Emerald Coast

You get six characters, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big the Cat, and a robot called Gamma, plus little pets called Chow you could raise on the memory card.

And the first level still does it for me, Lee, that run down the Emerald Coast Pier with a killer whale smashing through the boardwalk behind you.

It looked like nothing any of us had seen on a console before, even if Big the Cat's fishing sections tested everyone's patience.

Big was not the highlight.

It's like hearing a song you've only ever heard on a pub jukebox and then suddenly seeing the band play it live.

And here's the one everyone remembers, the tune from that very first beach level.

Here's Emerald Coast.

That one takes me straight back to the carpet and a VGA box I couldn't afford, Lee.

Beach clubs close, some seasonal hotels and restaurants close, boat tours... stop altogether just because it makes no sense to do a boat tour in January.

On the Emerald Coast, many businesses close for the season around the end of September.

But those are tourist services.

They are not Sardinia.