SegaSonic the Hedgehog

[edge.]

That arcade SegaSonic the Hedgehog looks like it is one of the best Sonic games out there. I'm looking at the gameplay on YouTube and it looks like it is one of the funnest games to play. The sprites used and the dialogue (even tho I don't speak Japanese, but still trying) sounds soo kute........I wish they released it on one the game collections.

--- the gameplay link if u wanna look at it.

[Solly]

That arcade SegaSonic the Hedgehog looks like it is one of the best Sonic games out there. I'm looking at the gameplay on YouTube and it looks like it is one of the funnest games to play. The sprites used and the dialogue (even tho I don't speak Japanese, but still trying) sounds soo kute........I wish they released it on one the game collections.

--- the gameplay link if u wanna look at it.

Somehow, I doubt it is. Anyway, I don't think we'll ever see that game on a collection, because it's trackball controller is too hard to replicate. Yuji Naka agrees.

GameSpy: What about the very rare Sega Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game? Did you consider including that? Also, did you do any work on that game yourself?

Naka: That's another one that was developed outside of my control. It was done by part of the Sega arcade division at the time. We did think about adding it to Gems Collection, though, but we couldn't implement it in the end because the game used a trackball control scheme that is very, very difficult to replicate with a standard controller. It is a pretty fun and unique little game, though.

Source.

[Xenn]

I've played SegaSonic the Hedgehog through MAME, to me, it's a very fun game to play. Playing the game with a keyboard was horrendous, so I used a joy pad to play it, which still was just as bad to control.

But once you get used to the controls, it can be very enjoyable. I play this game to kill off my spare time.

[-Mark-]

I played it a few times back at SEGAWorld London. All I remember is that the trackball not only made it almost impossibly difficult to control (it didn't work well), but also gave you a serious wrist cramp after about 30 seconds of playing, which just made it harder still to play.

[SuperLink]

I first played it at SEGAWorld, and didn't understand it at all, so I never got past the first jail bit of the first stage ^^;

But I got it on MAME recently and finished it. It's nothing special by any means.... it is very interesting to see the fast-pacedness of it all, and it's possibly one of the most unique Sonic titles there are.

Playing it with the keyboard is hell. I don't even have a joypad!

[AAUK]

I've several times stated to people that it might be possible with a Wiimote and nunchuck to immitate the trackball motion... then they looked at me like I was insane.

Unfortunately as I wrote for its description on Sonic City SStH looks to be the last "lost" classic for Sonic fans.

[SuperLink]

I personally think the controls would be fine mapped to a control stick... I mean I found it pretty fun, even with keyboard buttons. Those using a 360 pad to play MAME probably got a much better experience than I did.

[Solly]

I've several times stated to people that it might be possible with a Wiimote and nunchuck to immitate the trackball motion... then they looked at me like I was insane.

Quite frankly, I would have too. I'm not really seeing it.

[Blue Blood]

Yeah, what Venom said. It would sure be awfully tiring the way I imagine it. And the way that I imagine it is controlling the direction with the analogue stick and moving by shaking the remote/nunchuck). The only other ware would be point and click, which would frankly remove all aspects of fun from the game.

[BakingBluePotatoe]

I've several times stated to people that it might be possible with a Wiimote and nunchuck to immitate the trackball motion...

Yeah, I've thought the same thing...

[edge.]

Quite frankly, I would have too. I'm not really seeing it.

I thinking shake it like you do on SU WiiS2 and press A to jump.

[Badnik Zero]

I really don't see what's so hard about working around the trackball controls, but then I'm assuming a lot about how it works. Is it just roll the ball in the way you want Sonic to go, and rolling faster means more speed? That's how I understand it.

What if there was one button to "roll" the trackball, wouldn't that be close enough? Point the stick in the direction you want to roll the ball, and mash the "roll" button. Your speed and frequency would simulate rolling the trackball. I must be missing something, right?

Edited June 19, 2009 by Badnikz

[Solly]

I thinking shake it like you do on SU WiiS2 and press A to jump.

But how does that mimic a trackball controller?

[Blacklightning]

...is there something wrong with using a joystick? Seriously? Hell, I actually have this on a MAME emulator and even a keyboard works well with it. I can't say I've had the privelage of playing the arcade original but using a trackball for movement sounds outright unplayable. Even with static buttons, it's incredibly easy to miss a jump or fall off the edge by accident (and given that there's almost always something chasing you, the pressure doesn't help much) - that's an awful lot of precision to entrust to a fucking rolling ball. A Wiimote would probably be even worse. At least, as long as we're talking about nudging the characters repeatedly like a trackball, anyway.

As a game, SegaSonic is an... interesting experience, to say the least. Like I said earlier, there's almost always something right behind you, be it a storm of stalagtites, a group of tornadoes, a

self destruct sequence

- hell, right from the start of the fucking game, you're confronted with a cage on one side and a wall of spikes closing in from the other. It establishes a "Run run run, don't stop don't stop" kind of pacing which I have to admit doesn't feel out of place for a Sonic game at all - if anything, it's a perfect fit. The main problem though, is that it's fucking hard. You get maybe 4 hits to one life, and one life per quarter. In true arcade fashion, you run out of quarters, that's it, start from the beginning of the game. The only reason I ever finished was because MAME knew the game's "Quarter inserted" command, so I just inserted another limitless virtual coin every time I died. A sub-problem thereof is an issue that plauges most modern games - bottomless pits. Though to be fair, this game is a lot more lenient with them, costing you a quarter of your health instead of a quarter from your pocket.

It's an okay game. I can't say much more about it, but frankly Sonic 3D Blast could've learned a LOT from this game. This game is actually controllable (well, on keyboard/joypad anyway), for one, so for that alone I'd classify it the second-best isometric Sonic game out there (second to Chronicles).

Edited June 19, 2009 by Blacklightning

[Phos]

I've also played through it on MAME (MAME 32 FX, to be exact), and found it to be not offensively bad, but essentially forgettable. I'm pretty sure the only reason people act like it's so great is so that others will feel jealous of them.

It's also painfully linear and completely lacks any exploration what so ever, and is way too focused on going as fast as possible. If this game punished falling into a pit the same way all the other games do, I'm pretty sure it would be held in almost as poor regard as his more recent outings, because you fall, or almost fall a lot in this game.

It also invented the crappy aerial controls that have plagued pretty much every 3D Sonic game, though I can't say whether it actually influenced later games.

[Sean]

The game sucks ass. It has no enemies, the obstacles are never a threat as long as you have enough quarters (in MAME I just pressed buttons for more continues), and the levels are really, really bland. Even beyond that, I had a pretty boring time getting through the levels; I never really felt like the game was building up to anything exciting. That's what happens when you have a Sonic arcade platformer. Oh yeah, and the pitfalls are annoying. Gee, that kind of reminds me of certain GBA games, huh.

Edited June 19, 2009 by Jake

[Jix Hedgehog]

If they really wanted to, they could change the controls to a wiimote / nunchuk / classic controller.. you can't tell me they don't have the technology for it.

I, unfortunately never played the arcade game, tried it on an emulator but it never really worked cus of the trackball control.

I've seen the game on eBay a few times over the last 10 years.

Do you think Sega are steering away because Mighty is in the game?

[eXtaticus]

My god, this game was truly awesome. IT IS THE BEST Sonic game pre-Adventure, and still an enjoyable title to this day. The graphics, the speed, the puzzles, the AmAzInG music and, lets no forget, the added brilliance of Mighty the Armadillo. And maybe Ray, but Sega lied about his flying capabilities. Damn.

I have recently played this on MAME, and while the emulation isn't exactly flawless, it still provides a considerabely higher-octane speed-fest than most other Sonics from that era. And seriously speaking, the contol really isn't an issue. Excpt on that DAMNED WATER LEVEL!!!

Yeah, other than that annoying little niggle with MAME, an overall brilliant game. And it even runs reasonabely well on the computers at my school...