I immediately went into bragging mode down the street. I have a Sega and it’s better than yours. Yes, I was that naïve and that big‑headed as a kid.
But my Sonic looked different to Steve’s. He ran through Green Hill Zone, sure — but the layout was different. And then came the Bridge Zone, not Marble Zone. The music in this game was great too. The Bridge and Jungle Zone themes especially had me humming along without even realising.
Was it perfect? No. But I didn’t care. This was my version of Sonic and it was awesome. And honestly, I still love this Master System version. Long‑time readers will know I have a lot of respect for Sega’s Master System anyway.
This console was so cool that if you started it without a game in the slot, you got Alex Kidd. There’s a reaction for the future.
The reaction from down the street to our Master System, though, was more: “That’s nice… anyway, back to Steve’s.”
Sonic on Master System is one of the few games I’ve actually completed. But this console opened the door to so many games I still play today — Disney’s great platformers like Jungle Book, Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, and of course more Sonic titles.
Here in the UK, the Master System was actually more popular than the NES.
But time moved on, and eventually it was time for me to plunge into the 16‑bit era. Would this finally mean the Sega Mega Drive? For my brother, yes. My choice, though, was another brand big in the UK. I got myself a Commodore Amiga.
It had its own mascot platformer at the time — and its name was Zool.