Sonic 15th Anniversary WEEK! Day 3 - The Return

[GrayFox]

The Saturn died an early death in America, and the Playstation kept its lead in its skirmish with the N64.

Hype was building for the next gen consoles.

9/9/99 then arrived.

Quite possibly the greatest launch most of us have ever seen in video gaming. A console that had a fantastic price point, a good amount of consoles on hand, and a fantastic selection of games from the beginning. NFL 2k and the sports games, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter 3tb, Power Stone, House of the Dead 2, and quite obviously the title many of us were waiting for. It was called numerous names during its creation such as 'Sonic RPG', but we finally got our hands on Sonic Adventure that day.



Ya damn right I did some crazy dance like that when I played it. Granted, I did get to play Sonic Adventure before a lot of my fellow Americans. For some reason a local rental shop of mine bought an import Dreamcast, and plenty of games like Sonic Adventure and Blue Stinger. And yes, it was available for rental. I got my hands on Sonic months before it arrived here, and then I got my hands on it again before launch with the rentable Dreamcasts from Hollywood Video.

And yes, I bought the game at launch even though I beat it before. It's completely worth owning and beating just for the final Super Sonic level. Now that's how you end a game.

And yeah, the Big The Cat stuff sucked. Sucked hard. But to be completely honest, it really never bothered me because the rest of the game was so bloody fantastic. The camera has plenty of flaws, and Sonic Team still needs to learn how to make a good camera, but it doesn't distract from the beautiful vistas and chasing whales.

But seriously, how do you follow up Sonic Adventure? Wait a while like Nintendo does with Mario, or get going on a sequel?







Sega went for the latter.

Sonic Adventure 2, the second best 3-D Sonic game of this generation after Adventure, was a much more linear game compared to Adventure. I'm not saying Adventure was this grand RPG-style game with plenty of exploration, but atleast you could run around whenever you wanted. I thoroughly enjoy Sonic Adventure 2, but even I can admit that I could have done without the constant interruptions to the fantastic Sonic/Shadow levels.

So the Dreamcast held host to my favorite Sonic 3-D games. I must say, before I go on, that Sonic Shuffle isn't anything special. At all really.

I <3 Sonic Adventure, for the books.




Anyways, then the Dreamcast commercially....











It lives on through us.



But ALAS, but I must trudge on...




...to continue to speak my words about Sonic. I MUST!

The years after Sega decided to create only software were hard on us Sonic/Sega fans, but we were treated to some fantastic games. An actual US release of Shenmue 2 was nice, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Outrun 2, Rez, and even Jet Set Radio Future. What did Sonic do though?

Sonic jumped onto all the platforms. We were treated to ports of Adventure 1 and 2, and then we were given a fantastic treat with Sonic Mega Collection, and later Sonic Mega Collection Plus. Oh and seriously, Sonic Gems Collection for the win. But where's a new 3-D Sonic?

Sonic Heroes. To be completely honest, I really don't have that much to say about this title. It's not bad by any means, and I do enjoy the game, but its nothing special or mindblowing (sort of like the 32-Bit days). It's a different take on the Sonic series that obviously borrows heavily from Chaotix. I'm not hating on the game by any means, don't worry. I will go on the record and say this game is good. Yeah, I went there, I still have fun with the game all the time. That's not a sexual joke either.

Or is it?

So after that, things slowed down. Thankfully during this generation Dimps was given the call to produce some Sonic games for the Game Boy Advance. The result? Some great 2-D Sonic games that borrow a lot from the classics. But why no new console Sonic?! WHY?!

"Oh don't worry guys, we have the new Sonic title for you in development"







Heh, okay Sega. Thanks. Luckly it tarnished the Shadow name even more than it was before for me. It didn't hurt my image of Sonic's character at all. Oh, and then Sonic Riders came out. I had fun and played it. That's about it.

So yeah, I can officially say this generation produced the one title I don't enjoy that much at all. Shadow the Hedgehog. But let's look on the bright side....



Oh hell yeah. I could go on about this title for awhile, but I'll sum up my description of one of my favorite Sonic titles quickly. Absolutely tight controls, great new moves that actually have an impact on gameplay and help you (R-Button and its ability to lengthen my jumps vertically for the WIN), more linear levels that have a more vertical feel to them that tend themselves to extremely fast paced action, face melting graphics, a Special Zone that harkens back to Sonic 2 but with great touch screen control..... *gasp, takes breath*, and a fucking awesome soundtrack by Naganuma. Oh yeah, and did I mention awesome boss battles?

Yeah, people ragged on Sonic this generation and claim all of them suck, but whatever. The only game I could ever say actually 'sucked' this generation that was related to Sonic was Shadow the Hedgehog.

It seriously did guys.

Your Turn. How was Sonic for you these past 7 years?

[segarocks30]

I played the Demo for Shadow the Hedgehog, and I was just pissed.

[Blanka789]

None of the 3D sonics did it for me, I found them fun but had no desire to replay them. All of the handhelds were great, and Sonic Rush was absolutely amazing. The collections were definitely the bright spots.

One thing you have failed to mention are the cartoons, with this generation absolutely sucking. Sonic SatAM was great, and adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was ok.

[CosmicMonkey]

Sonic Adventure is a very good game, but nothing compares to the original Megadrive series.

I've not played any of the newer Sonic games, and that's probably a good thing.

[Amy Rose]

Shame on me, I loathe Sonic Heroes and actually enjoyed Shadow the Hedgehog. I laughed at how so many Sonic fanbois/grrls got their panties in a twist over it (especially all the ones who were introduced to Sonic via Sonic Advance) when it really wasn't that bad. It's a spinoff game, that's all.

Sonic Rush. Oh baby. It took me months to track down a soundtrack for it, but now I finally have one. Woo! I love that game. Absolutely love it. It's even more proof that Sonic needs to go back to being 2D.

Sonic Riders, meh. I played it a bit but it had none of the magic that Sonic R posesses. Snore.

Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, I love. I completely agree with GrayFox regarding the Big levels (seriously, WHO THE FUCK PUTS FISHING IN A SONIC GAME @$&@$*@#@#) but besides that (and a broken level where I fell through the ground about 20 times in SA1) they're fantastic games. I didn't like Mario 64, which may have had something to do with it. Hehe. I even liked digging for urinal cakes (you need to play the games to get this :P)!

I still have hope for Sonic and his poor franchise, Sonic Rush really brightened things up for me as far as recent releases go. Whereas Sonic X is rancid and I hate how the voice actors feature in the games now, and I wish Cream would die a painful death, Sega are still occasionally making decent characters (Blaze), have started bringing old characters back (Espio, Charmy & Vector) and even seem to be realising that fans really love portable Sonic (the PSP title that will hopefully be released soon).

LONG LIVE SONIC!

[j_factor]

You know what I was disappointed in? Sonic Pinball Party. I loved Spinball and I was expecting it to be something like that. But instead, it's just a generic pinball game that happens to have Sonic Team themed tables. What a waste.

[sabre2922]

Sonic Adventure 2 was my favorite Sonic 3-D game.

I thought Riders was going to be better than it turned out, Heroes was OK IMO, Shadow was barely a decent game and boderline BAD.

Im not sure about the direction that the "next-gen" Sonic is going either, I mean all this about how the producer and developers of the game are going around saying that everyone wants to see Sonic in a "real world" setting or some shit like that.

Most of the screenshots for the next-gen Sonic look like its set in some overly detailed flooded New York City or someshit=NOT GOOD.

Man Sega has really lost its way especially when concering Sonic.

[GrayFox]

None of the 3D sonics did it for me, I found them fun but had no desire to replay them. All of the handhelds were great, and Sonic Rush was absolutely amazing. The collections were definitely the bright spots.

One thing you have failed to mention are the cartoons, with this generation absolutely sucking. Sonic SatAM was great, and adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was ok.

I was focusing around the games.

But if I were to include the cartoons, it would all be about SatAM, hence my avatar. I'm a huge fan, and have been since the original airings on ABC.

Blast to the Past ftw.

[Juganawt]

Agreed that SA1 was brilliant, but I didnt enjoy SA2 that much... or infact any of the console Sonic's in the 128bit generation.

Sonic Heroes was appalling, Shadow was laughably horrific, and Sonic Riders was nowhere near as good as I hoped it'd be (i was hoping effectively an enhancement of Sonic R... DISAPPOINTED!)

I personally think they should retire Sonic on console, and just release handheld versions instead. He harkens back to a simpler time where 2D graphics were king and blistering speed was relatively unknown in the genre.. His transition to 3D has hardly been painless.

Anyhow, Happy birthday Sonic, hopefully your twilight years will put you back in the limelight.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I only played the demo of SA1 and a friends house, but I played it a few dozen times. It's a fun game, and when I get a dreamcast (I'm waiting because I know I'm going to want to buy a hell of a lot of games and dont have the money for it at the moment) It'll be one of my first buys.

Oh, and the Sonic Advance titles are very, very good. Not quite as good as the Genesis games, but close enough. Plus portablity makes up for it.

[alec006]

Sonic for the past 7 years has well kind of went downhill .Dont get me lying Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 for the Dreamcast are great games with replay value then theres the Gems and Mega Collections which bring us back in time,Shadow The Hedgehog......Too Short,kind of a sucky story line,but the game was worth playing for a few days,then Sonic Heros bringing the Chaotix back in 3D that was cool the game gets an Ok,Sonic Riders,pretty fun when you get used to it,Sonic Rush,a good start for sonic on the DS,the advance titles are good too,just in my personal opinion Sonic should have stayed on Mobius,i really dont like him on earth,and then Sonic X,kind of a 4Kids Watered Down Cartoon,its good to watch but not like The Adventures Of Sonic The Hegdehog or The SatAM Series,then theres Sonic Underground,I actally watched it and i can say its an ok cartoon,we FINALLY GET KNUCKLES! Then at E3 they show 360's and PS3's Sonic the Hedgehog Nex Gen,from the looks of it,im expecting Sonic 1 only in 3D and with a different storyline ,then the Title for the WII looks great and intresting as well. Sonic for the past 7 Years has had his ups and downs but I still say its been a pretty good 7 years for the lightning fast Blue Hedgehog,what does the future hold for Sonic? Well probaly some more new charaters and maybe a surprize from Sega......Sally and Julie-Su in a Sonic Game! Maybe,but not likely. Still today Sonic is a well known video game icon and will contenue to amaze us for years to come. June 23,2006 Tommorow the Hedgehog Rises again.

[Julio III]

Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast launch day was mindblowing. The whole whale scene still sticks with me. I actually preferred the Big fishing levels to Knuckles boring searching ones. Only played the demo of SA2 and it was fun, unsure about the grinding. Played demo of Shadow in a shop and it was urgh. Never tried the rest and dont want to.

Sonic Pinball Party i found amazing, sure its limited but i put away so many hours into that game on just the one Sonic table. I still never got through all the zones or beat story mode. Great little game.

[B - Mark]

Today is the date for celebrate the Sonic´s Birthday.

My favorite Sonic games list:
- Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2 and 3 ( Mega Drive / Genesis )
- Sonic and Knuckles ( Mega Drive / Genesis )
- Sonic 1 and 2 ( Master System and Game Gear )
- Sonic Chaos ( Master System and Game Gear )
- Sonic Drift 1 and 2 ( Game Gear )
- Sonic CD ( Sega CD )
- Sonic Advance 3 ( Game Boy Advance )

Long live to Sonic the Hedgehog!

Sonic the Hedgehog: Bring fun since 1991

[Matt-El]

To say that Shadow the Hedgehog Sucked is completely untrue. It blended the action and play from SA2 and gave a good twist on it. Replay value is probably the only thing wrong.

On SA2, it was truly THE best playable 3d sonic game and still is. for now.

[dreamcaster]

I REALLY love Sonic Adventure, it's my favourite of all the 3D Sonic games. I should get around to finishing it with all the characters some time (think I've only done Sonic and Amy modes).

Sonic Adventure 2 was a better presented game, but the Robotnik/Tails levels were shit and the Knuckles/Rouge levels were kinda frustrating. I can't say I'm a fan of this game.

Sonic Heroes - I must be the only fan of this game. Sure, it's not without it's glitches (then again, what Sonic game isn't?) but I liked it because Sega listened to people who were complaining about Sonic becoming too much like Mario, slow and exploratory. Heroes returned to the gameplay style of Sonic 1/2/3/Knuckles, and put it in 3D, and for that I applaud them. Note: I own the Xbox version, and I've found it sufficiently superior to the horrendous GameCube version (to say nothing about the PS2 version), so people, please play the XBOX version of this game before passing final judgement.

I haven't played enough Shadow the Hedgehog to make a decision, though it seemed, OK.

Sonic Riders was just badly put together. The concept was sound, but the implementation is AWFUL. The power up stations are dumb, STOPPING THE PLAYER IN A SUPER FAST RACE SO THEY CAN RECHARGE EASILY LOST ENERGY DESTROYED ANY SENSE OF SPEED, FLOW AND ENJOYMENT. I'm sorry, but Sonic Team really don't have a clue how to design a racing game. Amusement Vision should do a remake of this game and show how it SHOULD be done.

As for the Sonic Advance series, I have only played Sonic Advance 2, and whilst being solid, I find it doesn't have the magic of the original Sonics - plus they feel like success is based more on luck rather thanskills.

Sonic Rush is cool, but again, more play time is required.

[GrayFox]

To say that Shadow the Hedgehog Sucked is completely untrue. It blended the action and play from SA2 and gave a good twist on it. Replay value is probably the only thing wrong.

On SA2, it was truly THE best playable 3d sonic game and still is. for now.

Well you're right on Shadow not sucking completely from a gameplay stance. It had the necessary components to make a good game.

Unfortunately, the camera was easily at its worst here, and the gunplay was absolutely terrible considering there was no way of targeting. The target was being selected by the computer, and there was no indication of whom you were targeting as well. It was guesswork for the player.

The game sucked on a technical level more than anything.