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[Jonneh3003]

It seems in the past few years Sonic The Hedgehog has gone from being a well regarded brand with a few missteps to being an absolute joke. It isn't a reflection of his recent games as for the most parts they've been brilliant (Sonic Colours and Generations) but it seems internet culture likes to pick on this franchise more than others.

I get it, the cast of characters ranges from plucky sidekicks to absolute monstrosities but the vast majority of games, especially recently, are very light on playable characters. In fact if we disregard Sonic Boom the last playable character apart from Sonic was the Werehog from Sonic Unleashed, who is still a variant of Sonic.

This is a franchise many of us grew up with and it astonishes me how little respect it gets, Sonic Team have been producing quality games for a while now and many titles in the series reach GOAT status. So what happened?

TL;DR:

 

[Shun]

Ask yourself this, do you blame the games or blame the fans?

At least for the perception of the brand.

 

[Hayama Akito]

Nice meme.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

This is a franchise many of us grew up with and it astonishes me how little respect it gets

Seeing with how little respect Sega treats it I fail to see why I should treat it any different.

But to answer your question: No, it's not. It was a joke once, now it's something even less. At least jokes make me laugh.

 

[JeffGrubb]

 

[L Thammy]

Sonic still gets respect, but it's mostly from kids and people who haven't been playing games seriously since they were kids. I recently had a thing which involved showing off footage of video games, and nothing excited people more than Sonic.

Having said that, I am a huge douchebag, so yes, Sonic is a joke for me.

 

[nkarafo]

No, it's just sad.

 

[chefbags]

You mean the restaurant? Nah that place is pretty good sometimes. I like their drinks.

Spoiler

hehe

 

[georly]

Even its official twitter thinks so, so yes.

Subscribed.

 

[KojiKnight]

I grew up in a Nintendo family, in a Nintendo neighborhood, with Nintendo Friends.... Sonic was always a joke.

 

[WhateverItTakes]

Yup, and that's what endears me to the franchise even today. It's failings are memorable, the fanbase fascinating, and the watching the endless saga unfold of 'Will this game be the saviour' is just fun to me. It's a joke, but a good natured one.

 

[Krejlooc]

I think, much like your "Do games age badly" thread, that too many people care too much what others think. They care more about the reception of a game, than the game itself. Is sonic a joke to some people? Sure, but who cares? Do some people think metroid aged poorly? Sure, but that doesn't make me enjoy the game any less.

So many posts, not just on Neo Gaf but on gaming forums around the internet, seem fixated on controlling this narrative about games, like a game being loved or hated is an argument to win.

 

[Ban Puncher]

There is absolutely nothing funny about Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

[purseowner]

Sonic Adventure DX has the greatest video game plot of all time.

Spoiler

Big's story, that is.

 

[The Elite]

Does he look like a fucking joke?

Yes.

 

[andymcc]

I grew up in a Nintendo family, in a Nintendo neighborhood, with Nintendo Friends.... Sonic was always a joke.

That's really sad.

 

[Diprosalic]

Always been, always will be.

 

[Guess Who]

It gets so little respect because for many years Sega was shipping bad idea after bad idea, and even when they started cleaning up their act (from Unleashed on) we still got stuff like Sonic 4 and more recently Sonic Boom.

Like, I really like Colors and Generations, and even think Unleashed was the first step in the right direction, but there's no way I would say the franchise is back to being "good" when Lost World was as miserable as it was and Sonic Boom is a 2006-level trashfire.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

It seems in the past few years Sonic The Hedgehog has gone from being a well regarded brand with a few missteps to being an absolute joke. It isn't a reflection of his recent games as for the most parts they've been brilliant (Sonic Colours and Generations) but it seems internet culture likes to pick on this franchise more than others.

Brilliant seems


generous

 

[Jonneh3003]

I think, much like your "Do games age badly" thread, that too many people care too much what others think. They care more about the reception of a game, than the game itself. Is sonic a joke to some people? Sure, but who cares? Do some people think metroid aged poorly? Sure, but that doesn't make me enjoy the game any less.

So many posts, not just on Neo Gaf but on gaming forums around the internet, seem fixated on controlling this narrative about games, like a game being loved or hated is an argument to win.

I just wanted to learn and understand the opinions of others, my own is unlikely to change and I'm not trying to force it on anyone else.

 

[Greddleok]

I never liked Sonic. Couldn't grasp the appeal of the original games, can't with the current games.

 

[AGoodODST]

Kinda. I can't help but associate the brand with the uh...passionate...fanbase.

It doesn't help that 99% of the games range from hedgehog shit to medicore and like two good games.

 

[Zalman]

There are good Sonic games and there are bad Sonic games. I enjoy the good Sonic games. I ignore the bad Sonic games.

 

[DNAbro]

Sonic memes itself now so kind of. If there is a good game (and by good I mean Sonic Adventure 3) I'll be there.

 

[Ryce]

There have been two or three decent Sonic games since going 3D. Sonic Team just isn't a talented studio.

 

[Ferr986]

Ask yourself this, do you blame the games or blame the fans?

At least for the perception of the brand.

About games, I think there have been some games with the brand not long ago. Sucks that shit like Boom happened and fucked up every good thing that Colors and Generations did.

About fans. Not everyone that likes Sonic is a weirdo drawing shitty weird stuff and writting crazy fan stories.

Sure there's weirdos in Sonic fanbase, that doesn't mean everyone is. There's weirdos with all fanbases. It just happen that part of Sonic fanbase got popular and big for some reason.

 

[OVDRobo]

I have a strong affinity for Sonic games as my first ever game was a Sonic game, but I can understand fully why everyone else likes to use the franchise as a punching bag. Sonic never really transitioned into 3D very well and despite both half-hearted and best efforts being made, Sonic hasn't ever truly settled into one particular style of game which has resulted in a very bumpy record for the franchise that a lot of old fans would prefer had ended after his legendary set of games on the Genesis.

Personally, I made my peace with Sonic when Sonic Generations was released. It was a love letter to the 20 years of Sonic prior to it and a gift to old and new fans, combining new and old styles into a surprisingly solid game building on the decent-but-not-quite-there foundations laid in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations.

Maybe Sega'll make another good Sonic game. Maybe they'll keep making games like Sonic Boom. I don't really care any more.

 

[Phu]

Even Sonic at its best is just okay. I would pay upwards of $30 for a sim where you have to balance Sonic's chili dog intake with his calories burned from spin dashing to charge a large amorphous blob that expels future Sonic titles.

 

[Astorgh]

The brand takes itself as serious as the fans/audience do.
I guess Sonic being a joke is the new “normal” and SEGA is making the best of it. And by “the best” I mean the official Twitter account, the movie being a live action hybrid, dorky games, etc. That's the Sonic we now hate to love.

 

[The Technomancer]

No, I'm too deep in for it to be ironic at this point

Parts of the fan base though sure

 

[Timeaisis]

Yes.

 

[Gator86]

You mean the restaurant? Nah that place is pretty good sometimes. I like their drinks.

Spoiler

hehe

God, I miss living near a Sonic.

Also absolutely yes, Sonic and Knuckles was the last time the series was worth talking about.

 

[TwistedFreeze]

The thing with Sonic is, at this point, it has more bad and average titles than legitimately good ones. Sure, Colors and Generations were decent but they're not so good that they make up for the ones preceding it, which ranged from awful to average. I don't care much for the fanbase or anything. I just see it as a franchise that the developers don't quite know what to do with anymore

 

[Krejlooc]

Even Sonic at its best is just okay. I would pay upwards of $30 for a sim where you have to balance Sonic's chili dog intake with his calories burned from spin dashing to charge a large amorphous blob that expels future Sonic titles.

Pretty sure there is a mod for Sonic 2 on the Sega Genesis Collection that is just this.

 

[Sami+]

I guess.

Sonic 2 was the first game I ever played and the series is still really important to me just because it's had a larger impact on my childhood and favorite hobby than any other work of fiction growing up, but I also can't say I genuinely love any of the mainline games that have come out since Sonic Adventure.

I do still think Sonic 3 is a masterpiece and still think that the series has potential for greatness. But there's a lot to make fun of.

 

[Interfectum]

Sonic was never that good to begin with. Overrated as hell and Sega fans clinged to him cause they didn't have Mario.

 

[Kowashitai]

There have been two or three decent Sonic games since going 3D. Sonic Team just isn't a talented studio.

They may not be talented at making 3D Sonic games but they can still make good Puyo Puyo games when Sega gives them the chance.

 

[Caddyshack]

Yes.

 

[Evil Monkey DTT]

Fully a joke, anything post 2000 was at best mediocre and yet it has one of the strongest and weirdest fanbases I've ever seen. The characters look strange, sonic for example has 1 eye that connects to the other lid.

The beat sonic game I've played in years was the dreams collection, it knew what sonic was.

 

[Gnome Scat]

 

[andymcc]

Sonic was never that good to begin with. Overrated as hell and Sega fans clinged to him cause they didn't have Mario.

Interesting distortion of reality and game history you have going here.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

The two absolute worst games I have ever played were both Sonic ames (06 and Boom) so.....

I played 06 with a friend 3 months ago cause we needed to know. That game man. It's maybe the most fascinating game I've ever played.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Yes.

Nothing personnel, kid.

 

[Robot Pants]

200% yes

 

[Nosgoroth]

I grew up with the originals, and, well, ever since Dreamcast I've been waiting for the franchise to live and learn. Maybe it'll come back.

 

[Eumi]

Sonic is a joke. And a damn funny one at that. But that doesn't mean it's a worthless series, there are tons of great sonic games that have been released throughout its history. Honestly it's tenacity to survive and continue to remain relevant is commendable.

 

[10k]

It's worse than a joke now. It's become the very definition of apathy for me. I loved this franchise as a child so it's hard to watch what it's become. Those Genesis games were top notch.

 

[Sami+]

I have a strong affinity for Sonic games as my first ever game was a Sonic game, but I can understand fully why everyone else likes to use the franchise as a punching bag. Sonic never really transitioned into 3D very well and despite both half-hearted and best efforts being made, Sonic hasn't ever truly settled into one particular style of game which has resulted in a very bumpy record for the franchise that a lot of old fans would prefer had ended after his legendary set of games on the Genesis.

Personally, I made my peace with Sonic when Sonic Generations was released. It was a love letter to the 20 years of Sonic prior to it and a gift to old and new fans, combining new and old styles into a surprisingly solid game building on the decent-but-not-quite-there foundations laid in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations.

Maybe Sega'll make another good Sonic game. Maybe they'll keep making games like Sonic Boom. I don't really care any more.

I love Smash and take the competition pretty seriously so on a personal level I'm pretty happy just repping my favorite character when I play. Helps that he's really good in this one too.

But yeah I do hope the next is good.

Sonic was never that good to begin with. Overrated as hell and Sega fans clinged to him cause they didn't have Mario.

Nice playground argument

 

[L Thammy]

Kinda. I can't help but associate the brand with the uh...passionate...fanbase.

It doesn't help that 99% of the games range from hedgehog shit to medicore and like two good games.

Hopefully no one starts actually posting fanart and getting this thread locked but:

Interested parties, google "Sonic Shadow toilet" and tell me that's not a work of art. I'm pretty sure it was done ironically, but that doesn't make it any less amazing.

 

[Minyobi]

While I don't see Sonic as a "joke," I'm not exactly in a rush to buy modern Sonic games.
Also, I know "opinions" and all, but what is up with this "Sonic was never good" stuff? I'm not sure how one can look at Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 and not see well made games.