SNES vs. Genesis: A Battle for the Ages! [Part 1 is over, platformers coming up next]

[A Black Falcon]

There is one aspect of the game that I find a bit aggravating: you get three extra lives and then it’s game over. There’s no continues here, none at all. Giving the nature of the game, it means that you’ll more than likely get a few game overs before making it all the way to the end. It’s a bit unforgiving in that respect, but it’s certainly not a big enough issue to hurt the game all that much. It’s still a genuine classic and one of the greatest games ever made.

You can get continues in the bonus stages, as with all Genesis Sonic games... but yes, you don't have any unless you win them. It's the same in many other games, such as Blades of Vengeance to give one of many examples. It does make games harder, but the Genesis always the more "hardcore" console compared to the SNES, SNES platformers and action games were on average easier and were much more likely to have saving.

I like saving, so that's a point for the SNES, in my opinion... and yes, it is frustrating. I've never finished the Genesis version of Sonic 1, though I have gotten to the final boss. But it's an approach, and it's one the system stuck with pretty much to the end (Comix Zone and The Ooze, two of Sega's later Genesis titles, have no continues at all, for instance).


I've always had trouble deciding between SMW and Sonic, both are such amazing games that deciding which one is better is really difficult...