~=Sonic2K3=~

The Game Gear port of Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 along with the Master System version, which is the same game. The Game Gear and Master System version of the game are exactly the same (except for the sprite maybe) so this will cover both versions. What makes this different then the Genesis version is the levels, the graphics, the music, and the bosses. The story I believe is exactly the same, but I never did have a manuel for my game because it was used when I bought it. Go to the Genesis version of the game if you want to find out the story.

Graphics

The graphics are pretty good on the Game Gear/Master System, even if its nothing compared to the Genesis version. It still has a Sonic feel, although, it is much slower, and the sprite looks a little bit more crude. But still, the sprite still looks like Sonic, (more-so in the master system version) and the backgrounds and everything still look nice. Hey, at least it looks better then any Game Boy Color game out there! :P

8/10

Sound

The music is really catchy, surprisingly. (I especially liked Jungle Zone :)) The sounds are 8-bit, which make them worse then the Genesis version, but still do well on the little speakers of the Game Gear version. (I have never played the Master system version except in ROM form) For a portable Sonic game, this is really good.

9/10

Gameplay

This is exactly like the Genesis version with a few changes. The bosses are totally new in this game, but in some repects easier then the old ones on the Genesis. The levels are totally new, and some of them have the horrid automatic scrolling like in some levels in old 2-D Mario games. Thank god this is the only Sonic game with it. Makes the game feel more Mario due to it not going as fast as it should be going (the last level is HELL because of this auto scrolling). But other than that, this game is pretty solid.

8/10

Replay Value

Same as the original, but there really is no good cheat codes, so no skipping through levels. And like always, no additional modes or challenges. Just levels. But, hey, the levels are at least good enough for you to want to go through them again.

7/10

Bottom Line

I think this game would have been much better if they just stuck to just porting the original Sonic game from the Genesis to the Game Gear. Guess Sonic Team didn't want that. Oh well, its still a solid Sonic game, but just not on par with the Genesis.

7.5/10