Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection

Look Nick, you can't run a Retro Gaming channel without reviewing Sonic the Hedhehog at least once !!!

Well yes. Ok. I suppose that is true. Growing up, the main computers I owned were the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore Amiga. Unfortunately Sonic never featured on those. Apparently US Gold had the license, but the games never materialised. This is just as well really as some of US Gold's conversions were absolutely awful. Their Amiga conversion of Outrun was so bad, I think somebody should have been sent to prison for a very long time.

Sonic the Hedgehog then! I did eventually own this on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection on the PS3 which we are gradually reviewing our way through. There are a lot of Sonic games on this collection, but it seems logical to start with the first one.

Originally released on the Sega Mega Drive in 1991, this PS3 collection came out in 2009. Playing like a complete newbie, I was immediately impressed. If you're unaware, Sonic is a platform game where you have to complete each stage as fast as you can and collect as many gold rings as possible along the way. You need some skills to get the best out of it, but the gameplay is very welcoming indeed. And the speed is amazing. Music is brilliant. I certainly missed out not owning this game back in the day and I look forward to reviewing all the sequels.

In terms of classic retro games, this one is huge! Below is my full gameplay review on njenkin with dubious commentary as per usual. Hooray!

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Take good care of yourself, and til next time, a very fond, Goodbye !!!!

Nick :o)

Bedlam on the ZX Spectrum 128k

In space, it's best to shoot everything you see!

That's very often a wise strategy. Well... in gaming terms anyway. I won't be held responsible if you do it in real life and are then impounded by some strange Federation of the day.

And so we come to Bedlam. A word that means a scene of uproar or confusion.

In this case, Bedlam is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up on the ZX Spectrum. Published by Go! in 1988. Yes, so we're into classic 8 bit territory here and there is certainly an amount of uproar and confusion about the place.

Normally I would only gameplay review games from the 48K spectrum, but this particular one was only produced for the 128K. It works like that sometimes. What can we say about Bedlam then?

It's fast. It's slick. It's uncomplicated to get into. It's incredibly incredibly difficult. Ultra difficult. In order to get any length to the video, I eventually had to play it with a POKE for increased Lives. Without assistance, the review would have lasted less than about 3 minutes.

Graphically the game is brilliant for the era. Clever coding avoids colour bleed which often happened with many games around this time and before. Sounds are also fantastic. See the video below for my full gameplay review.

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Nick :o)