Sonic Reddit Community Posts a Survey on its Sonic Opinions and Gaming Habits

[Dreadknux]

I’m not a regular on Reddit so I’m not sure what the context is about this - I only just caught chat about this in Status Updates. But there’s been some survey on a Sonic Reddit community that was published recently, and it shares some interesting ideas about what the online Sonic community is all about.

The survey results are here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/1OEZ-C7qPV756nBtWDhoDyF-C16faY8pv/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msword

What do we think about some of these answers? This whole thing has inspired me to maybe make a broader Sonic Community survey that focuses on the membership here.

[Indigo Rush]

Sonic Adventure 2 being the most popular game closely followed by Sonic 3&K doesn't surprise or bug me. Sonic Unleashed scoring above Sonic Mania however fills every one of my blood vessels with caustic hatred and confusion, and then it all made sense once I read that Unleashed is also the top game that people haven't played but want to.

Go on, Sega. Re-release Unleashed. Do it.

[Wraith]

I think it's a little strange how much ground Sonic Adventure 2 has gained when a majority of people surveyed weren't even born when it came out. I wonder how they're accessing it. Is it the PC version or are they absorbing it through YouTube/twitch?

Another big surprise is 06 scoring so high on best soundtrack when everyone surveyed agrees that it's a bad game overall. 

I've noticed a pivot in the hardcore base away from the classic games and toward the 2000s and this survey reflects that pretty well. Makes me feel like an old man still waving the Sonic the Hedgehog 2/SA1 flag though.

I've been feeling pretty alienated from the fanbase in general lately and these results show why. I'm a good 10 years older than the average Sonic fan at this point. Of course we're not gonna agree on anything. 

Gotta wonder how this survey might change if Sega made more of these games readily available. I imagine the answer is "not that much" considering SA2 beat out games on modern platforms but I'm still curious.

 

[Kuzu]

Sonic Adventure 2 is still hailed by many as the 3D Sonic game and its been readily available to play on PC for over ten years now, so its actually not that surprising its reputation has still held up.

@JezMMmade a good point yesterday that most of the demographic of Sonic fans that are online are in the late teenager and young adult age demographic, and lean more towards more "adult" games while Colors is generally considered a game more for children and casual audiences.

If this was a more general survey, the results would probably be very different and lean more towards the Classics.

 

The only thing this really tells is that the online hard-core Sonic community is the same as it ever was as the millennial and Generation Z, where they've always leaned more towards the cinematic 3D games than the more gameplay oriented ones.

 

[FlameStream]

I'd say nowadays, even the general/casual audience would also lean more or be in favour of cinematic experience. There are so many games out there and I've noticed a lot of people in my circle and peers are just going for an easy entertaining time.

The issue for them right now is that such game in Sonic doesn't quite reach the quality bar so far.

[Technically Inept]

This doesn't really tell us anything because Reddit is a circlejerk only represents a relatively small portion of the Sonic fanbase and the gaming community as a whole. Not everyone who is into Sonic is there. Man, not everyone who is "into" Sonic interact with the online communities surrounding Sonic or even gaming period. I can think of several people I personally know who are like that.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Technically Inept

[Iko]

This poll shows how few people have played the Advance games, and how they are slowly becoming obscure games. All because Sega don't re-releases them.

Overall I feel better knowing that the 2000s era games are getting more loved with time, I like the classics but I've never liked that mindset that only the classics were good and everything else is trash (hopefully we're moving away from that).

I'm not a fan of boost gameplay, but seeing Unleashed so high in the poll is also interesting in a positive way along with Frontiers as well: finally the franchise is expanding its legacy outside the constraints of the original trilogy plus CD.

I expected Generations to be higher too, along with Mania. People must be really sick of nostalgia...

By the end, I also agree that the poll doesn't reflect the entire fanbase, just a small section of hardcore fans... (814 answers vs milions of game copies sold) but it's still interesting regardless.

[sonicclaasic]

The best era for me Is the Sega Mega Drive era those where the golden years of the 90's Sonic games I enjoyed playing followed by the Sega Dreamcast era which again I love the Sonic Adventure games. But my favourite Is Sonic Adventure 2 game.