Twenty four years ago, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the biggest game franchises in the world. Comic books, cartoons, and of course the games, the Blue Blur was not as much a franchise as he was a phenomenon. Today, though there are still the comics and a cartoon, the Blue Blur is simply not the powerhouse he once was. What happened?
First, we need to analyze what made Sonic so hot in the first place. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the best selling games on the Sega Genesis, to the point that later models of the system came with the game pre packaged. Why? Because it perfectly demonstrated what the Genesis could do: more colors, better sound, and greater speed than the Nintendo Entertainment System, then the best selling game console on the planet. The game itself was a fast paced platformer, combining high speed antics with typical platforming elements such as spikes, endless pits, and enemies that kill you with a touch. From then on, every Sonic game released on the Genesis, and the one Sega CD game, would prove to be top quality; in fact in my opinion, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 may well be one of the best games ever.
OK, there may have been one exception to the streak of Sonic excelence: Sonic 3D Blast. Released at the tail end of the Genesis' life and during the heyday of the Sega Saturn, the game was a great departure from the high speed platforming that gave Sonic his name. In the game, Sonic ran around like he was slipping on ice; fitting as it was a top view game. Sonic 3D Blast proved to be the first BAD game in the Sonic Franchise. But it was just 1996, and gamers were looking forward to Sonic X-treme, the game that was going to give Nintendo a run for its money, crush the Playstation, and put the Sega Saturn on top!
Except the game was canceled. This one move may well have been the death sentence for the Saturn, which went on to lose to not just the Nintendo 64, but the Playstation 1 as well. The constant change of developing teams, game engines, and release dates hurt the game to the point that it got the ax. The cancellation of Sonic X-Treme, however, had bigger ramifications for the gaming world; the war between Sega and Nintendo was truly over, and now it was going to be a war between Sony and Nintendo, with Sega slowly becoming irrelevant.
The year 1999 saw the release of the Sega Dreamcast, and with it Sonic's next big game, Sonic Adventure. The game took the Sonic lore to darker territory; the story explored mature themes like genocide and existentialism, while presenting scenarios that the Sonic franchise had simply never bothered with before, like the complete destruction of an entire city, the (hinted) loss of human life, the killing of innocents, imperialism, etc. Of course, OTHER Sonic media was already showing a darker and edgier side to Sonic, but none of them were canonical to the games. From 1999 to around 2010, the Sonic franchise would experience what I like to call its Dark Age, when Sonic games were dark and gritty, or at least as dark and gritty as an E rated franchise could get.
But there is, of course, a double meaning when I say "Dark Age", because not only was Sonic's storyline becoming darker, the game's quality took a considerable nose dive during this period. Although Sonic Adventure was a good game, it was bogged down by the fact that it wasn't JUST a Sonic game; you also had to play as Amy Rose, Knuckles, Tails, Big the Cat, and E-102 the robot. Problem? Their play styles were wildly different. Amy's play style was slow and cumbersome, mixed with highly confusing level designs (and she only had 3 levels anyway). Knuckle's was a treasure hunt that was confusing and dizzying, thanks to the in game camera. But the worst of the lot was Big's play style, which was...fishing. Big's entire addition to the game was to bring in a fishing mini game, one done rather poorly in my opinion.
When people buy a Sonic game, they expect to play as Sonic the Hedgehog. They want high speed platforming, hard bosses, amazing music, and breath taking graphics. They do NOT want to fish! If people wanted to play fishing games, they'd buy fishing games. This was the beginning of the end for Sonic.
In 2001, Sega released its last Sonic game as a console making company: Sonic Adventure 2. In my opinion, this game was a step up from the last game, as it was more streamlined, had better level designs, and overall had more levels total. How many? 30, each of them visually unique. But AGAIN you HAD to play as someone other than Sonic, AGAIN you had play style changes forced on you, and AGAIN Sonic wasn't the main focus of a Sonic game.
At around this time it was common knowledge among gamers, thanks to the Internet, that Sega was done being a console making company, and would become a Third Party developer, making games for other systems. For Sonic fans who didn't own a Sega system, it meant that the Blue Blur had the chance to be played on any console of their choice. It SHOULD have been a new Golden Age for Sonic; unlike Mario, Sonic would no longer be limited to just one console.
But it was not to be. Simply put, not ONE Sonic console game released after the year 2001 has garnered the praise that the old Genesis games ever did. Why? Because they simply weren't as good. They either added so many unnecesary elements that gamers simply didn't care for (like the Adventure games or Sonic Unleashed), or they were so bland and repetitive (Sonic Heroes). At the absolute nadir of the Sonic franchise, Sega released what was universally declared the WORST Sonic game ever: Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. The story was grim and dark, dealing with a world devouring monster from the future. That's as far as the quality got, because everything else about it was terrible: new characters gamers outright despised, game breaking bugs, cheap boss fights, uninspired level designs, the list goes on.
Although 2011 saw a brief glimmer of hope for the franchise with Sonic Generations, there is one name that I believe could stop the heart of any Sonic fan: Sonic Boom. Specifically, the game Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric proved that Sega learned NOTHING from Sonic 2006: they STILL released a buggy, nigh unplayable game and expected people to buy it at full price. Because of this, it's become the lowest selling game in the history of the franchise, not even selling a million copies.
But that's only half the problem. If you've been online for more than a year, you might have noticed that the Sonic fandom has a bit of an awful reputation. Basically, people view Sonic fans as "autistic retards who spend their days making shitty recolors of Sonic characters and calling them original". Apologies for using the word "retard". Perhaps the most infamous of these, and indeed the main codifier of this stereotype, is the character Sonichu, created by the infamous Christian Weston Chandler, one of the FEW people on Earth to have an entire wiki dedicated to them.
Am I saying that people like Chandler are responsible for Sonic's current state of irrelevance? Well, yes and no. Yes, they are PART of the reason why people consider Sonic to be uncool these days, but a bigger issue is at hand: it's been five years since Sega has released a good Sonic game, but it's barely been a year and a half since Sega has released one of the worst Sonic games ever. The fact that Rise of Lyric couldn't even sell a million copies spells bad news for a franchise that was once seen as one of the world's best selling.
The quality of Sonic games has fallen since 1996, and though some hiccups do occur, it seems like we will never see Sonic regain the fame he had from 1991-1996. Sure the comics still sell, but the question is: what can bring Sonic back? Or, CAN Sonic make a comeback? Time will tell.
But there is, of course, a double meaning when I say "Dark Age", because not only was Sonic's storyline becoming darker, the game's quality took a considerable nose dive during this period. Although Sonic Adventure was a good game, it was bogged down by the fact that it wasn't JUST a Sonic game; you also had to play as Amy Rose, Knuckles, Tails, Big the Cat, and E-102 the robot. Problem? Their play styles were wildly different. Amy's play style was slow and cumbersome, mixed with highly confusing level designs (and she only had 3 levels anyway). Knuckle's was a treasure hunt that was confusing and dizzying, thanks to the in game camera. But the worst of the lot was Big's play style, which was...fishing. Big's entire addition to the game was to bring in a fishing mini game, one done rather poorly in my opinion.
When people buy a Sonic game, they expect to play as Sonic the Hedgehog. They want high speed platforming, hard bosses, amazing music, and breath taking graphics. They do NOT want to fish! If people wanted to play fishing games, they'd buy fishing games. This was the beginning of the end for Sonic.
In 2001, Sega released its last Sonic game as a console making company: Sonic Adventure 2. In my opinion, this game was a step up from the last game, as it was more streamlined, had better level designs, and overall had more levels total. How many? 30, each of them visually unique. But AGAIN you HAD to play as someone other than Sonic, AGAIN you had play style changes forced on you, and AGAIN Sonic wasn't the main focus of a Sonic game.
At around this time it was common knowledge among gamers, thanks to the Internet, that Sega was done being a console making company, and would become a Third Party developer, making games for other systems. For Sonic fans who didn't own a Sega system, it meant that the Blue Blur had the chance to be played on any console of their choice. It SHOULD have been a new Golden Age for Sonic; unlike Mario, Sonic would no longer be limited to just one console.
But it was not to be. Simply put, not ONE Sonic console game released after the year 2001 has garnered the praise that the old Genesis games ever did. Why? Because they simply weren't as good. They either added so many unnecesary elements that gamers simply didn't care for (like the Adventure games or Sonic Unleashed), or they were so bland and repetitive (Sonic Heroes). At the absolute nadir of the Sonic franchise, Sega released what was universally declared the WORST Sonic game ever: Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. The story was grim and dark, dealing with a world devouring monster from the future. That's as far as the quality got, because everything else about it was terrible: new characters gamers outright despised, game breaking bugs, cheap boss fights, uninspired level designs, the list goes on.
Although 2011 saw a brief glimmer of hope for the franchise with Sonic Generations, there is one name that I believe could stop the heart of any Sonic fan: Sonic Boom. Specifically, the game Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric proved that Sega learned NOTHING from Sonic 2006: they STILL released a buggy, nigh unplayable game and expected people to buy it at full price. Because of this, it's become the lowest selling game in the history of the franchise, not even selling a million copies.
But that's only half the problem. If you've been online for more than a year, you might have noticed that the Sonic fandom has a bit of an awful reputation. Basically, people view Sonic fans as "autistic retards who spend their days making shitty recolors of Sonic characters and calling them original". Apologies for using the word "retard". Perhaps the most infamous of these, and indeed the main codifier of this stereotype, is the character Sonichu, created by the infamous Christian Weston Chandler, one of the FEW people on Earth to have an entire wiki dedicated to them.
Am I saying that people like Chandler are responsible for Sonic's current state of irrelevance? Well, yes and no. Yes, they are PART of the reason why people consider Sonic to be uncool these days, but a bigger issue is at hand: it's been five years since Sega has released a good Sonic game, but it's barely been a year and a half since Sega has released one of the worst Sonic games ever. The fact that Rise of Lyric couldn't even sell a million copies spells bad news for a franchise that was once seen as one of the world's best selling.
The quality of Sonic games has fallen since 1996, and though some hiccups do occur, it seems like we will never see Sonic regain the fame he had from 1991-1996. Sure the comics still sell, but the question is: what can bring Sonic back? Or, CAN Sonic make a comeback? Time will tell.
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