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Sonic's Speedy Portable Past: A Look Back
Written by Robert Falcon on Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Always an opportunist, Sonic has appeared on no less than SEVEN handheld systems. The complete rundown...
This week marks a very big week for Sonic the Hedgehog. That's because Sega's long-time mascot will be making his debut in the next-gen realm with new games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 shipping this week. (A Nintendo Wii game, Sonic and the Secret Rings, is scheduled to ship next year.) On top of this, Sega will be releasing a new Game Boy Advance game, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis, to celebrate the icon's fifteenth anniversary. (We'll have a review of this game tomorrow.) But the road to his success wasn't easy. The Sonic legacy has seen plenty of trials and tribulations, as well as successes and the occasional failure.
The console story of Sonic is a big one in itself, but the Hedgehog that could also has had quite a mainstay in the portable realm. Over the years, he's been speeding along through a series of memorable games, whether acting as an actual pinball or driving a cart or just running along and freeing forest animals from their robotic prisons. Let's take a look back at Sonic's portable history, and how it helped shape him into the hero that exists today.
Sega Game Gear
The Sega Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog arrived in 1991, in the midst of Sega's rise to 16-bit stardom. To help capitalize on this and gain success on other platforms, Sonic was also released for the Sega Game Gear in Japan and the US, as well as on the Master System in Europe. The game turned out to be just as much fun to play as its 16-bit brethren, with fast platforming tactics, high-speed rolling through the hills, and a better emphasis on exploration. It became a big seller over the holiday season, and a must-have for Sega Game Gear owners. Sega even bundled the game in with the system to help get unit sales out the door.
Following that, Sega has released a number of Sonic-related sequels and follow-ups for the handheld. This includes Sonic Blast, the Sonic Drift kart-racing games, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Spinball (where Sonic acts like a real pinball as players bounce him around boards), Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Triple Trouble, and Tails Adventure, a flying spin-off for Sonic's buddy Tails. Eventually, the Game Gear would fade away from market, due to the rising popularity of the Game Boy systems and the fact that 16-bit gaming was outdoing 8-bit.
Sega Nomad
The Nomad is, essentially, a handheld Sega Genesis system. Sega manufactured it in hopes of getting a good successor for the Game Gear on shelves for the holiday season, and many gamers picked up on it. The Nomad allows gamers to play a cavalcade of Sonic titles, including the original game, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, and Sonic 3D Blast.
However, the Nomad suffered from severe battery problems. The unit itself didn't come with a battery unit attached, requiring gamers to attach a separate pack with six AA's in it. These six batteries would be drained completely of power within three hours. This, combined with the high asking price for the Nomad, eventually scuttled it away from market.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
Only one Sonic the Hedgehog game was released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color before it went away from market, but it was a most important one for the system. Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure was released in 1999 and met with glorious approval from owners of the system. It features design and gameplay similar to that of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where Sonic has to work his way through a series of zones to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik. This game had a monumental feature that hasn't been seen in a portable game yet -- a two-player multiplayer mode that could be hooked up with two NGPC's and a link cable.
