Sonic Origins Review – A Hedge of Its Time

For the most part, Sonic Origins is a great collection of Sonic’s earliest and likely most solid games. There are fun missions, sharp new cutscenes, and updated controls, offset by disappointing music changes.

Sonic Origins
Developer: SEGA
Price: $40
Platform: PS5 (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review

I’ve been a big Sonic fan for as long as I can remember, and I know the light that that paints me in. Still, the high-octane gameplay of the blue blur just appeals to me, whether in 2D or 3D form. I’ve played Sonic 1, 2, and CD plenty of times (since I never owned 3 as a kid,) but the thought of the upgraded Headcannon versions all being in one collection made me immediately want Sonic Origins. While it does have some issues, I think that Sonic Origins is an overall fine compilation of Sonic’s classic titles.

Sonic Origins does a lot of things right. There are two main modes for each game: Anniversary and Classic. Anniversary mode gets rid of lives and replaces them with coins, which can be used to resume special stages or purchase bonus content in the gallery. Anniversary mode makes frustrating levels breezy for everyone, as you can retry to your heart’s content. I prefer this, as lives in this sort of game waste time through game restarts, rather than encourage improvement.

Sonic 1 shows its age, even in this upgraded version. As nostalgic as I am for it, that game really likes to trick and trap you with things you can’t see. Still, the spindash makes it better than ever, and Green Hill Zone truly is the perfect first level. Sonic 2 is as brilliant as ever and serves as a great step-up from the first game all-around. Sonic 3 is expectedly fantastic, though the altered music is incredibly disappointing, given how iconic the replaced tracks are. Finally, Sonic CD remains a varied, diverse, and incredibly enjoyable platformer that has unique ideas and the best rival, Metal Sonic.

“The addition of the drop dash is a nice touch, and even further validates the Headcannon versions of these games’ statuses as the best versions.“

Each game plays wonderfully, and though I’ve heard that the PC version of Sonic Origins sports a fair number of bugs, I ran into none on the PS5. The addition of the drop dash is a nice touch, and even further validates the Headcannon versions of these games’ statuses as the best versions.

The missions, which have you perform specific feats in a set period of time while ranking you, are quite a lot of fun. They’re not especially difficult, but the odd one offers a real challenge, and the rest are at least interesting. Missions also provide the easiest way to get coins for the pretty decent gallery, making them absolutely worth doing.

The gallery is filled with videos, art, and music from Sonic’s 2D era, with some modern art of classic Sonic thrown in. It’s not hard to unlock everything, and some of it is pretty interesting for longtime Sonic fans. I would have loved the Game Gear games or Knuckles Chaotix to also be included, but that might just be wishful thinking.

At the same time, Sonic Origins also has a few missteps. The swapped music is painfully disappointing, and while I’ve been lucky enough to not experience them, the many videos of bugs that people are encountering are a bummer. 

Visually, Sonic Origins is quite sharp. It helps that the pixel art of each game has held up well, but it’s the new animated intros that truly stand out. These slick-looking cutscenes give a little extra context to the story, and look damn good while doing it.

The Final Word
Sonic Origins is an overall strong collection of some of Sonic’s best titles. The PS5 version seems pretty bug-free, and the included games all play very smoothly. I wish there was a bit more content in the gallery, and the replaced Sonic 3 songs are disappointing, but otherwise, I’m quite satisfied with Sonic Origins.

MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great