Has modern gaming left Sonic as a relic? Will Sonic & the Secret Rings revive him?

[agbulls]

I'm curious as to what you guys think. I'm 26--and have been enjoying the Sonic series (including the Adventure series) since the first title. With few exceptions, most notably Shadow, I think Sega has done an above average job making above average games with an excellent character.

However, the newest title--"Sonic the Hedgehog"-- has received terrible scores across the board. I have this excellent little Sonic miniature that sits in my cube, and he just keeps staring at me. He's saying, "C'mon Adam...you know you've enjoyed MOST of my games. Forget Shadow the Hedgehog. This is a 360 title. Go on out to the EB and buy my new game. Ignore the reviewers and the garbage fanboy posts on gamefaqs."

But, I just can't ignore the problems that people talk about. Furthermore, I thought the demo was decent. Nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it. So, here I am with a dilmena. Has Sonic really passed his prime? Mario seems to keep on kicking. What do you guys think? Also, for those that have played it, how's the new game?