Sonic and Girl's Garden -- same author.

[Neb6]

Neat little article:

http://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-most-important-games-on-segas-sg-1000


I suppose I'll get shot for saying this, but I actually enjoyed Girl's Garden more than Sonic.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Girls Garden is actually quite a good game, not only for SG-1000 standards but it holds up among the better titles of its era. There's no shame in liking it. If it's better than Sonic though, sorta depends on which Sonic you compare it to. Classic, Genesis era or Modern Sonic and his shitty friends and terrible ideas and gimmicks?

[Koa Zo]

I've always admired and respected the fact that Yuji Naka has produced generally non-violent games.

[o.pwuaioc]

For those with a Colecovision and not an SG-1000, there's a homebrew port out there: http://www.teampixelboy.com/girls_garden.php

[tom]

Girl's Garden, female lead character long before Samus on NES

[blue lander]

Girl's Garden is probably my favorite SG-1000 title.

[o.pwuaioc]

Girl's Garden, female lead character long before Samus on NES

That Samus was a female lead character in a video game wasn't what was mind-blowing. After all, apart from Girl's Garden, you also have Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures, which antedates Metroid, and Athena, released about the same time. No, that's not what was amazing. What was amazing was that this was a futuristic space game with a badass with a blaster for an arm, and everything about the person underneath was obscured. The number of female leads was small, so players naturally assumed it was a man. Then, lo and behold, you beat the game and realize all along that it wasn't a man at all, but a woman! And, if you beat it quickly enough, you got to see some curvature, something kids were not used to at the time. It was the surprise element, the unmasking, the shock received, that's why it was mind-blowing. Not merely that it was a female. Had they been upfront about it, it would hardly have been remarkable.

[Neb6]

Girls Garden is actually quite a good game, not only for SG-1000 standards but it holds up among the better titles of its era. There's no shame in liking it. If it's better than Sonic though, sorta depends on which Sonic you compare it to. Classic, Genesis era or Modern Sonic and his shitty friends and terrible ideas and gimmicks?

You know, I never really played Sonic extensively. I've just briefly dabbled with different versions of it.

Any recommendations on where to start (or which ones are the most fun). I have a feeling that I might need to start with the slower ones and work my way up to the mega-fast versions.

It's funny, I recall when it was on the Genesis. Around that time, I was still used to games that moved along at the speed of Super Mario Brothers and Strider.

[Koa Zo]

You know, I never really played Sonic [..]

Any recommendations on where to start (or which ones are the most fun).


You've got a neat opportunity to play then chronologically.
Play them in the order in which they were published. You'll get to experience the series' development as it actually occurred and then form your own opinions as to which is most fun.

[bb_hood]

Girl's Garden, female lead character long before Samus on NES

Ms. Pac-Man, female lead character long before Girl's Garden on the SG.

[tom]

True, I once made a list:

Odyssey:
Female player (Simon Says, Odyssey, 1972)

Apple ][:
Female player selection (Akalabeth: World of Doom, Origin, 1979)

Arcade:
Ms. Pac-Man (Ms. Pac-Man, Bally Midway, 1981)
Lady Bug (Lady Bug, Universal, 1981)

VCS:
Billie Sue (Wabbit, Games by Apollo, 1982)
Alice (Alice Adventure, Quelle, 1983)
Blond girl (Ghost Manor, Xonox, 1983, selectable)
Leading Lady (Beat ‘em and eat ‘em, Mystique, 1983)
Strawberry Shortcake (Strawberry Shortcake, Parker, 1983)

Atari 8-bit:
Kim Kimberly (Snowball, Return to Eden, Level 9 Computing, 1983, 1984)
Alexandra (Lode Runner’s Rescue, Synapse, 1985)

Sega SG-1000:
Papri (Girl’s Garden, Sega, 1984)

Apple ][:
Jenny (Jenny of the prairie, Addison Wesley, 1984)
Clair (Cave Girl Clair, Addison Wesley, 1984)
Lauren (Lauren of the 25th century, Addison Wesley, 1984)
Chelsea (Chelsea of the south sea Islands, Addison Wesley, 1984)

C64:
Barbie (Barbie, Epyx, 1984)
Alter Ego female version (Alter Ego, Activision, 1986)

NES:
Samus Aran (Metroid, Nintendo, 1986)

[bb_hood]

Atari 8-bit:
Kim Kimberly (Snowball, Return to Eden, Level 9 Computing, 1983, 1984)



Oh yes, who could forget Kim Kimberly from level 9 computing.

[InsaneDavid]

That Samus was a female lead character in a video game wasn't what was mind-blowing. After all, apart from Girl's Garden, you also have Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures, which antedates Metroid, and Athena, released about the same time. No, that's not what was amazing. What was amazing was that this was a futuristic space game with a badass with a blaster for an arm, and everything about the person underneath was obscured. The number of female leads was small, so players naturally assumed it was a man. Then, lo and behold, you beat the game and realize all along that it wasn't a man at all, but a woman! And, if you beat it quickly enough, you got to see some curvature, something kids were not used to at the time. It was the surprise element, the unmasking, the shock received, that's why it was mind-blowing. Not merely that it was a female. Had they been upfront about it, it would hardly have been remarkable.

Samus Aran, following in Masuyo "Kissy" Tobi's footsteps after the Baraduke raid.

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/namco/png/21217801.png

Hmmm, what else makes Masuyo Tobi badass... Saved the Paccet race from irradiation by the Octy armed only with a plasma cannon and a maneuvering pack. Married to and then divorced from Taizo Hori, hero of the Dig Dug incident. Mother of Taizo's three sons - Ataru, Susumu (Mr. Driller), and Taiyo. UGSF agent, so she probably has access to stuff like GeoSword from StarBlade and the rest of their armament.

Truly the most unsung heroine in video gaming.