#49: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega, Mega Drive, 1991)

Part V: Never Fade Away (Starlight Zone)

And lo, a light at the end of that long, long tunnel. Emerging from the deep, dark pit of despair that is the Labyrinth Zone into the bright and shimmering city of the Starlight Zone feels, in every way, like a reward for forging through and not giving up. The Starlight Zone is a little slice of platforming heaven, the one level in the game, besides the Green Hill Zone, that removes the shackles and lets Sonic loose to achieve the dizzying speeds of which he is capable. The one place where his true potential really shines.

But this is, to be clear, not a knock on the three zones we have just journeyed through, or indeed, those that are yet to come. They all serve a particular function within the game, and part of that function, especially in the case of the Labyrinth Zone, is to frustrate the player. This is not a mistake on the part of the developers; it is, I think, a very deliberate building of tension. It is the increasingly severe restrictions on Sonic’s speed throughout those zones that make the Starlight Zone shine so very brightly.

Basically, if every level played like this, it would seem like nothing special. Just another level where you run fast. Yawn. But with the game sequenced the way it is, the Starlight Zone is a sudden burst of adrenaline, just when it’s needed most. It’s a pick me up after the grueling gauntlet of the Labyrinth, and equally, it’s the calm before the storm of the endgame.