It's no secret that the Sonic The Hedgehog fanbase has one of the worst communities out there. But don't let that get in the way of how much you enjoy the games. However, sometimes a certain group of people like Classic Sonic games, while others enjoy Modern Sonic games. Sadly, Sega have made some....er, odd creative decisions lately with the Blue Blur's most recent game offerings. If you want to be indifferent and enjoy some fairer titles, this article is for you!
Sonic Unleashed
The early 2000's was a rough time for Sonic fans, but like it or not we did get some quite interesting games. There were a couple of ups and downs, but one of the best ones out there was 2008's Sonic Unleashed. At the time, understandably, many people were confused about the whole Werehog thing. Though it got moderately average reviews, I feel like the Werehog character is certainly overlooked. It has great RPG action & platform elements, and the day time Sonic levels are just amazing. Plus, this is the best Sonic character model they've ever used in a Sonic game since Sonic Adventure. He's just so animated, and really easy to look at. It's really annoying that Sega always re-design Sonic's model slightly in every new game. The character model they've been using these past couple of years feels flat, bland, and uninspiring, sucking the true joy out of the character with boring representation. Specifically, the character model used in Frontiers and Forces for Sonic feels really bland. But Sonic's model in Unleashed was bright and very expressive, very much like the cartoon character he is. Sonic Unleashed can still be enjoyed today, and I feel like it's a technical marvel for Sonic that we probably never will see again. Hey, at least it never had any pop-ins, and this is a game from 2008!
Sonic Riders (The first one)
I liked the first Sonic Riders game. I found it entertaining. I was actually quite good at it too. It was a unique concept for Sonic, which was based on some scrapped Skateboarding game, but then Yuji Naka said "why not use hoverboards" instead. Thus, Sonic Riders happened. The game has some pretty neat stages, and some kick ass music, along with an actually cool multiplayer mode. Lots of characters to unlock as well, remember when Sonic games easily had multiple characters? You bet I do. What happened to this franchise. I enjoyed the 2nd one, Sonic Riders - Zero Gravity. It was actually surprising that this game did get a sequel and it was actually quite good. It wasn't afraid to try different things. It was released on the Wii in 2008. I enjoyed them both. Not Free Riders from 2010 though. That game is highly elitist.
Sonic Rush
Ah, early 2000's Sonic never fails again with another great title that certainly isn't elitist. Sonic Rush is a very enjoyable entry for the Nintendo DS released back in 2005. Before Sonic games were cramming reused versions of Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone and Sky Sanctuary Zone in every game since 2011, we actually had games with original levels. Sonic Rush had a great concept of using both DS screens to be the top and bottom part of the level. It did feature a boost but makes up for the great soundtrack and vibrant background levels that it had. These days you can play and beat Sonic Rush in a short time, but it's still fun to pick up and play just for the nostalgia of it. A sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure was made in 2007, although it is somewhat elitist.
Sonic Colours (Nintendo DS Version)
Unlike the Wii version, the DS version of Sonic Colours was acually pretty good. The Wii version is highly elitist, but the Nintendo DS version was better. Speaking of Sonic Rush, it was developed with the same engine, despite being a different game altogether, and it actually felt more like a 3rd Sonic Rush game than Sonic Colours on the Wii. The Wii version of Sonic Colours was very short, with poorly written dialogue and frustrating automatic stages. But the DS version was well thought out with more control focused stages, it even had a bunch of separate character missions which wasn't included in the Wii version, because the Wii version is very elitist. The DS version I find is often superior.
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Despite the Wii U game, Sonic Boom Rise Of Lyric getting a completely bad rep for mostly being jank, the 3DS entry, Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal was fared better as a more enjoyable 2D platformer. Once again, featuring original stages entirely and no Green Hill Zone stuff at all. The ill fated Sonic Boom franchise was an attempt to reboot Sonic, though I never thought a reboot of Sonic was needed, but whatever. It spawned a TV show that lasted 2 seasons, and 3 games, while also introducing the new character Sticks the Badger. The series was more lighthearted and comical than in recent entries. The levels were quite lengthy and fun to explore, you could use Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks to get through different parts of the worlds. The 3DS version was popular enough to get a sequel, Sonic Boom Fire & Ice - which was actually very good. Released in 2016, it was actually delayed so the team could buff up on the quality and it paid off. A feat which is rarely seen with Sonic these days. Sadly, there were no more Sonic Boom games after Fire & Ice.
Sonic Heroes
2003 was a great year especially since Sonic Heroes was released in that year. Despite moving away from a new Sonic Adventure game, Sonic Heroes provides a new and fresh take on Sonic games. You play as 3 characters at once, each with their own "Teams", Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Rose, Team Chaotix, for example. We never saw this kind of Team gameplay again until 2014's ill-fated Sonic Boom - Rise of Lyric & 2019's Team Sonic Racing. But the more exciting Sonic Heroes featured action packed stages, a great soundtrack and an all true meaning of the real superpower of teamwork. What's not elitist about that? Teamwork rocks.
Sonic Advance 2
Ah, the Sonic Advance trilogy. The less elitist version of Classic Sonic games, because they aren't classic Sonic games. Back when Sonic had a somewhat more understandable timeline, Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3 were set in their own original worlds. There was none of this "everything is cannon" nonsense that we get now. Sonic Advance 2 was a truly underrated gem. It was the first game that introduced the series' main boost formula, so understandably it gets a lot of flac from fans today. But it was also the first game in the series that introduced the characters Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao. Sonic Advance 2 had some great unique levels and an overall fine presentation. In fact, all of the Sonic Advance games are certainly not elitist. Anyone can enjoy them.
Sonic Battle
Once again released in 2003, there was a Sonic fighting game on the Game Boy Advance called Sonic Battle similar to Super Smash Bros, where you fight against all of the Sonic characters for whatever reason. However, unlike Smash Bros, this game had a proper story and adventure mode. You could select each character to choose from and they all had their own original modes and stories. But boy was this game HARD! Things got really difficult. The game introduces the new robot character Emerl, who befriends Cream. Not a lot of people talk about this one very much, but I find it quite a humble and interesting entry to the franchise and therefore I deem this game to be not elitist.
Shadow The Hedgehog
If you wanted Sonic with guns, then you've come to the right place. 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog is just for you! See, I told you Sonic in the early 2000's was strange, but it was also a fun and unique time. This time round, Shadow gets his own game. And for whatever reason, with guns! There's a load of huge levels to explore and it was the last of the Sonic games that featured the "Choose between Good or Evil" story mode. I really enjoyed these modes as they were fun and pretty simplistic to follow, not like the confusing mess we get with stories in the Sonic games now. There was straightforward action, a banger metal soundtrack and even repetitive use of the word "Damn!". It even had a pretty fun multiplayer mode, and actual reasons of replay value to go back and explore past stages you've already completed to get more unlockables or continue the story until the true final ending.
Sonic Adventure
1998's Sonic Adventure was probably the last time Sega truly did an amazing job with a Sonic game. Sure, we had Sonic Adventure 2, from 2001 which was great but it is actually somewhat elitist. Though Sonic Adventure 2 is an exception because a lot of it was fun, and so was the first Sonic Adventure. There was something about the direction of Sonic Adventure that showed Sonic's true personality and coolness of it all. I loved this game ever since I was a kid and I remember the phase of Sonic from turning 2D to 3D and back then in the late 90's on a Sega Dreamcast it just blew my mind. Wonderful levels, a great rockin' soundtrack and and multiple characters to choose from in each story mode. WHY aren't Sonic games like this these days? They are too elitist now. But thankfully there are some out there that just aren't and these are some of them, I suggest highly you check these ones on the list out, you won't regret it!
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