Comments on: Is Sonic the Hedgehog still relevant?

A new Sonic game is hitting store shelves and Don Reisinger wonders if anyone will actually care. Is Sonic still relevant?

[andrew.mager]

I love Sonic and Tales!!!!

[Kapwan]

I think Sonic could make a comeback if Sega ever makes a decent game. Unlike most I enjoyed Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Rush was a great game as well. However all recent Sonic games have been horrible for 3 main reasons

1 - A tremendous amount of bugs and glitches
2 - Poor level design and game mechanics
3 - Too many characters and uninteresting stories.

I think Dark Chronicles has potential to be a good game, but Sonic Unleashed is almost sure to fail. Despite initially appearing to go in a better direction, the idea of sonic the hedgehog as a werewolf is a ridiculous idea. Sega can't pull of what Naughty Dog did with the creation of Dark Jak to make Sonic more interesting.

Sega needs to start fresh and create a Sonic game that doesn't rely upon the basic 3d mechanics they created in Sonic Adventure, but rather a game that focuses on what made sonic games fun in the first place, level design. The fun in old Sonic games came from exploration rather than combat.

To start Sega could release a 2.5d Sonic game.

[tosandrew]

I completely agree with your comment dude. Sonic as a Werewolf-Hedgehog is a very stupid idea that makes almost no sense, since he's already a walking talking humanoid Hedgehog. I may buy Dark Brotherhood when it's released. 8D

[aztec92154]

I'll buy the next sonic game to bring the innovative level design back! :-)

[dd13reis]

I really enjoyed Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, as well. I have to agree that subsequent titles were rife with issues that took away from the experience and generally created an atmosphere that was, well, crappy. I think Sega jumped the shark in a big way with Sonic by trying to make him cool and add characters to prove it.

Meh.

-Don

[Anchelspain]

Sonic Unleashed seems to be this kind of 2.5d game you're talking about, Kapwan, but I agree with you that the "werehog" idea is kinda cheesy. Still I'll wait until I see the final product complete before I dismiss the game at all.

But it's true that Sonic still has the potential for a big comeback. Sega just needs to rethink Sonic from the beggining, forget about all the many characters that have populated the series in the last few years and stick to the Sonic/Tails/Knuckles trio. If they want to use characters like Shadow, Amy, E-102, Cream, Silver, Blaze, Big the Cat and all... so be it. But at least don't make them playable characters that only hinder the experience of what people is looking for, which is Sonic. You see, people buy Sonic games to play as Sonic mainly, but Sega insists in having people play as Amy or Big, which offer nothing of the Sonic gaming style.

The Sonic Rush games were incredible. Rush Adventure was an awesome package full of everything. The dialogue was sometimes a bit dull and way too kiddy, but you could skip it if you wanted to, or enjoy it if you really wanted to get into the story. But yeah, it was the level designs that made Rush a fun adventure, altough it also lacked the ussage of several paths around which you could explore a little bit for new ways of reaching the goal. Sonic 3 was a perfect example of how many paths you could take to reach the same point.

If only Sega found a way to bring those level designs to 3D it would be an amazing game. That is, if they manage to fix the several camera issues and get a decent movement speed...
I'll always wonder what Sonic 3 & Knuckles would look like in 3D...

[Anchelspain]

Sonic Unleashed seems to be this kind of 2.5d game you're talking about, Kapwan, but I agree with you that the "werehog" idea is kinda cheesy. Still I'll wait until I see the final product complete before I dismiss the game at all.

But it's true that Sonic still has the potential for a big comeback. Sega just needs to rethink Sonic from the beggining, forget about all the many characters that have populated the series in the last few years and stick to the Sonic/Tails/Knuckles trio. If they want to use characters like Shadow, Amy, E-102, Cream, Silver, Blaze, Big the Cat and all... so be it. But at least don't make them playable characters that only hinder the experience of what people is looking for, which is Sonic. You see, people buy Sonic games to play as Sonic mainly, but Sega insists in having people play as Amy or Big, which offer nothing of the Sonic gaming style.

The Sonic Rush games were incredible. Rush Adventure was an awesome package full of everything. The dialogue was sometimes a bit dull and way too kiddy, but you could skip it if you wanted to, or enjoy it if you really wanted to get into the story. But yeah, it was the level designs that made Rush a fun adventure, altough it also lacked the ussage of several paths around which you could explore a little bit for new ways of reaching the goal. Sonic 3 was a perfect example of how many paths you could take to reach the same point.

If only Sega found a way to bring those level designs to 3D it would be an amazing game. That is, if they manage to fix the several camera issues and get a decent movement speed...
I'll always wonder what Sonic 3 & Knuckles would look like in 3D...

[Lerianis]

Personally, I like the idea of being able to play 'side-characters' like Amy, Cream, Cheese, etc. In fact, in all the games up til now, they have done those things in the right way.

[atomicbomb156]

I still love Sonic. I go over to my friend's place to play the game on his old Sega Genesis. But, like mentioned in the article, that has been replaced by Halo on his Xbox. I really don't play video games as much anymore but I usually reserve time for classics. Like Mario Kart 64, Halo, Final Fantasy Tactics, Pokemon Blue, Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur, and Diddy Kong Racing. But many are pushed off to the side because I am just a little old to be playing a few of those games. But games used to be fun to play. Graphics, environments, and system speed didn't matter because the games used to be amazing just as it was. Unfortunately many game developers forget that. The Wii is the exception because it was made just to be played as a game system. And I still play my N64 from time to time and my Gameboy Color. Still 2 of my favorite game systems of all time.

[chrisjust98]

I don't care what anyone says but if a game is good, then you're never to old to play it. I have all the latest systems but I still play my older ones. Hell, I still play duck hunt on the original NES. And I'm talking front loader. Now if they would only come out with some good Wii games everything would be good.

[thricedude72]

I'm still patiently waiting for another good sonic game. I still play the classics on Genesis...I'm waiting for one to come out that will bring the same enjoyment. Waiting. Just... waiting.

[daedbird]

Wow, reading this post, I still think Sonic could regain its mid90s footing, but it would have to be a killer graphics game that was different than all else out there. Think of it - POV Sonic where you raced across a lanscpa of the same geometric shaped trees and rocks from the first one. Going into sonic mode and flying through, with robotniked critter coming right at you.

[iHumanoid]

'Sonic's losing his stride?' That isn't necessarily true. In my opinion, Sonic games are a great deal of fun. However, a reason that Sonic is losing popularity is because some of his recent games put just a little too much emphasis on reality (i.e. Sonic '06), and there are noticeable bugs like camerawork. But these shouldn't get in the way of the gameplay, which has maintained its fast and furious trademark since the Genesis days (again, my opinion only). Anyhow, this article may be put into question with the arrival of Sonic Unleashed. It seems to address most of the concerns which gamers have been voicing over the years. Most of the main gaming magazines seem pretty hyped up about it...