Today I’m counting down the hardest side-scrolling Sonic games from the Mega Drive era - games released between 1991 and 1994 - and we’re obviously discounting Sonic Spinball, Mean Bean Machine and Sonic 3D Blast. We’re going from the easiest to the hardest, let’s begin the countdown!
5 - Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Considering that Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were meant to played together, using the lock-on cartridge - it seems obvious that Sonic 3 is piss easy - it's designed to be the first half of a bigger overall game, thus, easier levels. Sonic 3 introduced a whole array of new items, including the elemental shields - the fire one making you impervious to fire-based enemies, especially the fiery rockets on most bosses, the electric shield, that attracts rings, and the bubble shield - which allows underwater breathing. These shields also deflect projectiles and are as common as muck in the grand scheme of things, some of them being placed on the most direct route through the level - you can also easily acquire them from the checkpoint bonus levels quite easily. Although all of the levels end with a boss - a sub-boss in Act 1 and Dr Robotnik in Act 2, the majority of the sub-bosses are pathetically weak and Dr Robotnik proves more annoying than actually difficult. The Blue Sphere special stage is also the 2nd easiest Chaos Emerald stage in my opinion, the only thing being frustrating about them is the fact you actually have to FIND the giant rings, rather than the 50-rings method. Oh, and the final thing that cements my opinion that Sonic 3 is the easiest game? YOU HAVE RINGS WHEN YOU FIGHT THE FINAL BOSS!
4 - Sonic CD
Now Sonic CD is a strange one here at number 4. But you need to bear in mind, we’re comparing Sonic CD to the other Sonic side-scrolling platformers on the Mega Drive, and it’s the odd one out as it uses an entirely different engine and is full of unique mechanics that aren’t present in any other Sonic game, before or since. Sonic CD’s difficulty curve is all over the place - and it’s all down to the ability to warp between different time periods. As a general rule, the past is easier and the future is harder - the past tends to have less enemies and obstacles, while the future is full of badniks and traps. The first few levels are quite easy - a lot of them I breezed through by practically just holding right and the odd jump. The bosses however are all a pain in the arse - every single one has some weird puzzle you need to solve before you even work out how you’re supposed to start causing damage - the strangest of all being the treadmill boss.. The last two levels are a combination of bouncy floor that rockets you to the top of the level, electrocuting mechanisms in the background and having to traverse a factory-style maze as a mini, baby Sonic.
3 - Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Now Sonic 2 is actually both mine and Shelly's favourite Sonic game - I played it to death as a kid, and continue to do so as an adult on a regular basis. To me, in between the jump from Sonic 1 to Sonic 2, the introduction of the spin-dash move and using checkpoints to access the special stages rather than at the end of the level made the game appear easier straightaway. Sonic 2 is very easy up until around Hill Top Zone, where it finally gains a few teeth and they continue sprouting right up until the very end of the game. While Sonic 1's stages all had 3 acts as standard, only one stage in Sonic 2 does, while two only have the one - potentially allowing for more variety in stages. Sonic 2's special stages are easy, if you play as Tails or Sonic alone - letting the CPU control Tails is frustrating as hell, as he just loves crashing into the damn bombs. Alternatively, having a 2nd player control Tails makes these special stages insultingly easy, providing they're a skilled player. Speaking of Tails, both the CPU and a 2nd player makes boss stages easier - allowing for Tails to kick the shit out of Robotnik while Sonic sits back and watches. The combination of Metropolis Zone and Wing Fortress Zone makes the end of the game pretty difficult - and couple that with a double boss on the final stage that kicked my arse over and over as a kid due to the lack of rings - Sonic 2 is a decent contender here.
2 - Sonic The Hedgehog
Like many first installments, and retro games in general; the original Sonic The Hedgehog has a somewhat unforgiving difficulty once it gets going. Green Hill Zone is a little warm-up, which is hastily followed by Marble Zone; a level filled with spikes and lava, Spring Yard Zone, a level filled with enemies who chase you and tons of instant death drops, Labyrinth Zone, which is a fucking UNDERWATER MAZE, Star Light Zone,, actually an easy level, but it's filled with unkillable enemies and Scrap Brain Zone, a level that contains NO checkpoints and also has an act that is a Labyrinth Zone clone, ANOTHER UNDERWATER MAZE. I'm surprised that the final boss is actually pretty easy. You have no rings, of course, but as final bosses go, the only easier one is Sonic The Hedgehog 3's. The special stage is also unforgiving as fuck, constantly spinning around with trippy coloured backgrounds to give you motion sickness as you repeatedly fall into pit after pit after pit.
1 - Sonic & Knuckles
And finally we have Sonic & Knuckles - the overall hardest Sonic game released on the Mega Drive. As I previously explained, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were designed to be one game - so it's not surprising that Sonic & Knuckles started half-way up the difficulty curve, where Sonic 3 left off after Launch Base Zone. Right from the beginning, Sonic & Knuckles' first stage, Mushroom Hill Zone is about as difficult as the likes of Casino Night Zone and Spring Yard Zone and it continues building a steep difficulty curve right up until the insanely difficult final boss. The final stage, Death Egg Zone even forces you to traverse the level UPSIDE-DOWN, effectively reversing your controls! While Sonic & Knuckles is lacking in underwater levels, it certainly makes up for it with tons of timed sections, tough platforming, levels that are built like damn mazes and bosses which to find their weak spot is a bloody puzzle.
