A flawed package of great games.
I have a confession to make, the first Sonic game I have ever played was Sonic Generations. That’s right. I have never played a 16-bit Sonic game up until I did this review. Sue me. I was a Nintendo kid growing up. Now that I have finally tried out all these older titles, I can finally see the appeal to all the Sonic fans. Luckily, I can enjoy these titles in a finely crafted compilation known as Sonic Origins.
Platforms: PC, Switch, Xbox, PS
MSRP: $39.99
Price I’d pay: $39.99
This package comes with Sonic: The Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Sonic and Knuckles, and Sonic CD. There have been a few changes from the original games like being able to play as different characters in certain games as well as turning the aspect ratio to 16:9 in an anniversary mode. This mode also replaces the lives counter with a coin counter. Instead of losing lives after dying, players can earn coins by playing well and then use these coins to purchase all kinds of things in the museum. The museum has concept art, remixed music, and other things to unlock. Going through the main games can net some good spending coins, but to really rack up, players will have to do very well in stages to get even more.
Players looking for the more traditional Sonic experience can get it via the classic mode. Here, everything is as it was in the 90’s including the 4:3 aspect ratio. There are limited lives too so game overs can most certainly happen here. The only baffling thing I found was that if I wanted to play with lives, but still enjoy the 16:9 ratio, it’s not allowed here. In fact, this compilation is missing a few things that many compilations I have seen before were just a given. Like, save states or maybe a rewind feature. It would have been nice for a Sonic newbie like me to be able to just try that jumped I missed without having to restart from the last checkpoint. Sure, I can just “get gud” but for classic games that I just want to enjoy or maybe an old fan of them would want to get back into, it could have eased the trial and error a bit.
The other big thing about Sonic Origins is the fact that there are numerous DLCs for the game that offer bonuses that would have been found as unlockables or just a given in other classic compilations. Now, obviously, these DLCs are not necessary by any means, but I found it a bit egregious that there were so many purchasable items for a classic game bundle.
Still, I had a fun time with all these games especially Sonic 2 and Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic 1 was a bit rough to get through and while I admire Sonic CD, the time travel mechanic was a bit too much for me when I’m just trying to go fast through levels. At the end of the day, that’s what I got out of Sonic Origins. Fun titles that hold up wrapped around a compilation package that is lacking in some sense and charging for extras that would be free in any other bundle. I can still recommend this one for the die-hard Sonic fans or for people like me that never got to experience these titles back in the day.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
