The Rush and Advance series have gotten nothing but love and warm reviews, so it always puzzles me when people forget to mention that.

It's the CONSOLE Sonic games that have been so disappointing. Sure, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 had their flaws but they were still fun.

It's the dreadful three: Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic (next gen) that gave Sonic his new foul stench of failure.

Hopefully this RPG will help him out, but I feel like Sonic still has potential. If they had spent another year on Sonic for PS3 and 360, it could have been great. But it was so rushed and full of flaws that the final product is virtually unplayable.

If only Sega gave Sonic the proper time and attention that Nintendo gives Mario. Sonic needs his "Mario Galaxy" in order to be fully restored.

Reply

Now a quote from House...

"You can live with dignity you can't die with it."

Meaning if sonic dies he has no dignity... It's very sad. But his last outings, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, those were the last great Sonic games I think... And he's awesome in Smash Bros Brawl.

Reply

racketboy had a much better article on this series. It actually offered suggestions as well as thoughts on what makes Sonic good and wasn't just pointless "I want Sonic's head" statements. I find that some video game series need to cut back on the amount of games released and some need to be shelved for a considerable amount of time, but with the quality of the Rush series (which isn't perfect, but still very good and very much in the spirit of the original games), there's no reason the kill off the hedgehog. If we are to get quality Sonic games, let's think about how to make them instead of offering unhelpful death threats. I echo the other commenter's thoughts that this wasn't a very good article. I've seen much better.

Reply

ah...the great debate of Sonic being around anymore...Its always sad when people are demeaning to the Hedgehog. For the time that the Sonic games have been around, they have done amazingly well, even with the drop of the Dreamcast and becoming Third-Party. With Bioware picking up the Sonic franchise and making a brand new game out of it, I would say that Bioware is the turning point.

Any studio could have picked up Sonic, made a quick game and shoved it out onto the market. I think after Sonic Chronicles comes out, Sonic Team will see that all it takes is a little elbow grease to bring Sonic back.

Reply

Sonic Team just needs to hand over the reigns to someone else. I had high hopes for the next gen sonic and even NiGHTS. They partly succeeded on recreating the magic of the original NiGHTS but again bogged it down with useless gameplay mechanics and attempts at a storyline. Sonic on the other hand deserves much better than hes recieved on the console front. Sonic chronicles will hopefully give him some of his dignity back and Brawl doesn't hurt either. While we're at it, Sega should make Yu Suzuki work on a Shenmue 3. ^_^

Reply

No: He should suffer, and adapt a scorched-earth policy. He should fight to the last, and leave a trail of destruction when he finally goes down in a blaze of crapulence

Seriously, though, I liked most of the newer Sonic games, so i dont really care.

Reply

Sonic Team seems like it can't concentrate on a story and a good 3D system at the same time, and unfortunately try to concentrate more on the former.

The Mario series, with the exception of Paper Mario, of course, has focused more on making good 3D systems than involved and character-constipated storylines. Seriously, what's the difference between putting Mario in space and Sonic in "1,001 Arabian Nights"? Not much, honestly; both are pretty ridiculous from a storyline perspective. But with Galaxy having such a great system to interact with, it doesn't matter so much. You enjoy the strange world because it's downright fun to play in. If the controls and gameplay of Sonic and the Secret Rings were tighter, people wouldn't mind the Arabian theme so much, either.

Sonic shouldn't die; no way! I think the handheld Sonics are more than "okay" and show promise for Sonic's original gameplay style still having a place in today's gamescape. But there needs to be an overhaul if they want to continue down the 3D route, starting with a workable system first! Worry about the side characters later, Sonic Team, if at all.

Reply

We just need a 2D sonic platformer in 3D. That could save Sonic, alone. It's funny that the only 3D sonic game worth playing wasn't ever completed. Nice move.

Sega should take a hint from what Nintendo did with New Super Mario DS. or from Capcom with the Mega Man X re-make.

I feel bad for Sonic Team, they've made a number of great titles over the years, but they've absolutely killed sonic's 3D series.

Reply

Sonic Team themselves aren't doing quite a good job, but when you really play the games, you find that they are good. Sonic Heroes is truly a GREAT game. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) suffers from many issues, but the story, graphics, and especially music are excellent. Leve design is pretty good too. Most Sonic games lately (on consoles) are just unfinished ideas. Shadow the Hedgehog had a lot of potential, but they didn't take the time to finish it. That is the only problem with modern console Sonic games.
Sonic Rush, on the other hand, was more than just 'okay', it was great. Same with Sonic Advance 1 & 2. Knuckles' Chaotix was still good, yet disappointing, and I find time to play Sonic 3D blast every now and then.
It's a shame that it's cool to hate on Sega and Sonic. Sega has brought loads of innovation to the industry and have always churned out a quality console. Their departments, such as Smilebit, AV, and AM2 have always churned out quality games. Sonic Team is struggling lately to find their voice (and re-hire Sonic's old voice), but they will come out on top again.

By the way, hasn't anyone noticed that Mario games have really sucked lately? The last good console one was Mario 64, and the last good handheld was New Super Mario Bros. The music has become worse, and Nintendo whores him out to different franchises. Honestly, who needs another Mario sports game? Let's be real here people, Mario isn't doing so well either, he just has more appeal to Moms and casual gamers - just like Nintendo.

Reply

I think if we all just forgot about stupid nostalgia and said hey wait a minute sonic on the genesis is like...old. YES its a classic i have much respect for it still play it etc etc. But next-gen isent going to kill anybody. the DS games were awesome...AWESOME! the latest console sonic(360,ps3) was terrible. however sonic is in brawl!!! also secret rings wasent so bad. nostalgia is stupid!!. and lets not forget about zero gravity the ps2 version rocked. and there will be plenty more sonic games to come...

Reply

Yes. Please. Let him move on, NOW.

Reply

The main problem is that the most recent games have cheesy quotes, horrendous voice acting and gimmicky story lines. In Sonic Unleashed, do we *honestly* want him turning into a werewolf? In Sonic 2006, did he HAVE to die, only to be brought back using the Chaos Emeralds and luckily, his "presence was in the air" around them and by a KISS, from a HUMAN?

This is why I got Sonic Adventure DX for my PC recently; I wanted a good Sonic game. And it was £5. You really can't pass it up.

Reply