Sonic Origins is a video game compilation of a bunch of the old Sonic games. It was created by Sonic Team and published by Sega. The game was released on June 23, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. June 23, 2022 was the series’ 31st anniversary.
The main games it contains are Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and Sonic CD. Sonic CD was released for the Sega CD, while the others were released for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive). The game offers you to play the games in their original format or an anniversary mode, which includes add characters, abilities, and a 16:9 aspect ratio instead of the 4:3 ratio of the original games. Sonic Origins Plus, which is the one I played released exactly a year later on June 23, 2023 and included new characters and 12 Game Gear Sonic games.
Sonic the Hedgehog is where it all started. A hedgehog with an attitude going through his world saving the other animals from the evil Robotnik. It’s a simple premise, but it’s one that has been the basis for a lot of his games. This compilation adds in the spin dash which is probably one of Sonic’s more iconic moves, so having it missing from all releases of the game until this point is surprising. It was a great addition to the game.
I never had a Sega CD so I was excited to play Sonic CD....
Sonic CD was the only core game that I never played. Up until that point it was the hardest game I played. It seemed like no matter what I did, the environment was there to kill me. The time travel was cool though, go fast enough long enough and you traveled through time. It reminded me of Back to the Future, which I absolutely love. The emeralds not doing anything though was disappointing.
Sonic 2 was my favorite multiplayer of them all. The teleportation box was always fun and basically the blue shell of the Sonic racing.
Sonic 2 was always pretty great. I loved Tails from the start. The final battle reminded me of a Souls game though. No rings against a giant Robotnik was not fun or easy.
Sonic 3's multiple shield types and Tails being able to fly was great additions to the series.
Sonic 3 was my favorite of all the Sonic games growing up. Maybe it’s because you could choose who to play as as well as saving the game. That didn’t really matter much here, but it was still nice that they left it in.
Sonic and Knuckles lock on technology was amazing and let you save it and use it to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 and 3 was a nice add on.
Using maps, I was able to get all Super Emeralds in the first level. Having Hyper Sonic available the majority of the game was really great. They didn’t leave Sonic and Knuckles as it’s own game, they put it in there as if it was locked into Sonic 3. You have to play through Sonic 3 to get to the start of Sonic and Knuckles, which is how it always was when locked in.
