Hopefully it should (it's my fave Sonic game). It has been released on mobiles so fingers crossed they do release it... and that it's better than this version of Sonic 1.
I would totally be on board if Sega just sells the emulator and then ROMs through microtransactions. There's a few I would gladly shell out five bucks for. (Gunstar Heroes, Phantasy Star series, Space Harrier... list goes on.) I'd love it just for the fact that I can keep all those games under one app icon. As for Sonic, yeah the framerate issues suck, and I'm going to skip on it just because I already have the Xbox 360 XBLA version (Sonic 1 AND 2. XBLA has Streets of Rage 2 also) which is a much better port AND it's a buck cheaper. That said, I've seen far, far worse ports of stuff for the iPhone.
Hey, the cheats have been removed from the rom. I guess you couldn't cheat on the iPhone anyway without the necessary buttons. It is still strange that they would actually bother to remove the cheat codes altogether.
This isn't a port, which is the whole point, it's an emulator and a ROM file, packaged into an App. A port would have required more work, and could have yielded a superior game, with updated graphics and specific iDevice tuning. The only work Sega did here was with the emulator, and it isn't anything special (meaning that it's about the same as the free emulator you can get). Jailbreak your iDevice and you can have EVERY Sega Genesis game (every game for nintendo, snes and gameboy as well) for free, for those who are interested in retro gaming. BTW: I wish Sega would have at least provided the manual with the game.. I used to like looking at those
My review on this game (note: I've never played Sonic on the Genesis): The gameplay of this game is actually pretty enjoyable. I liked it way better than Bounce On for sure. This game is just like all the other Sonics, it's fast and exciting. There are framerate problems when sound is turned on, but when turned off, it works like a charm. I'm sure you all know how the gameplay in Sonic works so I'm not going to explain it other than that it's not bad. Graphics in this game are pretty good. They did a very nice job with the retro type look and feel. They aren't the best as retro is not my style, but they did make it look like an old game. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't make this with updated graphics, but that's just my opinion. If you want this game with that Genesis feel (?) and nostalgic reasons, then the graphics should be just fine for you. Controls of this game actually work pretty well. They're not very "intuitive", but sometimes, that's the right way to go. This game is one of those games that I'm not very mad about how they just slapped on a D-pad. If controls are a worry for you in this game, don't worry. They're very simple and work great. There's not exactly a learning curve with the controls and even the worst gamers will find that they can just pick up and play. Length of this game seems pretty long. I've only gotten to Green Zone Act 3 (sad, right?). I'm not sure how many levels there are exactly, but I'm very sure there are way more than just 3 levels. There's also a Labyrinth Zone and a Special Zone after that. I've played for maybe an hour now and I'm not even close to beating the game. Once you get game over, you have start all over, just like an arcade game. I believe you get 3 lives to start out with. Since this is an arcade type game, the replayability should be pretty high. Once you beat the game, the Special Zone is where you attempt to collect all the chaos emeralds. I haven't reached that yet, but it seems like that will provide some replayability along with the fact that the actual game will be wanted to be played over again. Overall, this game isn't bad. The graphics are okay, gameplay is fine, and it relives that Sonic experience. SEGA did a nice job with the controls and the level of polish is high. The only reason I can't recommend this is the price. For 5.99, you get a somewhat long game with okay graphics and gameplay. But then again, for 5.99, you can get a long game with great graphics and gameplay (i.e. Assassin's Creed and Galaxy on Fire). Gameplay: 4/5 Graphics: 4/5 Menu Designs: 2/5 Controls: 5/5 Length: 5/5 OVERALL: 3.5/5 I think SEGA can release a much better game. I don't feel they put in the time and effort to make this game worth 5.99. If price doesn't bother you, this is a good buy, but for people that are on the fence because of price, I think you should wait for a price drop. In its current state, I'd say it's worth 3.99 - 4.99.
Hey guys, just discovered something cool. If you touch the screen at the title, and it brings up the little menu to start game etc, you can still move the d-pad and button. So at that menu, if you hit up, down, left, right (the original Sonic 1 cheat) and then hit new game, it will bring you to a level select screen! You can choose any level, a bonus level, or the end boss fight straight away. It even has a sound test. Pretty sick! IIRC in the Genesis Sonic, this code took you to a debug menu with more options. I don't quite remember. But I'm really glad it's there, it adds some value to the game. And it makes me think there could be other codes since you can also hit the A button? Anyways, check it out!! EDIT: Nice review theone! I think a lot of the games appeal lies in nostalgia factor for me, so I'm glad to see somebody who's never played it enjoy it.
Even without going JB, I think when iPhone 3.0 comes out (just around the corner I heard) would allows the user to pay and download "contents". I see no reason why levels, episodes or even a full game cannot be purchased this way. So no more one icon for each part/episode any more (Puzzle Quest, anyone?) And the negative side is, I would expect less free updates for more contents. Oh, SCUMMVM games, please come in. Sega don't owe anyone, except their shareholders and debtors. It is true. It is also true that Sega gives me this level of "substance" at this level of price, I would gladly give it a pass...
Umm, may be MMO games never appeal to me, so this never crosses my mind, yes, this can be a picture of the future...
Please re-read my post more carefully. I never said anything about all ports being bad. I said THIS particular port is bad, and I said I cannot justify spending six dollars on a game this old. Compensation should reflect the work put into the project. There's barely any work at all put into porting an older game to the iPhone. Especially when the port/emulator is this bad. So, no. 6 bucks for Sonic, EVEN if it performed just as well as the original did, would still be asking too much. This is coming from someone who bought a lot of 10 dollar titles back in the day - Spore, Sim City, etc.
I don't think $6 would be too much for a port, or an updated version of the game. Just look at, say, Namco's updates for iTouch/Phone. Those are specific versions, and they have emulated versions included for free within (Galaga comes to mind). Sega could've done something like that. But that's not my issue with this. If they made an updated iTouch/Phone specific port, great, but emulated versions ain't that bad if, at the very least, optimized better. No, my issue is that it took Sega over a friggn' year to get this out the door, and this is the ONLY thing they've announced in the pike. This is it: a rom of Sonic 1 for Genesis/MegaDrive running on an emulator (and probably the same emulator, btw, they've been using to drive their other game collections). This instead of working on BOTH emulation or updated ports of their older game backcatalog while at the same time developing new, made for the iTouch/Phone content. And to all those saying they don't want a new iTouch/Phone Sonic game because "the new ones after Genesis all suck", here's a list: Sonic Advance series, Sonic Rush series, and even the friggin' daytime levels in Sonic Unleashed were all worthy games. And the development of those games didn't mean that Sega couldn't bring out emus of the original Sonic games. So...why only want one when we can have BOTH? Seriously. And let's not forget: Shining Force Phantasy Star Panzer Dragoon Outrun Hang On Dinosaur King Space Channel 5 REZ Sega Rally Championship House of the Dead Virtua Cop Vectorman Ecco the Dolphin Alex Kidd Wonderboy I mean...by god Sega has more aces up their sleeves than any other company on this platform and they don't friggin' use them.
I would not agree on the price issue and also, how Sega could have done better (a la Super Monkey Ball) BTW, how could you miss; 1. Afterburner (wished Top Gun was something like that, and this is the only Arcade I manage to finish off without hitting Continue, that's an old story...) 2. VirtuaOn 3. VirtuaFigher 4. Initial D (there should be a gas pedal and all the Super Eruo Beat songs)
Yup, no problem. Sometimes it pays to just be messing around Talking about all these old Genesis games is making me want to cry. Why would you have the ability to make a kajillion dollars and choose not to?? You could go on forever with great port ideas. I don't even mind paying $5 or $6 bucks for them, as long as they are great ports. This Sonic one just barely misses the mark. It's really pretty good, and is still plenty fun and playable, just not as amazing as it could be. But I'm in no way upset I paid $6 bucks for it, even if it drops in price tomorrow I'd still be satisfied. How can Sega not realize the opportunity they are missing? On a side note, I jumped into the last boss fight just to beat the game, and got pretty bummed out. Hope this isn't a spoiler or anything LOL, but at the end credits Dr Robotnik (I'll never call him Eggman ) is just standing there laughing at you while juggling all the chaos emeralds. It just fueled a fire in me to play this game front to back and get all the emeralds! Can't believe after all this time this game is still so amazing.
Those blocky graphics? Oh no! (then explode) In this vein, Sega should port Shenmue, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenmue Before Sega could ever throw out any new, creative ideas that work, we are about to dive into a petition thread to port all the Sega oldies...
@BOARDUMB Good find. I didn't even see the D-pad behind the menu until you pointed it out. I suppose they had to change something to make the cheat work in the new menu and that is why it didn't work at the title screen. Thanks
Well, different strokes for different folks. I think $6 bucks it a bit too much for a nearly 20 year old ROM.
If they released a genesis emulator for 20$ I would buy it. Even if each game was 5$ and worked just like on genesis, I would totally buy them.
