I've never played a Sonic game. The only console I've ever owned was a PS2 for a brief time (long story why it was brief) and I had a lot of fun with it playing mostly racers and crazy taxi back then. I've never played a platformer but they look like fun to me. I think it would be cool to get a console-like experience on the PC playing something like the Sonic games.

There are a bunch of them on sale now from the very first one which I guess Steam must be running with DOSBOX all the way up to the most recent new release.

To me, the Sonic Generations and Kart Racing ones look really neat and maybe Sonic CD. But I wonder how good are the early ones which are only $2.50 each. So I figured I would ask the old games experts here about Sonic games. Which would be the very best one or ones to get, especially for someone new to this stuff?

I should add that I recently got a nice Logitech gamepad that is X-Box gamepad compatible if that matters.

This is a long shot, but does anyone here know which Sonic game the european SEGA Master System 2 had built-in in its memory? :-)

The first one. Scroll down to the Hardware Varations - Master System II section.

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/sms/sega-master-system-101-a-beginners-guide

'Sonic and the Secret Built-in Memory', perhaps?

Sonic 1 is pretty good.

Sonic 2 is a classic

Sonic 3 is pretty good, but is elevated to classic status when paired with Sonic and Knuckles (which the Steam release is)

Sonic CD is good, and the semi-remake/rerelease looks excellent.

Sonic Adventure blew my tiny mind at release, but doesn't hold up super well because of all the other characters and the goofy storyline. Still a decent game for the Sonic parts alone.

All of the other oldies are pretty much a pass in my opinion. Have yet to play Generations. Maybe I will this week.

I really have no clue which one it is, but the only Master System version of Sonic I'm aware of is this: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(8-bit]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(8-bit[/url])

EDIT: The Wikipedia page confirms it. "In addition to its original release as a cartridge, the game was later built into some versions of the Sega Master System II in Europe."

This is the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0wowvidjQs&feature=relmfu

My first ever videogame, on my first ever console. :-)

Still looks good!

Note that the game sold on Steam is the Mega Drive version, not the Master System version; the gameplay is similar and it has some of the same stages but it is not the game you're remembering from your childhood.

At the moment the only way to buy the Master System version is on the Wii's Virtual Console service.

Don't bother with Sonic adventure, terrible port with various issues and a stupid decision to bound the resolution to 1280x720. Better off getting the old gamecube port to pc, though that has some nasty DRM. Oh and you get lovely blue borders to boot on steam version.

There are workarounds to make the game better, but you have to work for them, tbh screw that. The game was outdone in every way by sonic adventure 2.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1093

However, sonic generations is a awesome port, far outshining the consoles and has enjoyable gameplay that you can checkout in the demo posted only a few days ago on steam.

I recommended buying that and Sonic CD.

I was excited to hear that SCD is out on Steam at last, because I've been following the release VERY closely since the project's announcement.

Not sure of my favorite, but I may as well judge them all.
Sonic 1 - Probably the first game I ever played. If not, then this is pretty close to the first. I'm not very good at all on this one, I can only make it up to Marble Zone Act II nowadays, but when I first tried to play it, I couldn't even beat the boss of Green Hill! This is probably the only one which really has any number over 1 on the nostalgia factor, but I can't really think of a good rating of it.

Sonic 2 - Probably my favorite one, which I only managed to get an original copy just recently (when I unearthed my Genesis after so long, it didn't have a power cord or any of the Sonic games, so I rebought 1, a power cord, and 2 just a good year or two ago) though I can get much farther compared to Sonic 1. A good 4/5 if I say so myself.

Sonic 3K - I can't really grade this one, I've tried it out before, but I'm not very good at all.

Sonic CD - I haven't gotten a hard copy of this, but trying it out, I enjoyed it, and I was excited to hear that SEGA would re-release Sonic CD for new systems, especially packaging the JP and US soundtracks as options! This one's slightly more obscure of a Sonic title, due to the fact that it was only for the MegaCD addon SEGA made to try to keep the Genesis alive (even though it's still known as the greatest Sonic games by many), it's a little different compared to the others, so one of the main 3 would be best for you to try.

Sonic Adventure - I have it on the Gamecube, and I really won't rate it, because I don't like it much, just listen to others opinions.

Sonic Gens - Even though I anticipated it quite a bit, it doesn't seem to fully satisfy me at all. Modern Sonic was perfectly fine, just wonderful, and Classic Sonic is just the same early in the game, but when you reach Crisis City Classic, it all comes crashing down, and it stays that way for the rest of the Classic stages. Gens is a little short, and I wish it weren't absolutely neccesary to play every last stage in the chapter/era/etc. in order to move on, but it's a fully acceptable except when you get into the third and final chapter. It's probably a good way for you to get a feel for the new Sonic gameplay and the original gameplay all in one package, and see the history of Sonic at the same time, but that's all I really reccomend it for. A good 8/10 for me, though.

Sadly the version of Sonic Adventure DX re-released in 2011 apparently doesn't have the Game Gear/Master System games included in it like the 2004 edition did. Something to do with it being a port of the wrong version (the Mega Man collection did the same thing with MM8 - picking the inferior version). Unless something's changed in an update, that's pretty disappointing.

Luckily, I have them on the Sonic Gems Collection, but that doesn't mean I want other people to have trouble finding them. That's why I like GOG. "Oh, you want to play a good game? Play this one, it's right HERE."

Any opinion on the Sega Racing thing? I'd like to hear one before taking the plunge.

The Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog. This isn't the game that everyone's referring to when they talk about Sonic 1, that's the Mega Drive version of Sonic the Hedgehog.

They have completely different level design and are basically different games that share the same characters and theme and have similar gameplay mechanics. No... no no no. They were late Mega Drive games! The Master System was 8-bit and never had even a version of Sonic 3.

Apparently, I tend to get the mega drive and SMS confused. Also we had no SMS equivalent in the US. That being said, the links I was seeing were equally confused about the systems.