Sonic Origins

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Sonic Origins review
Camrin Santchi

Review

Back to the Classics (Again)

A bit of Background


When Sonic the Hedgehog first released in 1991 it was an attempt to create a rival for Nintendo and Mario. Thirty-One years later and the Blue Blur is still going, and despite some hiccups along the way one cannot deny that it’s been an interesting run.

For a bit of background, there are three 'eras' of Sonic games, based around gameplay. The first is known as the 'Classic Era', which began with the original Sonic the Hedgehog and is made up mostly of 2D games, though there are exceptions such as Sonic 3D Blast. The second was called the 'Adventure Era', which began with Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast and Gamecube, characterized by voice acting, deeper stories, and typically several playable characters that demonstrate changes to the story or perspective rather than just being gameplay changes like in the Classic Games. The third and current era is called the 'Boost Era', beginning with Sonic Rush and is characterized by a 'boost mechanic' and with Sonic being the sole playable character.

What's in the box?


Noting these eras is important to understanding Sonic games and potentially some of the choices that Sega makes - one of those being Sonic Origins, a recent release that is a collection of Sonic, Sonic CD, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 and Knuckles. This is the latest in Sega's attempts to capitalize on nostalgia for the Classic Era, a trend since 2010 that began with Sonic 4, but is most notable in Generations and Forces, where Classic Sonic is a playable character in a 2D plane as a contrast to Modern Sonic on a 3D plane. One could also count Sonic Mania from 2017… but this reviewer should get back on topic.

Sonic Origins isn't the first time that Sega has released a collection of classic games, Mega Collection and Gems Collection come to mind, but that's not to say that Origins is lacking in reason to exist. One of the biggest claims to fame Origins has on its list is probably having both Classic and Anniversary Mode, Classic featuring the original 4:3 visual system and the lives mechanic that gamers will recall from, well, classics, while Anniversary features a 16:9 screen display and an infinite number of lives, replacing the lives counter with Coins that can be used to retry special stages or unlock collectibles such as music or art from the Museum, a portion of the main menu dedicated to concept art, classic music, and even animatics.



Origins also contains Story Mode, where gamers will spin-dash through all four games in order as Sonic, playing in Anniversary Mode and with new opening and ending animations to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog in a new way. Mission Mode contains ways to attain more Coins to be used in Special Stages and the Museum by completing certain tasks, Boss Rush where gamers will take on all the bosses of one of the games in order, and Mirror Mode once unlocked flips stages so gamers can try to complete them by running to the left rather than the right like is typical. Unfortunately, there are some undertones of greed in how Origins rolled out, with certain content being locked behind the 'Deluxe' versions of the game, from starting with 100 Coins to get you going in the Museum or having Hard Missions, extra letterbox backgrounds, early access to Mirror Mode, or even extra music that wasn't even unlockable in the base game. None of this is a deal breaker but it feels a bit like the system of deluxe editions may have been taken advantage of by Sega in this case.

New content


Because Origins is meant to be a collection of classic games, this reviewer focused more on what is newly brought to the table rather than the games themselves, since many people who are interested in Origins may have played these games before - but it would be remiss to not at least touch on them. One of the biggest changes that affects gameplay is the inclusion of the Drop Dash. Originally from Sonic Mania, the Drop Dash is a new ability in Sonic’s repertoire where he can start a spin-dash when landing from a jump by holding down the jump button in midair, the same way Miles "Tails" Prower flies or Knuckles the Echidna glides. This is a useful ability that adds to Sonic's movement and strategies to keep moving quickly, but it is responsible for some glitches, particularly in Sonic CD when you travel to the Past or Future, since using the Drop Dash to time travel can lead to Sonic getting stuck in a wall rather than actually continuing in the new version of the level like he’s supposed to. This isn’t the only glitch that has been noted, but it was the only really noticeable one that this reviewer encountered.

In all Sonic Origins is a good way to experience the original four Sonic the Hedgehog outings, but it isn't without its issues, namely the locked content and the occasional glitch. This reviewer recommends Origins to anyone that’s a fan of classic platformers, or is a fan of collections that include never before seen art of the Blue Blur and his friends and foes from the Genesis/CD era!


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8.3

fun score

Pros

Anniversary Mode, new content

Cons

'Deluxe Editon' locked content, some glitches