Remember back in the day, flipping through countless
pages of letters inside EGM, you'd almost be guaranteed to see a letter asking
"When's Sonic coming to my system of choice?" Inevitably, the answer
was always something like "Sonic is owned by Sega. You'll never see him on
another console." You were probably shaking your head thinking about how stupid
people were. Well look here... times have changed, haven't they? Sonics first non-Sega system portable adventure didn't turn out too shabby. In fact, its a near direct port of Sonic 2. Good thing for non-fans, not so good for long time fans. Everything that made Sonic great is here, including the blazing speed. Unfortunately, the difficulty is the same as always, ludicrously easy. Three hours and the game is over.
Extras include a puzzle mode which can be completed by collecting pieces during the game, a battle versus mode for 2-players via a link cable, and the now standard time trials. You'll also have to collect chaos emeralds during the game to see the best possible ending, but most would be content with the standard one and never look back.
All of the loops, pipes, and jumps you've come to expect have been included and looks great overall. Sonic is much smaller than in his other portable runs (on the Game Gear and the pitiful Game.com port) and this is actually one of the best moves the developers could've made. This allows for easier viewing as far as upcoming hazards are concerned and give ample time to prepare for them. Those bonus stages look mighty impressive for the Neo Geo Pocket too.
Each stage has its own music, as is the norm. Most of these tunes are highly addictive, but prove to be too short for some of the levels and can get irritating later on in the game. Hardcore Sonic fans have nothing to fear either as the classic jump and ring collecting sounds have been replicated perfectly.
This IS a great platformer, no questions in this regard. Almost all of the Sonic titles are. You just have to question your inner-self into believing that playing through the game 20 times is worth it to collect Chaos Emeralds. Fun and addictive, sure. Worth a purchase? Your call.
