Sonic the Hedgehog - Progress Report I - Green Hill Zone & Marble Zone

So, now that I'm settled into college for the time being, let's play some Sonic. I was going to provide videos, but there's plenty of videos of people playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the internet.

Progress Report I

Green Hill Zone

(all level images taken from www.sonic.wikia.com)

If you've only played one Sonic level in your life, it was probably Green Hill Zone. Heck, even if you've never played a Sonic level ever, surely you've heard the level theme (link at the end of the post)? If it's still no then I'm sorry, but you've taken a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong blog! This is the most iconic Sonic level, most likely because it's the first but it is a perfect introduction to what a 2D Sonic level should be, fast, furious and over in less than a minute. Each level in the first Sonic is made up of three acts, with the third ending in a boss. You shouldn't have much problems with Green Hill Zone, don't do anything too silly and you'll survive. 

So, for the first time, let's meet Dr. Eggman Robotnik.

Being the first boss in an introductory level, the 'wrecking ball' is an easy enough boss. Just jump into him, timing it enough to dodge the ball. Unfortunately I usually get hit and lose my rings, though on this occasion I managed to beat him with all my 96 rings in tact. 

I'll do some mechanic explaining while I'm here: for every 100 rings you get, you get an extra life. However, even if you just have one ring you can survive an extra hit. When you do get hit, all your rings scatter out and you have a chance to reclaim some of them (I think up to 20).

Points are there mainly for bragging rights, though I always have it in my head that '100,000' gives you a continue. I could be completely lying about that though. You get 100 bonus points for each ring you finish with, plus a bonus if you finish quickly enough.

There are power-ups scattered throughout each level, but I'll come to them in the next update.

Marble Zone

After the fast paced Green Hill Zone, Marble Zone in comparison feels quite slow. While I was able to finish some Acts in the first Zone in around a minute (and 2:47 for Act 3), in Marble Zone three minutes was the minimum. It's a lot more of a standard platforming level, you have to wait for platforms to come to you in certain bits and at times the objective is to stand still on a moving object, occasionally jumping over an obstacle. It's not one of my favourite levels, let's just put it that way. Though it does introduce an enemy with one of my favourite names ever...the Caterkiller.

He can be annoying to kill though, jump on his spikes and he will hurt you. If you want to kill him, hit him on his head. But Caterkiller is a chill dude, he's not really out to kill you, so why should you. Leave him alone you bully! (though it is oddly satisfying to destroy him, especially if you used to get caught by him a lot).

The Marble Zone boss is...

This is easier than the Green Hill Zone boss as long as you are slightly patient. He will go from one side to another, dropping a fireball that will spread to the whole platform. The strategy is to jump at him while he is flying towards you and by them the flames will start to disappear giving you a chance to jump to the other platform. Do this about six times and win. 

Oh yeah, and for the first time in my life I have managed to get three Chaos Emeralds. What are Chaos Emeralds? I'll explain that in a couple of updates.

Next time: Spring Yard Zone, Labyrinth Zone and Power-Ups!