Retro Can we all agree that Labyrinth Zone sucks in Sonic The Hedgehog (especially the PAL version)

[rojoredrouge]

SMS Sonic 1 is just an amazing game, extremely underrated

 

[neil]

I like Sonic 1, it's the one I spent most time with, the music is fantastic in almost every zone including Labyrinth, it looks fantastic on MD/Genesis.

 

[GamerJM]

This might be sacrilegious but I'm struggling to think of a zone in any of the 2D Dimps Sonic games I've played that are worse than Labyrinth.

 

[Revolsin]

one of the most aggressively awful stages of all time. almost gave up on playing the og trilogy as an adult purely because of it

 

[Zellia]

Labyrinth is whatever but the love for 8-bit Sonic 1 warms my heart.

 

[chocolate_supra]

How did I manage to miss this thread until now?

Just finished Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on one of my CRTs specifically the Panasonic AG-500 aka the microwave crt. Oh, boy, does Labyrinth Zone sucks due to the fact the slowdowns in the underwater sections and too many freaking spikes place most awkward places throughout levels. I hope Sonic Team doesn't revisit Labyrinth Zone in future games this level should be banned from all Sonic games.

okay that TV is rad as shit

in fact, all of the sonic 1 zones are pretty underrated

I think Star Light Zone is underrated

Personally, it's the second level that I hate the most. Marble Zone? Is that it? Who thought that shit was fun?

IIRC the team thought having fast, sprawling levels one after the other would be overwhelming for the player so they deliberately put slower, more common platforming levels in between them. That's why we have zones like Marble and Labyrinth. Thankfully they dropped that approach immediately after.

to be clear, all of these sonic 1 zones are worse than anything in 2

This I agree with

Sonic 1 is vibes. These zones creeped me out and felt lonely when I was a kid. The music added to that.

Maybe this is blasphemy but I prefer the Genesis Sonic games + Mania in general to 2D Mario, I love the atmosphere of these games. Going through strange theme parks, ancient ruins, and mechanical wonders. Like a hero in a Saturday morning cartoon.

Very much agree with

it sucks in every version, but I’m also the guy who thinks Sonic 1 only has two or three good stages

I eventually got here after the nostalgia wore off. My more recent playthrough (thanks Origins) caused me to formulate the perspective that Sonic 1 is almost like a tech demo, with the team trying to see if they can even make a momentum-based speedy platformer, and when it worked they took that system and built a really strong game around it with Sonic 2 (/CD, depending on your perspective as to which is the true sequel).

I'd probably put Emerald over Green but honestly I'm not sure

I'd definitely put Emerald over Green.

Green Hill has the nostalgia and vibes for sure (the visual design and especially the music are iconic, and the music is almost melancholic which really adds something to the feel of the Zone) but Emerald Hill is just pure level design and I love it. The parallax scrolling in Emerald Hill is awesome, too.

Classic Sonic fans will be like "the game is great except for this level" and they all list different levels.

Modern Sonic fans are like "the series is great except for this game" and they all list different games.
I can say that because I'm like that

This might be sacrilegious but I'm struggling to think of a zone in any of the 2D Dimps Sonic games I've played that are worse than Labyrinth.

I was gonna say "Sonic 4 was Dimps" but then I realized I actually kinda liked Sonic 4 a little bit, so you're still right

 

[Mekanos]

I think Sonic 1 is probably the worst first game of any of the notable mascot platformer series. The jump in quality from Sonic 1 to 2 is massive.

 

[AngryAlchemist]

I think Sonic 1 is probably the worst first game of any of the notable mascot platformer series. The jump in quality from Sonic 1 to 2 is massive.

I feel the same way for Crash to be honest. Crash -> Crash 2 is an insane jump in quality. Crash 1 is very mediocre, I almost want to say it's as not good as Sonic 1.

 

[Mekanos]

I feel the same way for Crash to be honest. Crash -> Crash 2 is an insane jump in quality. Crash 1 is very mediocre, I almost want to say it's as not good as Sonic 1.

I’d take Crash 1 over Sonic 1. Crash 1 has some annoying levels but at least 1/3 of Sonic 1 is an outright chore to play.

 

[ngpdrew]

IIRC the team thought having fast, sprawling levels one after the other would be overwhelming for the player so they deliberately put slower, more common platforming levels in between them. That's why we have zones like Marble and Labyrinth. Thankfully they dropped that approach immediately after.

That makes sense. I think Sonic levels need a healthy balance of speed and platforming, and Marble Zone is just too much the latter without enough of the former. It feels like I'm being suffocated after the liberating experience that is Green Hill Zone.

As you said, that got much better with 2...and then way, way worse as the series got long in the tooth with games favoring speed way too much over platforming.

 

[AngryAlchemist]

I’d take Crash 1 over Sonic 1. Crash 1 has some annoying levels but at least 1/3 of Sonic 1 is an outright chore to play.

I agree, but the difference in quality is like, a 4/10 for Sonic 1 vs a 5/10 for Crash