Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog was a video game that was first released in 1991 and revolved around the quest of….you guessed it…Sonic, the Hedgehog. His goal is to defeat the bad guy, Dr Ivo Robotnik. To do this he must work with his friends (other animals) and collect gold rings and emeralds. If the player doesn’t collect all the emeralds then he must defeat Dr Ivo Robotnik himself. As you’d expect, Sonic has other weaknesses. He will lose his life if he gets stabbed by spikes or falls into a deep hole. He can also be crushed by walls, drown, and just like humans, toxic air can harm him.

Sonic the Hedgehog was released worldwide and has had a positive response, with the most recent version being made in 2013. Originally the game was released on Sega systems and since its initial release it has been developed for Game Boy, Nintendo; and in 2013 the game finally caught up with technological advancements, with it being released on both the Apple Operating System and Android. That means that nowadays people can play it wherever they are, from the comfort of their home, right through to the bus, the train or anywhere they are, thanks to mobile advancements.

Just like all other video games and pc games, there are different levels, with each level being a different difficulty and often requiring the player to defeat the bad guy at the end of the level. If the player does not defeat the bad guy then the game will end and the player will need to start again. However, if the player is able to demonstrate their playing skills then they can progress to the next level and eventually “clock the game” or “win the game”. Winning the game means they’ve made it past every single level and have beaten the bad guys. This can often take multiple attempts.

As with other games, there are “hacks” and “cheats” which can make it easier to win the game. Some people love these hacks because they make it easier to win, but on the flipside they take away from the challenge of the game. Unlike the 90s when people would hear about hacks and cheats through word of mouth, they can now search for them online. A quick Google search brings up many results where people can find out the hacks easily. The major issue with hacks is that they remove the fun and essentially ruin the game. Of course that does depend on which side of the fence one sits on. Hacks can allow people to get past extremely difficult baddies though.

Over the years the game has maintained its popularity. The original version released in 1991 was popular although there were some technical issues. There was some criticism related to the difficulty, with critics suggesting that the game was actually impossible to play, however this would depend upon the frequency that one played the game.

Since it was released on Android and mobile phones there have been over eight million downloads. The game has also ranked as being in the top 50 video games of all time.