My opinion of every Sonic game released.

[MrPopo]

It's sad how close to the truth that actually is.

Lemme guess, no Billy Crystal voice?

[Niode]

How do you get coffee out of keyboards again?

[General Chaos]

Sonic Battle on the GBA is my favorite Sonic game... I know, I'm sick.

[LoneCynic]

Well fellas, my first console was the Mattel Intellevision II. Better quality games and better graphics than the Atari 2600 (its main competition way back in the day) are what set the Intellevision above the rest. I find it funny that every fifteen months or so, some gaming magazine or website runs an article about retro gaming and they basically rehash some other "retro" article they have as source material, and there is nothing but unending praise and claimed nostalgia over the 2600 when the writer is barely above the age of 20. I'll be 28 years old in a few days, and I was four when I played my first game of Zaxxon on the Intellevision II. Having played everything in between at least once or twice, I think I am entitled to lay out my opinion on Sonic the Hedgehog.

I was also a huge fan of Sonic when I was in my early teens. The original game's loops, speed, and graphics were unreal and unseen when that game dropped back in 1991. I'd dare say it was one of the most impressive looking games overall for the time. While I went through a phaze where I liked many of the sequels better, I've come back to the original many more times than almost all the others, save for Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

My vast game collection over various consoles (I rarely, if ever "trade in" or sell any of my games unless I feel it is a total lemon and just absolutely hate it) contains nearly every Sonic game, or a version of every Sonic game that's come along over the years. I haven't played Sonic Unleashed or Sonic Black Knight yet, but my expectations for both are resting comfortably in the bottom of the barrel.

Out of all the Sonic games I've ever played, the following are the only ones I've ever felt amounted to anything or were worth replaying after a single run through, or attempt at a runthrough as th case may be with some of them:

-Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) - Excellent
-Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis) -Great
-Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Genesis CD) - Also Great
-Sonic the Hedgehog 3 + Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis) - The Best Overall
-Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast) - The only good 3D Sonic ever made, considering you can play Sonic only if you wish
-Sonic Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color) - Very Good, a worthy handheld outing
-Sonic Triple Trouble (Game Gear) - Good ,just above the bar barely, only Game Gear Sonic worth playing IMO

Um..wow, is the list really that short? I guess it is, now that I think about it. In my opinion, these are the only Sonic games that lived up to the standard, and even a couple of them are close to being on the fence so to speak. This isn't to say that Sonic Advance 1, Sonic Rush, Sonic 3D Blast or Sonic Adventure 2 weren't decent games too, there are a handful of them that are just that, "decent". However, the ones I listed are the only ones that I felt were worthy of the name Sonic and in some way or another captured the magic of what made Sonic great.

When Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and went to software only, I told my friend that if Sonic turned out to be another Rayman, another Crash Bandicoot, another Spyro the Dragon, he'd soon be another third rate mascot character and essentially a "system whore" rather than a standard setting first rate mascot. I regret to say that my prediction came true and that one of my most beloved game characters is a pale shadow of his former self and former greatness.

There is a small sliver of hope though. My favorite classic game series, the Original MegaMan, got a brand new retro style sequel in 2008. All the kids who grew up with MegaMan X, or MegaMan Battle Network Sigma Star NEO Ultra ZX Advent magical red helmeted stepchild bastard spawn version cried and called MegaMan 9 a crap game that was too hard for them to comprehend. They have no idea what that game meant to me, how long I'd waited for a true sequel to the "MegaMan" that -I- knew and grew up with. Capcom has delivered the goods with their classic franchises and come out of a sequelitis shitorama path they got stuck on for awhile. MegaMan, Street Fighter, Resident Evil and others have been coming back with some of the best enteries those series' have seen in ages. Sega needs to take a page from Capcom's playbook.

The only candle that I hold for Sonic now is that he too might get a downloadable 2D HD sequel that harkens back to the Sonic I knew and played countless times. More and more developers are catering to us Generation Xers, because we are the ones with the disposable income, we are the next biggest target demographic after the youngsters these days. Maybe Sonic and Sega will get with the program, have Sonic ditch the sword, ditch the additional dopplergangers and return to running loops and collecting rings in classic form. I don't know how many more start-up development groups at Sega who take on the name "Sonic Team", then promise to "return Sonic to his roots", and then churn out another turd I can endure before that candle burns out completely.

Sonic is still cool, he just hasn't directed any of his "attitude" towards his handlers in a long time. He sold out, and he's losing his credibility almost entirely. The fans WANT to love Sonic again, they keep giving it chance after chance, but he's probably going to have to fade out completely before a true comeback tour can begin.

Aaaaand, I'll stop there. That's about a nickel's worth and I only intended to throw out two cents..

[shadobeni]

When it came to my favorite, I usually defaulted to Sonic 2 just because I really like the ending and the music for it. Of course, it introduced the spinball dash which made playing Sonic 1 after it feel like it was "missing" something. It also introduced the 2-player split screen.

Visually though I like Sonic 1's style. Never really was a fan of the looks of the other games although Sonic 3 & Knuckles did have some very nice backgrounds.

All the games had some great music. Favs were starlight zone in Sonic 1 and the music for the ice level in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

I felt that Sonic CD controlled differently. Now I know none of the games control exactly the same but something felt a bit off to me on Sonic CD. I also didn't see the point of the standing dash. However, I thought the time travel aspect was creative and the concept is worth a revisit in a 2d sonic time travel sequel.

Ignoring aesthetics and innovation, I think Sonic 3 & Knuckles has the best gameplay. Knuckles was a good addition with his fun gliding ability as were the different shield powerups. That last level with Super Sonic was pretty epic. It made getting all those emeralds worth it whereas I never bothered with them in the other games. Although it probably had a bit to do with having a save feature.

Regardless I feel like all these games have aged well and are still fun today.

[Jrecee]

I don't think the problem with Sonic CD was the control. It was the level design. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as open as other sonic games. And when you did get a chance to build up speed, you usually ended up in a time warp, which was really annoying.

[Reverend]

Sonic Labyrinth.

[shadobeni]

What do people think of the Sonic Advance series and the ones on the Nintendo DS?

I've only played the advance games and they seem pretty good and compare well to the genesis ones. Although I find the extra characters kind of pointless. Even playing as tails and knuckles doesn't add much to the game other than making it easier.

But I like the level designs. The 2nd and 3rd ones in particular feature multiple paths and levels that aren't just going right all the way to finish. I like some of the additional instant speed boosting mechanisms like the speed ramp. On the other hand I find the speed boosting mechanisms are sometimes too numerous in some levels.

Some of the extra abilities are neat but aren't particulary necessary to use. Still I do like the extra moves you can do when in boost mode or when jumping off a spring. The tag moves in the 3rd game are interesting but again they don't really add much or at least the level aren't designed to make creative use of them.

[Hatta]

I may have even said this earlier in the thread, but I liked Sonic Rush a lot. It's not perfect, but it's certainly worth spending time with if you like the series.

[Gamerforlife]

Anyone see the early reviews for Sonic Adventure on Live Arcade? Pretty harsh

The game was always flawed, but still good. Those two reviews from 1up and IGN seem like total bullshit. It always pisses me off when companies re-release old games like this and then reviewers shit all over them. We've got a game that has an 86.51% percentage on the Dreamcast when it came out and this re-release on the 360 has a 42.50%. What the hell?

The game was never THAT bad and it still isn't now