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Thursday 6 March, 2008
2nd Gamelog entry:
Gameplay: My emotional state as I continued to play Sonic the Hedgehog didn’t change significantly. I wasn’t emotionally involved with the game but I was very much physically involved. I was captured by the speed and swiftness of the game. It progressed so quickly that I felt I had to have my eyes set on the screen at all times. I grew even fonder of Sonic as I became more appreciative of his methods of attack. Since the plot doesn’t play a big role in the game itself I didn’t feel any kind of emotion towards the avatar, I merely enjoyed his design.
I wouldn’t exactly call Sonic the Hedgehog an interesting game but it is certainly entertaining. Although there isn’t much thought process involved in the gameplay experience itself, the game is able to capture the attention of the player completely, similar to other games of its age such as Super Mario Bros. There isn’t much social interaction between the characters in the game, making it even more of a game that involves merely eye-to-hand coordination and little complex thought.
Design: At the time of Sonic the Hedgehog’s release it was one of the fastest platform games on the market. Unlike most other platform games, the game’s levels were designed to encourage the player to progress through the level quickly. Slops, loops, and springs are all available to boost and challenge the player to reach high speeds.
Sonic’s main method of attack is very unique. As a hedgehog he is able to curl up into a ball by either jumping up or rolling along the ground and can thereby attack his enemies by colliding with them. When Sonic rolls down slopes curled up in a ball he is able to gain speed and most slopes were made to be irregular (a feature very rare in most platform games of the time). The irregularities in the slope affected the speed and manner in which Sonic ascended down them. Including elementary physics in the game made it revolutionary for its time. It gave Sonic the Hedgehog a more realistic feel as well as a more fast-paced gameplay experience.
The game has six levels: the Green Hill Zone, a tropical environment; Marble Zone, an ancient ruin; Spring Yard Zone, a mountain city; Labyrinth Zone, an aquatic maze; Star Light Zone, a roller coaster-like urban level; and the Final Zone which features the battle between Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Robutnik.
The challenges do not change throughout the game. They are kept interesting by the speed of the game itself. The avatar is constantly affected by the slopes and irregularities of the ground on which he travels therefore Sonic is constantly moving at a varying speed. This makes the challenges of the game interesting throughout the gameplay experience.
The tone of the gameworld is that of a fantastical land but the storyline doesn’t exactly much it. Although the plot is fantastical, it plays such a small role in the game that it doesn’t seem to match the environment.
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