but then that all started to go down hill with rainbow six vegas so we shouldn't be too surprised I guess
Story of my life, son. The only time in my life i managed to complete Sonic 1 was using the Kega emulator on PC. Yes I own the game so it isn't piracy (I think..) About checkpoints, there's also the issue that if you can save whenever you like, it makes the game too easy - anyone can do a level by saving every few seconds. It would be too easy to perfect every part of the game as you can try each little bit as many times as you like. The game would be over too soon. Imagine you come up to a boss that requires, like, 5 rockets to the face to win or something. The point is, that its very difficult to get a rocket shot off without getting hit. So if you couldn't save, then you would have to play so good so as to get all 5 rocket shots without dying. Now consider if you could save it whenever you like. Just save it after you hit the first rocket, then keep reloading until you hit the second, and so on and so forth. The game would be over too fast.
