Now I haven’t mentioned it too much aside probably usually in conjunction with some of my Smash 4 hype before & after the game came out. But if you’ve known me enough either through talking with me on video games or anything you’d know I’m a huge Sonic fan and have been since the early 2000′s. Now this isn’t a video I made, this is from a LPer that just happens to also be a longtime Sonic fan called The Great Clement. The reason I’m showing this off is it’s an insecure time for Sonic fans these days. With negativity and pessimism at an all-time high ever since Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric came out. And all because of it, suddenly we’re seeing yet another influx of recent trends of Sonic in the media that include very familiar headlines and/or topics relating to Sonic in Social media that have been around since the big travesty that was Sonic 06. Including having Sonic yet again part of those lists of Top 5/Top 10/etc. franchises that need to die, People pointing at past Sonic games even if they’re generally beloved (Ex: Both of the Adventure Games) saying they were never good in the first place, and all other things that have made hating Sonic the “cool” thing again.

But what holds true, is even if games we loved in the past don’t meet the critical eyes of now who hold a very different viewpoint on games then the fans and/or kids that played them when they first came out. There’s a reason Sonic is an icon of gaming. Yes terrible quality games like Sonic 06 and Rise of Lyric happened and there will be no erasing them from memory. But are they really such a black mark that the entire franchise needs to die? Of course not, because we know there are good Sonic games out there. Now opinions may vary of which ones are inherently good or not. But it stands there are games people love from this franchise, and there are people who know Sonic can have good games again. 

For Sonic fans, I think it’s time we start reflecting on why we liked this franchise to begin with. And why we’re still here, holding hopes that the next main Sonic title is a good one. Part of the video I share has Clement ask people to share their original Sonic story, what their favorite character is, and how did they get into Sonic in the first place. I think I’ll end up this post with my very own story. (Below the break)

Now I started gaming when I was 5, which was roughly around 1997/1998. My first home console was a Nintendo 64, so of course I couldn’t get anything Sonic related at the time. But I became hooked on Mario thanks to having games of the likes of Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros. 64, etc. and that continued into the early 2000′s when the Gamecube was coming about with games like Super Mario Sunshine and Super Smash Bros. Melee. But one Christmas in the early 2000′s I got two Sonic games: Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic Mega Collection. These two games would forever cement me as a big Sonic fan. Mainly SA2:B though, as a kid (Heck even now, if I may be a little ashamed to admit) I could never do too well on the Classic Sonic games. But SA2 rocked on every level, I loved the music, I loved speeding around stages like City Escape and Green Forest, I liked shooting everything in my path as Tails (Fun fact: Tails is my favorite Sonic character, if there’s anyone I’d want added into Smash some day in fact. I want Tails in as a 2nd Sonic representative. Though hell, I’d just love it if Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles got in some day. Maybe Smash 5 could make that come true?) and Dr. Eggman, and I even liked looking for Master Emerald Pieces as Knuckles and Rouge. It was an exciting experience, and the story, the characters, the overall presentation of the game just hooked me to a franchise like no other game could (Well aside from Smash, which remains my favorite video game franchise overall). It also helped SA2:B had a surprisingly deep replayability thanks to the Chao Gardens. I legitimately got attached to my chao as if they were real life pets at some points. If I ever hurt one I’d feel really bad. Even the one time I decided to try to raise a chao just to abuse it to see what happens, I just couldn’t do more after a little while and instead put it in the Chao Transporter and selected the “Say Goodbye” option (AKA the Delete your Chao option). Now that may make me sound like a wimp, but I’d like to think it’s proof I have a strong morality where I won’t even abuse a virtual pet when I have the option to. Now I’m not saying you can’t be a good person in real life if you abused the Chao more so then raised them. As after all Chao were just virtual and if you were aware of that you may have decided messing with them was more fun. It’s a viable option just as much as taking care of them were. But whatever you did in the Chao Gardens whether you legimitately raised one and took care of it like any pet you had or you beat the heck out of them for fun. The Chao Gardens provided a side game no other game at the time shared nor since. Cause after SA2:B the Chao Gardens pretty much disappeared (And has often been requested by those to return some day. Hell, I’d take an eShop downloadable game that’s just the Chao Garden anyday. Combining aspects of games like Nintendogs would be perfect. Especially if it’s on 3DS). But all in all Chao Garden was just another huge reason why I loved SA2:B. It was and still is to this day my favorite Sonic game, and regardless of recent flack against it being overrated and/or a game that aged terribly it will remain my favorite.

After SA2:B I would go on to get games like Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle, the Sonic Advance games, Sonic Adventure DX (I think I played through the entire story mode of Adventure 1 more then any game I’ve ever done before. Cause I played through it many times just on Gamecube. Done again when I got the original Sonic Adventure when I bought a Dreamcast and also again when I got the game when it released on PS3) , and even the Shadow the Hedgehog game (Which aside from Chronicles may be the worst Sonic game I own). When Sonic 06 came out I didn’t have a PS3 (Yet anyway) nor a Xbox 360 so I can probably consider myself “lucky” that I never got to experience the utter bullshit that game would throw onto the franchise. Instead I had the Wii come along with Secret Rings, though admittedly a flawed game in Gameplay very much so. It’s probably my Guilty Pleasure Sonic game just for having that Arabian atmosphere. Which I sorta have an affinity for given how I made an entire ask blog where my favorite pony becomes a Genie with an Arabian location visited twice and everything. (On a side note the Party mode in that game was kinda fun, it was a better “Sonic Party” then Sonic Shuffle was that’s for sure). But honestly, in terms of 2007 as well as 2008 my best memory related to Sonic of course has to be his inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl which if you remember I mentioned a few times early on in my own retrospective. When the game was announced with the sudden reveal that 3rd Party characters like Solid Snake was in the game I held my hopes high instantly that Sonic could make it in. I joined internet communities for the first time just to discuss the possibility of Sonic getting in. And lo and behold only months after I had done so, he was announced a newcomer on October 10th, 2007. I didn’t find out until I got to school when I caught the news on the computer. I had to yell one big yes at that very moment. And throughout most of the day I was grinning almost the whole time. Sonic in Smash for me is having your ultimate dream character getting in the game regardless of how likely they were. Even if Sonic was made one of the frontrunners as soon as we saw Snake was in the game, it still seemed like to me a dream that had come true. I could now fight and/or team up Sonic with some of the most well-known Nintendo characters including the big man Mario himself. When Brawl came out, I immediately went to unlock Sonic ASAP and from then on pretty much played as him 90% of the time. I should really check the stats of how much I’ve played as Sonic in comparison to the other characters in my combined stats for both Brawl/Project M (Project M is still Brawl technically so it still counts matches and everything) cause it’s pretty much a huge margin between him and the others). I didn’t care how good or viable he was (Which he wasn’t really, he wasn’t the worst in Brawl but he was certainly in the lower half), I was playing as Sonic in Smash Bros. That’s all I needed to know in order to use him. That mentality stretched into Smash 4 too, I was very happy to see him get announced to return and he yet again is my most used character (Though this time around I have spread a little more to other characters. Sonic’s still my #1 most used, but it may not be the 90% margin I estimated in terms of Brawl). I’m very glad that Sonic can now be a pretty established part of the Smash series, thanks to his return in Smash 4. I don’t think we’ll ever see Sonic leave the series unless Sega and Nintendo really start disliking eachother all of a sudden. But as of right now that doesn’t look likely, they may have been big corporate rivals in the 90s, but right now Sega’s one of Nintendo’s best 3rd Party friends now. Mario and Sonic shaking hands in the intros to the Olympic Game series is pretty much proof of that (Speaking of which I would of mentioned the first game of that series before going right to talking about Brawl but eh, Brawl was kinda the more important crossover even if the first game of the Olympics came out before Brawl did. I did get it through for the sheer novelty of being the first official game to feature Mario & Sonic in the same game that was out there. It helped keep me over since Brawl was delayed anyhow)

Both Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic’s inclusion in Smash are probably my best Sonic memories overall. Now that that they’re the only fun ones as there are plenty from some of the other games that I have owned or just rented I could remember. But those 2 stick out the most. I still enjoy Sonic to this day, I actually kinda liked Sonic Lost World quite a bit even if that’s gotten a mixed reception. And I’m awaiting what’s in store for Sonic as the franchise reaches it’s 25th Anniversery next year. Will we have another big Sonic title on the way? I don’t know, but even with the debacle that Rise of Lyric and/or the Sonic Boom spin-off series has caused as a whole. I’m optimistic that Sega has plans, and those plans will be enjoyable for those who managed to stick with it.

Maybe that would have some people label me as a fanboy that’s blind to when a franchise has really lost it’s way and/or someone with nostalgia goggles especially when they learn my favorite Sonic game is Sonic Adventure 2. But I don’t care, there’s not many franchises I can say I have as many fond memories as I do for Sonic and I’ll stay strong for a long while now.

If you’ve bothered to read all this thank you. And if you’re a fellow Sonic fan too, feel free to give your own story. This is what Clement in the video is stressing people to do. So why not? Reblog this with your very own story of how you got into Sonic, what your favorite characters were, and/or your favorite Sonic-related memories. Enough with the doom and gloom we’ve been hearing lately. This franchise for many is more then games played on Let’s Play channels just to exploit it’s glitches and laugh at a so-called sorry state of the franchise, or the disturbing joke thing that was that Sonic Dreams Collection.

I shall now end this off, which what might be the most relevent Sonic song lyrics to this kind of discussion.

It doesn't matter, now what happens 
I will never, give up the fight 
Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight 
It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right