Defending the Indefensible? | Sonic Origins Review

Sega recently unveiled a trailer for Sonic Origins Plus, an updated version of last year’s remasters of the classic Sonic games. Alongside adding Amy as a playable character and access to 12 Game Gear games, fans are hoping that Sonic Team takes this opportunity to fix the, quote, “broken mess” of the original, underwhelming, release.

With mediocre review scores, a scathing public rant from one of the lead developers on launch day and glitch compilations flooding the internet, it’s not hard to see why fans felt that way. All that Sega had to do was take the supposedly “perfect” Whitehead mobile ports, put them on a console and then give Sonic 3 & Knuckles the same treatment.

But hold on. What if I were to tell you that’s exactly what they did? See, when I was watching one of the glitch compilations, I noticed that some of the things they were showcasing existed in the mobile ports. I should know, I highlighted these issues in a video I made on those mobile ports in April 2020 – two years before Sonic Origins released!

What if I also told you that Sonic 3 & Knuckles in particular makes some improvements and adds some flourishes which I haven’t seen anyone highlight or praise? That I think that this particular part of the package is woefully underappreciated in favour of exaggerating and meme-ifying a few high profile bugs?

Here’s the deal. I went back and I played the original Mega Drive cartridges, the Whitehead ports and Origins back-to-back. I put them side-by-side and made direct comparisons. I put in the legwork that I’ve not seen anyone else do, and folks, Origins did not get a fair shake.

00:00 - 02:05: Introduction
02:05 - 03:14: Ground Rules
03:14 - 07:59: What Went Wrong - Pre-Release
07:59 - 12:49: Bugs and Glitches
12:49 - 17:56: Music
17:59 - 21:39: Physics
21:39 - 28:12: Other Complaints
28:12 - 28:36: What They Got Right
28:36 - 30:04: Improved Cutscenes and New Sprites
30:04 - 33:40: Restored Content and Quality of Life Upgrades
33:40 - 34:34: Hidden Options, Toggles and Features
34:34 - 35:42: Defending the User Interface
35:42 - 37:36: Coins and Bonus Content
37:36 - 38:15: New Story Animations
38:15 - 41:06: What I Want From Origins Plus
41:06 - 42:28: Outro

#sonic #sega #gaming