It's good that Sonic Team is beginning to see that many of the changes they've made to Sonic's universe have not been for the better, but then again I often wonder if it's just time to retire the franchise for a while. It's like with Mario, we started off well with the side-scrolling platformers, then things went well in the 3D platformers, and then... well, there's really nowhere the series can go.
Every 3D Mario game has basically just been a moderate improvement (often only graphically) over Mario 64. Nintendo seems to be countering this by keeping the 3D platformers to a minimum (Mario 64 never had a direct sequel, neither did Sunshine, and Galaxy is only getting one now) meanwhile placing focus on Mario's other venues like Paper Mario, Brawl, Mariokart, and the sports games.
Sega, meanwhile, has tried to keep Sonic squarely in the platforming world, his occasional appearances in tennis games, racers, or even his one RPG seemingly preceded by "kicking and screaming". The reason behind this is, of course, that except maybe for Sonic Riders, none of these other genres help to show off Sonic's trademark speed. Then again, the exploration aspects of the sprawling, 3D worlds of the 2006 game and Unleashed don't help either.
I've loved the Sonic games since day one, and I might actually be one of the few Sonic fans who actually likes Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast even after all these years. Since then, though, the only Sonic games (on the main consoles, I haven't tried his DS games) that I've actually kind of enjoyed playing are the two Wii games, Secret Rings and Black Knight; they're the only games that effectively show off Sonic's speed yet give us the rich, sprawling 3D worlds afforded by the current consoles.
Sega seems to have been at a loss for what to do with Sonic, and that may be because of Sonic's now-wider audience. Like I said, I grew up with Sonic in his 2D days on Genesis, and I'm now approaching 30. There are, however, fans that have never known the 2D Sonic as their first impression may have been Sonic Adventure or Sonic Adventure 2, or anything after that. So, at the risk of sounding condescending, Sega has older fans on one side who want the former glory restored, and younger fans on the other side who want to see Shadow get his own game. Sega needs to remember that Sonic was never meant to appeal to younger gamers; Sonic has an attitude and still does, Mario doesn't and never has, but since now Nintendo is writing most of Sega's paychecks, Sega felt compelled to tone down the 'edginess' albeit I seriously doubt anyone at Big N told them to.
I don't see anything wrong with Sonic's expanding cast of characters; they're all balanced and diverse enough. There is, however, a kind of 'umbrella' dumbing-down of the series that, at times, seems to render the individual members of the cast indiscernable from each other.
I'm rambling, but it's because I love Sonic, but I wouldn't be sad if Sega just put him down and walked away for a while. There are times when absence makes the heart grow fonder.
