What are you playing?

[Raging Justice]

The first six levels alone will convince you that Sonic Team has no ideas anymore. Everything is boring retreads of what we've seen in previous Sonic games, except somehow more bland and boring than ever, and more poorly designed. I honestly feel like they didn't even try or like they're just too old for this shit

Seriously, it's time to take Sonic Team behind the shed and shoot them in the head. The Sonic franchise needs new developers.

[marurun]

Let’s please not call for violence against developers. I know you weren’t being serious, but it’s still a bad look.

[ElkinFencer10]

Seriously, it's time to take Sonic Team behind the shed and shoot them in the head. The Sonic franchise needs new developers.

Yeah man, this ain't it. Joke or not, this is inappropriate.

[REPO Man]

Agreed. Though we definitely need to get the Sonic IP out of Sonic Team's hands and give it to a developer that can make great Sonic games. Personally, with the success of Sonic Mania, I think Headcanon should be given complete control over making Sonic games. Many of the folks behind Sonic Mania made some of the best Sonic hacks and fangames ever, many of which outright rival the official games. And given how creative SM's original stages are, imagine a SM followup that's nothing but original zones, enemies and so on.

[marurun]

You’re making an awfully big assumption that Headcannon is somehow equipped to make a big tent pole 3D title. Sonic is worth too much as a licensed property to be relegated to budget 2D titles. And while Sonic Team is definitely producing goods of mixed quality, they’re sufficient to keep the property alive and popular. I think tapping some 3rd party devs more often is a fine idea, but I don’t think Headcannon is the way to go for the 3D titles.

[REPO Man]

Sonic works best in 2D, anyway. I mean, of all the 3D Sonic games out there, the best of them (Sonic Colors) is decent at best. It's just too difficult to maintain camera control while going that fast. Granted there ARE some 3D Sonic fangames (SOME!) that do a decent job of handling Sonic's speed in a way that doesn't cause camera issues, but my point remains.

[marurun]

Sonic works best in 2D, anyway. I mean, of all the 3D Sonic games out there, the best of them (Sonic Colors) is decent at best. It's just too difficult to maintain camera control while going that fast. Granted there ARE some 3D Sonic fangames (SOME!) that do a decent job of handling Sonic's speed in a way that doesn't cause camera issues, but my point remains.

Even if Sonic does handle best mechanically in 2D, Sonic makes money in 3D and in order to retain status as a prime licensed property Sega needs to put out AA or AAA 3D games, period. Had Sega never made 3D games and not persisted in making them, 2 money-making, well-received movies would likely not exist, and grade school kids these days would not still think Sonic is a cool character and feel invested in buying Sonic goods. Sega and Sonic are bigger than just amusing 2D games, and its time you accepted that.

[REPO Man]

How does Sega making bad 3D Sonic games that they literally have to scrub from the continuity help the IP? When the camera can't keep up with Sonic's speed without flipping out and glitching, how does THAT help the IP? When a 3D Sonic game is shipped with game-breaking and/or epilepsy-triggering glitches how does THAT help the IP? If anything, a return to 2D HELPED the IP.

[marurun]

Sonic is an appealing game character, and very few of the 3D titles are universally panned. They usually get mixed reviews, but some kids (and their parents) are less picky. As long as Sonic still looks cool, is available on store shelves, and doesn’t completely blow chunks he’s holding up his legacy just fine. Again, Sonic Mania probably isn’t what got him his movie deal. You clearly just don’t understand the (bizarre) market forces at play here.

[REPO Man]

Well, my point still stands. Bad games devalue an IP, and if the common ground between bad Sonic games is this trait or that trait, then you have to accept that those traits don't work. If Sonic has a hard time in 3D regardless of what Sega does differently, then maybe it's something that's inherent to 3D Sonic games isn't to 2D Sonic games.

The fact is that while SOME 3D Sonic games are decent at best, the likes of 1, CD, 2, 3K and Mania have had staying power their 3D counterparts haven't. That's because the 2D games stuck to an award winning formula of perfectly balancing speed, action, exploration and replayability that the 3D games lack. There's just nothing fun about running so fast you hit a wall, obstacle or enemy or run into a bottomless pit or the camera glitches out or you clip out of bounds and keep falling forever. That's going to ruin how a kid sees Sonic games WAY more than being 2D and then if/when a great Sonic game comes along, they'll remember all the frustrations that came with wonky cameras and BS gimmicks and pass.