Sonic Origins is one of the most awaited games because people had access to the ports of Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and finally, Sonic 3 and knuckles all remastered and ready for game fronts like steam, PlayStation, and so on.
But there is something off here about the release of this collection, and what a great way to share the experience I had with the game. And look, if this is your first time playing the classic sonic games. or you never played them but wanted to, well now you got a chance to do so.
And yes, there are older collections out there that have Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and knuckles, and sonic 3 and knuckles. However, if you wanted to play the Sonic 1 & Sonic 2 mobile remastered ports, you would need to get Sonic Origins or buy them off the mobile stores.
What do you get?
When you buy Sonic Origins, you get four remastered games, mission mode, and additional features you can unlock, such as boss rush, mirror mode, and blue spheres.
Assuming you did not get the deluxe edition or pre-order which locks harder missions, Letterbox Background, Bonus Character Animations in-menu & music player, and additional re-mastered music tracks behind a paywall.
My experience with Sonic Origins
Too Long; Didn’t read: This is a fine collection of remastered sonic games, ignoring some bugs. If you are getting into the classic sonic games. More on that later.
Okay, I went in knowing sega was going to be rushing the game dev team to get the game released on a birthday for a fictional character. My expectations were lowered but enough where I couldn’t be too disappointed but boy, I was way off.
I want to get this off my chest, real quick. So, before the game came out, sega dropped a trailer and a pre-order table chart of what you can get if you buy standard or deluxe.
And for the trailer on youtube, it said you could get new playable characters if you buy the pre-order. One would assume Amy Rose or even Metal Sonic would be one of those. But begs the question, why? If these are the mobile ports, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles should be an out-the-box unlock here. I feel like this was a false advertisement to get people to buy the deluxe edition, and it did work.
Sonic Origins: Sonic The Hedgehog 1
It ran fine and was able to play the mobile port on the console after a few years. I did notice there was a bit of lag. Sometimes jumping would not work and my input would be ignored and I end up walking into an enemy.
Special stages collision feel a little weird but something I got used to. Sonic does seem to move a little faster in these stages.
At least for me, I did not notice anything crazy or too game-breaking
Sonic Origins: Sonic The Hedgehog CD
Playing Sonic CD, I didn’t have an issue with the game and it being remastered again was fine. I didn’t run into any bugs or glitches during my playthrough.
I guess the only thing was the special stages seemed “harder” than normal but this could be me not playing CD? So I wouldn’t use this to dock points against Sonic Origins.
There is some sounds missing as well.
Sonic Origins: Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Given I played Sonic 2 a lot, I didn’t see anything new besides the game being remastered port. And the game ran nicely, with 60 fps and a newly updated engine. The game felt nice and I didn’t notice anything too bad. It was an okay experience for me. That’s good enough for me.
Sonic Origins: Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Oh lord. Alright, so for context. Here is a game that has never seen the light of day in terms of a remake or remasters. Due to music rights, this game was more or less the black sheep of the classic era since sega tried their best to avoid Sonic 3.
So, my experience at the start was not that bad, and the game felt like a dream until I left Hydro city and get into the Marble Garden zone. And the spinning tops there are so weird and don’t feel good to control
Some of the later halves of the game scripting breaks and causes weird issues like in sandopolis, and I noticed there are more ways you can get crushed in this game.
Sonic 3 and knuckles special stage issues
- The special stages hitbox collision feels iffy to me. I believe you can miss some blue spheres where imo Sonic 3 OG gave you more leeway.
- The speed-up happens a few seconds sooner before the music cue, which can throw you off and that’s not fun.
My first play-through was something, but a good something it was not. My expectation was low but I still feel disappointed. I did not think that could happen.
Sonic Origins: Anniversary mode
So anniversary mode let you play the game in 16:9 resolution and with unlimited lives and cut scenes. And classic mode is in a 4:3 resolution minus some features you get in anniversary mode but cut scenes still play in classic mode too.
In this mode, you get coins that outright replace lives for coins to make it easy for the player, and these coins can be used to unlock movies, art, and music in the museum but should you unlock everything in the museum, that’s it. There is no use for the coins other than acting as lives in anniversary mode.
These coins could be used as currency to unlock prototype levels, extra characters, or add in the future feature to play music unlocked in stages but instead nothing. And maybe you wanted to play anniversary mode without the coins, well you can’t. This could have been a toggle feature.
Sonic Origins: aftermath
As you have seen, the game has issues and Incorporates 3rd-party DRM: Denuvo Anti-tamper. Isn’t that great? (It is not great.) In a lot of areas, the game collection feels empty, rushed, and buggy.
And given that Stealth has spoken out on this issue and why Sonic Origins is the way it is. Here is the Twitter thread that you can read.
It is mind-blowing that Sega does this to release a game on the birthday of a fictional character, and end up rushing their game development team to meet a deadline. A rushed game would make money short term but a good game would make money long-term but I can’t understand Sega’s logic.
There are rumors that Sega and Sonic team rushed the stealth and his team to make them look bad, and it is unclear if these rumors hold any weight to them. Sonic Origins. Man, I don’t know and to see the game in the state that it is, it hurts.
As someone learning to make games, game development is anything but easy. We can all mock, point, and shout because some of us never made a game. We have to be in their shoes. Stealth’s team was put in the line of fire when it was sega behind this. They did stealth and his team dirty. They overlooked some things but I am sure it was a rush to meet the sega deadline or be fired.
And sega logic is dumber when you take in the fact you can no longer buy: Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and knuckles, And Sonic CD (2011) as they have been delisted at the request of sega. So, if you wanted to play the original classic sonic games, you will have to find other means of doing so. Thank you, Sega, very cool.
Sonic Origins: final thoughts
Man, I’m letdown by this collection. I know there are more issues out there like how the restart button can break some games or have odd effects. I am sad to see this game in this state. I got the chance to play Sonic 3 remastered and the Sonic mobile ports remastered.
The ports were fine, and I did not expect much since I knew what I was getting into. It was Sonic 3 that felt ruined, and it hurts. Seeing a childhood game you played to death, treated poorly because of Sega’s decisions, mishandling, and lack of logic. It stinks, man.
If you are new to classic sonic games, you may have a blast since you won’t have a reference to use when playing but if you are an original sonic fan, you will see things that make or break things for you.
And No, I’m not in the camp of MJ, and hard times songs are not in here therefore this is a bad game. I care about a good game, and to me. This is an okay game collection, and you can do worse but sega already knows this.
Do I think Sonic Origins is worth $39.99? No, it is worth $19.99 and if we are pushing it, $29.99. There was a lot of hype and joy surrounding this remastered sonic collection, and I was on that hype train as well. But man, it hurts because I waited decades to play Sonic 3 in remastered form, and to get this? It hurts my soul, it does.
If I am honest, you don’t need Sonic Origins deluxe. It is full of junk you can find online via youtube or a google search and you would get the same experience without the “DLC”.
If you are having fun, more power to you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the game. I can’t recommend Sonic Origins in the current state. If you get it or have to get it. Wait for a steam sale because this collection is not worth 40 bucks, imo.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1794960/Sonic_Origins/
If Sonic Origins gets patched or fixed up, I will probably change my tone later on.
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