Everyone knows it, I know it, you know it, Sonic the Hedgehog has been falling short as a successful franchise. Everyone still says however that the original 2D adventures of the blue hedgehog still remain classics to this day. Why is that?
Quite frankly it's because Sonic's games have gotten slower. Oh no Sonic has definately speeded up over the years to the point where you actually can't control him but that doesn't speed up the game. Sega's original plan was to have a speedy game where you got through the levels in fast-paced, high speed action. But now there's so much faffing about and features of the game that just break the flow and ultimately slow the game down.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 is deemed by far the WORST Sonic title ever to exist, that even Sega have removed it's events from the cannon plot. It was also the most cinematic game ever to exist in Sonic's franchise history too. Now cinematics aren't bad, so long as they're used in the right context and don't take up too much time. In 06 they drained the life out of the game, ultimately destroying the flow of the game and defacating on it's corpse.
And the other Sonic games have only further proven this. When Sonic the Hedgehog 4 came out, critics called it a return to the classics, a step in the right direction. There was minimal plot, the game just got on with it, it was an alright game. Nothing ground-breaking of course, but a step in the right direction. Sonic Colours also took it in that direction too. The level design was improved and ran easier, you didn't die every 5 seconds, it was again another step forward. Yes it did include cinematics but they only lasted up to a minute usually, thus not breaking the flow (plus the tone was a LOT less serious and had some funny moments). It wasn't the best game but it proved a 3D sonic game had the potential to be done well.
I'm not saying the over-focus on story is what ultimately made Sonic stagnate, but it doesn't help. In a perfect world, Sega would move on and try to reinvent the Sonic game with another genre, but it isn't that world. However if Sonic ever wants to have a chance of being good again, Sega need to stop breaking the flow of the game. Bad level design, heavy plot, anything slowing the game down needs to go. Instead of making Sonic faster Sega, you need to let the game catch up, you don't need a speedy Sonic to make the game faster.
Quite frankly it's because Sonic's games have gotten slower. Oh no Sonic has definately speeded up over the years to the point where you actually can't control him but that doesn't speed up the game. Sega's original plan was to have a speedy game where you got through the levels in fast-paced, high speed action. But now there's so much faffing about and features of the game that just break the flow and ultimately slow the game down.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 is deemed by far the WORST Sonic title ever to exist, that even Sega have removed it's events from the cannon plot. It was also the most cinematic game ever to exist in Sonic's franchise history too. Now cinematics aren't bad, so long as they're used in the right context and don't take up too much time. In 06 they drained the life out of the game, ultimately destroying the flow of the game and defacating on it's corpse.
And the other Sonic games have only further proven this. When Sonic the Hedgehog 4 came out, critics called it a return to the classics, a step in the right direction. There was minimal plot, the game just got on with it, it was an alright game. Nothing ground-breaking of course, but a step in the right direction. Sonic Colours also took it in that direction too. The level design was improved and ran easier, you didn't die every 5 seconds, it was again another step forward. Yes it did include cinematics but they only lasted up to a minute usually, thus not breaking the flow (plus the tone was a LOT less serious and had some funny moments). It wasn't the best game but it proved a 3D sonic game had the potential to be done well.
I'm not saying the over-focus on story is what ultimately made Sonic stagnate, but it doesn't help. In a perfect world, Sega would move on and try to reinvent the Sonic game with another genre, but it isn't that world. However if Sonic ever wants to have a chance of being good again, Sega need to stop breaking the flow of the game. Bad level design, heavy plot, anything slowing the game down needs to go. Instead of making Sonic faster Sega, you need to let the game catch up, you don't need a speedy Sonic to make the game faster.
