How Sega All But Ruined Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega’s Blue Blur was a whirlwind of excitement in the early 1990’s. Nintendo had a magical formula in the Super Mario Bros series and every other developer had their run and jump Mario clones. Sega on the other hand, took the platforming genre to the next level by taking advantage of their new Genesis console (and it’s infamous “Blast Processing“) to introduce a new blazing-fast rodent by the name of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Speed, however was not Sonic’s lone gimmick. The landmark series on the Genesis also introduced unique elements such as the then jaw-dropping loops, super spin dash, psychedelic bonus rounds, and impressive boss battles with Dr. Robotnik’s mechanical creations.
While the Super Mario Bros. franchise was definitely colored with personality and great gameplay, the Sonic the Hedgehog titles on the Genesis and Sega CD offered an very exciting alternative to those that weren’t Nintendo fanboys.
Powered by the success of Sonic and their other cutting edge games, Sega had a great marketshare during the 16-bit era. However, they started to fall apart as they aimed to jump ahead of its competitors in the 32-bit market and beyond. The commercial failure of its newer hardware was unfortunately timed with the decline of the Sonic franchise.
While I love the Sega Saturn and its cult classic favorites, it never brought Sega fans the real Sonic game that it desired. Sega started with a Genesis and Saturn release of Sonic 3D Blast which turned out to be slow-paced and boring at times — quite the opposite of the Sonic games fans had been used to.
Sega had a great deal of inner conflict trying to develop a true 3D Sonic game (which was known as Sonic X-treme) and the closest substitute Saturn owners experienced was Sonic R, which was essentially a cart-racer without the carts.
Sega eventfully gave up on the Sonic X-treme project (and the Saturn for that matter) and set its sights on the possibilities that the Dreamcast held.
With Sonic Adventure, Sega fans finally had their fully 3D Sonic action game. Sonic Adventure had a tremendous amount of promise as the first level (which was playable on the pre-launch demo) was incredibly fast and was filled with breathtaking graphics that seemed to exceed how every Sonic fan had envisioned the Green Hill Zone would be in a 128-bit wonderland. (Nobody can forget the killer whale-bridge scene)
But all was not perfect with Sonic Team’s newest creation. In reality, very few of the subsequent levels even came close to living up to the high standards that the demo created. Instead, the game was filled with slow and annoying “exploration” areas that turned off many gamers that were expecting fast-paced action.
Sonic Adventure 2 ditched the exploration areas, but instead added more levels that required you to play as other less-interesting characters that had you perform more tedious tasks such as “find the lost emeraldsâ€. Not the idea of fun for a typical Sonic fan. To make matters worse, once words started coming out of Sonic’s mouth, the game was to the point of being an embarrassment to watch. Characters we all used to enjoy such as Tails and Knuckles all became an annoyance and a joke.
It was clear at this point that Sega had lost sight of what worked in the minds of Sonic’s most dedicated fans and had also failed to bring the sense of speed and tight control to the 3D world.
Once the novelty of Sonic Adventure’s slick graphics wore off, the more experienced gamers realized this wasn’t nearly the same game they had grown up with.
Gone were the intense sense of speed and the awe-inspiring loops. Instead, you were treated to a temperamental 3D camera that was more of an annoyance than a benefit.
The Dr. Robotnik we grew up with and his sweet robotic monsters had also experienced a peculiar makeover for the worse. Sonic Adventure ushered in re-branded “Dr. Eggman†and replaced his cool mechanical boss battles with strange creatures and dim-witted schemes to collect Chaos Emeralds.
Once Sega made its full transition away from the hardware business and developed multi-platform games, they unloaded a series of quickly-developed titles that pulled even further away from the core focus and did more to damage Sonic’s reputation.
Sega’s first original multi-platform Sonic game was Sonic Heroes. Heroes took some of the best aspects of the Sonic Adventure series and put a new spin on them. However, that spin consisted of forcing players to use teams of three characters at a time, when the entire time, fans wanted to play ONLY as Sonic. It also seemed to focus less on speed and reaction time and brought it more into the league of typical platform games as opposed to the high standards that Sonic was once known for.
To give Sonic Heroes some credit, it did go back to the 16-bit roots in terms of level design and the overall look and feel. Sonic Heroes got a little bit closer on fixing some of these crucial things but still managed to screw up other aspects. It’s such a shame that things went downhill after that.
As much as everyone tries to forget about it, Sega somehow thought that the best way to solve the fact that the Sonic franchise was getting tired was to have a game centered around Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow was supposed to be the Sonic for the hardcore gamers that needed a ro
ugh edge. (And I thought all this time, Sonic was the cool hedgehog with the attitude.)
As soon as everybody laid their eyes on the promotional artwork and screenshots filled with the pistol-packing hedgehog, the gaming community knew Sega was losing it.
Instead of renewing interest in the Sonic universe, Shadow the Hedgehog fell on its face and was mocked by reviewers around the globe. Again, some players enjoyed the game, but it really strayed from the Sonic formula.
Sega followed up Shadow with Sonic Riders, a racing title that was essentially “Sonic R 2.0â€. While I appreciate Sega trying to emphasize Sonic’s speed capabilities (even though the game was not as fast as it should have been), it wasn’t a true Sonic games and was way too rushed to be taken seriously. Instead, it turned out to be a shallow F-Zero clone thrown out on the marketplace to make some quick change.
As the new generation of platforms emerged, Sega used Sonic as a way to show off their newest graphical technologies. There is no doubt that the new Sonic the Hedgehog for the XBox 360 looks nice, but as the abysmal reviews indicate, graphics are not everything.
In order to push its cutting-edge graphics to the limit, Sega, in their infinite wisdom, felt the need to bring Sonic and his friends into a more realistic world, filled with life-like humans. As you can see from this video, there is something creepy about some giant hedgehogs interacting with humans.
My point is that Sega doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do with Sonic. It seems like Sega assigns various quick-and-dirty development projects in order to see what ideas sticks with consumers. Unfortunately, Sega fans have had to suffer through this process.
Sega’s one redeeming endeavor has been the portable titles. The Sonic Advance series has at least replicated the original Sonic experience about as much as the GBA could, and Sonic Rush on the DS was probably the best Sonic game in over a decade. (Although, the really botched the new Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA)
Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush are essentially the only Sonic games since the Genesis (sans the initial buzz of Sonic Adventure) that the majority of hardcore fans have actually spoke positively about. One would think that maybe Sega would try to go back bringing the series back to its roots more in order to succeed. (Read How Sega Can Bring Sonic Back To His Glory)
As we turn back to look at Nintendo and what they did with the Mario franchise, you will notice that The Big N took their time developing the N64 (remember THAT wait?) and polished Mario 64 in order to maintain its magical feel and bringing a consistent experience to the third dimension. Even though Mario fans would gladly welcome more traditional Mario games, Nintendo kept the pace slow in order to keep the standards high.
Sega needs to take a long look at Sonic and decide where the games of the past really shine and focus on those aspects and those alone instead of doing even more damage.
Personally, I believe the Sonic thrives in 2D and the third dimension should be used on Sonic Team’s other fan favorite NiGHTS into Dreams. Once Sega stays focused on creating killer gameplay in
stead of the quick dollar, Sonic may be brought back to his former glory.
Part 2 – How To Fix Sonic
I followed this post up with my expanded thoughts on what Sega can do to make Sonic successful with both hardcore and casual gamers.
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Sega’s Best Genesis Moving To PSP and PS2
Getting The Most Out of Your Dreamcast
New Nights Into Dreams Coming To Revolution?
Classic Franchises That Actually NEED a Resurrection
Classic Game Franchises We May See Again Soon
The Best Graphics on the Dreamcast
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P.S.
To The Kracken: I am one of those old-school gamers you refer to, played all the Sonic games on Genesis, and still disagree with you.
To ESE150: The 3D Sonic games do have multiple paths, just like the 2D Sonics. Maybe SA 1 is a bit more linear than Sonic 3 was, but not more so than Sonic 1 (probably the best of the 2D series). Also, if you compare the whale scene to the 2D Sonics, there were plenty of places you lost control in the 2D games (all the tubes come to mind). Yes, I know that this scene could have been done with complete control from the player like when the lava chases you in Sonic 1, but I think they wanted to make it easier for the player since it was the first level.
Sonic Phantom, i read your comment and it moved me to tears. that’s exactly how i feel about this matter, and you really know how to express your opinion civilly and gracefully. but what really got me sobbing is how much all these people care so much about Sonic, and how every single one of them is prepared to defend their opinions and defend them well. im only 14 so of course i havent grown up with those older games. i came in with Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast. my point is, even though we all have different views, we have all grown to love that blue blur that blazed across our childhoods. we all love Sonic the Hedgehog, so why cant we just leave it at that? you dont have to get defensive every time someone says something you dont like, just accept that not everyone shares your views and get on with your life. thank you, Sonic Phantom, for your insightful comments. that really summed everything up.
long live Sonic the Hedgehog!!! ^_^
ok i take most all of it back. i just finished reading the other comments and Sonic Phantom was really starting to creep me out there. but i meant what i said about how much we all care about Sonic.
ummm… i know it’s really not my place to say, but dont you think we’re trying to reach the wrong people? what exactly are we accomplishing by arguing with each other? if you dont like what’s going on, do something about it! im pretty neutral on this matter, personally. i would like to see better games, but at the same time im perfectly content playing SA2 and Sonic Heroes. what im trying to say is, it’s all well and good to excercise your freedom of speech, but what’s the good in it if nothing gets done? think about that, please.
im sorry if this offends anyone, but this is truly how i feel.
long live Sonic the Hedgehog!!! ^_^
ok one more and i’ll be done for the day. i know everyone here cares what happens to Sonic, but be careful, please. your comments are on the verge of being downright scary. it’s ok to be passionate about your opinions, but please try not to forget that we’re discussing entertainment here, and what some people find entertaining can be *ahem* not so much so to others. let’s not lose sight of the fact that we all love playing Sonic games, whether we be old-school or new-school gamers.
again, im sorry if you dont agree with me.
LONG LIVE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!! ^_^
i think the whole mobius thing is stupid. sonic is fine on earth as long as he stays away from the close relationships with humans. although the shadow-maria wasn’t bad. they weren’t in love with eachother, just really close friends or companions.
if sonic must have a lovey-dovey relationship it should be with his own species and without kisses and “i love you so much” talk. Just saying they are boyfriend-girlfriend in the prologue or manual is enough to get the point out.
what do you think?
Hey, Sonic Phantom. your taking it too far. like somepeople like your or others say, opinions will be opinions. Besides Racket boy isn’t out to kill Sonic. If Racket Boy didn’t care about him he wouldn’t be addressing Sonic’s downfalls and saying in his next page how Sonic could be improved, he’d just forget about Sonic like you said and just move on and this “report” wouldn’t have even happened. So Racket Boy isn’t that bad.
And by report i mean article
sonic_vs_shadow, what do you mean by creeping you out? Was it because of what much earlier about what I said? If that’s what you are thinking then you got me all wrong, I apologize if I creeped you out. I really don’t say anything like that, but one day, I couldn’t take it anymore and just said some mean things.
Again sonic_vs_shadow, I’m sorry if I creeped you out there. I was just angry about how I tried to say that stuff about the current 3D Sonic games. And again, I wasn’t thinking clearly, so are all right now?
Kaishiomo, look I’M sorry for what I said earlier. Seriously, I am sorry for saying that stuff. Like I said before, opinion battles cannot be won or lost, no matter what you say.
I was only stating what I thought about Racketboy’s “article”.
But I wish that people would stop complaining about this whole argument. I mean yeah, most of the Sonic games currently do have their flaws, and I’m not a fanboy to see that, because I can even see them myself. But…I found most of them enjoyable, including Sonic 06. Despite the tons of problesm that it does have, I’m never going to stop playing that game.
The only Sonic game that I found was a disgrace was Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the Game Boy Advance. That will never be forgiven.
that goes for anybody who says that Racket boy is crap.
I’m not saying I’m against you Sonic Phantom or am i saying that Racket Boy wins this argument. Like you said a battle of opinions never has a winner, so there shouldn’t be a loser either.
My opinion on the new games is that some of the recent games especially Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 had loads of potential to become a sonic game that could redeem the whole series, but Sonic Team keeps focusing on the wrong things and since its a natural reaction to see whats bad the potential is lost. And Racket Boy can see this potential too, I think.
Well, if that’s what you think, it’s your opinion.
And true Sonic 2006 did turn out a bad game. Sure, Sonic Team did make that game a premature release (I don’t say rushed, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But it’s the same thing really.) and if Sonic Team did delay the game for a few more months, the game would’ve been perfected IMO.
But when I played the game I had a blast playing it. The only thing that I found bad were these:
Loading times
Sonic moved slower in the game (minus Blaze and Omega)
And some of the Town Missions I found were boring
That’s it basically, everything else I could deal with. You don’t agree, fine. But no matter who says what, it’s not going to stop me from playing Sonic games (no matter how bad they may seem).
Although, I’m used the loading times now.
It gives me time to give myself a little warm up.
Sorry miss typo.
I’m use to the loading times now.
You are SO right. Mario is so much better than sonic now. Some people still think that sonic is cool, but i hate it now. When sonic heroes came, i got excited that a new sonic game was coming, with all the cool moves and stuff, obviously everyone got excited. But guess what? The game was a flop. Adventure and the genesis games were the best, and the genesis games were more exciting then how it is now.
Yes Ii would rather play the large water blob creature thne a stupid ass large eggman!!!
Well, maybe sonic is a little eh.. off. But i’m sure he’ll come back as what he used to be. Sometimes i even cry when i think of sonic heroes compared to these bad and short games they are making now. But one thing stays true: i still think Mario is a fat ass.
Good article, definitely an interesting, informative (and somewhat entertaining) read. Though I have to disagree with this sentence: “an very exciting alternative to those that weren’t Nintendo fanboys.” It isn’t like you HAVE to be a Mario fanboy to enjoy a Mario game. Aside from that, great article.
There s going to be a new sonic game, “sonic unleashed” and yey! it’s on Wii! And on A LOT of other consoles. It looks just like the old sonic just 3D. The screen isn’t showing Sonic’s back it’s showing his side. So it looks like a pretty interesting gaming expirience.
Hey, what if they made a movie?
Sora’s baby love should just shut the hell up! evetone loves sonic!!!! I love him!!!!! kingdom hearts is the most sissiest game ever!!!!! Disney? what kind of 7th grader likes kingdom hearts!!!! no one!!! Sonic is the best!!! you know what, just shut the fuck up…. there i said it… we love u SONIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just got to this site, read it all completely, and I’m okay with everything everybody said, especially you,rocketboy. [sorry racketboy, I have loads typos], but I played almost every level and Ending for Shadow the Hedgehog and Shadows cool! that game gave me almost all I know about the Sonic team and it’s not real harsh it’s almost my type of game! [getting carried away, so anyway!] I believe all of them are awesome!Note: I’m not against anybody!!!Note 2: I’m 12, but not spoiled, so please don’t start!Note 3: maven,whatever, the Hedgehog?where the hell did those come from?
Question: I’d like to know, what are the systems for, where can I buy the Games and the names of all the Sonic 2-d games? I haven’t played them, but from what you Guys say, I wanna play and beat them all so PLEASE SEND A RESPONSE ANSWERING THAT QUESTION!!!!
All hail Sonic!!!
I would recommend looking into the Sonic Mega Collection for the PS2, XBox, or Gamecube. They have most of the 2D Sonic games plus some extras. If you want Sonic CD and some other games as well, Sonic Gems Collection is good.
I agree. However, I think a 3D Sonic could work – here’s how:
3D World + 2D Gameplay = Welcome back, Sonic. 🙂