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An In-Depth Sonic 1 Design Analysis

73K views · Jun 15, 2025 · Gaming

DaveControl

102K subscribers

Comments · 272

@StinkTerios · 1 year ago
"Is the Sonic 1 spike behaviour a glitch" - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 12,239 pages of heated debate,
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@aortaplatinum · 1 year ago (edited)
Sonic the Hedgehog is a pure game. The developers knew what they wanted to do, and they achieved it. Every concept explored is fleshed out. There is so little cut content, and the only "major" mid-development shift was swapping around the stage order in service of a smoother difficulty curve. This is in stark contrast to nearly every single main line Sonic game that would come after. The exceptions being CD, Adventure 1, Unleashed, Generations, Mania, and Superstars [and maybe a few others]. Seeing as how Naoto Oshima had a large role in developing 1, CD, and Superstars, then, he could be seen as the project planner SonicTeam has consistently needed since 2000.
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@SparkyMK3 · 11 months ago
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=3220">53:40</a> An important thing worth mentioning is that in the early stages of development, the Rings originally didn't fly out of Sonic! Craig Stitt (one of the Sonic 2 guys) recalls playing a beta build of Sonic 1 where Sonic could gain Rings, but didn't get them back after taking damage, and that he and the other SoA testers thought the game wasn't very fun that way because it was too punishing. When a later build arrived that added the Ring splash, he said that the games design more or less clicked into place from then on and became really fun to play. (Also note that the Game Gear Sonic 1 didn't have the Ring splash, and it's just as annoying there as you'd expect)
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@Parrakuska · 1 year ago
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=2130">35:30</a> you literally described Sonic CD's camera
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@zebulan1485 · 4 months ago
Worth noting that the "UP"/"DOWN" peppermints in the special stages actually do something: they speed up and slow down the rotation speed.
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@ToadieZzz · 1 year ago
Struggling to get back to sleep at 4AM just got a whole lot better. Thank you for your videos!
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@HaitaniSpindash · 1 year ago (edited)
I vividly remember, back as a kid in Germany (it must have been 1991 or so) in the morning before kindergarten, the TV was on, with one of those TV-breakfast shows. They invited freaking Sonic the Hedgehog lol Some guy in one of those entertainer suits was in the studio, and the moderators were talking about the game. That's one of my very first memory of seeing Sonic. And this also showed how bonkerballs crazy they went with their marketing back then.... put a guy in a Sonic-suit on German breakfast TV lol
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@AntelopeFriend · 1 year ago (edited)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=2891">48:11</a> I'd argue that particular invincibility monitor was meant to soften what might have been a somewhat difficult segment for newer players, rather than encourage them to charge through it. This also teaches what the powerup does and what its limits are, if the player didn't get one earlier—if they do slip up, they're likely to either land on the spikes or fall down the pit, the former of which they'd be protected from.
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@nachocheeseflavour · 1 year ago (edited)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=2112">35:12</a> and that is exactly what you did. Sonic was the original speed run game. It was designed that you had to learn and memorize each piece and you played the game over and over and over trying to do it smoother and faster. Sonic was ALWAYS about rewarding the player for memorizing the map and playing fast and precise
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@sonc_ · 1 year ago
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6743">1:52:23</a> actually, it is fully possible to defeat Eggman in this climb! It's not easy, but if you get all 8 hits in, his Eggmobile blows up and starts smoking. Just a visual thing, doesn't really impact the boss at all, but it is possible!
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@AluminumFusion22 · 10 months ago
Sonic 1 lacking a dedicated run button may have been due to Yuji Naka, as he's always strove to have simplistic control schemes in the games he directs, even if it's to their detriment, like Balan Wonderworld. I personally think a game developer like Masahiro Sakurai has mastered what Yuji Naka set out to do and did it much better, even if they're both game development legends at the end of the day.
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@KidPrarchord95 · 1 year ago (edited)
Loops actually do serve a gameplay purpose! If you jump into the first or last quarter of one with good timing, it massively boosts your speed! Even if you're already traveling super fast Edit: Here's a demonstration I recorded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8_KLVCZGek">https://youtu.be/r8_KLVCZGek</a> . It works in the Genesis releases too I'm not sure how this interacts with Sonic 1's speed cap <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=2150">35:50</a> Sonic CD does this C: And a lot of ROM hacks also implement this. Though, usually how it's implemented is that the camera behaves like the normal Sonic camera until you hit running speed, then it super obviously pans forward. I much prefer the approach that the latter two Sonic Advance games take, where it dynamically stretches further and further ahead the faster you're moving <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=2189">36:29</a> There is one negative; when you're trying to duck to avoid obstacles, sometimes it'll make them hard to see after a moment. This is especially egregious in the Genesis release of Sonic 1, where the camera begins panning the instant you press the up or down button <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=3012">50:12</a> I actually do think it's a good choice. In addition to what's mentioned, it also teaches you that invincibility does not protect you from bottomless pits, in case you didn't know. The invincibility will also protect you if you fall onto the spikes, which does make the section easier. And, once you're good at the game, you don't have to slow down and be careful here any more, so you can take full advantage of the power-up in a way you couldn't when you were less good at the game. Sonic is full of design quirks like this; places that seem to intentionally frustrate new players, but satisfy experienced ones <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=4001">1:06:41</a> I do not like this very much. Sure, it creates more visibility, but it also means that your eyes have to travel further - and more deliberately - to parse information. In a game like Sonic, where you're ideally moving so fast that you want to maximize time that your eyes are glued in front of Sonic's position, it's better to just be able to flick your eyes to the top left and back without really thinking about it. Lives are okay with being where they are because you don't need to check them as often as time or score, and when you do, it's usually just before or after a death where Sonic is at a complete standstill <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=4311">1:11:51</a> I appreciate that you notice Star Light Zone's purpose as a bit of a "break" for players. I see people level a criticism a lot that it's weird to have such an easy zone so late into the game, and this especially gets thrown at Sky Chase, but it's a good way to give the player a breather before the climax. The whole Genesis series does this, with Sonic 1 and 2 having Star Light and Sky Chase as previously mentioned, whilst Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles has Ice Cap act 2 and Hidden Palace respectively <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=5425">1:30:25</a> You can still jump into them if you're precise enough <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6039">1:40:39</a> A bit of an obscure fact I heard about the special stages, not sure how true it is (I haven't been able to notice it in my testing), but supposedly you can jump off from the peppermints from any angle <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6048">1:40:48</a> I definitely also suspect that the special stages are tech demos of sorts! Sonic 2 and 3's special stages are similarly showy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6165">1:42:45</a> I don't particularly have trouble getting 50 rings in a stage, even though I pretty mindlessly blast through them as fast as I can! But I also know how to navigate these stages better than my own house, so consider this potentially just me needing to touch non-checkerboarded grass. That being said, I do think that Sonic 2 and 3's respective approaches are way better about this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6429">1:47:09</a>  I do (mostly) agree with most of the criticism Labyrinth Zone receives. I don't think the problem exists anymore, though. In the modern releases of the game, where you can spindash and dropdash, water doesn't really slow down Sonic nearly as much so long as you keep moving smartly! (I acknowledge that this obviously does not give any credit toward the design of the original game, but moreso its sequels). That being said, if I were to try to fix Labyrinth Zone without adding the dash abilities, I honestly think just adding more slopes and ramps would do a lot for it. The difference in Sonic's physics is interesting in theory, but when you going through boring blocky rooms you don't really get a chance to see it in action <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6445">1:47:25</a> For the record, I also think that Marble Zone could use more slopes (even if it still has more than Labyrinth due to the surface sections existing) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6658">1:50:58</a> My hot take of the day is that Spring Yard is my least favorite Sonic 1 stage 😎 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=6729">1:52:09</a> Again, not justifying the original game's poorer design choices (in fact, this doesn't justify the modern usage of it either, it's just a cool tidbit), but you do get an achievement if you manage to explode Eggman on the mobile release of the game <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=7002">1:56:42</a> One way I think that'd be cool to make the power sneakers more useful for newer players (and coincidentally, I half-finished writing a Sonic 1 Forever mod to do just this) would be to make it grant an extra hit while active, similar to shields. With the stipulation that Sonic's increased speed state ends after you take that hit. This way, it gives newer players a free little boost to experience high speed with no consequences, whilst masters of the game still have a reason to be careful and skillfully utilize the powerup. My friend Jamey has a different suggestion, that Sonic should be able to break through enemies like he's invincible if he's moving at top speed (I personally disagree with this, but I could see it working) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=7459">2:04:19</a> It also makes the (weirdly short) trees grow taller! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjxeE92PI0&t=7566">2:06:06</a> I love Sonic 1 to bits, and I think it's a very great first attempt at its ideas! It's a bit rough and unpolished in places, and definitely very off tone-wise from the rest of the series, but I have a fondness for the novelty in its weirdness. As for my favorite classic Sonic game, it's definitely Sonic 3 & Knuckles! All in all, I loved this video! This is the most respectful, thoughtful, balanced, level-headed, and fair perspective I've ever seen presented for Sonic 1 in all of my years of watching videos of this sort (And trust me, that's a LOT of years!). I think it speaks volumes about the thought and research you've put into this, as well as your analytical intelligence in general, that 90% of the "corrections" I pointed out here were just very tiny nitpicks that barely even matter :XD: I really appreciate your perspective on game design, and that you acknowledge that "I don't like this" or "This is hard" aren't (always) equivalent to "This is bad." You did a fantastic job combining your opinions with a more objective analysis and fair critique of issues in a way where none of the three tread on the others' territory. I really mean it when I say that this is amongst my favorite analysis pieces for Sonic (the franchise as a whole, even; not just this game) I've spent most of my life at this point studying game design, learning programming, and every other facet that goes into making games, and it's a real treat to find someone who understands and shares that passion, and above all, remembers that video games are art, and the people who make them are people. It's really easy to get bogged down into trying to crap on a game for not agreeing with one's perspective, or dare I say, selectively praise/dunk on things only according to one's agenda, rather than regarding games on their own terms and being kind and put in the effort to understand the people who worked so to bring us something that they cared enough to share. I'll be looking into your game as well, if/when it's done! In conclusion: I thank you for being intelligent and respectful. You've given me a lot to think about, and after watching this, I appreciate a game a little more even when I thought I'd already loved it as much as I could
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