So how *do* you feel about newer Sonic games?

[JezMM]

My opinions:

Sonic Adventure is good but has aged horribly (ask me to elaborate on that, I dare ya 8D).

Sonic Adventure 2 is fantastic but I can understand the dislike of the alternate playstyles.

Sonic Heroes was sloppy but playable. Good at best, dire at worst.

Shadow The Hedgehog was great, solid gameplay, fewest glitches of any Sonic game from this era, but some very boringly designed sections.

Sonic 2006 is vaguely playable and fun when it works, but most of the time it really, really doesn't.

Sonic Unleashed Wii is great fun though way too unbalanced.

Sonic Unleashed 360 is beautiful and my only criticism would be a splashing of some unfair difficulty, and overlong Werehog levels on the first playthrough. If they had taken the time it takes to beat them when fully leveled up, they woulda been fine. Also medal collecting was a nice idea but badly implemented.

As for the spin-offs:

Advance Series: 1 is great, 2 is great, 3 is filled with too much fake difficulty. All are a little too hard to see the true ending.

Rush Series: No complaints from either. Levels are a little unmemorable due to their speed and size but otherwise good fun, and well paced.

Rivals Series: 1 is fantastic fun, no complaints, 2 is horribly unbalanced. The attacks are useless. If someone gets too big a lead they've won. Stage design is as good as ever, act 2 battles and bosses are crap.

Riders Series: Love both games, Riders 1 is slightly better as the tracks have a bit more freedom to them. Riders 2 felt a bit too "Speed characters do this, fly characters do that, power characters do the other, gravity corners here here and here, gravity dive here" on every track. Also the story was abysmally handled which is a shame because the cut-scenes are so good.

Storybook Series: Rings is great, classic Sonic platforming with a neat twist, Knight was a dissapointment for me, platforming is replaced with what is essentially a glamourised scrolling beat-em-up.

Mario & Sonic: Haven't played Winter games but Olympics is good fun. Utterly non-offensive games.

And that thar is my opinion.

[Scarlet2106]

I like Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic Knuckles, Sonic 3D, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle, Sonic Advance 3, Shadow, Rush, Sonic '06 (regardless of how fucked up some of it was. I also like to think what could have been), Secret Rings and Rush Adventure.

Unleashed is also okay, but I preferred it when the Secret Rings-style gameplay was kept to the spinoffs. Or, perhaps, not made the focus of the game. I much enjoyed the Prince of Persia-esque platforming of the night stages, however. Rivals 1 and 2 are 2.5D, which I feel limits the level design. Wasn't really a fan of the racing idea either. Haven't played the Riders games, Unleashed Wii and Black Knight yet.

So yeah, I like a lot of these games. I'll probably like Sonic 4 too.

[Diz]

Sonic has been abused by Sega. The name has been tarnished beyond repair, and there will never be another good Sonic game. Sega is treating Sonic little the little whore-cash-cow that he is, and you idiots keep buying these games, and funding Sega's little piggy bank.

I respect your opinion regarding the games losing more and more of their touch (as far as I read it anyway), but do refrain from insulting the community. A flamewar is the last thing we need here, and apparently events like such are too easily established in these here sections. Please understand.

From here on, no rudeness or insulting (obviously counts for all members).

I am sorry for being off-topic. Please proceed the discussion. =)

[Viktormoros]

Overall, I got something out of most of the newer Sonic games.

I've posted the same thought before, but Unleashed on 360/PS3 is my favorite of the 3D games...It was just everything I felt a Sonic game should be.

Also despite the levels being quite straight forward. I liked Sonic and the Black Knight too. It wasn't what I'd consider a regular Sonic game, but it certainly was a fun spinoff.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Viktormoros

[Solid SOAP]

Lets see, every new console game since Heroes? Hmm..

Sonic Heroes - Very fun sequel to the Adventure series, while it wasn't up to snuff with Adventure 2, its clearly superior to the original Adventure, in my opinion. Repetitive team system that forces you to replay the game as 4 different teams aside, the game is fun to blast through, with good level design, great visuals for the time, a rockin' soundtrack, a bit more lighthearted and certainly more "Sonic" look and feel, and it was just a fun game in general. I liked it, 7.5-8/10

Shadow the Hedgehog - Don't know why I even got excited for this game, although looking back it wasn't too horrible, however it certaintly wasn't a good game. Extremely meh graphics and music, sporting only a couple of decent looking levels with okay music in them. In fact, some of the levels that had you returning to areas from Sonic Adventure 2 looked worse in this game than they did in Adventure 2. The use of fire-arms was actually quite fun and a bit underrated, even if it wasn't the best idea for a Sonic game, a franchise aimed at everyone, it still had it's moments of fun and kinda felt like what a Metal Slug game would play like in 3D. The vehicles blew shit though, not fun to use, only fun to experiment with and laugh at how slow they were. Shit plot that ruined all that made Shadow a good character too. Pretty bad game, but not the worst. 4.5-5/10

Sonic '06 - JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. Okay, I know that everyone hates this game and how it's almost become a bandwaggon to hate on this game, but god-fucking damnit, this game is absolutely ATROCIOUS. Oh my lord, everything in this game is wrong and I hate it. The movement is extremely stiff and slow, not ONE single level I had a fun time playing, physics were removed from characters for no good reason at all, making sections like the snowboarding ones much more annoying and frustrating than they should've been, the graphics, while sporting higher polygons than any Sonic game before it, looked absolutely atrocious and sported a severe lack of charm and polish, especially during cutscenes. Awful, awful, awful. The only Sonic game I ever didn't beat due to it being so bad, Jesus Christ. Like, 2/10. The music can be kinda cool sometimes, that doesn't stop it from being one of the worst games I have ever played in my life though.

Sonic Unleashed - Love it. Say what you want, I think this game was great and I loved playing it the entire way through, bar maybe one or two annoying sections in a level or two. The story and script? Pretty good, actually. It reuses the whole Monster of the Week bit, but you know what? The cutscenes were funny, I liked the addition of characters such as Professor Pickle and Chip and liked how they didn't try to cram in every Sonic character under the sun in this game, excluding even fan favorites like Knuckles and Shadow, very note-worthy. The day stages were an absolute blast, the most fun I've ever had in a Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2, easily, even without momentum physics and more proper platforming and bits like that, I don't care, it's fun, so I don't give a shit. The Werehog levels? Generic and ripped straight out of God of War? Yeah, you got me there. However, they can be pretty goddamn fun, and it's pretty refreshing to play a proper platforming game on a console riddled with shooters and RPGs. I loved collecting medals, even if the level design didn't call for it. During replays on Unleashed, it can be a tad tedious, but whatever, I enjoy it and I think it's fun. Absolutely stunning visuals, the best Sonic has EVER looked, they got the look down pat 100%, as far as 3D Sonic art styles and visual design goes. It's great to see humans who actually look as if they fit in the Sonic world, even if the more realistic stages such as Spagonia look a tad odd next to Sonic's deep blue fur/spines/skin. Love the music too, love this game, one of my favorite games on the 360, and my 2nd favorite Sonic game, right after Sonic 2. I still go back and play it from time to time, 8.5/10 - 9/10, more games like this please.

There were 2 really shit games in between one good game, and another great one, unfortunately.

[SykoTech]

What I really don't get is why people treat the entire last decade of the franchise to be pure crap when the only games that got extremely negative reviews were Shadow and Sonic 06. Everything else has gotten at least mixed reception. Since when did two bad games = an entirely bad franchise? I know people have different opinions, but that's just the general vibe I've gotten in the last few years. There just doesn't seem to be much middle ground where people think a particular game was even just okay, it's either it really sucked or it was pretty good. And people seem to forget the 90's had their share of terrible Sonic games. Sonic 3D Blast and Labrynth, anyone?

It's because that has sucked sadly eclipses the good stuff.

Shadow and Sonic '06 were main installments in the franchise, and were completely horrid in every way. Black Knight may have been a spin-off, but it was still a pretty significant console entry of the franchise, and it was really crappy too. Part of Sonic Unleashed was excellent, with the majority of critics thinking the Daytime Stages were the best thing Sonic's done in ages. Unfortunately, following the annoying tradition that the Adventure games started, over half the game was generic filler. Heroes and Secret Rings....were mixed bags. So are SA1 and SA2, at least in this day and age.

While the Rush games, Advance series, and Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing (if you count that one) all got good reception, the fact that the big console entries have been received poorly causes people to generalize the entire series as being crap. Back in the day, it was pretty much the opposite situation. Games like Labyrinth, 3D Blast, and the other Game Gear games may have sucked, the big console games were good enough to keep people from caring.

So until Sonic's "main" games satisfy people, the other good games are just going to get swept under the rug.

My personal thoughts? Well, my opinion isn't as cut and dry as most people.

I generally feel that the classics are the best representation of the franchise because they had a defined appeal and didn't partake in completely stupid concepts like fishing, treasure, shooting, realistic human worlds and whatever other random ideas Sonic Team has applied. However, that doesn't mean that the only Sonic games I like are those that came out before 1995.

To be perfectly honest, I'd take Unleashed, SA1, Rush, and Rush Adventure over the Classics. Expect for S3&K. That one is still top hog.

What's more, I think Sonic 4 looks great even after seeing the leaks (Splash Hill Zone only). Not 100% classic sure, but still appears really fun regardless. I can see myself enjoying it just as much as the old games, if not more!

Edited April 7, 2010 by SykoTech

[Solid SOAP]

Sonic 4 looks pretty fucking fun, despite not looking exactly like the old games. In all honesty, I'm not expecting to enjoy it more than Sonic Unleashed, but it does look like a fun little game that I'd happily pay $5-$10 for per episode, and if it's good enough I'd definitely buy a disk release.

[Gamerguy21]

Well, I'll just go through the main 3D games since Heroes:

Sonic Heroes- It was pretty decent. Although the team gimmick took more away from the game than it added IMO and the controls felt really slippery. Not to mention that having to play through the game 4 times (with minor differences) just to unlock the final ending was tedious.

Shadow- Does this even count as a main series title? I'm honestly not sure. If this is a main series game, is Knuckles Chaotix also a main series game? Bah, anyway, I thought the game was pretty "meh". It wasn't really that terrible, but it wasn't that good either.

Sonic 06- I'm gonna summerize this game in two words: Missed oppertunity. The story may have been pretty crappy and more development time probably wouldn't have fixed that, but I do think that the gameplay could have quite possibly been able to match (or at least get close to) SA1-2 if it had more time in development. For one thing, the phyics were down-right broken, which really hurt the game the most. Not to mention the insane loading times. Once you got used to the buggy physics, glitches, and frequent load times, there was some fun to be had (mostly with Sonic). You could tell that SEGA was trying to make a Sonic Adventure 3 with this game, since it combines a lot of elements from SA1/2 (multiple playable characters, different stories, hubs, etc.) and the gameplay even felt like an ultra-glitchy version of SA2 gameplay. Unfortunately, SA2 gameplay isn't fun without proper physics.

Sonic Unleashed Wii- Another "decent" game. A 1:3 Sonic to Werehog ratio, static menu town hubs (which ironically take more time to navigate than the normal hubs), and the lack of 2 contients make this worse than the HD verison. The Werehog was also worse than its HD counterpart, due to slippery controls ("Wait, what are you doing? I'm tapping the stick lightly to stay on this platform, why are you dashing off the edge?!?!"), a worse combat system, and less combos. The Werehog stage design also wasn't as memorable IMO, but maybe that's just because there were so many Werehog levels. The Sonic levels were also worse than the HD version. The controls felt stiffer and the levels felt more like giant race tracks than Sonic levels, which was made even more prominent thanks to the 100& time-based ranking system. They were still a bit of fun to go back to, though.

And as for Sonic Unleashed 360, I agree with everything Solid SOAP said. I honeslty couldn't have said it better myself.

Edited April 7, 2010 by gamerguy21

[SuperStingray]

Sonic Adventure - What I'd once call an interesting twist on the formula, or at least an experiment in 3D, has aged terribly. The physics and controls feel iffy, the camera is bipolar and Sonic's and Gamma's gameplays are the only one's I genuinely enjoyed. Tails mostly rehashed Sonic's but added made it a race, which was pretty much pointless since you could beat them easily by flying over everything. Knuckles' treasure hunting was a fair twist but still felt dull, Amy's was too slow paced and Zero felt more annoying than threatening, and I honestly feel that Big's fishing has no right to exist in a game focused on speed-oriented platforming. Still, Sonic and Gamma were fun and I give it credit for that. As for the presentation... probably among the worst I've seen in games. I understand that it was an early attempt at fully animated character models, but the gameplay models just felt like a huge step down when compared to the glorious and sadly underused CGI cutscenes. And the voice acting and dialogue was worst than 06 IMO. Music and level design were good though. I'm sure Sonic Adventure was good for it's time overall, but it's dated like milk in a hot van.

Sonic Adventure 2 - This really fixed most of the problems SA1 had, but I also see how this game was a major cause of Sonic's subsequent downfall in the public eye. The plot and music had a major shift in tone, but I personally didn't mind it. I like the variety in the music and how each character was defined by a respective genre, and there are few Sonic games I really think actually put a lot of thought into the plot and this was one of them. They were all very well developed characters and I've yet to see Eggman portrayed as a better villain. Voice acting was still bad at times but improved from SA1, even if the characters did have a strange tendency to talk over each other. This was also my first Sonic game, as I overlooked Sonic over the years before, so I didn't really have a lot of expectations when I walked into this one. I didn't really have a problem with the switches in gameplay between levels, though I can see where many would based on experience. Individually though, the speed stages were fun and this was when grinding was still used in fair moderation. The shooting stages felt like a step up from Gamma since they did away with the arbitrary time limit and it felt more challenging than "roll around and hold B." The claustrophobic treasure hunting levels like Aquatic Mine and Death Chamber were a lot worse, though some open levels like Mad Space were pretty fun. Still was more tedious than it needed to be since they restricted the radar to one at a time. I enjoyed the overall level design more than SA1, and the levels certainly had a lot more nooks and crannies to be found. Definately one of Sonic's best 3D games IMO, but still took a marmite turn.

Sonic Heroes - This was the first time I found a Sonic game to be patronizing. Not so much the gameplay itself as the story and presentation. Aside from the final battle with Metal Sonic (which was awesome) they turned Sonic from more of a realistic, fun-seeking adventurer into a flawless Gary Stu. And did they really need to make us play the game four times to reach the final part? The reason the sepearate-stories-same-zones thing worked in Sonic 3 and Knuckles is because they were treated as entirely different, isolated adventures. I did enjoy the team-based gameplay but the levels were WAY too linear. Music was pretty meh too. An okay title, but very unmemorable.

Shadow the Hedgehog - I honestly find Shadow to be very underappreciated. The story is among the worst out there, but it's so campy I can't help but love it. The gun mechanics actually work quite well, IMO and at least the gameplay is consistant. The "morality system" is actually one of the best I've seen in most games; in games like inFamous or BioShock, you're really only completely good or completely evil, but in Shadow, you're rewarded differently and equally for whatever direction you go and how far. It's not without it's flaws, of course. Some levels, namely Lost Impact, were unnecessarily tedious. And of all the Sonic games out there, this is the only one where I haven't found a single memorable tune. Okay, maybe the SA2 Eggman and GUN Boss remixes, but that's it. Great game, but doesn't fit well into the rest of the franchise.

Sonic 06 - Flat out terrible. Linear levels, awful physics, (mostly) boring music, padded out hubs, bad writing filled with plot holes and flat voice acting. This game is the exact opposite of everything Sonic stands for. The only notable things I find justifiable are Dreams of an Absolution, His World and, surprisingly, Shadow's Story. I honestly felt like the writer was fairly competent and did Shadow's story first and then got head trauma before writing Sonic's and Silver's which was only curable by watching Disney Movies and Dragon Ball Z nonstop for a week. While Shadow and Mephiles would have been very flat on their own, but their relationship was very fulfilling for both of them. Omega and Rouge also had great roles in the story without feeling too shoehorned in there. One of the worst games out there, yet still strangely redeeming for Shadow, which I guess says a lot about him, now that I think about it.

Sonic Unleashed - The general idea of this game is "yay day stage, boo night stage." In all honesty, I did enjoy this game. Very much so. But not for the reasons I'd ask from a Sonic game. The day stages felt like F-Zero minus competition and the night stages were essentially God of War. They're two genres which don't mesh well together, but I felt the hub made a fairly good transition between them. The day stages were just fun and colorful and nice to rush through. The werehog was rather bland and drawn out at times, I'll concede, but his fighting moves, along with that jazz music, was just hilarious to watch. I also liked the story. Simple, well developed characters, and the Gaia Colossus was probably the first time in a Sonic game where the final battle had a twist I didn't expect. I honestly can't say whether I think it's a good or bad game overall, but I enjoyed it and that's all I care about.

[EXshad]

Well.... I like a handful of console games, out of a fuckton. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed Secret Rings and both versions of Unleashed, but that's it. The problem I feel with them isn't the quality, they're both very high-quality games; it's the extra gimmicks crammed in. Granted, in these 2 games, I enjoy most facets of the included gimmicks, but gimmicks ruined games such as Sonic 2006, Shadow the Hedgehog, the Riders titles, and Black Knight. I'm disappointed that there's more bad games than good, but the recent Sonic titles, bar the Olympic cross-overs and Black Knight, have been quite good to me. I only hope the future games are as high-quality as the 2 titles I like, but without such intrusive gimmicks.

The handheld games, in my opinion, have all been pretty much gold, sans the "wonderful" GBA port of Sonic 1.

[Unknown]

Just going by the games I've played:

Sonic Adventure 2: Actually played this after Heroes, but I found it to be a better game. Good balance of story - it has a fairly interesting plot but doesn't go overboard with it. I also really enjoyed the music and how all the characters had their own different styles of music associated with them (though I can't say I was a big fan of Knuckles' rap music). And the gameplay was fun as well - good Sonic stages, and I enjoyed the shooting/treasure hunting stuff for the most part, though the latter became a bit more annoying toward the end of both stories. Overall, it's still my favorite Sonic game.

Sonic Heroes: First 3D Sonic I played, and I had fun with this one too. Didn't really like having to play the same game 4 times, but other than that the gameplay was decent. Everything else, however, was a mess: the story was awful all throughout and all the characters were extremely annoying, especially Tails with his terrible grammar.

Advance series: Advance 1 was great and very close to the Genesis games in my view. 2 was disappointing to me, and is probably the only 2D game that I haven't enjoyed. 3 was in between them: not nearly as good as 1 but not bad like 3. It was a decent game, enjoyable but not amazing.

Rush series: First one was decent, though the level design definitely aggravated me during the later stages of the game. Adventure vastly improved on everything from the original Rush and is tied with Advance 1 as my favorite handheld Sonic game.

Riders: Only played the first one, and was rather disappointed with it. Don't really know why, it was just very boring to me.

Secret Rings: OK, but the on-rails controls just didn't click with me. Still got some enjoyment out of it, but probably my least favorite 3D Sonic platformer.

Unleashed: I played the Wii version, which I have heard (and believe) is inferior to the HD version, but I still liked it a lot. The Sonic levels were rather dull up until the end of the game, but I actually enjoyed the Werehog levels. Even if they weren't traditional Sonic platforming, they were still really fun. Some slight control problems, but that didn't hurt them too badly.

Overall: I enjoy the games and I don't think the series has gone downhill as much as some say, but I understand that the games have flaws and that others have perfectly legitimate reasons for disliking them. I guess that I just have an easier time ignoring such flaws and enjoying games regardless.

[agoodusername]

Recent Sonic games? Depends on How recent.

Sonic Heroes- I loved this game! One of my all time favorites. I got it on the Gamecube

Sonic Advance 2, 3 and battle- loved em all! Some of the best in handheld gaming. I especially liked battle for it's story.

Shadow- This game was really fun until after you finish it. Then is just... All right.

Sonic Rush- another favorite I loved the simple yet complex story, and the special stages

Sonic Riders- yet again. An amazing game, it's my favorite racing game, very funny, and a great challenge. I hope sega will make a real sequel that keeps the boosting!

Sonic Rivals- a good time killer, not the best, but still pretty good

Sonic 06- One of my top 5 favorite Sonic games. I liked the story, and the slower speed. It made the game more challenging and let you explore the stages more. I also liked how silver played out. Shadow sucked though. I love this because I look past the glitches and find a fun game underneath. Best game since SA2

Sonic and the Secret rings- great fun. An amazing story, soundtrack, and parry mode.

Sonic rush adventure- Funny, and very fun. The stages were too short...

Sonic Rivals 2- one of my favorite handheld sonic games. I got every card

Sonic World Adventure for the PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360-Perfect. The best Sonic game since 06 although it is kinda boring after you beat it and are only missing like 2 or 3 trophies or achievements

any other game that I didn't list that came out after the secret rings and wasn't a compilation... I hated it

[Badnik Zero]

Short opinions:

Sonic Heroes - Boring as all hell. Partner switching is artificial. Cheesy. And the game is shorter than it really is if you do it once with one team. C-

Shadow the Hedgehog - Fun with a bad game. Uninspired environments. Cheesy. Gameplay was decent though, and you only play as Shadow. C+

Rushes - Handheld bliss. I would ask for more, but boost Sonic is replacing platforming Sonic. Except I don't even care too much. The game is great. A+

Sonic '06 - Never played it. I'll either be frustrated to no end with this one like with Heroes, or like it for its merits, like Shadow. ??+

Sonic and the Secret Rings - Little awkward with controls, but it's great. It's like playing an extended Sonic 2 special stage. Did exactly what it tried to do. B+

Sonic Chronicles - Nice for story kids. Lots of moments in this RPG. Battle system is weird but fun. Some battle functions are useless and music sucks. B+

Sonic Unleashed - Very very good. Polished beyond anything since SA2. Tight gameplay and levels, okay concepts. Werehog is okay, but really... why? A-

Sonic and the Black Knight - Poor. Wrecked the Secret Rings style by making it stop and go combat. Leap and dash over everything to win. Disappointing. C

All-Stars Racing - Not really a main game, but this is good enough to make the cut. Finally a great racer with Sonic in it. After how many years, Sega. A+

Edited April 8, 2010 by Pinche Pitochu

[Glenn]

Sonic Heroes was brilliant, frankly. Yes, it isn't perfect, but so what? I love the soundtrack, love the idea of the Team dynamic and just loved the feeling of evolution. Y'see, I hadn't played a Sonic game since the SEGA MegaDrive and so putting that disc into my PlayStation2 and running through Seaside Hill as Team Sonic... well, it was like coming home and finding your best childhood friends all grown up. And they're awesome, and still easy to get along with, easy to play with, etc. etc. You get the idea!

Shadow the Hedgehog was offensive. I got a copy, played it, took it back to HMV the next day and said "Got this for my kid brother, he already had it, refund please." Never again.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) was wonderful, thanks to years of putdowns and bad reviews between release date and my owning a copy. I was fully expecting a train wreck and yet, outside of accidentally allowing the Radical Train to hit a bomb once, it wasn't! Again, it isn't perfect. In fact, far from it: stand on a collected item box, for example, and marvel at how Sonic magically defies gravity and stands at an accute angle. The less said about the Mach Speed sections, too, the better. As the first game I played in HD, though, and the first game I played on PlayStation3, it didn't disappoint and I still enjoy it to this very day! Brilliant soundtrack, brilliant moments and Silver the Hedgehog? Brilliant!

Sonic Unleashed was, and is still, my favourite. The night stages are the perfect tonic to relax with, after the hectic breakneck pace of the day stages. I welcomed the return of 2D gameplay, blended so skillfully with the 3D elements (although not so much on PlayStation2, where I played it first... that was less organic, more contrived). And there's warmth to it, especially in the interactions between Sonic and Chip, who doesn't annoy me somehow! So the storyline's a bit of a rehash, so what? You're not playing for freakin' Shakespeare, are you?!

***

Yeah, I'm one of those freaks who loves everything to do with Sonic, regardless (save the one game up there... naming no names). In fact, while here, I'll also say that Sonic Riders and the sequel, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, were also some of the best racing games I ever enjoyed on PlayStation2. Seriously, nothing even comes close to the amazing sensation of controlling gravity: that bass tone, everything around you lifts up, the music pauses... and then you're off again, in a totally new direction! Amazing!

I'm obsessed. So sue me!

[Chili Dawg]

Sonic Heroes was pretty good. I had no problem with the team gimmick. Maybe it could have been handled a bit better, but it had no real major problems. The problems were with the controls (every level seems to have floors covered in butter) and the fact you're essentialy playing the same game 4 times. But overall it was a fun enough experience.

I didn't really play that much of Shadow so I can't say much, but what I played, I did not like.

Secret Rings was around the same quality as Heroes, though I'd say a bit better. The levels were designed well enough, it was just the controls that made the whole thing get pretty frustrating. If this game had a more traditional control scheme I honestly think it could've been the best 3D Sonic.

Unleashed on the Wii was pretty decent, though I think it was a slight step down from Secret Rings. It had a great sense of speed during the day, but it got old. The level design just wasn't that interesting. There was barely any platforming required until the end. Playing as the Werehog was alright but his combat got a bit reppetitive. Pretty decent pltforming though even if it did feel kinda generic. Also the game had an awesome soundtrack, easily my favorite of the series.

Black Knight I have mixed feelings on. There's the broken controls, the repettitive gameplay, the fact the game can go from stupidly easy to obnoxiously hard so quickly, and the fact that it only gets obnoxiously hard because it's so poorly designed. But despite all this I still enjoyed the game, and I have no idea why. I feel like I should hate it, but I can't.

Haven't played 06, Rushes, Rivals, or Chronicles.

So i wouldn't sa Sonic's recent games have really been terrible. They just haven't exactly been masterpieces.

[eXtaticus]

Since everyone else is making a list...

Heroes - Shite.

Shadow - Not quite so shite, but still shite.

Riders - Great.

'06 - Great.

Unleashed - Shite.

All the other shite that I forgot about - Shite.

Mostly shite. Two good games. 'Nuff said. Pretty shite, if you ask me... *shot*

[Sapphire]

I feel like Sonic's lowest low point is in the past, because games ARE getting better IMO. I really liked Unleashed (Werehog wasn't THAT bad, but those levels WERE annoying.) The only Sonic games I honestly loathe are Shadow, Riders series, and 06'. I loved the Rush games, Sonic Heroes was fun, the Rivals games were OK, and heck, the Storybook games aren't that bad. I just liked the Adventure games and the Genesis games better.

[Chaosmaster8753]

(Werehog wasn't THAT bad, but those levels WERE annoying.)

One reason they were so long was because of the forced enemy battles.

[BaronSFel001]

"There hasn't been a single good game since Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast."

Typical shortsightedness to the max, but all too prevelant since that phrase (and its paraphrases) has earned its reputation. This would be a considerably boring world if we all agreed on everything, but I have always pondered whether the problem is that certain people are not willing to enjoy themselves if there is one too many problems with a certain game. In other words, I think too many people fail to look past the negative issues and just have a good time playing the games. I read all the criticisms of the series loud and clear well before I even played any of the games in question, and that did not deter me from giving the benefit of the doubt.

There is, of course, the hardcore retro crowd that does not find anything to enjoy from Sonic Adventure onwards (some go back even farther, finding the 16-bit classics the only Sonic games worthy of their enjoyment). As far as the hardcore types are concerned, there is no getting past preconceived notions. But the general trend is to scoff at Sonic Heroes onwards (the handhelds tend to be left out of the overall picture - to quote tvtropes.org, "Whenever someone mentions Sonic's quality over the years, they will only point out Sonic2006 and Shadow The Hedgehog. If asked about [the Sonic Advance trilogy], they will frequently answer with a 'Huh?'"). For the sake of keeping things simple, these games will be my primary focus. First, though, I will establish the record of my position: I thoroughly love both Sonic Adventure games, and I have yet to meet a modern Sonic handheld game I dislike (I have yet to play Sonic Rush or anything released afterwards). I am also the completist type who goes after every last A-Rank.

I love Sonic Heroes. As a hearkening back to the classics in so many ways, I think it was as well-executed as Sonic Adventure if not better. It has its faults, and there are always the nitpicky naysayers - some who conveniently forget that the well-received Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 had pretty a greater level of issues that could annoy players. Sonic Heroes is the first point in which Sonic Team started to get innovative and try out new ideas in order to keep things interesting. We all know how well it got received.

I find that Shadow the Hedgehog is chiefly shunned for the wrong reasons. It is not glitchy and it is not boring, so what is the problem? Too many judged the new gameplay before they even sincerely tried it out. I think that if everyone actually tried to enjoy playing this, they would get much out of it. I think of Shadow the Hedgehog as a blend of Sonic-style platforming with third-person shooting, and I do not think it could have been executed better. Anyone who has not played Shadow the Hedgehog should try it.

Sonic 2006 is the first game I got tired of playing due to all the technical issues. It struck me as playing just fine, but even my perseverence could not tolerate the loading times. As a completist, that is a lot of my life being drained away as I go through loading screen after loading screen trying to get all the S-Ranks. I had fun playing it, and I think of the overall game quite positively, but the loading times are a little too much for me to keep going back to (though I do understand that was not Sonic Team's fault).

I could keep going, but the gist of the matter is that I find little to nothing wrong with the direction Sonic has been going in. To the contrary, I have long-since sensed the pattern of "Sonic Team listens to the fans griping, tries to appease them in the next game, but it only serves to make more to complain about." In fact, that part of it concerns me greatly, because although things have been looking up for a while now, things are not quite the same either, and we fans can only ultimately blame ourselves for that. Now, change may not necessarily be a bad thing, but we cannot deny our part in the matter. There is a difference between having legitimate issues with something and just plain being overly nitpicky. I wish people would focus more on the positive rather than the negative.

[SuperStingray]

One reason they were so long was because of the forced enemy battles.

They really weren't THAT long. Daytime stages generally took 3-5 minutes where Werehog Stages usually took 4-6. Empire City and Holoska are really the only ones that get tedious.

Edited April 11, 2010 by SuperStingray

[Mort]

By newer do you mean what came during or after the Dreamcast era or after?

The Classics.

While I've always loved the classics games, I don't really hold them on this unreachable pedestal that it seems the rest of the fan base does, with the exception of Sonic 3&Knuckles, which is my favorite of the classics and my favorite 2D platformer of all time.

The Adventure Series.

I got my first Dreamcast the Christmas after it was released. Of course the first thing that I did was dig right into Sonic Adventure. To this day you will never ever convince me that this wasn't the high point of the series, even with its warts I still consider it the most enjoyable of all of the Sonic franchise. It was a fresh new start for Sega and Sonic after the failure of the Saturn. The fanfare and the hype were huge, and the return of an icon with an awesome new look. There will never be a new Sonic launch title on Sega console again, in fact this is the only actual one. There something special in this game, something that isn't found in the other 3D Sonic games for me. It was in this weird period where Sonic's world was in a sort of in the middle ground between the whimsical style of the classics and the realistic style of the later games. As far as gameplay goes, the absolute best thing that this game has that tops all other 3D Sonic games is it's use of a character select screen. Sure there were a lot of characters and with each of them came a different play style, but it felt less jarring compared to the others because you could just pick the one character you want to play and run with it. Sonic's story has, in my opinion, the most enjoyable levels in all of Sonic history; they're varied, unique, and fun. Tails was also really good and I wish that whenever Sonic Team wanted to add in additional characters they would look at Tails in the original Adventure as how to do it right. Sadly, I really hated treasure Hunting, and this game took Knuckles, my favorite from my classics, and turned him into my second least favorite to play. I also enjoyed Amy and Gamma(Whose shooting sections seemed much better than the ones in Adventure 2), and of course big sucked. Also, the Perfect Chaos fight= Teh awesome. And yes, while this game has a few really obnoxious camera issues and bugs that hold it back, I still feel it is the most enjoyable of the franchise.

Sonic Adventure 2 was where the series started its downfall for me, though it wasn't worrisome at this point. My biggest problem with this stage is that while the Sonic and Shadow's stages were enjoyable, they didn't feel as unique and varied as the ones in the first Adventure and as such I don't particularly like them. With the exception of Final Rush(Which I love) and Final Chase(Which I hate), they all just feel like Speed Highway painted a different color. I actually really liked Shadow in this game, he tapped into my love of Jet Set Radio and Roller skates, and his hovered! He also had the coolest running animation. Rouge bugged me because I could tell, even back then, that the only reason she was there was so knuckles could have a mirror fight. Tails and Eggman's stages didn't feel as smooth as Gamma's did. All in all, it was a great game, but it just didn't hold up to the greatness that was the original Sonic Adventure.

Sonic Heroes was where the franchise starts to get shaky. To me it, saddened over the Dreamcast's death, and the fact that it felt fundamentally wrong at the time. This also starts the point where Sega was looking to the fans for how to better the series in 3D, as well as them pandering to the fanbase which bothers me. Shadow came back, which is understandable because of how popular he was, but it lessened how cool he was in Adventure 2 because of it. The also made a new E Series protagonist, Omega(Who lacks the charm that his chicken legged brother had). To me it just felt like a cheap way to try to appeal to the fans through needless fan service. That said, the inclusion of the Chaotix was a neat little addition, and was also fan service, so I'm not going to criticize the inclusion of Shadow and Omega because of it. It was okay, but as I dislike how the franchise started moving farther and farther away from the Adventure style gameplay. Overall, this is a very "meh" game to me. That Said,"What I'm Made of" is my favorite of the Crush 40 themes. I do like how they included Metal Sonic, who in my opinion, should be a regular villain and should serve as The Dragon to Eggman in almost every game as he can pilot mechas, as well as fight on equal ground with Sonic. I didn't care for his redesign however.

I've never played Shadow the Hedgehog, nor the Storybook titles so I cannot comment on them. That said, the retooling of Shadow into a car driving, gun shooting anti hero always bugged me.

Sonic 06 was so bad its horrible. Even if it wasn't a buggy broken mess I still probably wouldn't have cared for it as a Sonic game. That said, I consider this more of a fluke that one of Sonic's games turned out this poorly, because of all the Executive Meddling. At least it had some rocking music though, right?

The Advance Series was okay, the first was my favorite, and it was almost on par with Sonics 1&2 in my opinion. The other 2 are really "meh" to me.

The Rush series is a really fun and unique side scroller, and I very much enjoyed them. I also loved the music to the first Rush, being a huge Hideki Naganuma fan as I am.

Sonic Unleashed is the best Sonic title since Adventure 2, and a fun experiment in translating the speed Sonic seems to have in lore into gameplay. That said, while this game was a fun experiment, I wouldn't care to see additional Sonic titles use this style of gameplay. I'm also kind of saddened that the Werehog wasn't more well received, especially considering he was Ristar in 3D minus the headbutts.

All in all, I do feel the titles have diminished since the Dreamcast, just not as much as much of the fanbase feels they have. Also, I'm looking forward to Sonic the Hedgehog 4, it looks great.

[Tori Himemiya]

Well my feelings about the newer Sonic games in short summeries.

The adventures: These two games were really epic. And a lot of people would agree with me. These games are pretty Sonic's best in the 3rd era. But of course your milage may vary.

Heroes: I did kind of liked it. The only thing that got me was its repitition. Playing the same levels, just with a different layout is an ok concept. But the gameplay itself was pretty good. But level 3. flyer, level 3 speedster, and no level muscle is kind of a gamebreaker. lol

Shadow: People didn't like this game. But I did liked it however. It's fun in its own way. I tend to find the swearing amusing. lol

Sonic 06: People loathe this game entirely. I thought it was ok. I did saw its problems (the glitches didn't bug me btw) and I thought it could had been better. But otherwise I pretty much liked it.

Unleashed: I loved this one. People are mixed on it. I love the concept of the werehog. It's sort of a breather from speeding all the time. lol The day levels were epic and I wish the Wii version had more of it though.

In general: I do love Sonic's new adventures but there are some problems like everything else. But either way I still do enjoy Sonic even if it's "bad."

[Ekajra]

Well, I seem to quarter agree with the trend of this topic, as I seem to half agree with about the people who have posted. So, in short, I like the newer games, sorta.

The Adventures are both awesome and I don't think I really need to explain.

I enjoyed both Heroes and Shadow. They aren't the best games in the world, but they were fun to play. The high level of pits in Heroes kind of annoyed me, but I got past that. Also I couldn't get two of the Chaos Emeralds for the longest time(Haunted Mansion and the last level, I believe...), but I just sort of sucked as the special stages anyway. And the only thing in Shadow that bugged me was the language, but even that just started getting funny the more I realized they were just cramming in "Damn" to make it more edgy or whatever.

Haven't played 06, so I can't really judge that, though going off of my older brother's statements, I'd probably enjoy it somewhat if I figure out how to get around glitches and such. Besides, long loading times give you time to acquire snacks and beverages!

Secret Rings was pretty fun, the only annoying thing was how slow it was in the beginning and the controls were kind of wonky every now and then. Black Knight I enjoyed a lot more, the sword worked really well with the style of the gameplay and didn't feel out of place. Though I'm still not entirely sure what you're supposed to do in the Knight fights when you're pushing against each other and it has what I'm pretty sure is a waggle command of some sort.

Sonic Unleashed (Wii) was okay. The amount of Day vs. Night levels seemed unbalanced, which wasn't helped much by the fact that the Day time levels were literally "GO FORWARD TO THE END REALLY FAST IN A STRAIGHT LINE BECAUSE WE'RE ONLY GRADING YOU ON TIME!". Still, it was fun while I played it, but I've hardly touched it since.

Which is really the main problem (gameplay wise) with the newer games. After I beat most of the newer games I didn't really ever want to go back and play them. Maybe when I really had nothing to do and I look at it and was like "Hmm, I guess I'll play some Shadow". But I never really play more than a level or two. But I love playing through the Adventures again and again, and the Classics are always easy to jump in and mess around in. But that doesn't mean the newer games are terrible, I just don't enjoy them as much, which could even be blamed on nostalgia. But I'm optimistic about the future, and I'm looking forward to Sonic 4. And hopefully the next main game will get a better hold of how exactly a Sonic game should work.

[Ekaje]

Of the games I've played and can remember my thoughts about:

~

SA1+2:

SA1-Good

SA2-Decent

The reason being that I actually enjoyed every gameplay type in that game with the exception of Big, but even though it was boring and pointless he had only 4 stages and a boss that were all pretty easy once you understood how to use his rod, compared to 2's hunting levels which could take ages.

Heroes:

Decent, but not as good as Adventure, because I can't play it all through in one sitting, due to the idiotic design choice of essentially making you play through easy, normal, hard, and mission modes, in addition to some trial and error level design and slippery controls.

Shadow:

Mediocre. I laugh at how hard it tries to be "dark n' edgy", and it reuses the slippery Heroes physics, and with worse level design for most of the game. Fun to screw around with once in a while.

Unleashed Wii:

Decent. In the past I would've said that I thought that this is a bad game, but now I realize that I don't hate this game, it's just that that I was very disappointed that the Daytime levels in the Wii/PS2 versions are just time trials with random extra missions tacked on.

Sonic and the Secret Rings:

Bad. I couldn't get into this game at all. I couldn't stand having to unlock better controls, and the forced motion only controls were difficult to work with.

Sonic and the Black Knight:

Good. It fixed the control problems with its predecessor, and I enjoyed the overall game. I can understand how many would be frustrated with the focus on swordplay and the vaguely described gameplay, confusing many, but I personally really liked this one.

Advance Series:

1-Great

2-RIIIIIGGGHHHTT (Average)

3-Decent

Rush Series:

Rush: Good-I enjoy the high-speed gameplay, though some of the level designs were maddening. Looking at you, Altitude Limit. Great music.

Rush Adventure: Great- I liked the boating sections, and there were very few cheap deaths in my experience. Material collecting didn't bother me since I tend to replay levels in platformers anyway.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Ekaje

[Speederino]

Ah, what the hey. I may be the OP, but after seeing everyone else make a list:

Sonic Adventure: Love it. They did a great job handling the transition to 3D with Sonic's levels, and while the gameplay varies with other characters it still tends to be good. The Tails racing levels are fine, Knuckles's treasure hunting works well enough, Amy feels more like a traditional platformer, fine. Gamma...I guess he's alright. It was interesting to play as an Eggman robot for a change, and the shooting certainly wasn't bad. Big, as we all know, sucks. I know fishing requires some stamina, but geez my thumb hurts after playing as him. And of course, fishing and Sonic just don't mix. 9.0/10

Sonic Adventure 2: I like it, but in my opinion is doesn't hold a candle to the first. Sonic and Shadow are fine, but everyone else is either average or simply not fun. The treasure hunting was severely downgraded. In SA1, Knuckles's levels took place in wide open areas, giving you plenty of room to run around and glide. The radar also let you pick up any shard in any order. It may have been a scavenger hunt, but it still felt like a Sonic game. This? Ugh. The levels are more vertical, which typically means you have to slowly climb around until you finally figure out where to go. And the radar only lets you find one shard this time. Some of the later levels can seriously take 15-20 minutes to complete unless you have every possible location memorized. I don't like them. The shooting levels are okay I guess, I just can't say I liked them enough the first time to want to see them again. Chao Garden is pretty fun though. 8.0/10

Sonic Heroes: Meh. I have fun playing through it once, but the game asks you to replay it four times in a row. And frankly, it just isn't good enough for that. Why not add some variety and give each team exclusive levels and powers, that would have really made it something special. And Chaotix sucks. It's not fun having to slow down and search these huge levels for items. The haunted mansion level is a serious offender. Extinguish 60 flames? Seriously? This level took me 40 fucking minutes the first time I played it. And the game is almost embarrassing to listen to. The dialouge is even worse then usual, and the character themes make me want to kill something. On the plus side, the stage music kicks ass. It has that classic Sonic feel that you just don't get with rock music. Lastly, I ran into a lot of glitches. From falling through the floor, typical clipping issues, the camera getting stuck, and just general wonkiness all around. The game isn't quite bad, it's just not all that good. 6.0/10

Shadow the Hedgehog: Not half as bad as everyone says. The level design is good for the most part, and it cuts out all the bullshit from Heroes. It feels like a Sonic game, despite the guns and vehicles. (Which are optional most of the time anyways) And I like the choose your own adventure-style choices. But I still have complaints. A lot of Chaotix-style objectives are in here, but at least they let you warp around the levels. And it makes no sense why the people you're siding with attack you. 7.0/10

Sonic and the Secret Rings: It's fun. The controls aren't perfect, but they work pretty well most of the time. Party Mode is fun, too. I don't really have much more to say here. 8.0/10

Sonic Unleashed (Wii): I got it around the time it came out, and I instantly fell in love with the day stages. It feels like Sonic Rush in 3D, which is great in my book. But the game's shortcoming is, unsurprisingly, the Werehog. They make you play as him for about 40 long minutes, and none of it is that fun. You run from room to room while breaking boxes and fighting with basic combos. The platforming is way too basic. There's no originality or inspiration, it's just bland. And what's with these so-called 'hub worlds?" If you're just going to give us a menu for them, then why even have them in the first place!? But I really do love the day stages. It's just a shame they get bogged down by their ugly siblings. Music is downright awesome, by the way. 7.5/10

Sonic Unleashed (PS3): I just got a PS3 a couple weeks ago and made this game a top priority of mine. Compared to the Wii version, let me say: OH MY GOD THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! First off, the night stages are vastly improved. They're slightly shorter, and are actually enjoyable most of the time. You've got dozens of combos, finishing moves, puzzles, more hidden rooms, and slightly better platforming. The platforming is still basic, but it's at least more challenging and it's thought out better. I'd much rather play this then any of the shooting and treasure hunting levels from Sonic Adventure 2. But like with the Wii version, the day stages are awesome. Even more awesome then before. There's more of them, they're longer, and I loved seeing actual platforming in them. It made the 2.5D sections feel more like classic Sonic. And lastly, the hub worlds. They're overdone, but I like that you can find side missions by talking to people. It helps add variety, but I still think they're unneccessary. Same with the Werehog for that matter. I may have enjoyed the night stages more then in the Wii version, but it doesn't mean I want to see them again. And the music is still awesome. 8.5/10

Sonic and the Black Knight: Better then I thought it would be. Best way to summarize it is that it's pretty much Secret Rings with a sword. The controls feel pretty good, and it's satisfying to race through a level while still managing to hit enemies. It takes practice, though. I like the online leaderboards, it gives replay value. My only real big complaint is that platforming is almost non-existent. It's pretty much been completely replaced by hack-n-slash gameplay. But it's still a fun game regardless. The game is also way too short.Just please stop with the gimmicks, Sonic Team. 7.5/10

Sonic Chronicles: It got me back into turn-based RPG's. The EBA-style mechanic kept combat fresh and fast pace, and the writing was actually good for a change. But the currency system is bullshit. You can only get the rings once, they never regenerate. That would be fine if you earned them in combat, but the only way to do that is during the running mini-game. Even then, you rarely pick up more then three or four at a time. Otherwise, pretty solid RPG. 8.0/10

I didn't really feel like talking about the more traditional handheld games, so I'll just quickly say that 2D Sonic is still pretty awesome. Except Sonic Advance 3. The level design is confusing and I hate the method of how you get the Chaos Emeralds. Everything else I didn't mention I simply haven't played. But Sonic 06 is on my to do list. All I can say about that is the story feels like fanfiction. But I'm not sure how I'll like the gameplay yet.