Sonic the Hedgehog blasts on the iPhone

Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the iPhone yesterday. This version is a direct port from the original Genesis game released in 1991, so this is right up my alley.

How does it fair?  Well so so at best.  The graphics are good per say, they look exactly like the original game.  However, there seems to be some definite frame rate issues, which start even before the actual game itself starts.  When the lovable SEGA logo appears, you are met with choppy and gargled announcement.  The game doesn’t run all that bad itself until you get up to high speed and the game begins to lag.

On-screen controls aren’t that bad, Sonic has never really needed very intricate movement.  You will find however that you will tend to lift your fingers away from the screen to re position them correctly. This really isn’t Sega’s fault, this is just one major downside to having a touch D-pad on screen.

All in all, not a bad port, $5.99 for Sonic on the Go isn’t a bad price by any means.  The game is in a dire need of an update.  I’ve seen several programs that have operated like this on the iPhone and once their 1st update is released, these problems are typically fixed.  If you need something other than Peggle or a tower defense game, Pick it up.