Sonic Drift has a total of six levels (all of the original 16-bit Sonic 1 Zones), and each level has three courses for a total of eighteen tracks. Like most 8 and 16-bit racers, it's a pseudo-3D run (although it still looks very good) down mostly straightaways with an occasional turn. There's the standard brake and accelerate, but you also slow down if you hang near an edge or hold a sharp turn for too long. One big advantage Drift has over its sequel is the computer AI. Now, for the most part, the AI in Drift 2 was drastically improved...here, your opponents never even try to attack you or push you off the track. So what makes it so good? No automatic speed-up for laggers. This means that the racers always move at the same speed...they don't dash ahead at an impossible pace when you snag the lead. This means that if you pull ahead early on, you're likely to hold your place to the end of the race, unlike Drift 2. This is called fair play, and makes a game fun to beat (alot of modern designers should study up on this). The four playable characters are Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Dr. Robotnik. Each one, obviously, with his own special attributes and flaws. Most notably, each has his own special move that can be performed after collecting two Rings. Sonic dashes ahead in an extra burst of speed, Tails hops over any opponents or obstacles in a giant leap, Amy throws mini hearts that daze anyone who hits them, and Robotnik tosses mines that make anyone who runs into them spin out of control. It's odd that Sonic Drift never got an American release, as it came out at the peak of the Game Gear's popularity and would have fit snugly in with the late 1993/early 1994 Sonic rush (Sonic Spinball, Sonic CD, Sonic Chaos, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3). Not much of a loss, I guess, but for the year and the platform, it was decent.
Screenshots taken by Jared "Green Gibbon!" Matte. Information compiled
and arranged by Jared "Green Gibbon!"
Matte. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
