Think back to the early 90s, and the two coolest icons there was. Perhaps a little more familiar was Mario. Everyone could easily pick up and play any of the Mario games and instantly have a great time without being a gaming enthusiast. But near the turn of the decade from the 80s to 90s a new character emerged, Sonic the Hedgehog was immediately destined to be one of the most popular video game characters of all time. With unrivaled speed, and an attitude as cool as he was blue, every kid wanted to be sonic.
We are now approaching a new decade of gaming. In this decade we will bring many characters with us. Some are new, but some who have been with us for years. Over the years these character have undergone transformations, through appearance and gameplay. Mario still sticks to the same formula it always has, with the exception of games such as Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, and other sports/activities he has delved into. He is still as beloved a character as he was in the 90s.
This article is not about Mario and his success though. This article is about the icon we thought would be even more loved by now. A character that has evolved from some of the most entertaining, high speed games ever, to some of the most disappointing, childhood-ruining games ever brought into this world.
Lets talk about the games we grew up with; the original sonic trilogy are still the most popular sonic games ever released. The first Sonic the Hedgehog introduced us to the character and the story of his struggle against the maniacal Dr. Robotnik. The second game brought us his sidekick/companion Miles ?Tails? Prower, and the third game brought us some more depth in the gameplay of the game with new features such as jump-dash, and many new power ups. Later on we were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna, Metal Sonic, the Chaotix, and many other allies and rivals.
Then a new era of games began-The 3D Era. Sonic was first brought into this era in the Sonic Adventure games. While some players immediately disliked the new sonic, I thought these games were well-made, incredibly addicting, and seem to be the start of the storyline for this next-gen sonic. In these games, a few notable changes were brought about (other than the overall gameplay). Dr. Robotnik who had been Sonic?s rival from the start of the series was given a new name- Dr. Eggman. However it is stated towards the end of Sonic Adventure 2 that the name of Dr. Eggman?s grandfather is Gerald Robotnik, which raises the question of whether or not the Sonic from the classic games is the same Sonic featured in this generations games. Many gamers may not have noticed details such as this, but I know Sonic fanboys/girls (such as myself) definitely noticed this large hole in the plot. I immediately considered this just more depth in the storyline, and expected answers in the next sonic adventure.
Unfortunately my questions were never answered. The next sonic game was Sonic Heroes, essentially a competition against teams of the heroes, the villains, the comic relief, and the??brightly colored characters. This game just shattered all my hopes of ever comprehending this mess of a storyline. The biggest problem in this storyline was the inclusion of shadow the hedgehog as a playable character on the dark team (villains). Correct me if I am mistaken but didn?t he die at the end of the Sonic Adventure 2? Shouldn?t it be necessary to explain how he escaped plummeting towards the earth from orbit? Fortunately Sega did give us that answer later on???not in a game though, it was explained in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. I guess Sega assumed that we all read the comic. If you didn?t read the comic, don?t worry, you didn?t miss a complicated explanation about how Shadow avoided being burnt in the atmosphere. He simply crash landed on the earth, and then got up later like nothing happened. I wish I could say this would be the only time Sega would attempt to sacrifice storyline and gameplay for appeal, but I?ve suffered too much from the recent terrible games to pretend they don?t exist now.
In the past few years Sega has proudly introduced guns, time-travel, psychic hedgehogs, and more random cliché scenarios then even seem possible to fit into a single series. I mean I?m still recovering from Sonic Unleashed, the worst game ever to be made in the series. Will someone please tell me why a laser designed to conveniently separate the earth into 7 pieces (continents) ALSO functions as a DNA altering laser that turns hedgehogs into werewolves? I don?t mean to criticize a fictional story for not being realistic, but writers need to recognize that if you create a universe in which a series is going to take place, they need to at least explain why, how, and when things happen (also called a plot).
Even to me, this article feels lacking. This article I?ve written is not intended to criticize the new games, Sega, or any game developer. To be honest, the whole motivation I had in writing this article was the hope that somewhere, some Sega developer will read this and listen to these next words carefully.
Sega, make a new Sonic game for the next generation consoles. Make the whole game a side-scrolling, fast-paced platformer like we grew up with. We don?t need any new features or gameplay elements, quick-time events, or gimmicks. You can include every character you want to. In fact, you don?t even need an individual storyline for every character. Hell, we don?t even need cut scenes. All we want is a really basic game that follows the same formula as the games we grew up with. Release it on every platform because every gamer deserves a game that good.
Opinion by: Captain Scrambles
We are now approaching a new decade of gaming. In this decade we will bring many characters with us. Some are new, but some who have been with us for years. Over the years these character have undergone transformations, through appearance and gameplay. Mario still sticks to the same formula it always has, with the exception of games such as Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, and other sports/activities he has delved into. He is still as beloved a character as he was in the 90s.
This article is not about Mario and his success though. This article is about the icon we thought would be even more loved by now. A character that has evolved from some of the most entertaining, high speed games ever, to some of the most disappointing, childhood-ruining games ever brought into this world.
Lets talk about the games we grew up with; the original sonic trilogy are still the most popular sonic games ever released. The first Sonic the Hedgehog introduced us to the character and the story of his struggle against the maniacal Dr. Robotnik. The second game brought us his sidekick/companion Miles ?Tails? Prower, and the third game brought us some more depth in the gameplay of the game with new features such as jump-dash, and many new power ups. Later on we were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna, Metal Sonic, the Chaotix, and many other allies and rivals.
Then a new era of games began-The 3D Era. Sonic was first brought into this era in the Sonic Adventure games. While some players immediately disliked the new sonic, I thought these games were well-made, incredibly addicting, and seem to be the start of the storyline for this next-gen sonic. In these games, a few notable changes were brought about (other than the overall gameplay). Dr. Robotnik who had been Sonic?s rival from the start of the series was given a new name- Dr. Eggman. However it is stated towards the end of Sonic Adventure 2 that the name of Dr. Eggman?s grandfather is Gerald Robotnik, which raises the question of whether or not the Sonic from the classic games is the same Sonic featured in this generations games. Many gamers may not have noticed details such as this, but I know Sonic fanboys/girls (such as myself) definitely noticed this large hole in the plot. I immediately considered this just more depth in the storyline, and expected answers in the next sonic adventure.
Unfortunately my questions were never answered. The next sonic game was Sonic Heroes, essentially a competition against teams of the heroes, the villains, the comic relief, and the??brightly colored characters. This game just shattered all my hopes of ever comprehending this mess of a storyline. The biggest problem in this storyline was the inclusion of shadow the hedgehog as a playable character on the dark team (villains). Correct me if I am mistaken but didn?t he die at the end of the Sonic Adventure 2? Shouldn?t it be necessary to explain how he escaped plummeting towards the earth from orbit? Fortunately Sega did give us that answer later on???not in a game though, it was explained in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. I guess Sega assumed that we all read the comic. If you didn?t read the comic, don?t worry, you didn?t miss a complicated explanation about how Shadow avoided being burnt in the atmosphere. He simply crash landed on the earth, and then got up later like nothing happened. I wish I could say this would be the only time Sega would attempt to sacrifice storyline and gameplay for appeal, but I?ve suffered too much from the recent terrible games to pretend they don?t exist now.
In the past few years Sega has proudly introduced guns, time-travel, psychic hedgehogs, and more random cliché scenarios then even seem possible to fit into a single series. I mean I?m still recovering from Sonic Unleashed, the worst game ever to be made in the series. Will someone please tell me why a laser designed to conveniently separate the earth into 7 pieces (continents) ALSO functions as a DNA altering laser that turns hedgehogs into werewolves? I don?t mean to criticize a fictional story for not being realistic, but writers need to recognize that if you create a universe in which a series is going to take place, they need to at least explain why, how, and when things happen (also called a plot).
Even to me, this article feels lacking. This article I?ve written is not intended to criticize the new games, Sega, or any game developer. To be honest, the whole motivation I had in writing this article was the hope that somewhere, some Sega developer will read this and listen to these next words carefully.
Sega, make a new Sonic game for the next generation consoles. Make the whole game a side-scrolling, fast-paced platformer like we grew up with. We don?t need any new features or gameplay elements, quick-time events, or gimmicks. You can include every character you want to. In fact, you don?t even need an individual storyline for every character. Hell, we don?t even need cut scenes. All we want is a really basic game that follows the same formula as the games we grew up with. Release it on every platform because every gamer deserves a game that good.
Opinion by: Captain Scrambles
