Intent on screwing up Sonic's plans on the way, Eggman decides to encounter you at the end of each zone. But what's this? Instead of being courteous, Blubber Bucket decides to dump you in with some of his special robots. Aswell as this, these robot bosses range from the mentally easy to the mentally insane. Remember that learning curve? Example: Sky High Zone (Second zone) boss is easy. Underground Zone (First zone) boss is harder, on Game Gear that is. See what I'm getting at?

That's not to say that the game is anything bad though. Sonic encounters new items which can help him on his quest to save 'Tails'. The 'Underground' level is filled with mine carts that you can ride to and from a certain point in certain safety. 'Sky High Zone' cannot be completed without the aid of special Hang Gliders, and 'Aqua Lake Zone' has air capsules in Act 2 which both give Sonic air to breathe and can float Sonic up to higher platforms.

As usual, you cannot complete the game truly until you get all of the Chaos Emeralds, and this point can't be emphasised more in this game. You probably know why Robotnik needs these gems by now, but Sonic cannot enter Robotnik's new base, the 'Crystal Egg' UNLESS he has already collected five of the six Chaos Emeralds from all of the levels up to 'Scrambled Egg Zone'. The final Chaos Emerald is given to you as a prize for defeating Eggman's new weapon...

Despite the first Sonic game having a few differences, the only difference between the Game Gear and the Master System version is that the Game Gear has a smaller screen, making it a little harder to play the game. Other than that, nothing is really that different, not even the graphics - the Game Gear version had their graphics changed to the Master System version, whereas graphically the Master System version has not really been altered since Sonic 1. One major difference could only be the opening animation. As you can see, the Game Gear has the event of Robotnik actually capturing 'Tails' at night, using the 'Scrambled Egg Zone' music tune. The Master System just shows the animation from where Eggman has captured 'Tails', and in the daytime, using the title screen tune from the Game Gear version. Yeah, like you really cared about that part. Just a common bit of Sonic knowledge.

So, how is this game then? In terms of gameplay, it's a bit hit and miss - Sega have upped the difficulty curve by about 100% for this game, so anyone but hardcore Sonic fans haven't a hope in hell of completing the game with every single Chaos Emerald. Again, the Emeralds are littered about the levels instead of a special stage, but it seems like a bit of an unoriginal idea, and gets you more annoyed than make you feel challenged. Still, this is one belter of a game for those of you that can take the difficulty pressure when going for the good ending, and every level is excellently designed and taxes you to the limit. I'd give this a 10, if Sega didn't make the move of straying from the rest of the Sonic games and make this game a bit inaccessible to play for younger players or less experienced gamers. Still, all the more for you and I hardcore fans, eh? ^_^

Sonic Score: 9 out of 10!

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