What was the game that really got you into the sonic franchise?

[Blazermaze00]

For me it was (don't laugh) sonic 06 on xbox 360! it wasn't the first sonic game i had ever played, but it was the first one i owned for myself :) (sidenote, i guess i'm just kinda lucky when it comes to games because i never encounter glitches and things like that unless i'm actively looking to cause them, so i never got the hate surrounding it until many years afterward. still love it though!)

[caitash]

Sonic 2, on mega drive.

The kids next door had Sonic 1 at launch on the megadrive and yeah it was fun and I liked playing it but not something I desperately needed to go over and play or anything.  We had the master system (no sonic) and was content playing fantasy zone and wonder boy.  Dad got us Sonic 2 on the master system which isn’t quite the game it is on the mega drive. Kids next door got Sonic 2 on the mega drive and could actually play as Tails and that was it lol. Bonus points we could play it together and share the fun until we upgraded our own console to a mega drive etc and it went from there.

[Phoenix]

Sonic Adventure 1. I played Sonic 3 on my brother's genesis sometimes, but I wasn't very good, and it never really spoke to me. But the second I played the SA1 DC demo, I become a lifetime fan of the franchise.

[Lytan]

Sonic Heroes. Someone gifted me a copy when I was a kid and it was love at first sight. Beat it and asked for a copy of SA2B a year or so later since it's mentioned in the Heroes manual. SA2B blew my 8-year-old mind, and I've been a diehard fan ever since.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Lytan

[GeAr-DX]

Sonic 1 on the Mega-Drive. God, I miss the late 90s...

[FReaK]

Sonic 2, Mega Drive, 1994.

I was 3 or 4 at the time, obsessed since then.

[King of Fanta]

Sonic 1 for the Mega Drive! Got it for Christmas in 1991 and became a fan for life!

[Promethean0416]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Genesis for me. An old friend of mine had it many years ago and it caught my interest that day.

 

[Sonicka]

Sometime in 1992 I bore witness to Sonic 1 on the Master System at my mates house. Thus begun my video game saga. 

Damn do I love that version so much <3

[regularmilo]

Sonic 1 on the Genesis. I'm pretty sure it was the first video game I ever played and I was hooked. I remember thinking it was like watching a cartoon except you got to control the main character.

 

Sonic Adventure was kind of a Sonic reawakening for me too. I was the exact age that the game was trying to target when it came out, with it's edgy, too-cool-for-school attitude. And it was the first video game I ever bought with my own money.

[SunriseSnowFox]

for me personally i recall that it was Sonic generations, i think it was when i was around 6-7 years old, and was my first sonic game ever. It immediately grew on me and is one of my favourite games to this day, especially when i found out just a few years later on the internet that the ´other´ sonic was classic sonic (who i had also discovered around that time) and well the concept of the modern sonic´s and classic sonic´s timelines having been in one universe was just fascinating to me. After that i think it was sonic adventure 2, ps3. without these games really , im not sure if i´d be as deep in the sonic fandom as i am still.

[SonicFan01919]

Sonic Generations on the PS3. It was great playing the levels and constantly beating Metal Sonic and getting my butt whooped in Crisis City and so, I wanted to play more sonic games and now I'm a sonic fan. 01919 

[Treacher]

Sonic The Fighters of all things where the arcade in an old mall used to be. The bright colors, energetic music, shields for blocking and the insane looking stretch and squash cartoon artstyle that was employed in the game all left one hell of an impression. Looking for something to play and finding a fighting game with such unique animation that felt like a show come to life just felt magical and all the characters had their quirks that made us want to play them. Since I was only around 7, Knuckles, Amy and especially Bark all gave us some trouble, never mind being able to get past Espio reliably without inputting another coin and seeing Tails just fly and drop you from the air like that. It was also frantic and fun that I'd go online way back when we first got an computer and the internet at the start of the millennium to remember the names and know more about the characters that thrashed us like little miss 30 "Rosy the Rascal".  After that, I saw my friend playing with his GBA with Sonic Advance in the Ice Mountain stage and while I eventually got one of my own in December early for Christmas, I had originally wanted to get Mis-Edventures since I was a big fan of the show at the time, but the game was delayed and so I had to pick another game, and upon remembering the title's name from my friend, I was scoped it out and was thrilled with realizing that the game featured my four favorite characters from Sonic the Fighters: Sonic Tails Knuckles & Amy, all sporting redesigns whilst still being recognizable, (although Amy less so). The rest is history. Playing that as my first owned game and just exploring, removing every badnik on sight, and being confused as to how to execute the spindash, but more so Sonic's air dash and grinding rather than simply speedrunning after playing a fighting game in the franchise is a cherished childhood experience. Although I have vague memories of playing what might have been the City Escape demo at a Toys R Us before that, All I remembered from that was someone somersaulting and trying to escape police pursuing him with robots abound.

[BMC productions]

i was a kid in the ps3 era and my family had one but i didnt have very many games for it as it was my dads but he took me to a game shop one day and bought me a game he said i could chouse any two games keep in mind i had never heard of sonic in my life because i was only 5 but the minute i saw the sonic generations box art i was obsesed the minute i started playing it i became a fan and have been one ever since.

[BMC productions]

On 9/24/2023 at 1:12 AM, SonicFan01919 said:

Sonic Generations on the PS3. It was great playing the levels and constantly beating Metal Sonic and getting my butt whooped in Crisis City and so, I wanted to play more sonic games and now I'm a sonic fan. 01919 

same

[Shiny Gems]

I'd say it was Sonic Adventure 2. Hearing the music have lyrics in some areas was a treat, and what was also a treat? Hearing Sonic speak for the first time.

Classic Sonic games wise, my first Sonic game ever was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the 90s, but what really got me into the series, perhaps is the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its other half, Sonic and Knuckles. It was a really awesome and challenging game, and I can see why people love that game so much. Anyway, it was a game I really enjoyed, more than Sonic 2.

On 9/7/2023 at 7:24 AM, GeAr-DX said:

Sonic 1 on the Mega-Drive. God, I miss the late 90s...

I hear ya, GeAr-DX. I miss the 90s overall.

[StreetSonic2022]

While I did have Sonic games for the Genesis and Game Gear, I think mostly the spin-offs like Sonic Chaos and Sonic Drift 2 were what I got into the series, not to mention the other media (SatAM for example). But Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast was the game that made me really in tune with the series due to Sonic Team evolving Sonic and the rest of the cast and refining their development.

[TangleTangerine]

Not sure which game it was but I was given an old plug and play drive that had a sonic game on it. That put him in the back of my head but it wasn't until I was given frontiers that I got more into it. I just wish I could find that old plug and play system again as it brings back fond memories even though I barely got past green hills....

[Sonicfan451]

Sonic 1 Genesis 

[juiceDpunk983]

Sonic heroes, the 1st Sonic game I played after watching Sonic X. Man the memory's of playing the DS games and playing Sonic the hedgehog 2006. Sonic in the early 2000s was absolute gold and I'm glad I didn't miss out on that era. That said though I went off the franchise after colours but then got back into it when Boom was getting announced with the silhouettes.

[PutsitinmyBottos]

Sonic 2 on genesis, it’s the only good sonic game LOOOLL. (I’m joking btw, please don’t banish me)

[LegoNess]

Sonic Dash. Seriously.

[Failinhearts]

As someone who never had a Sega console in his childhood, I grew up on Sonic via Sonic X. So naturally, his first multiplatform game would be my first gaming exposure to the blue guy. So, Sonic Heroes. Xbox, thankfully.

[EggKyodai]

For me it was Sonic CD on my phone. Free riders was my first but I remember so well how amazing the tone and atmosphere Sonic CD had were to me. The opening and ending songs for both soundtracks (but specifically Cosmic Eternity) felt so special to me and the games soundtrack is probably a big reason why I love music so much in the first place. I remember just sitting at the start of Tidal Tempest and just admiring the amazing song with the volcanos firing in the background and the pretty ruins Infront of me. I understand its many flaws but to me it'll always be a very special game :)

[Zaylok]

I don't remember entirely which one was my first exposure, but I know that it was either Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, or Sonic Colors. Both games are ones which I enjoyed immensely when I was younger and I had so many good experiences with both games when I was younger lol. I also watched a ton of Sonic X too when I was getting into Sonic, so that definitely played a major part in getting me into the series too.