Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega

I still remember sitting in the back seat of my dad's car on the way home from Kaybee Toys in 1991, clutching my freshly-acquired copy of "Sonic the Hedgehog", staring in glee at the screenshots on the back of the box. The lush, beautiful graphics are still impressive today. Unfortunately, this Virtual Console addition supports no filtering modes, which will disappoint those accustomed to playing Sonic over the past several years with emulation modes such as 2x Sai. As well, there is no way within the game to toggle to 4:3 mode.

Emulators partially spoil the fun here too-- going back to playing Sonic in 22 khz is a little distracting. But the soundtrack and sound effects are so fabulous that they exceed those of virtually any game released today.

Aside from dealing with the distorted 16:9 aspect ratio, this version of the title plays excellently. The d-pad for both the remote and "classic" controller are perfectly suited to Sonic, and there are zero framerate or emulation glitches at all. The unbelievable level design, pacing, and "easy to learn, difficult to master" control dynamics are all here.

For those that legally own a copy of the game, I recommend continuing to play Sonic with an emulator; 44 khz audio, filtering modes, and save state make for a more enjoyable experience. But for others, I highly recommend this edition of the game-- it is absolutely true to the original in every way, perhaps even to a fault as it pertains to the lack of "perk" features offered by emulators.