Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007)
There are far, far worse games on this list than Sonic and the Secret Rings, however this game, along with Sonic and the Black Knight, were two games that fans desperately hoped could wash out the bad taste of Sonic ’06.
These games were exclusive to the Wii and took advantage of the Wiimote’s motion controller features. While the Wii started to get a bad rep for gimmicky games by the end of its life cycle, there was still hope in 2007 that Sonic could reinvent itself alongside the exciting new hardware.
Spoiler alert: Sonic didn’t reinvent itself and instead just starred in a mediocre at best game. That will be a running theme throughout this article.
Why anyone thought that Sonic would be a natural fit in Arabian and Arthurian mythology is anyone’s guess. It’s likely that these games were part of the broad strategy to make Sonic more of an iconic character geared towards children… by putting him in games that only young children with very little to no experience with what a quality game is like could possibly enjoy.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (2014)
Why is Sonic wearing a Scarf? Why does Knuckles skip leg day? Why would anyone name a villain Lyric? Unfortunately none of these questions get answered in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric needlessly reinvented Sonic for the ‘nth time, this time with accessories, and threw him into arguably his worst adventure yet. The game was critically panned alongside its slightly less horrible little 3DS brother, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal.
It’s wasn’t all bad for Rise of Lyric though. For example, it was incredibly efficient in how it was able to once again fulfill the Sonic Cycle, tarnish the Sonic Boom name, cash-in on an unmemorable animated series, and arguably outdo even Sonic ’06 in terms of awfulness in regards to gameplay all in one fell swoop! Wait, I guess it is all bad.
Sonic Unleashed (2008)
While some may make the argument that the Sonic Cycle goes way back to the Sonic Adventure/Sonic Heroes days, Sonic Unleashed is probably the safest place to anchor the prophecy to.
It really is the game that embodies the cycle. Fans rightfully got excited about the beautiful visuals, fast-paced daytime gameplay, and as always, top notch music. While the stages that featured regular Sonic needed some work, they were OK. That gameplay would provide the foundation for the definitely not miserable Sonic Generations which, while not good enough to break the cycle and restore Sonic to its former glory, was good enough to avoid being on this list.
What skeptical fans didn’t love seeing was the Werehog (gosh it’s just as stupid sounding now as it was in 2008), which featured slow, repetitive beat-em-up gameplay that did nothing but act as roadblocks to the more enjoyable parts of the game. Still, fans held out hope for Sonic Unleashed, that it would be the game that finally showed the world that Sonic was finally back. Yeah, no. Sonic Unleashed mostly sucked, the Sonic Cycle continued, and Sonic certainly wasn’t back.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (2010)
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 might be the “best” game on this list. It really isn’t a terrible game. However, it’s perhaps the most offensive and disappointing, because it had the audacity to title itself Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and then feel nothing like the classic Genesis games it was trying to follow.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. Fans across social media and game forums were convinced that this was it, the end of the torture, just because it was a 2D game called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Although it didn’t look like the classics (never forget the Green Eyes vs. Black Eyes debates), it could still end up playing like one.
I don’t blame those people. Out of nostalgic love, people still trusted SEGA to do the right thing and give fans what they have been asking for years now. By putting Dimps in charge, whom at the time were more or less trusted to handle a Sonic game, SEGA’s heart was in the right place. However this crash and burn was probably the hardest of all.
The game that dared to call itself the direct sequel to the beloved Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles, winded up being a major disappointment. Its gameplay had little in common with the original games other than being 2D. The homing attack’s presence in a 2D game was considered sacrilege by many, and worst of all, the physics felt completely off. It was hard for Sonic to get any natural momentum and speed, and would sometimes stick to walls like this.
It was playable, and at times enjoyable if you could get over it not being anything like the Genesis games, but it was still a major let down considering the hype and belief that it could break the Sonic Cycle.
Sonic the Hedgehog “06” (2006)
Ah yes, the original Sonic dumpster fire. While Rise of Lyric might have specialized in being a terrible game, and Sonic 4 in crushing nostalgic hope, Sonic the Hedgehog’s 2006 reboot encapsulated all of that negativity into one speculator disaster. For many, it’s the reason the Sonic cycle even exists at all. The crusade to create something so awesome that it negates the damage that this game did to the franchise.
We could just leave it at that featured image of Sonic kissing Princess Elise and end this article, but we’ll try and be objective about why it was so horrible. But yeah, seriously think about the ALL of the terrible decisions that had to happen to go from Sonic 3, to that kiss.
Besides featuring maybe the most cringe-worthy cutscene in video game history, Sonic 06 was also a historically bad game. It doubled down on the out of control trend of needlessly adding more characters such as Silver, as if the world had this insatiable hunger for more anthropomorphic beings that only SEGA could fulfill. It played more like a dated Dreamcast game than it did something befitting of the PS3 and Xbox 360. It contained tons of convoluted story that literally no one asked for, and was hilariously glitchy. If there’s a single saving grace for Sonic the Hedgehog ’06 is that it might at least have value for being the type of game that is so bad it’s good.
For a game that was supposed to honor the 15-year history of Sonic, and bore the original’s name, it literally couldn’t have been any further of a departure from the Genesis games. It ruined the reputation of the franchise for 10 years and counting.
A decade later though, there’s a hope that finally, Sonic Mania will be the one exorcise the demons of Sonic ’06, break the Sonic Cycle and create a new golden age free of Werehogs and hedgehog-human make out sessions.
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