Sonic the Hedgehog was critically praised at its release and in retrospective reviews , with an 86 @-@ percent approval rating at the review aggregator GameRankings based on nine reviews . The game rivaled the Mario series , particularly Super Mario World ( which was recently released for Genesis rival Super Nintendo Entertainment System ) . Paul Rand of Computer and Video Games compared the two in depth and characterized Sonic the Hedgehog as being faster , with brighter colors , and Super Mario World as having more " depth of play " .