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

[Dreadknux]

I sort of have three answers, depending on how you look at it.

First game was the original Sonic the Hedgehog - when I was a kid in '92 my friend had a whole bunch of game consoles and I remember playing things like DuckTales on his Game Boy, Sonic 2 on his Game Gear... what turned my head though was the OG Sonic 1, we'd take turns playing through Green Hill Zone in his bedroom during sleepovers. It was so cool, it got me into video games as a concept (not just Sonic).

Second game is Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System - this was the first video game I ever had, and it was because I wanted a Mega Drive For Sonic 1 16-Bit, but could only afford a Master System at the time.  If 16-Bit piqued my interest in Sonic and games though, Sonic 1 8-Bit solidified it - I played that game all day, every day for years. Until I could get myself a Mega Drive a few years later.

Third game is Sonic 2 on the Mega Drive - that was the game I got when I bought my Mega Drive, and it was probably the title that REALLY got me hooked into Sonic. I had owned, completed and enjoyed all three Master System Sonic games for many years before, but getting the chance to play the "real thing" on the Mega Drive... that day was very special to me.  Endless multiplayer races!

[Conando]

Sonic 2. It was bundled with the SEGA Genesis my mother got for my brother and I on Christmas Day in 1993. Before that I had a hand-me-down NES from my uncle with Super Mario Bros. but I was just a little too young to know what was up (I was kindergarten age when I got the Genesis). Since then my history has been equal parts Nintendo, equal parts SEGA.

[Maria.Sosori]

I'd say either Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, or Sonic and the Secret Rings.

Funnily enough, the story of how I got into Sonic was by watching reviews and discussions on youtube. I was kind of a casual "fan" (if you could even call it that). I heard that Shadow the Hedgehog had a good soundtrack, so I listened to it and loved it. I especially loved "I Am... All of Me" (and I still do) to the point where I googled ShTH memes while listening to it. I saw a meme mentioning SA2 and Shadow and Maria, got intrigued, watched every SA2 cutscene, loved it, then played SatSR and grew to love it as well. You can stop reading here, buuut technically my first Sonic game EVER was the Sonic CD remake by Christian Whitehead. I only played a little, but it's the first instance I can remember of me playing a Sonic game.

[Technically Inept]

The first Sonic game I remember playing was Sonic 2. Actually one of the first games I played, I think. If not the first.

I used to play it a bit then, but I am honestly not sure if that was because of how much I enjoyed doing so. I don’t remember how I actually felt playing the game. I do remember liking Sonic 1 which I later got less, but that doesn’t really say much about 2. 

First Sonic game I remember really enjoying the gameplay on was probably Unleashed PS2. Put simply, the day stages were a blast. “URRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!”

The second Sonic game I can remember really liking for it’s gameplay was honestly Sonic Riders…

 

 

[AlexHidanBR]

I first played Sonic 2 on my Sega Mega Drive, then I played the games up to Sonic R, because then I switched to playstation, and my next sonic game would be Heroes, then I played 06 and I got sick of Sonic for a while - then I saw the Generations first trailer with the classic Sonic reveal and something inside me just reawakaned - then I played Generations on my xbox 360 and now I play every Sonic game I can, currently playing Frontiers and Superstars on my nintendo switch

[Ratchet25tx]

Sonic Lost World and Sonic and the Black Knight are the two games that got me into Sonic

[Jake Heaton]

My first experience of a Sonic game was one of two games. Sonic Heroes or Sonic Mega Collection Plus on the PS2. Both of which I played when I was 5-ish years old. They were amazing introductions to both the classic and current iterations of the series.

With Mega Collection Plus, I remember spending loads of time in the Gallery, because of the cool music, reading the Archie "Sonic Firsts" comic and the colourful artwork I tried to draw. I loved playing Sonic 2 and 3 and was even having fun with Comix Zone. I didn't get far with that game!

I wouldn't mind calling Sonic Heroes my first Sonic game. Even though I never got past Power Plant with Team Sonic when I was young, I fell in love the characters, the speed, the colourful world and the music, including my first exposure to Crush 40. The rest was history. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Jake Heaton

[sonicclaasic]

The very first Sonic game on the Sega Mega Drive got me Into the Sonic franchise back In the 90's era. That's how I became a big fan of Sonic and collector myself.  

[Maple Syrup]

 Few months before, My Best friend took me, another friend, and her neighbor to Sonic 2. Then the only one who knew Sonic well was her neighbor who had a guidebook and she told us about Shadow. He was her favorite character. I didn't get into it then. BUT it wasn't till that summer, the time I visited my cousins. They downloaded the games Sonic 1 and 2 on their apple TV and I decided," I watched the movie, I might as well try". I tried and it clicked in my head. It was the experience of a lifetime playing and yelling at the characters if they die! 

[MGA_Gamer]

Sonic Advance 3. It was the first Sonic game I ever owned, and it came around the time Sonic X was being aired, so I was familiar with the cast by then (Never managed to unlock Cream though ).

[batson]

What got me into Sonic in the first place was the cartoon The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. The first Sonic game I became truly obsessed with was Sonic CD on Windows 95.

I then went a few years thinking I was "over" Sonic but after a playthrough at a friends house, that lasted over a few weeks, of both the Mega Drive trilogy and Sonic Adventure I was once again hooked. This was in 2002 I believe, and this is also when I started hanging with the online Sonic fanbase. So yep, I've been waisting my life with ya'll talking about a cartoon hedgehog for 21 years in a row now, and I don't regret it one bit.

[Ravenfreak]

Mine was the very first game in the series. I played it in 1994 and it was the first game I have every played btw. It's what got me into video games to begin with!

[Hypersonic55]

I've pretty much been in since I got my Mega Drive in the 90s with Sonic 1. That being said, I believe it was Sonic 2 that REALLY got me into the series. The sense of speed, level design, beautiful visuals and catchy music just came together in such a magical way.

[Rabbitearsblog]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was my first introduction to the franchise.  Even though I also played Sonic Spinball around the same time, I remembered how me and my sister were terrified of Sonic Spinball and how we couldn't even get past the first level!  Sonic the Hedgehog 2 however was the point where I really got into the characters (especially Tails since I used to play as Tails all the time, while my sister played Sonic) and ever since then, I've been a huge fan of the franchise!

[Knight Terror]

Sonic colors for the Wii. It was my first console game and the first game I ever beat 2nd I ever 100% completed.

[Itzyaboi64]

To be quite honest it’s a long story. So my first introduction to the series was a longgggggg time ago. I had found Sonic the hedgehog 2 but I didn’t play it enough to say “hey I’m gonna have a new obsession with Sonic the Hedgehog “. A few years later I was on Netflix bored and I stumbled across Sonic x and that is what started with the series. Soon I was gifted a switch from my sister and one of the games on it was team Sonic racing and it was a fairly new game at the time so I was excited to play it.but my first Sonic game I EVER HAD ENJOYED was Sonic mania and for its time it felt like a real classic Sonic experience especially when I compared it to the original Sonic games I had on pc. Long story short sonic mania.

[ChaosCTRL]

For me, it’s a bit tricky. The first Sonic game I played was Black Knight at a friend’s house. The first game I owned with Sonic in it (where I fell in love with Sonic as a character) was Smash Bros Brawl. Then, the first actual Sonic game I owned was the mobile port of Sonic 1. That was about the time I started learning more about other characters and getting invested in the franchise and keeping up with news.

[Knight Terror]

Whoops said it twice, delete this please mods.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Knight Terror
oops

[castell-neath]

I have 3 answers to this question.

Initially it was sonic 1 on the master system back in 1991 I was 11 when it came out and we could not afford a mega drive at the time. I loved everything about it. Music, sound, animations, and the fact that bosses were sometimes harder than the mega drive versions as you had no rings. I was sold as a die hard Sonic fan. When i did get a mega drive a year later, sonic 2 solidified it. I was hooked until 3d blast in 1996.

After switching to a playstation in early 1997, mainly for the f1 games, I did not play a sonic game again until SA DX in 2003 on the pc. I has hoping they would port SA to Ps but of course tht never happened. I enjoyed it, but it was Heroes on the ps2 in 2004 by which point I was 22 and which REALLY got me back in love with the franchise again...it was such a nostalga fest with the colours, level cards and a nice progression to what I was used to from a sonic game. I quickly revisited SA2 and enjoyed Shadow as a result. 

In 2006 I moved to work abroad, and did not play any sonic games until I came home in 2010 and bought a ps3. I was 28 by this point and It was Unleashed which got me back in love with the franchise again for a 3rd time...despite the warehog elements which quickly became boring. I loved the speed, animation style and long level length. I revisted 06, it was ok and then Generations came along. By this point I had the means to invest in all manner of merch, afford to book to go.away to conventions (Weston Super Sonic, Summer of Sonic) and this got me looking to get involved in the community with siging up to SSMB etc. Now here I am at 41 and still as committed as ever. 

So yeh, 3 games for me really - S1 on MS, SH on Ps2 and SU on Ps3.

Edited December 27, 2023 by castell-neath

[JezMM]

I grew up with Sonic 2 and later Sonic 1 for the Master System, and tended to play the Mega Drive ones occasionally at friends' houses (was always perfectly happy with my own though, I don't recall any sense of jealousy or feeling like I didn't have the "proper" versions - possibly because I was dumb and assumed mine were the originals anyway because why would 16-bit games come out before 8-bit ones???).

I loved them, still do, and also had an AoStH VHS and bought Sonic the Comic whenever I could - I was "into" Sonic for sure... but I never really wanted a SEGA console and was a Nintendo kid - we got an N64 the year it came out and other than reading STC and still playing the ones described above regularly I didn't keep in touch with what Sonic was up to (naturally nothing to absorb through cultural omosis because what Sonic was up to during that time was "not much").

So I'd say the game that got me REALLY into Sonic, was Sonic Adventure 2, after we went multiplatform.  After a half decade of mostly gentle Nintendo games, I was kinda blown away by City Escape and the sheer speed and style of it all when a friend brought it round.  And after that there was no looking back!

[IHaveACaseOfSonicMania]

I don't remember things very well, but from what I think happened was that my mom, maybe my brother, had Sonic Dash on there phone. I did not really like endless runners, but I would say the thing that that made me a Sonic fan, was Sonic Lost World. I saw a let's play video of it and I was hooked, a shame I don't love it as much, but it will hold a place in my heart.

[FlameStream]

I have a fairly similar story to some of the people here.

I watched my uncle play Sonic 1 and it pretty much hooked me in somehow. But Sonic 2 being the first game I played probably solidified it for me.

While I've been a fan since then, consuming various media and contributing to the fandom with my work, it wasn't really until Sonic Adventure 2 that I really started to be involved. That game pretty much peaked my interest.