Polioliolio
Member
Sonic was pretty much the coolest thing around in the early 90s. Like Michael Jackson levels of cool..
Today? Yeah, he's kind of a joke.
Today? Yeah, he's kind of a joke.
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Is Sonic a joke to you?
- Thread starter Jonneh3003
- Start date
I can see that, but many would find it odd Nintendo wants to buy Sonic. The IP is successful and makes money, but many state how 'Sonic is horrible', 'Sonic is a joke', 'The games were never good', 'Sonic has shitty friends' and all those other comments.
Nintendo would want to by an IP with such toxic reputation? More so after recent backlash of attempts to revive IP they own (Star Fox and Metroid)? I doubt it honestly.
But Sonic is a good fit with Nintendo and could see SEGA working with them on a NX-only game after the anniversary title comes out. However, that is it honestly; I don't expect Nintendo to ever buy the IP when they have Mario in there corner covering 'mascot' character status.
You know what? I think I should have stuck to my original statement earlier this month; don't talk about Sonic at all on NeoGaf. The games were never good, only the Genesis games were good and everything else was shit...... How the heck did I make my Retrospective here when people don't respect the IP at all?
Going to say this and stop talking about Sonic here for a long while; I'm excited about the anniversary game that is hopefully going to be announced this coming week. I love the series despite its clear blunders. Sonic's character is one I honestly enjoyed all these years. I'm glad I played the games growing up.
Going to say this and stop talking about Sonic here for a long while; I'm excited about the anniversary game that is hopefully going to be announced this coming week. I love the series despite its clear blunders. Sonic's character is one I honestly enjoyed all these years. I'm glad I played the games growing up.
Jonneh3003
Banned
GAF is a small community so most people share similar views. Hopefully the anniversary game will change things around.
MJ is still cool though.
The Genesis games aren't very good today despite my enjoyment as a kid :X
Huw_Dawson
Member
If Colors and Generations were not excellent games, I'd think Sonic was a bit of a joke.
As it stands Sega's produced solid Sonic-related stuff in recent memory. Lost World was an experiment and Boom was a third party licensed disaster.
IMO the really good sonic games are:
Sonic 2
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Colors
Generations
That's not a huge list, but it's enough for me to treat Sonic as a reasonably serious franchise.
As it stands Sega's produced solid Sonic-related stuff in recent memory. Lost World was an experiment and Boom was a third party licensed disaster.
IMO the really good sonic games are:
Sonic 2
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Colors
Generations
That's not a huge list, but it's enough for me to treat Sonic as a reasonably serious franchise.
I'm surprised you even made this thread knowing this; people here are very torn on Sonic and my Retrospective series didn't change public views of the IP. Many here hate it, just like other platforming mascots. But that is a mindset I personally feel on this forum, so could be dead wrong.
I hope the anniversary game fixes things but not expecting it too. Outside of maybe making the announcement thread, not saying a damn thing about the title, as it will only lead to more sour comments on the series.
In the past, this never bothered me much. But now, knowing how other platforming icons are viewed on this forum, I can't help but feel sour on even talking about the genre on NeoGaf.
rockman zx
Member
I had a blast playing 1,2 and CD back in the day, Sonic Adventure was entertaining for a launch game, after that I never care about the character or the games, I tried many of the supposedly good games and I had not fun at all.
GillianSeed79
Member
Classic Sonic games are great....modern Sonic games? Not so much. Granted, I'm sure a handful have been decent, but I think a lot of old Sega Sonic fans stopped caring after Sega exited the hardware market and the quality of mainline Sonic games took a nose dive. Also they have over saturated the market with shitty Sonic games for years now, so the brand is tarnished.
Sonic is also kind of like a failed presidential candidate in a lot of ways. I mean, in the U.S. at least, he was the face of Sega, so if you grew up during the Sega/Nintendo console wars he was Sega's Mario. After Sega "lost" if you will, he kind of got shunned just like a losing presidential candidate.
Also, judging from that deviant art shit, A LOT of Sonic fans are FUCKING weird.
Sonic is also kind of like a failed presidential candidate in a lot of ways. I mean, in the U.S. at least, he was the face of Sega, so if you grew up during the Sega/Nintendo console wars he was Sega's Mario. After Sega "lost" if you will, he kind of got shunned just like a losing presidential candidate.
Also, judging from that deviant art shit, A LOT of Sonic fans are FUCKING weird.
Hentailover
Member
True, but MGS for some reason ended up being more lovable for it's goofiness, perhaps because it's a bit smarter about it.
And Platinum games are never really taken even a tiny bit seriously outside of mechanics. It's just over the top nonsense and 99% of the time it's entirely self aware of that. The moments that aren't self aware do turn into memes. "I should've been the one to fill your dark souls wtih Liiiiiiight" for example
Bobs Big Boy
Member
Nah, just played The Lost World and it was fine?
I remember that I played Xbox 360 games with a sonic fan once. Dude cried over mic when he couldn't force my girlfriend to go out with him. He blockdd me after I told him that Aventure 1 & 2 aged horribly.
Palculator
Unconfirmed Member
Joke would require intention, I guess. But most Sonic things are still hilarious.
ST2K
Member
The Sonic franchise is somewhere between a joke and a tragedy to me.
To give people perspective on my thoughts: I will never understand Sonic fans that actually like any of the games beyond the Genesis era. I don't understand why the franchise is still selling to anyone above the age of 13. I don't understand why there are fans in this very thread who believe that Sonic is just another franchise with its ups and downs. I don't understand how the series got such loyal defenders. I don't understand why the Sonic fanbase attracts some of the seediest and most bizzare people on the internet.
It's actually quite a fascinating anomaly if I look at it from a clinical, objective perspective. But if I'm honest about my thoughts, it's partially sad to see one of gaming's greatest icons become a caricature of his former self, pumping out bad game after bad game. With that being said, I think it's hard not to laugh when you see something like Sonic Boom get announced and then be such a shitshow when it released.
To be fair, I was never a Sega kid, so I never truly experienced Sonic in its prime. The only personal exposure I had to it was when the franchise had already made the jump to 3D with stuff like Sonic Adventure and Shadow the Hedgehog, which I found to be varying degrees of terrible. When I was older I went back and was able to appreciate what the 2D games did, but even then the effect those games had on me was muted due to the passage of time.
So yeah, the Sonic franchise is a joke to me at best, a tragedy at worst. If those games mentioned in the OP are actually good, I'm glad some can enjoy them. Since they followed two and a half generations of garbage, I wasn't inclined to try them anymore. And, by the way, I just checked, and not only are both games under an 80 on Metacritic, but I also had Sonic fans previously tell me how great Sonic Adventure was or how cool Sonic and the Black Knight was, and I found those game to be colossally bad. So with respect to OP and other Sonic fans, your opinions on Sonic games will always be taken with heaps of salt. Maybe that's unfair, but it's reality.
Ah well, at least that Sonic kart racing game was pretty solid. We can find some common ground there.
To give people perspective on my thoughts: I will never understand Sonic fans that actually like any of the games beyond the Genesis era. I don't understand why the franchise is still selling to anyone above the age of 13. I don't understand why there are fans in this very thread who believe that Sonic is just another franchise with its ups and downs. I don't understand how the series got such loyal defenders. I don't understand why the Sonic fanbase attracts some of the seediest and most bizzare people on the internet.
It's actually quite a fascinating anomaly if I look at it from a clinical, objective perspective. But if I'm honest about my thoughts, it's partially sad to see one of gaming's greatest icons become a caricature of his former self, pumping out bad game after bad game. With that being said, I think it's hard not to laugh when you see something like Sonic Boom get announced and then be such a shitshow when it released.
To be fair, I was never a Sega kid, so I never truly experienced Sonic in its prime. The only personal exposure I had to it was when the franchise had already made the jump to 3D with stuff like Sonic Adventure and Shadow the Hedgehog, which I found to be varying degrees of terrible. When I was older I went back and was able to appreciate what the 2D games did, but even then the effect those games had on me was muted due to the passage of time.
So yeah, the Sonic franchise is a joke to me at best, a tragedy at worst. If those games mentioned in the OP are actually good, I'm glad some can enjoy them. Since they followed two and a half generations of garbage, I wasn't inclined to try them anymore. And, by the way, I just checked, and not only are both games under an 80 on Metacritic, but I also had Sonic fans previously tell me how great Sonic Adventure was or how cool Sonic and the Black Knight was, and I found those game to be colossally bad. So with respect to OP and other Sonic fans, your opinions on Sonic games will always be taken with heaps of salt. Maybe that's unfair, but it's reality.
Ah well, at least that Sonic kart racing game was pretty solid. We can find some common ground there.
Megawarrior
Member
I canceled my fan card at Sonic Riders. What a tragic game.
We are still talking about video games, right? Tragedy? Hahaha. Lighten up.
MrCunningham
Member
I'm honestly shocked that Sonic can still find a fan base...
Randomizer
Member
The only thing about Sonic that is a joke outside Sonic Boom is the fanbase. Literally the craziest of all gaming.
:l......Well, at least you agree that the Sonic Racing games (All Stars Racing & Racing Transformed) are great games, so thank for saying they are fun.
People like Sonic because the post Genesis are good and the series continued to offer quality stuff.......but maybe I'm just some dumb idiot who wasted his time trying to bring the series to a positive light or something. Oh well.
You put your thoughts together very well and thank you for your response.
Salty Rice
Member
I always thought that Sonic is some garbage ghetto Mario.
Sorcerer Supreme
Member
the sonic the hedgehog twitter account really did it for me. it turned sonic into a bigger joke than any of the bad fan art or bad games ever did. it goes to show how little sega cares.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
I dont but thats the perception. Sega are the only ones who can change it though with a new game. A new game not filled with the twitter memes.
ST2K
Member
Within the context of video games, obviously. I figured I wouldn't have to mention that since we're on the Gaming board. *shrug*
Thanks for being polite and taking it well. I'll check out that post later in the interest of common understanding.
No problem man
. It is only fair to be respectful to others, as you want to be treated the same way. I made a long retrospective series, so if you have even a passing interested in Sonic, that link will send you to the home page housing all the ones I made.Hero of Legend
Member
Hey Riders 1 and Zero Gravity are really good! Not GOTY material, but highly underrated IMO. Now Free Riders, THAT"S garbage! 
Sadly, I 100% agree. Aaron's heart may be in the right place, but honestly for all the clever jokes it makes at times, they feel SO out of place when the franchise has been in the state it has. How many times has the account literally laughed at its (many) worst moments?
You kind of have to earn that privilege of being able to put that behind you when you're able to deliver on amazing games again, not before, AND not slip back to that that low again soon after.
And the memes, it's all he and others involved with him do nowadays. :/
Sadly, I 100% agree. Aaron's heart may be in the right place, but honestly for all the clever jokes it makes at times, they feel SO out of place when the franchise has been in the state it has. How many times has the account literally laughed at its (many) worst moments?
You kind of have to earn that privilege of being able to put that behind you when you're able to deliver on amazing games again, not before, AND not slip back to that that low again soon after.
And the memes, it's all he and others involved with him do nowadays. :/
You know, I gotta thank this thread for waking me up a bit. Going to take a long break from talking about the series going forward. I still love the franchise, but sick and tired of the bile towards it....and that will never go away. So, taking a break from it is a good idea before dealing with all that again.
Hope you all look forward to the anniversary game announced hopefully next week and that it makes everyone happy. Give the series a shot if you haven't already but people already made up their minds on the IP a long time ago, so my words mean nothing in that regard.
Have a good weekend and happy gaming everyone!
Hope you all look forward to the anniversary game announced hopefully next week and that it makes everyone happy. Give the series a shot if you haven't already but people already made up their minds on the IP a long time ago, so my words mean nothing in that regard.
Have a good weekend and happy gaming everyone!
Hero of Legend
Member
Take care bud, and you too!
Edit: Huh, new avatar get also!
If I'm distancing myself from the Sonic series, gotta pick a new avatar too XD. Glad you like it
.
WrenchNinja
Member
I was a SNES kid and so were my friends growing up. So yes.
nkarafo
Member
Here's what's wrong with Sonic for me after the Genesis/Mega Drive games.
- They started focusing too much on the story. They also added melodrama in a silly looking platform game. Many times they took it too seriously. I can't imagine anyone older than 8 actually being interested or liking this kind of thing.
- The voice acting/attitude. I don't give a shit if "Sonic was always supposed to be this way". If that's true then thank god for old consoles not being able to do much voice acting. Modern Sonic is annoying, obnoxious and tries so hard to be edgy and cool, in the same way a little annoying kid would. Overal, the series has become something like a children's show. I can still enjoy the more subtle old Sonic games but the newer ones only make me cringe.
- The "friends". This actually started with Chaotix. That game was a mistake. Most of Sonic's friends are terribly designed, like some sort of random DeviantArt characters, but the thing that bothered me the most with all those was how Sonic became less and less significant. What was Sonic's "thing"? His speed. And he could curl into a ball and kill enemies with his spikes. Because he is a hedgehog. Then tails appeared as early as in Sonic 2. He could move just as fast but because he was mostly floating, i guess it didn't take away too much from Sonic. Sonic was still the fastest running guy. Although we don't know how Tails destroys enemies and how does it make sense that he is a fox and curls into a ball. Then Knuckles appeared and he was just like Sonic but stronger. And after that, the gates of hell opened and more and more random creatures would appear, doing the same things Sonic does. Run super fast and kill enemies with ease. I suppose Sonic was never significant or unique then.
- The broken physics. The physics was something i used to adore about the Genesis games. They were so good that the pinball levels would work like a proper pinball game (and that made those levels very cool). But there was more. In Sonic 3 they even added the electrical shield that would attract nearby rings and even cause them to float in orbit around it if you did it right. They sat down and wrote this kind of behavior (even though they didn't have to, it was a bonus thing) and it looked amazing and just right. And now? They couldn't even get Sonic 4's basic physics right. Even most fan made Sonic games do physics right but Sonic Team can't apparently. The same goes for the controls. And there's also the subject of bugs, the usually broken camera, etc.
- The loss of focus and random ideas. Lets add human NPCs for some reason. In that Zelda game there was a cool fishing mini-game, lets add one ourselves. Also, in the next game we will turn Sonic into a monster and make it play like a generic brawler. In another game we will make a Sonic clone even edgier and he will ride a motorcycle. He will also use a gun, yay! Or how about a sword? Swords are cool, let's make Sonic hold one in the next game, just because. He has spikes you say? They do the same thing? Well i don't care, the sword looks cool, all kids like swords. Also, Mario Galaxy seems to be very popular, lets make a similar looking game with Sonic and add power ups doing random things. At this point simply everything can be a Sonic game. The next game could be a survival horror with date simulator elements and nobody would be even slightly surprised.
- The massive drop of standards. There was a day when Sonic games were very respected. They were the only platformers that could compete with Mario's. Basically, as far as platform games are concerned, the Sonic games were at the top. And that says something since platformers were the 16bit generation's FPS. They were everywhere. Now Sonic is a series of the lowest standards possible.
And i'm not even going to touch the subject of the fanbase. The less we talk about that, the better.
- They started focusing too much on the story. They also added melodrama in a silly looking platform game. Many times they took it too seriously. I can't imagine anyone older than 8 actually being interested or liking this kind of thing.
- The voice acting/attitude. I don't give a shit if "Sonic was always supposed to be this way". If that's true then thank god for old consoles not being able to do much voice acting. Modern Sonic is annoying, obnoxious and tries so hard to be edgy and cool, in the same way a little annoying kid would. Overal, the series has become something like a children's show. I can still enjoy the more subtle old Sonic games but the newer ones only make me cringe.
- The "friends". This actually started with Chaotix. That game was a mistake. Most of Sonic's friends are terribly designed, like some sort of random DeviantArt characters, but the thing that bothered me the most with all those was how Sonic became less and less significant. What was Sonic's "thing"? His speed. And he could curl into a ball and kill enemies with his spikes. Because he is a hedgehog. Then tails appeared as early as in Sonic 2. He could move just as fast but because he was mostly floating, i guess it didn't take away too much from Sonic. Sonic was still the fastest running guy. Although we don't know how Tails destroys enemies and how does it make sense that he is a fox and curls into a ball. Then Knuckles appeared and he was just like Sonic but stronger. And after that, the gates of hell opened and more and more random creatures would appear, doing the same things Sonic does. Run super fast and kill enemies with ease. I suppose Sonic was never significant or unique then.
- The broken physics. The physics was something i used to adore about the Genesis games. They were so good that the pinball levels would work like a proper pinball game (and that made those levels very cool). But there was more. In Sonic 3 they even added the electrical shield that would attract nearby rings and even cause them to float in orbit around it if you did it right. They sat down and wrote this kind of behavior (even though they didn't have to, it was a bonus thing) and it looked amazing and just right. And now? They couldn't even get Sonic 4's basic physics right. Even most fan made Sonic games do physics right but Sonic Team can't apparently. The same goes for the controls. And there's also the subject of bugs, the usually broken camera, etc.
- The loss of focus and random ideas. Lets add human NPCs for some reason. In that Zelda game there was a cool fishing mini-game, lets add one ourselves. Also, in the next game we will turn Sonic into a monster and make it play like a generic brawler. In another game we will make a Sonic clone even edgier and he will ride a motorcycle. He will also use a gun, yay! Or how about a sword? Swords are cool, let's make Sonic hold one in the next game, just because. He has spikes you say? They do the same thing? Well i don't care, the sword looks cool, all kids like swords. Also, Mario Galaxy seems to be very popular, lets make a similar looking game with Sonic and add power ups doing random things. At this point simply everything can be a Sonic game. The next game could be a survival horror with date simulator elements and nobody would be even slightly surprised.
- The massive drop of standards. There was a day when Sonic games were very respected. They were the only platformers that could compete with Mario's. Basically, as far as platform games are concerned, the Sonic games were at the top. And that says something since platformers were the 16bit generation's FPS. They were everywhere. Now Sonic is a series of the lowest standards possible.
And i'm not even going to touch the subject of the fanbase. The less we talk about that, the better.
I hope you are not referring to me, as I loved the original trilogy. Very solid and well constructed titles with great platforming and wonderful level design.
Somewhere between joke and tragedy is a good way to put it.
I genuinely like the original Sonic games. I was a Nintendo kid, but my wife's a fan of the old Sonic games, so every once in a while we sit down and play through one of the Genesis games together. It's a fun time.
There are two problems with Sonic currently:
1. The recent games haven't been very good. I know there have been a couple of shining stars, but there's a lot of Sonic Boom and Sonic '06 and Sonic and the Black Knight covering those up. (Cue someone telling me how great those games are. Save your energy, I assure you that I don't care.)
2. The Sonic fanbase. I know every fanbase has it's weirdos, and I know that not everyone who likes Sonic is strange, but it does seem like Sonic's fans are either way weirder, or at least way more vocal about it.
So is Sonic a joke? Yeah, a bit. I can't really think of Sonic without also connecting it to Sonichu and allll the crap in the "Awesome" Fan Art Thread. Is it a tragedy? Also yes, because it could be a really good franchise again, if Sega had any idea what to do with it.
I genuinely like the original Sonic games. I was a Nintendo kid, but my wife's a fan of the old Sonic games, so every once in a while we sit down and play through one of the Genesis games together. It's a fun time.
There are two problems with Sonic currently:
1. The recent games haven't been very good. I know there have been a couple of shining stars, but there's a lot of Sonic Boom and Sonic '06 and Sonic and the Black Knight covering those up. (Cue someone telling me how great those games are. Save your energy, I assure you that I don't care.)
2. The Sonic fanbase. I know every fanbase has it's weirdos, and I know that not everyone who likes Sonic is strange, but it does seem like Sonic's fans are either way weirder, or at least way more vocal about it.
So is Sonic a joke? Yeah, a bit. I can't really think of Sonic without also connecting it to Sonichu and allll the crap in the "Awesome" Fan Art Thread. Is it a tragedy? Also yes, because it could be a really good franchise again, if Sega had any idea what to do with it.
Joke? That's total lack of respect for a very well know character and brand. And the older games were actually good fun so I see this OP as bait.
Sure, the games have been shit and it's been years I'm unable to enjoy a proper platform Sonic game - Sonic All Stars Transformed was the latest awesome Sonic game I played but it was racing.
Sure, the games have been shit and it's been years I'm unable to enjoy a proper platform Sonic game - Sonic All Stars Transformed was the latest awesome Sonic game I played but it was racing.
Ganzlinger
Member
I browsed this thread just to see the memes and creepy pictures. So, yeah, he is kind of a joke now.
Sonic Team has been doing some terrible games throughout the years and the fanbase, god, the fanbase..
Sonic Team has been doing some terrible games throughout the years and the fanbase, god, the fanbase..
nkarafo
Member
Sonic Team treats it with the same kind of respect actually.
Hero of Legend
Member
And with me I do love 3&K, I do find 1 and 2 not as good (I certainly have issues with them) but I do certainly like aspects of them. CD was also great.
The Last One
Member
Hey, opinions hun? I can respect that.
lol no
You're kidding yourself.
Evil's Bane
Member
He's kind of a joke now but it wasn't always that way. Sega/ST's own incompetence along with lots of mocking from non-fans kind of created a lot of misconceptions about the franchise that can be seen in this thread even.
Like, we have some of the greatest platformers in the original Sonic trilogy and some people are trying to go back and discredit those for the sole purpose of making sure the ENTIRE franchise is a shitheap instead of just settling for "most of the franchise is a shitheap" like most have. Like, wtf?
Like, we have some of the greatest platformers in the original Sonic trilogy and some people are trying to go back and discredit those for the sole purpose of making sure the ENTIRE franchise is a shitheap instead of just settling for "most of the franchise is a shitheap" like most have. Like, wtf?
Last post I'm putting in this thread before I get too upset. Posted this in my Retrospective Home Thread.
I'm done now, just.....so damn tired of this. OP, why did you even make this thread? You KNOW this type of reaction would have happened.
I'm done now, just.....so damn tired of this. OP, why did you even make this thread? You KNOW this type of reaction would have happened.
He doesn't actually make fun of the bad in the franchise all that often anymore though. And I wouldn't say that laughing at mistakes is all that bad, I see it as them acknowledging that they fucked up.
Really the only thing I'd say they maybe hadn't earned the privilege for was making fun of Mighty No. 9.
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