Stuck In 2D: Sonic The Hedgehog
Over the years many iconic video game franchises have tried and failed miserably to enter the 3rd Dimension. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re taking a look at the Sonic Franchise’s attempts to break from its 16-bit past.
Of all the video game mascots running around, the sneaker-clad Hedgehog is arguably the most well known around the world.
Sonic made his debut in 1991 on the Sega Master System and Genesis consoles as a high-octane response to Nintendo’s beloved Mascot Mario.
Early in life, it succeeded in luring gamers away from the competition with its unique focus on lightning fast twitch gameplay, strong supporting cast of characters, and simple, yet exciting level structure.
Sonic was awesome because it was perfectly suited as a side-scrolling game, and players enjoyed reaching high speeds, collecting power rings and damaging enemies with high impact somersault attacks.
Sadly, the series came under unnecessary pressure to take things into the third dimension in 1996, which resulted in the creation of “Sonic 3D: Blast” for the Sega Saturn. The game may have been pretty, but it featured clunky controls, extremely competitive gameplay, and an absence of speed.
As a result, Sega took things up a notch when they used the hedgehog to launch their ill-fated Dreamcast Console with “Sonic Adventure” in 1999. Despite its notorious camera system and other minor technical issues, they managed to take the first step in properly translating the series to 3D.
Sadly, 2001’s follow-up “Sonic Adventure 2” began a downward spiral. The franchise simply departed too far from its roots, and introduced an overly complicated plot. Plus it suffered from the awkward renaming of longtime series villain Dr. Robotnik to ‘Dr. Eggman’. A move which was prompted by the developers desire to have his name reflect his bulbous shape and original title in Japan.
Sadly, the worst was still to come.
In 2005, Sega thought it would be a good idea to produce a darker and more-mature spin-off entitled “Shadow The Hedgehog.” Not only did it make Sonic a secondary character, but replaced his iconic summersault attack with the ability to carry a large gun and speak with profanities.
Wheeling from the negative press and reviews, Sega launched a half-hearted reboot in 2006, simply called “Sonic The Hedgehog.” Despite the best of intentions, fan outrage erupted over its many visual flaws, horrific handling, insane difficulty, and total lack of fun. In fact, the game has even been nominated for the title of the worst game of the decade.
Notoriously recognized world-round for their terrible 3D Sonic titles, Sega spent the next few years targeting younger gamers and trying to reinvent their Mascot with several underwhelming sonic adventures (ex. Sonic Unleashed) for both the Wii and the portable consoles.
Miraculously, Sega’s unforgivable missteps and the vocal outrage of their fans finally resulted in Sonic returning to his roots in 2010. As a result, gamers were treated to a direct side-scrolling sequel to the Sonic The Hedgehog games on their old 16-bit Genesis console (Editor’s note: Sonic The Hedgehog 4).
History has proven that time and time again Sonic is better left to rock the 16-bit side-scrolling genre. While the game could potentially find his way in 3D, the poor hedgehog was never given the chance to truly run free of technical issues or poor design choices.
sonic18shadow
“All sonic games are awesome. I don't care what people say but I think that Sonic 06 wasn't bad ”
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Bunny Speed
“The 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game is not BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
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Alec Alger
“It has a point about Adventure 2 being a downward spiral, however, the video failed to mention Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations as attempts in the right direction.”
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Prince-Taita Mubangu
“mother fuckers
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