Sonic the Hedgehog is a cultural icon that was a household name for millions all over the world in the early ’90s. Millions of us have Sonic to thank for so many great gaming memories that either included him or were created as a result of him. I have a lot of memories of playing the Sonic games on the Genesis, but there are also dozens of other games I enjoyed on the Genesis—dozens of games that I never would have experienced were it not for Sonic. I know I’m not alone in saying this: Sonic the Hedgehog was the reason I had a Sega Genesis.
Sonic and I have grown up together, and I mean that quite literally. Sonic the Hedgehog is only three months older than I am and he was a huge part of my life growing up. Like most kids, I had a Sega Genesis and Sonic 2 was one of my most played games. I was a little poor growing up, so my library of games to choose from was a bit limited. I probably owned a handful of games for my NES and Genesis, but they were some wonderful games that I’m glad I got to experience.
Sonic 2 was among these games, and it grew to be one of my favorite games to this day. As I grew older, I went on to play the original, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and even Sonic Spinball after I finished Sonic 2. The Sonic games were a huge part of my childhood. Sonic and his early achievements are important to me and it hurts to see him struggle like he has in recent years. It hurts even more to see that the abuse has come from Sega, his very creators. He did so well in earlier years and they put so much hard work and passion into his games. This was especially true on the Genesis and Dreamcast, but after Sega stopped developing hardware, Sonic’s quality started to slip, and fast.
There were definitely some great games after Sonic Adventure 2, but the consistency and overall quality definitely dropped. The Sonic Advance games were enjoyable overall, but they seemed to be lacking as far as passion and design choices go. Some games had rays of light and faint glimmers of hope within them, such as Sonic Unleashed, but overall that proved to be a lackluster game. Lackluster is a word I never thought I’d hear used to describe Sonic, especially not from my own mouth. This is the world of Sonic now, but I hope it won’t stay this way.
Sonic Generations did all the right things and hit everyone right in the nostalgia. In fact, it did more than just get the nostalgia right, it also was just a great game. I’ve spoken with gamers who haven’t grown up with Sonic and they loved Generations just as much as I did! At this point I had mostly given up on Sonic. I mean, there had been so many “meh” releases over the last few years that it was just hard to keep holding onto hope, despite how much I wanted to. I even cancelled my pre-order for Generations because I started to think it would end up being terrible. I didn’t want to get burned again. Just like millions of other Sonic fans, I was in an abusive relationship with Sega. Time and time again they would hurt me with a Sonic game that was just beneath Sonic and then apologize, and then, like clockwork, they would just do it again. Generations was different though. I loved it. I had a blast with it. It gave me so much hope for the future of Sonic, but it didn’t last long.
Sonic Lost World came to hurt me again. I expected them to slow down and take all the years of fan feedback into consideration, but then Sonic Boom came out not too long after. I understand that Sega needs to make money and all, but the amount of feedback that they have to be ignoring at this point is just insane. Gamers are very passionate people and whenever we encounter a bad game we’re pretty quick to post about it on social media. Sega knows which Sonic games are bad and they know which games are great. Generations and Colors received universal praise from fans and critics everywhere. It’s these games that make Lost World and Boom so hard to handle–I always get my hopes up thinking only great Sonic games are ahead.
I can’t handle too many more disappointments with Sonic and I know that I’m not alone. I need Sonic Mania to do well. It isn’t because of money or anything; Sega seems to somehow keep doing well, despite mediocre releases. No, it’s because I’ve grown up with Sonic. I’ve played some incredible games starring Sonic. I know he’s still got it in him. To be quite honest, I’d rather Sega left Sonic alone if they aren’t going to start treating him right. I don’t want to look back at Sonic’s legacy someday and have to keep pointing at his days between the Genesis and Dreamcast and a few quality releases sprinkled between duds. I want Sonic to shine like I know he can. I’m sick of having to defend why I’m a Sonic fan to people by saying “Generations and Colors were great games!” Those were great games, but shouldn’t be the only great Sonic games since Adventure 2’s release.
Sega. Please don’t mess this up. Several gamers and I want to get excited about Sonic again. We want to be able to look forward to Sonic games again. I’d love nothing more than to get pumped and pre-order a new Sonic game every 2-3 years, instead of rolling my eyes whenever a new Sonic game is announced. Please restore the hedgehog to his former glory, and let him stay there. Take time to craft your games, implement feedback, and listen to what we say when we don’t like a game. If you’re not going to do that, then you’re just ignoring millions of people who have their hearts and wallets open.
I’m looking forward to Sonic Mania and “Project Sonic 2017′,” but I don’t want to have to play three or four terrible games after those while I wait—and hope—for another great entry. I don’t want to have to experience the ups and downs that I’ve been forced to deal with since the Dreamcast failed. Please listen closely as you bank off our nostalgia for these upcoming games. Listen to what we think works and what we don’t like, and take your time. I want to believe in you again, Sega. Please help us trust you again.