That makes more sense! We are in agreement 
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Oh, yeah. If Shadow doesn’t say “I’m gonna need a gun” in this I’ll be well upset!
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I dunno, Chemical Plant Zone kicked my ass… granted i was like 7 but that drowning music haunts my soul
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I played some Sonic games over the past few months so I’ll share some thoughts on them.
Sonic Generations – wanted to revisit in preparation for the upcoming version featuring Shadow. I liked it a tad more than I did the last time I played. I think it’s a solid 4/5 – the levels are enjoyable to play through, and I even liked most of the bonus side challenges. There are good reasons to revisit stages too, with the red rings, score ranks, power-ups, and museum collectibles. I do still feel the 2D Sonic physics are pretty bad, but at least it’s playable. Funnily enough, I beat the final boss on my first try this time, so I guess I retained the memory of how to go about that. (Before, this was my biggest negative toward the game… It took me a ton of attempts to figure it out.) I’ll be curious to see if the new levels in the upcoming release will be up to snuff. And new content aside, hopefully it’ll be a smooth-running port with no serious bug issues when it comes out… (Asking a lot, I know.)
Sonic Adventure – I can play this one every year and never grow bored of it. This time I attempted the DX version for the first time (the Xbox 360 version), and yeah, it’s a bit jank compared to the Dreamcast original unfortunately. But I was curious about the mission mode they added, which I found fun until the last ten or so quests. I gave them all a fair shake, but decided to move on and just do more emblem-hunting. All the emblems are fun to get IMO, save for the harder fishing challenges. (I’m fine with Big’s campaign, since his regular levels are real easy.) I also considered going all-in on the chao garden for the umpteenth time, but I prefer Adventure 2 for that.
Sonic Unleashed – I had to give up after a few hours. I’m sorry, but I just can’t agree with the big movement in recent years for many Sonic fans to reclaim this game as actually the best and super underrated 3D Sonic game. The game has eight solid Sonic daytime levels (some of the best for the boost formula, I can agree there), but that’s only about ten percent of the game, if that. You’re spending way, way, way, way more time with the Werehog nighttime levels, which are a total slog. There’s also the unskippable cutscenes, and unfortunately this is likely the second-most annoying story for a Sonic game to me (Lost World is definitely first there). And I had completely forgotten about the really long airplane levels, which are an obnoxious onslaught of quick-time events. So yeah, I ended up spending a few hours figuring out how to add the Unleashed Project mod to my Steam version of Sonic Generations, and now I can just play the eight good levels of Unleashed whenever I want. I think if Sonic Team wanted, they could release those stages as DLC for Sonic x Shadow Generations, and people would be willing to pay $20 or so for it.
Shadow the Hedgehog – my first time playing this one (I Dolphin’d the Gamecube version). I had extremely low expectations, since it was called one of the worst video games of all time for so many years. But it turned out to be a regular ol’ bad game like a hundred thousand others. I found it playable at least, and was okay with it enough to go through three campaigns (a full neutral, a full evil, and a full good). No way I was going to play all ten main routes, but I think I’d honestly prefer to do that than play Heroes, or Lost World, or Sonic 4. But at any rate, this is basically a fiver Ratchet and Clank, and for most levels you’re forced to do tedious missions that make you explore every cranny and nook, so don’t expect much in the way of speed or platforming. I was curious about the story in this one (because of Sonic x Shadow Generations), and this might be a case of “so bad it’s funny.” Shadow is as impressionable as a baby bird in this one, and I don’t think even the writers of the game knew for sure what to actually set in stone for what he’s supposed to be. At any rate, a bad game overall, but there are enough decent bits in the gameplay for me to give it a 2/5. I won’t recommend it, but gamers need to play some real trash before calling this the worst game ever.
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Which version of Unleashed did you play? Im told there are some pretty drastic changes to the game depending on the version you play
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I played the Xbox 360 one (so the “standard” version, which was also on PS3).
I have yet to play the “demake” version that was made for the Wii (but also released on PS2, somehow). Apparently the levels are all different in “Sonic Unwiished,” so it’s technically its own game. I’ll have to give it a go one day, if I’m going to be a completionist for playing all the Sonic mainline games.
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Yeah. I think the wii one has more standard sonic levels or something
This is such a cool idea!
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Two of the best, two of the worst. 
I don’t really understand the physics complains for Classic Sonic in Generations. I’ve never sound them to be an issue, and they’ve always felt perfectly fine to me. Maybe I’m not clever enough to notice the nuances, but having played the series since 1992 I just don’t see the issue. 
Adventure is in my top 5, maybe too 3, Sonic games. I love it so much. But yeah, the DX version nerfed it and most of the complaints people have about falling through floors etc actually come from that version, not the Dreamcast original.
That said, it’s worth taking the time to fix DX so it plays more closely to the Dreamcast version but with the (few) improvements that DX brings.
In regards to Unleashed, I agree with everything you say. I’ve never played Shadow myself, having not been into console gaimg during the time it came out, but I’m keen to try it. I haven’t yet as I worry trying to run a Dolphiin or X-Box emulator on my laptop would cause it to spontaniously combust. I’m fully aware of its reputation, but I’m still interested to give it a go.
Don’t get the hate for Heroes though. I remember really enjoying it, but so many people say it’s not great so I may have to revisit it and see for myself.
Glad you had a mostly good time. 
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I wouldn’t call it a huge issue since the levels are designed well enough with those physics in mind, but I do feel I have to play more cautiously in Generations than I do in the classic games (or Mania). It’s notably more “stop and go” than the 2D games, at least for me. As far as 2D Sonic gameplay goes, my ranking would be:
Classics + Mania > Superstars > Generations > Colors > Forces >>>>>>>>>> Sonic 4
And I guess the 2D segments in Unleashed would be around Generations or Colors – those parts go by quick though so it’s not a big issue there.
I did do that with my Steam version of Sonic Adventure a couple years back, and yeah, that’s the best way to play it outside of just playing the Dreamcast version. My favorite thing to mod back in was the DLC content from the Dreamcast, like the Christmas or Halloween stuff. Very nostalgic for me. =P Back then I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, being able to add new stuff to your games via that slow-as-hell dial-up internet. And it was all free too, imagine that.
Interestingly I did see a video recently where someone praised the Shadow game quite a bit, and the comments were filled to the brim with people who apparently genuinely love it, so I guess that shows even the most derided games out there will still have their fans. I think it’s interesting as a time capsule, at the very least.
I’d say most Sonic fans rather like Heroes (or at worst, find it “okay”), so don’t feel alone in your enjoyment there. I’ve tried getting into it several times over the years, but it just never clicks for me. I hate the control and movement for all three modes of gameplay, and found all the levels to be poorly designed for what the game was going for (with the exception of the very first level, which I’ll admit is fine — no surprise that was the pick for its Generations inclusion).
Great soundtrack, though, I’ll give it that! 
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I’ve no idea what equates to “most Sonic fans” anymore. The Sonic sub-reddit is an absolute ceaspoll (I guess there’s no real surprises there). YouTube is very mixed between absolute insane yobbos and more level headed, mostly older, fans.
I like to think I fall into the latter moreso than the former, although I still have all my hair, so maybe not?
Zing!
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This may only interest me, but I just found out via the Sonic Wiki that there is a loosely agreed by SEGA what constitutes cannon for Sonic.
Basically, all the mainline games, most spin-off titles, the IDW comics and Sonic Prime are currently considered official cannon. Stuff like the movies, Sonic Boom, the Archie comics, Sonic The Comic and arcade and cross-over games are not cannon and/or their own cannon.
Interestingly, while alternate versions of games, such as the DS versions of Lost World and Generations, aren’t considered cannon, the 8-bit versions of Sonic 1 and 2 and the other 8-bit titles are.
I’m a big continuity nerd outside of Sonic, so this has totally got me wanting to make mind board to humble Charlie Day.
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Reminds me of a few videos by Brian David Gilbert for polygon. He did one on the zelda timeline(s) that he jokingly solved with zelda monopoly, and one where he tried to explain kingdom hearts timeline / lore. I could see you ending up somewhere similar lol
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BDG
Dropout made a smart move hiring him into their roster, but I do miss his quirky video game video essays.
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Making a timeline of events for the Sonic games is truly a fool’s errand lol. If I were to be the fool though, I’d have to say there are reasonably at least 4 or 5 continuities:
- Classic Sonic — Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3&K, and spinoffs of that era if you want (Spinball, 3D Blast, Fighters, R) — the plot was never a big deal for these games, just Sonic saving some island of little critters from Robotnik
- Adventure Sonic — Sonic Adv 1, 2, Heroes, Shadow, Advance games and Battle I guess — there is an extremely half-hearted attempt to have some sense of continuity between some of these games, but it’s a real crapshoot if we’re gonna be honest =P
- 06 Sonic — a soft reboot, yeah?
- Unleashed Sonic — another soft reboot, let’s be real
- Modern Sonic — after Unleashed it’s kind of just whatever random (and usually simple) plot they come up with from game to game, not really attempting any sense of continuity (which is fine IMO)… until Frontiers, when suddenly ALL games are somehow part of one insane timeline — the callbacks in that game are cute and all, but honestly at this point I think it’s best to just say “Sonic has had a lot of various adventures, and let’s leave it at that”
Perhaps the funniest thing about the Sonic games is that nobody among the game devs can decide what Sonic’s world truly is. In the classic era a lot of Sonic media went with the idea of it’s a made-up fantasy world (often called Mobius, which is a fun name for a nonsense world full of loops and spirals). But then in the Adventure era suddenly it was basically Earth, a world full of regular 'ol humans (with the only Sonic-types you’ll ever see being the playable characters), which was a setting reimagined for 06 Sonic, and then yet again for Unleashed. It wouldn’t be until Forces that the world was suddenly populated by Sonic-types (and in that case, no humans other than Eggman to be found — same for the IDW comics, at least from all I’ve read). Apparently at some point the Sonic Twitter said there are actually two worlds, a statement that was quickly redacted, because… LOL???
What’s so strange about this is I don’t see any reason there can’t be both humans and Sonic-types wandering around in a hub area or what have you in a single game. Since the very first game, we’ve had both Sonic and Robotnik, so why can’t this just be a Roger Rabbit or Bojack Horseman style world lol. At the end of the day none of this actually matters for whether any individual game is fun or not, but I just find this massive shrug toward basic world-building to be quite funny from a storytelling perspective.
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This isn’t exactly true.
The Sonic that appears in Adventure was never supposed to be a different Sonic to the one in the 16-bit games. Same goes for the 8-bit games. They were all supposed to be the same characters right up to Sonic '06.
Sonic '06 was seen as a soft reboot, but as we all know it flopped so that idea never went anywhere, instead it kind of got mushed into what already existed, lore wise.
Unleashed started off as Sonic Adventure 3. After the poor reception of 06 and the Storybook titles, SEGA wanted to return to what worked previously. This is when they developed the first iteration of the Hedgehog Engine. Obviously, it didn’t become Adventure 3, but you can see the similarities between it and the Adventure formula.
I agree Sonic Team played fast and loose with continuity, but if SEGA say something is cannon, it’s cannon. All mainline games (and some spin-offs) have the same Sonic all the way through. There was a period of time when Classic Sonic in Generations was not a younger version of Modern Sonic, but a Sonic from another dimension, however this has since been reconnected and Sonic from Sonic 1 through to Frontiers is the same character.
In the classic era a lot of Sonic media went with the idea of it’s a made-up fantasy world (often called Mobius, which is a fun name for a nonsense world full of loops and spirals). But then in the Adventure era suddenly it was basically Earth, a world full of regular 'ol humans (with the only Sonic-types you’ll ever see being the playable characters), which was a setting reimagined for 06 Sonic, and then yet again for Unleashed.
The “Mobius” name was 100% a thing dreamt up by SEGA USA. SEGA Japan never used the name, it was always just “Earth.” It’s basically the same deal as with “Robotnik;” the names were changed in the West because SEGA US & EU thought the original Japanese names (or lackthereof in Earth’s case) were dumb so added stuff in. It should be noted that Sonic’s Earth is not supposed to be “our” Earth, albeit it is somewhat similar.
When Adventure came around, SEGA decided they wanted the series to more closely align worldwide, hence why Robotnik became Eggman in that game in the West. Same with Mobius/ Earth. I’m fairly certain the only media that called Sonic’s planet “Mobius” after Adventure were the Archie comics. This was because they used the SEGA US cannon to base their stories off of. As they were their own continuity, there was no need to change it there.
As for only “Sonic-types” being the ones you played, there is no confirmation that they were just suddenly added in with Forces, at least lore-wise. If you consider the established lore, the opposite is more likely true. The Classic games all take place on islands where humans do not live. Humans are said to live almost exclusively in cities while the anthropomorphic animals live in smaller, village-like areas. This is why humans appear in Station Square in Adventure. Similarly, Station Square was destroyed at the end of Adventure, which could be why it does not appear in subsequent games. Why humans aren’t in Forces though has never been explained as far as I’m aware. Maybe they were fighting somewhere else?
At the end of the day none of this actually matters for whether any individual game is fun or not, but I just find this massive shrug toward basic world-building to be quite funny from a storytelling perspective.
Indeed. It doesn’t matter, but it do with SEGA would take the continuity a bit more seriously. They have had heaps of chances to fix the lore, but they seem to have no idea what they are doing. There is a “lore brains trust” at the moment and it’s been said they have had a hand in Prime, Forntiers, the Tails’ Tube shorts and the IDW comics. Weather this will ever lead to the continuity being made whole, well…we’ll see, but I doubt it.
Edited for clarity, and because it sounded a bit aggressive which wasn’t the intent. Also, apologies for being so anal about the world of a talking blue hedgehog. Just don’t get me started on Marvel of Doctor Who…
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So…how old is sonic now?
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Depends what you mean. In real world terms, 33. In regards to the series lore, around 16.
Lore, and is he still 16 after all the adventures? If so, thats a long ass year lol
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I call this the Detective Conan Rule. That kid has solved the mysteries of like a thousand murders in one city in like half a year lol.
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