Sally Acorn in Sonic the Hedgehog Review by: Jinx98 - 8.7/10
Sally Acorn to the rescue!Introduction and about the character
Hello and welcome to what I believe is my 4th review[I've kind of lost count since its been awhile]. This isn't my first review of a hack and as a matter of fact, the first review I did for this site was for Sally Acorn in Sonic the Hedgehog two. As a fan and huge supporter of the character, when I first found out about the game, I couldn't resist jumping on board and playing the sprite hacks. I started with Sonic the Hedgehog two first since I knew it better and because I wasn't as fond of Sonic the Hedgehog one.
"Who is Sally Acorn? I never seen this character in Sonic X,? I've never picked up a Sonic the Hedgehog comic before and I've never seen her in any video games until this hack."
Sally Acorn is the princess of Mobotroplis and freedom fighter. She's best known to older Sonic fans for her appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog that appeared on Saturday mornings. Better known as SatAm. She's highly intelligent and will do whatever it takes to protect her people. Her best friend is Bunnie Rabbot and her most noticeable device that she rely on a lot in most situations is NICOLE; her computer with a mind of its own.
Sally also an unlucky target of attacks, such as her lack of clothing, because it's ok if male characters like Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker or Sonic the Hedgehog himself get to walk around in the nude, but if a female character starts acting like the boy's, it's suddenly blasphemy. Another issue Sally is often the victim of is Amy Rose fans who consider a threat to Sonic's affection because shes Sonic's original girlfriend way back from both the tv show and in the comics Which is odd because Amy and Sally are friends, Sonic has no interest in Amy and Sonic and Sally are married with two kids in the future. Truth be told, I rather have a strong attractive girl like Sally whom can defend herself than a fan girl brat like Amy whom stalks me everywhere.[No offense to the sane Amy Rose fans]
Difficulty
I figured it's best to start with difficulty first and explain my experience from the Sally Acorn in Sonic the Hedgehog two. When I did that review of that game, I was a little bit critical of the girl and for the same reasons I'm about to get on Sonic one for even more. Sally Acorn's style to combat enemies makes the game slightly more harder than what you would usually get, with normal Sonic. Sally is a bit slower than Sonic and she can't curl up in a ball and attack a enemy in midair, which means you are going to have to use your brain a bit more while using her. If I can reference, I saw another You tube video of Sally Acorn in Sonic one sometime ago where she was spin kicking instead of relying on N.I.C.O.L.E[The laser she uses] which I honestly much rather being doing.
Fear not however, because the princess comes with a few tricks of her own that Sonic might wish he had, such as a higher jump and some added agility moves. It might not sound like much, but its better than nothing.
Now if you just want to beat the game, than some of the pressure is off when it comes to the chaos emeralds, however if you are up for the challenge, than that's where the frustration will come in and I avoided them all together back during my Sally Acorn Sonic two run. If you want some tiny tip's for doing the Chaos Emeralds run however to take off come of the difficulty; take your time if you can and make sure you do them from the start of the game. If you do that, and get them all on time, you should have the 6th final chaos emerald by the end of Spring Yard Zone stage two. You don't want to be chasing after them later in the game because stages will get harder and harder the further in the game you go and like I said, Sally already isn't the easiest thing to play with.
With normal Sonic I would give the difficulty between 7.5 and 8. With Sally Acorn however I would have to give it a 9 if you are new, but once you learn how to at least handle her, than the game difficulty might feel like a 8 or 8.5.
Story
Since this is just a sprite hack, the story is the same as Sonic the Hedgehog, but instead you can say Sally has broken her character of doing things by the books and decided to go head first into danger like Sonic does. I guess Sonic ate one too many chilly dogs and got stuck in the bathroom while Eggman was out causing trouble.
For those that don't know the story, Sonic[or Sally Acorn in this case] is trying to stop Dr.Eggman whom is enslaving animals to do his bidding and whom has come upon a new project, which of course is trying to gather the six chaos emeralds[It was six during this game instead of seven] so he could use they're limitless energy to complete his doomsday project. Keep in mind, it sounds simple, at least from a kids game point of view, but from other points of view such as the tv show sonic AM or the comics its a lot more darker than it seems. This game does give two different types of endings depending what you decide to do and I'll leave it at that without trying to give a spoiler even while its no secret how to gain the best ending and bad ending for this game.
Lets keep in mind, this was when the plot was fresh and before Sega milked it dry. Sonic has to get the chaos emeralds and defeat Eggman so everyone remains safe and alive etc. If this is ends up being a late sonic game you play and you wanted a different story plot, of course I you should still give it a try, but if you expect a different story twist overall, than I suggest trying the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comics, because Sega is not big on trying new twists with they're games.
I give the story a 9.5 out of 10
Depth
Dashing though obstacles, boarder line drowning, getting your head cracked open by swinging spikes, entering other worlds so you can harness the power of six emeralds, decent into the madness of scrap brain zone and fight for your life or breeze night air in star Light Zone, this game has plenty to other in terms of depth for a retro game and if you love a challenge, the game increasingly gets harder the further you go into the game, with more things popping out at you, walls attempting to crush you and a higher chase of you running off into some abyss! No fault on Sally's part, but during Sonic's first run gathering emeralds isn't exactly as worth it as later games, because super form wasn't introduced until Sonic the Hedgehog two, but if you are a hardcore gamer or even a gamer that plays sometimes, it's still a great game to be able to say that you played or once even beat. Also the first Sonic the Hedgehog has three stages per zone with Final Zone by it's self so they can take your rings and make the final challenge challenging of course. Believe it or not, Eggman isn't exactly as hard to figure out. Of course you might lose like once or twice, but once you get the idea of the battle down, it's pretty easy to make him look like a joke on his own playground.
I give the depth of the game a 9 out of 10
Addictiveness
Of course it's addictive! It's a classic Sonic game! If you are into speed games, I would suggest this for you, even if this doesn't seem like your usual type of game you are into. And after all the Sonic the Hedgehog hacks I been playing lately, I would have to say I might be a little addicted myself, despite my burning hatred for Scrap Brain Zone Act three. It's one of those games, that could make you mad at it, but keep you hooked enough that you would not want to put the controller down until the very end and once you get better at the game, so should your love for it. Speaking from my point of view, one of my favorite moments is when during game play is picking up max speed, dashing though the level and getting the rush of missing or just hardly missing an enemy unit. Not to say that's what will get you hooked of course. There are plenty of other things in this games that will turn this game into a blast.
I give the addictiveness of the game a 9 out of 10
Sound
Sega Genesis in the 90's was a great step up away from the systems like the Atari and the sound was a great example when you use Sonic the Hedgehog. Awesome sound detailed sound effects, where you can actually hear the waterfall and plenty other distinct sounds such as when you pick up rings, the popping noise of a defeated enemy or the buzzing sound of a buzz saw chasing you. If the sound effects of the game ain't epic enough than the music definitely is. Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't have the best music in the series, since Sonic the Hedgehog two is better, but it will still have the ability to get you hooked and give the feel of the moment. Such themes as Final Zone[my personal favorite], Brain Scrap Zone, boss theme or the infamous Green Hill Zone hill. Overall game is a huge step up from the beeping sound whenever a character did something like a jump back in the old days and the hack didn't change anything. The game is still the same and Sally makes a few sounds herself, such as when she fires her laser, jumps or back sprints.
The sound gets a 10 out of 10
Graphics
In terms of graphics, its the same as above when I spoke of the awesome sound of the game. Now in days people like to talk down about the look of the graphics now and how they are crap, when faced with today, but this was the early 90's. Sometime before even the play station one or the N64 had come out and these were some good looking detailed games. Of course nobody really likes to give the 90's game they're credit anymore because they have been spoiled and somewhat blinded by how realistic games have become now.
As far as the hack it self goes, the Sally Acorn sprite hack, fits in perfectly as if she was always an actual part of the Sonic the Hedgehog video game despite the fact it kinda looks like her legs might could have been a little more detailed when she runs, but its not serious enough to make a fuss about. Also comparing this to the Amy Rose in Sonic the Hedgehog hack, the good thing about this is, at least the game keeps its classic frame color where as the Amy Rose hack somehow turned some of the area and enemy's pink.
The graphics get a 10 out of 10
Overall
I give the hack a 8.7 overall. The sprite hack details is very good, the fact Sally has her own moves that make her different from Sonic is good and nothing had to be damaged to make the hack work is just as good, but in terms of game play, Sally needs some more support work to her character. The laser she controls is a nice touch, but the range isn't that good making her not so fun to play with or user friendly when you first start playing with her. However if you are a fan of hers and still a die hard Sonic fan than this is worth the play.
Graphics
10 Sound
10 Addictive
9 Depth
9 Story
9 Difficulty
8
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