OK, I couldn’t leave you hanging for another thrilling journey into my memory.

The year was 1991 and I was trying to pay off a Megadrive via layby. Dad decided to pay off the Megadrive for me rather than dishing out the money slowly in the form of pocket money. We took the bus to Cranbourne, and picked up the unit. Unfortunately, the unit I’d been paying for didn’t actually come with Altered Beast as had been advertised; it turned out I was a week or so late for that package. The bus trip home was a particularly quiet one for me, as I knew my awesome new purchase wasn’t particularly awesome without a game to play on it.

We got off at the Karingal Hub shopping centre (which was about 4 stops before our house) and Dad kindly agreed to buy me a game; the game I wanted more than any other was Sonic the Hedgehog. Dad waited outside with the Megadrive while I eagerly went into Toyworld (the only place with games at the time) and browsed their limited selection, which was on shelves behind the counter.

Their limited selection did not include Sonic the Hedgehog.

Despondent, I walked from the shop and told Dad there was no Sonic to be seen. He asked if I still wanted a game — of course I did! The only other game that interested me was a Disney game (I forget if it was Castle of Illusion or World of Illusion; I suppose it was the former, given the release dates); I’m not sure why I was so intrigued by a Disney game, but I’ll try and regain some dignity by saying that it had good reviews at the time.

Dad walked into the store while I guarded the boxed Megadrive with my life from the evil inhabitants of the shopping centre. A few minutes — which seemed an enternity — passed and eventually he emerged from the store with the game in a white plastic bag.

I sighed for a moment with my audible disappointment as I opened the bag to read the manual for the game I would surely enjoy anyway.

It was Sonic!

As the person in the store picked up the Mickey Mouse game, the last copy of Sonic in the store had revealed itself. Now that is a positive gaming memory.

I recall playing Sonic until the wee hours of that (Saturday) night, barely sleeping and getting up at around 6:30 just to play more Sonic. Since I didn’t want to wake anyone up, I used my crappy headphones and connected them directly to the console — wow, stereo! Every time you picked up a ring, the sound would swap from one ear to the other. Running down a hill: left, right, left, right. Picking up speed: leftrightleftright. Great stuff.