, I was 5 years old and loved all the pretty colors and the dumb RobotnikXD After some time I got a Genesis and got 4 games. The Mega Games collection 1 and Sonic The Hedgehog, and I would sneak out of bed and went to the living room just to play it, at 6:00 AM! My dad would get so annoyed at meXD

The good old times...

The first game I ever played was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the PC on some Sega collection. It was a blast, even though I couldn't get very far... I was only... like... 4.

Oh yea...I remember that I first play Sonic the hedgehog 2 when I was 7. Was so happy that my body was shaking with joy.(lol) later when I was 10, I had Sonic The Hedgehog and Knuckles 3 and I play that for hours. I collection all of the Emeralds to get Super Sonic and Super Knuckles then I was more surprised there ever. The Super Emeralds was my next step becoming Hyper Sonic and Hyper Knuckles(Super Tails is in it too.lol). Going miss the 90's.

I was one of the few kids who owned both a Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis back in the 1990s. Now why I immensely enjoyed games like Super Mario All Stars, Super Mario World, and Yoshi's Island; I always thought that the Sonic games were better and more fun than those games (well...except maybe for Yoshi's Island).

I also had a Sega Nomad, and while the handheld was not truly portable (it had an awful battery), it did allow me to play my Genesis games without having to haul my entire Genesis console everytime I left my home. Since the SNES did not have a portable version at the time, I was playing my Genesis (and Nomad) more.

Of course, my favorite Genesis games were the Sonic games. I owned Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic 3D Blast. For some reason, I cannot recall owning Sonic 3 (or I did and either lost the cartridge or it got destroyed). But I played it via rental, so I got a chance to enjoy that game too.

I sucked at all games regardless and never did truly beat them when I was a kid. Sure there was the level select codes, but beating the games that way does not truly count. For some reason, my favorite was Sonic & Knuckles (even without locking on to Sonic 3). I still played the heck out of my Genesis, even when I was playing the N64.

When I grew older, I took a break from playing video games during my pre-teen years. But when I was in my early teens, I got back into video games and finally played a non Genesis Sonic game. That game was thankfully one of the good ones, which was Sonic Rush. I thought it was pretty fun and immensely enjoyed it.

Eventually, I played most of the non-Genesis Sonic games (both good and bad). I have different feelings on the modern Sonic games. While I immensely enjoyed some of them (the Sonic Advance series and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle) to downright despising a few of them (Sonic 06), I never ceased being a fan of the Sonic series. But even to this day, I still think that the Sonic games on the Genesis are still and perhaps will always be the best Sonic games and platformers ever made.

Sonic Advance 3 was a really fun GBA game, but when I lost it, that totally destoryed me. That game was a lot of fun, but oh well.

I only played two 3-D Sonic games, Heroes and Unleashed. Heroes was a great game, and a happily played through all 5 (counting Metal Sonic) stories and I'd just loved it. Unleashed didn't come CLOSE of being as fun as Heroes, but it was a nice game nonetheless. Heck, with the Heroes, I bought it 3 times because the disks always getting scratched and I wanted to play it over and over again.

With Sonic Mega Collection Plus, I liked playing the old Genesis Sonic games, but not as much as Heroes... But those games are so much more faster than any Sonic games that have been released.

I've been a Nintendo fanboy to the bone ever since I first played the SNES in 1995. I had never owned a Sega console, let alone played Sonic the Hedgehog until I picked up a used Dreamcast two years ago. Other than that, platformers like Super Mario and Banjo-Kazooie dominated my childhood and satiated my thirst for the genre.

That is, until Sega's decision to go multi-platform at the turn of the millennium. My friend down the street purchased a Nintendo Gamecube with Super Smash Brothers Melee and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle after working laboriously through the summer. I remember the first week of school that year, I begged him to allow me to borrow his prized Gamecube, as my parents were typically holding out until the holidays to drop the cash on one. We eventually settled on the trade off that he could borrow my Game Boy Advance for the week (which was risky as my parents wouldn't have been too thrilled), and I would borrow his Gamecube.

I decided to sink my teeth into something new; Sonic. Figuring out which buttons to turn on and how to properly hook up this illustrious new console only heightened my excitement. And then, an amazing thing happened.

Instantaneously after the cut-scene, and without a clue of what exactly was happening, the guitars whip into a frenzy that completely sets the mood for a hedgehog screeching down the city streets on a piece of a helicopter. The adrenaline coursing through my veins, the fervor I felt spreading it's way across my face; I was in the epitome of everything an 11-year-old gaming junkie could ask for. How could I have missed half a decade of this?! Sonic was the embodiment of cool! While Mario and Banjo required carefully timed jumps, and perfectly executed strategies, Sonic was everything I felt was missing from a platformer at the time.

Shortly thereafter, I- well, it was probably a good four hours afterward, I decided to give my mortal eyes a rest for the day. I woke up, expecting myself to be right back where I left off... but in my mad dash to get to the actual game itself, in an act of blindly mashing the A-button, I had somehow missed the fact that I needed a memory card!

I was crushed. I called my friend to see if he had ever picked one up, but he said that the expense was too much, and he had opted to get a second game rather than a memory card. This meant I would have to start again every single day. I would have to start that same, gut wrenching, jaw dropping, oh-my-god-how-can-something-this-cool-even-exist level, every day. I can't say I minded.

Though I was extremely late to the party, I became entranced in Sonic-mania for the next year or so. I picked up a used Sega Game Gear with the ports of Sonic 2 & 3, simultaneously in awe of being able to play Sonic on the go, and the fact that this antique of a handheld could hold it's own against the Game Boy Advance. Though I still didn't have a Gamecube, I bought the soundtrack to Sonic Adventure 2, and educated myself on Sonic's background through the beauty of the internet. I finally picked up Sonic Adventure 2 Battle almost two-years after my initial star-crossed afternoon of fate, as well as Sonic Mega Collection.

Alas, as I've grown, I've refined my tastes to realize that Super Mario and Banjo-Kazooie are right up my alley in terms of what I look for in a video game, specifically platformers. Coupled with Sonic's notoriety in his decline of quality games, the little hedgehog that could hasn't wowed me as he had so many years ago. However, I still have yet to pick up Sonic Colors, and the impending release of Sonic Generations has tickled my inner blue-blur once again. Happy 20th, Sonic. I truly hope you return to your former glory!

My first Sonic memory was when I got a Gamecube for Christmas of 2003 and Super Mario Sunshine with it, (Played it all the time) then a couple of months later my mom rented Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. I liked it so much I got her to buy it for me. I loved that game so much and I still play it today. Years later I was at my friends house when I first played Sonic Heroes on his Xbox. I ended up saving up and bought it for my Gamecube. I started playing through the old Sonic games too. Even though I didn't really care for some other titles like Sonic Riders or Sonic 06 I still think Sonic is an awesome series. Happy 20th Sonic.

A Few Memories PopOut for me.

One of them, is that me and my brother used to Skip School like, Everyday. We stayed cooped up at Home, ate String Cheese and White Bread by the pack, and played Video Games all day, Heavily Primarily Sonic.

I have spent ALot of Time in School DayDreaming about Sonic. Sonic doing LoopDeLoops, Sonic running on the ChalkBoard and Jumping off to Defeat Students and Free the Animals.

A Profound Memory that I have, that I'm sure many share, is the Discovery of, and Gathering of all of the Super Emeralds in Sonic 3 and Knuckles. This is Absolutely Magical. That little Room that you go to with all of the Super Emeralds placed around.

http://info.sonicretro.org/images/0/02/S3%26KEmeraldChamber.PNG

Yeah that one. Pure MysticBeauty. Getting Super Tails was a Particularly Surprising and Stunning Accomplishment. There was this part in Carnival Night Zone with a Drum that seemed Impossible to get past with Tails... we weren't aware of the mechanic at the time, that you can merely press Up and Down to make the Drum Move.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles may just be my Favorite Sonic game. Or Favorite Game Ever. Something like that.

CC

Making my first dark chao in sonic adventure dx! i LOOOOOVE dark chaos! but seriously sonic adventure is one of the last good sonic games. most games after sonic adventure 2 i've just tried to forget about. Most of the games that came before (sonic the hedgehog, 2,3, sonic n knuckles, spinball, etc.) but the only game after adventure (i played the dx version but....) was Sonic Advance 3 for GBA. Now that was a good pure sonic game! no stupid gimmicks, no idiotic gameplay mechanics that are unnecessary and dont work properly, just good pure immaculate high-speed sidescrolling obstacle course platforming! and while some people gave it flak for not having levels as big and explorable, but i personally think the linerity suited sonic quite well. i also enjoyed the variety of available characters. but, although i enjoyed these other games, This game made a good lasting impression on me that nothing else did, even though it introduced big (#i hate big th cat). and i absolutely loved the chao garden. soooooo CUTE!