Girl Gamer

The game does look like its 16-bit counterpart, and also sounds like it too, right down to the memorable old tunes and the “pop” explosion effects. However, we ran into some performance problems with this game. First off, there’s slowdown. Considering that “blast processing” was one of the bigger staples with this game in its initial release, it’s a shame that Sega couldn’t nail down the emulation just right. Even if you take the game off full-screen mode and try your luck in a condensed arcade version (complete with on-screen control pad and button), it doesn’t run one hundred percent. That’s a shame because all the levels are still intact, including the spinning bonus stages.

Another problem lies within the game’s controls. In full-screen, it’s hard to move Sonic around, since you can’t interpret thumb placement the right way. Arcade mode works a little bit better, but the virtual control pad is unresponsive at times. Seriously, you’ll be struggling just to clear precise jumps over bottomless gaps or trying to land where you need to in order to avoid a collision with a robot. If you’re running around without rings, it’s even worse, since one hit can kill you.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a must-have when it comes to its release on other platforms, such as Xbox Live Arcade and the Virtual Console service, but we simply can’t recommend it for iPhone – not in its current state, anyway. The frame rate and control issues keep this ‘hog from getting to top speed.