Ahhh Sonic. To those of a certain vintage, myself included, Sonic the Hedgehog was the epitome of cool. His 1991 debut on SEGA’s glorious Mega Drive console is the bedrock of my gaming life – the genesis (ha) of who I am today as a gamer. He was blue, he was fast, he was effortlessly hip… he’s now, somehow, 30 years old and is probably thinking about getting on the property ladder. His three decades in the spotlight come with all the baggage, misfires and ‘is it canon’ woes of any long-running series, but let’s call out Sonic Origins for what it is – a beautifully and faithfully updated time-capsule of the blue blur’s finest 2D adventures. A stepping on point for new fans coming in from the recent Paramount movies. A celebration of silent-era Sonic and his merry band of badnik-busting buddies. Buy it, play it, bask in the razor-sharp gameplay, mic drop, goodnight Vienna.
Oh, you’re still here? Okay then… What you get here is Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic CD, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles (fused into their locked-on single adventure guise) in widescreen 4K definition for (mostly) the first time on a proper big telly. Some of these titles debuted on phones and tablets some time ago, with passable-at-best touchscreen controls, and their arrival on consoles has been somewhat leisurely (gotta go fast my arse). But they’re here in all their 16:9 glory, rebuilt from the ground up by mod-community legends such as Stealth (Simon Thomley of Headcannon) and Taxman (Christian Whitehead of, er, Christian Whitehead) – bringing a level of faithfulness to the source material not usually enjoyed on remasters and remakes of this kind. The respect shown for the original games is off the scale.
If you haven’t been living in a (mystic) cave for the last few months, you may have caught onto the online grumblings regarding the shortcomings of the game. Yes, some of the music tracks have been changed, most notably in the back half of Sonic 3. No, the new tracks aren’t great, but they are at least period authentic, coming as they do from the 1997 PC release of Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles. TL;DR: Michael Jackson rah rah rah rights issues blah blah blah wandering hands. Allegedly. There’s also a bizarre glitch in Sonic 2 regarding Tails’ respawn AI, which sees him spend most of his time off-screen, and which is consistent across all versions of the game. Just turn him off and wait for the recently confirmed patch.
You may also be aware of the botched announcement when SEGA took it upon themselves to tip lashings of confusion custard on what should have been a very sweet Sonic cherry pie. I’m not sure which version of the game I bought, but I’m damn sure it has given me weeks of enjoyment. This is largely down to the various modes included in Origins, which boil down to Anniversary Mode, Classic Mode, Boss Rush and Mirror Mode. The latter two modes are self-explanatory, and classic is your standard Ronseal version of the game in 4:3. Anniversary does away with the life system and replaces it with infinite tries. Collecting life monitors and 100 rings now awards coins, which can be used to unlock special content in the museum portion of the game, which is bulked out with music tracks, illustrations and video content. Coins can also be used to retry special stages should you fail, in possibly the biggest quality of life improvement to the actual gameplay.
The real prize in this collection is Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and the specially rebuilt version of the game that Headcannon prepared especially for this release. S3&K hasn’t seen the light of day for quite some time – 2011s Mega Drive Classics collection by all accounts – and this is the very first time it has ever been presented in widescreen. Add on the story mode that bolts all the games into one continuous story, the charming mission mode that sets brand new challenges in familiar levels, and the new animated intro and outro to each game and you have a charming package of some of the best 2D platformers ever created. It’s easy to get mired in the glory days and the rose-tinted memories of our youths. I do it all the time. But overlook some minor changes and consider the (hopefully) soon-to-be-righted glitches and this is a Sonic collection that every fan should own.
Summary
Push aside any deeply-rooted nostalgic pangs and allow yourself to enjoy the very best way of playing these timeless gems.
8/10