Sonic.

Up, Down, Left, Right, (ring) A+Start


I live my adult life often times paying tribute to the obsessions of my childhood.

I'll never forget the bright Christmas morning of 1990. Eyelids part, a yawn, and the dawning realization of Christmas morning. The rush of joy. I'm awake in no time. As if connected by the same excitement, my brother and I simultaneously exit our rooms and enter the hallway to the front room where Santa's bounty awaits. I can't remember a single thing I got that year, save one: our Sega Genesis. It came with the original Sonic the Hedgehog, too. A double-gift, and an important tool in the development of my childhood. I remember many stormy days and school nights spent in front of our 20-inch Zenith television, sending Sonic whirling through the wilds of Green Hill Zone, bouncing around Spring Yard Zone, exploring the hidden paths of Star Light Zone, and finally through the frustration of Scrap Brain Zone, ending with one of the easiest final bosses of all time. Of course, then came Sonic II (the best video game ever created[!!!]). Again, more indoor time in front of the screen, zooming and spinning this way and that.

I also have a vivid memory of myself, lying in bed one night. I'm staring up at my ceiling. Through the wall next to me I can hear my parents trying to figure their way through the Sonic I secret stage. They're laughing and carrying on; it's clear to me they really enjoy it. For whatever reason, this is both strange and comforting to me.

From Wikipedia.org's entry on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, regarding the games' famous rings:

"One distinctive and recurring feature of Sonic games are the collectible golden Rings spread throughout the levels. This gameplay device allows players possessing at least one ring to survive upon sustaining damage from an enemy or hazardous object. Instead of dying, the player's rings are scattered; in most Sonic games, a hit will cause the player to lose all of his rings, although in certain situations and in certain games, a hit only costs a set number of rings rather than the entire collection. Some causes of death cannot be prevented by holding a ring, including being crushed, falling into a bottomless pit, drowning and running out of time. In line with many platform games, collecting 100 rings will usually reward Sonic (or any other playable character) with an extra life. Certain titles in the series often reward the collection of 50 rings, in conjunction with the Chaos Emeralds; to access the Special Stages in which the Chaos Emeralds may be obtained, or to utilize a character's super transformation."

It's all true.

Once, when Andrew and I were playing Sonic the Hedgehog (I), a profoundly confusing and very new phenomenon occurred: while trying to jump over a set of spikes (nothing new there), we landed in the middle of them...without dying.

Look:

He's even bored.

We've never felt it appropriate or even in good sense to ask "Why?", so we didn't. And haven't. To this day.

Lastly, there's a Brazilian metal band by the name of MegaDriver that has lent their collective musicianship to covering Sega Genesis themes. They generously devoted their entire 2008 release, Metal Hog, to covering Sonic the Hedgehog level songs.

Visit this site and download it:

Go, Sonic. Go.