Sonic Adventure Emerald

Sonic the Hedgehog is probably one of the most recognizable video game characters out there, together with Mario and maybe Gordon Freeman. However, the series has been dedicated to consoles right from the start, so PC gamers rarely got the chance to play with Sonic, even if there were some attempts at making it available on computers as well.

Sonic Adventure Emerald is an 8-bit platformer that basically recreates the same atmosphere like in the old SEGA titles, only you can enjoy it on a PC. The same color scheme is used, as well as some of the same environments and animations. In essence, the game was created to look as close to the original as possible, in order to appeal to the nostalgics out there.

Although it is not a complete game yet, you do have three different levels to choose from, each one of which comes with different kinds of challenges. The themes are different as well, which means that they look entirely different and the experience is unique as well. Other than that, Sonic’s purpose is unchanged: to go as fast as he can, collect the rings, and beat the high score.

In case you have forgotten, Sonic is a very paced platformer series, which means that half the time you won’t even get to see anything else than a blur and a lot of blue. However, some sections require a bit of practice as well, which is where the control problems might arise. Unlike with a controller, the keyboard is a tad more difficult to use in the genre, but you can get used to it after a while.

The levels are also crawling with a variety of traps and enemies, all of which can seriously harm you if you happen to bump into them. When you get damaged, you lose a portion of the rings you have managed to acquire until that point. If you run out of rings, you die and have to try again from the previous checkpoint. Naturally, falling into a pit kills you instantly, so the rings can’t always be of help.

Sonic Adventure Emerald may be rather short, but the atmosphere is all there and everyone who is familiar with the original series can see that it comes very close to that. The fast-paced gameplay should be as dizzying as it was back on the old consoles.