Sponsored Feature: Sonic The Hedgehog
Sega's mascot is fast becoming the mobile phone's too, and he's as fresh and fabulous as ever
A hedgehog – a blue-haired one, at that – isn't the most obvious candidate for video gaming stardom. But it's exactly what Sega wanted, and got, with Sonic the Hedgehog.
The iconic Sonic was Sega's answer to providing a mascot and pop-culture counterpart to Nintendo's Mario. And in his first game, released in 1991 on the Sega Mega Drive, he did just that.
When Sonic The Hedgehog debuted, the world had seen nothing like it. The game was fast – faster and smoother than any platform game before it – and the world that Sonic inhabited was filled with rich character and detail, yet encouraged you to make the most of that speed.
Slopes, ramps, springs and loop-the-loops all enabled you to proceed through the game's levels at a pace not previously experienced in a platform game on any console. Allied to a simple but incredibly responsive control system, it was revolutionary.
Fifteen years on and Sonic The Hedgehog is changing the face of gaming again, this time on mobile courtesy of the guys at Glu Mobile.
Released in two parts on mobile, each offering one half of the original Mega Drive game, Sonic The Hedgehog is a platform game that's unrivalled on phone: a near-perfect recreation of the original, with the same intuitive controls and scorching speed.
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The game begins in the Green Hill Zone, a trio of levels that take place across the gently rolling hillside of Mobius, the world in which Sonic The Hedgehog is set. Packed with springs, crumbling ledges and rope bridges, it's a picturesque start to the action.
It's also the ideal location to get to grips with Sonic himself, as he has a unique way of attacking his enemies by curling into a ball. He can do this in two ways, either by jumping into the air or rolling along the ground, and when he collides with an enemy, they're destroyed.
The Green Hill Zone is one of the three that make up Sonic The Hedgehog Part 1, along with the Marble Zone (filled with castle-like ruins and lava) and the Spring Yard Zone (which is like a giant pinball table).
A further four levels make up Sonic The Hedgehog Part 2, and these comprise the tougher, later levels from the original Mega Drive game. The action starts with the Labyrinth Zone, a tricky series of levels that are partly submerged, and ends with the Final Zone where you face off against Dr. Robotnik for the last time.
This means that you've got a full seven zones across the two games, each one offering a different challenge to the last.
If you've never played Sonic The Hedgehog before but are looking for a top-notch platform game, it's ideal. Starting with Part 1, the difficulty slowly builds as you move through the zones. When you've mastered that, it's time to tackle Part 2, which is a much harder proposition.
If you have played Sonic The Hedgehog before, then you'll know exactly what to expect from Part 1 and Part 2, but you'll still be amazed at how faithful it is to the original, even down to the sound track. It's almost enough to have you searching through the attic for your old Mega Drive, except that you can't fit that in your pocket.
In short, Sonic The Hedgehog is one of those rare games that's everything to everyone. Newcomers will find it as fresh and exciting as anything on a mobile phone today, while veterans will discover it stirs welcome memories of the early '90s, while also providing a genuinely enjoyable challenge.
To get up to speed with Sonic yourself click the 'Try It!' button to play the free demo, 'Watch It!' to see a trailer, or 'Buy It!' to get it sprinting onto your phone.