Oh boy. You know what today is? It’s the 25th birthday of everyone’s favorite cash-cow mascot character turned self-aware meme, Sonic the Hedgehog. Do you know what that means, kiddo? If you guessed a Top 25 Best Sonic Games List, you’d be correct. (Although considering this is Sonic, I wouldn’t blame you if your mind went to somewhere dirtier and more towards the bum region of the body.)
Anyway, this list is going to be a real treat considering that most Sonic games are utter trash. Like flaming piles of hot trash. Even if you are the biggest Sonic fan on the planet, and as long as you are not a delusional man-child who still thinks it’s the 90’s and Gushers are a fruit, you have to agree with the fact that there are a lot of stinkers in the blue blur’s library. So don’t get your Chaos Emerald Underpants in a twist if you see anything here that is an actual bad game.
Also, a bit of preemptive guide lines, or rules I decided upon when making the list for variety’s sake are as follows:
- Sonic or Sonic Character’s names must be in the title so people know what they are getting into.
- Compilations are excluded unless they add substantial value outside of direct ports of old games.
- Games that are too similar to each other are excluded. I.E Sequels that didn’t change much.
- Games must be original, no remakes with Sonic branding. Sorry Mean Bean Machine.
- No fan games.
LET’S BEGIN
25) Sonic the Fighters
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Topping off the list is undoubtedly the worst fighting game to ever grace the AM2 engine, Sonic the Fighters. I’ve played me a good deal of Sonic the Fighters due to having a blood pact with three things featured in it, Fighting Games, AM2, and Sonic. However, despite the several hours I’ve sunk into this…thing, I still can’t identify how most of the fighting mechanics work in it. Hell, I’ve played it with various people in my local fighting game community and they can’t even figure it out.
If this game achieved anything, it was that it’s the first sign of SEGA creating officially licensed OC’s which would never appear in any Sonic game again. Just post the artwork of Bark, Bean, and Honey the Cat on DeviantArt and I doubt most casual onlookers will be able to identify them as official characters.
24) Shadow the Hedgehog
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Hey kiddos, do you like edgy stuff and guns? The recent marketing statistics from 2005 imply that you do. So who better to jump on the projected money making trend than our good pal Sonic, or in this case his Hot Topic reject rival Shadow.
In all seriousness, this game is awful. The level design is gunk and the mission structure doesn’t do any favors. Also the gun-based combat system looks and feels like it’s straight out of a Newgrounds fan-game. The only bright spot on this heavily budgeted turd created by out-of-touch Japanese men trying to appeal to American 12-year-olds is that Crush40 does make some really Crush40 songs in it.
23) SEGASonic Popcorn Shop
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Coming up next on the list is potentially the most useful game on this list because it provides two of life’s essentials in one package: Actual food and SONIC. That’s right, SEGASonic Popcorn Shop is more food vendor than game. The game actually is just a trick to get you to turn a wheel and make popcorn. There are also 3 flavors to choose from being butter, kettle, and curry. Amazing. While this sounds like the makings of potentially the greatest Sonic game ever, it falls down the list for being a solid 30-seconds long and extremely linear and repetitive.
22) Sonic Shuffle
Next on our list is our good friends from the late HudsonSoft’s take on Sonic, and how else would HudsonSoft tackle a major gaming franchise other than make a party board game out of it? That’s right, Sonic had his own Mario Party, but only instead of dice, you draw cards. There’s more strategy in gaining the ability to move, but other than that this game is completely inferior and has some of the worst party games imaginable.
The boards are complex and confusing and there is so much going on in a turn it’s extremely difficult to keep track of. Not that it matters because it all comes down to luck anyway. But what other Sonic game can you say has a dating-sim portion with a Pegasus? I didn’t make that up. With a fair amount of alcohol, this game can potentially climb into the God-Tier of Sonic games.
21) Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games
Not much to see here. A decent and somewhat realistic sports game with Mario and Sonic characters. Throw in some surprisingly fun Dream Events which take gameplay elements from each series and add them to some sports and you got yourself a solid game. Not a solid Sonic game, but a solid sports party game. Next.
20) Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic 3D Blast feels more like a sequel to the classic SEGA arcade game Flicky than a Sonic game…that would probably explain the subtitle “Flicky’s Island” in other regions, huh. Regardless, this was marketed as the first 3D Sonic game, although it’s about as 3D as Marble Madness was. You move Sonic around various worlds as the hedgehog slides around like he’s on an ice rink. The goal is to find the Flickys hidden around each world, bring them to a checkpoint, and move on the next section. Lather, rinse, repeat. Bonus points for being on SEGA Saturn.
19) Sonic Pinball Party
Take pinball, add some Sonic and you’re good to go. It’s a pretty good pinball game, but loses points for not really being a Sonic game outside of a weird plot where Tails gets mind controlled to be an evil pinball wizard or something. But hey, there’s a Samba de Amigo table that features Burning Rangers music. Brownie points for Sonic Pinball Party.
18) Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic Chronicles is a mess. A common theme among many games on this list. Imagine this, Bioware making a story driven Sonic RPG on DS written by the folks behind the Archie comics that features Elite Beat Agents-style battle mechanics. That’s what you get with this game. It’s a cluster, but still manages to be a playable yet mediocre RPG. I don’t care for it, and lots of people agree with that notion. One interesting thing of note is that the audio in this game is some of the worst you’ll ever here. Not only does the music sound like a monkey on a Fisher-Price keyboard, but there are lots of broken, out-of-place stock sound effects throughout the adventure. It’s vomit inducing sound production.
17) Sonic Lost World
Sonic Lost World is one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played. Mainly because it bounces all over the place from a design standpoint. At one moment it features really innovative and original design that I would dare call amazing. The next, it features slow paced drags of levels with terrible mechanics that go on way too long. The game feels like the designers had a million ideas, and tossed them all in the game without checking to make sure said idea was fun or not.
The game also controls like ass and marks one of the only times you’ll need to hold a button down to make Sonic run. That’s right. You need to press a button to make Sonic do the one thing everybody expects automatically from him. In the end, this is the most recent game on this list and already one of the most forgotten. It’s a shame, because this Super Mario Galaxy twist on Sonic could have been genuinely good. A rare feat for a Sonic game.
16) Sonic Battle
Fighting games don’t work on handhelds. At all. Sonic Battle realized this and decided to make one anyway featuring Sonic and the crew. More of a party fighter, ala Power Stone, than a traditional fighting game, Sonic Battle works due to its simplicity. But it is kind of repetitive, and needing Link Cables to play multiplayer is a drag. Probably would have been better suited on a console where you don’t have to jump through hoops to play with people. Games that are limited by being on handhelds make me sad. But hey, at least there’s another weird ass story starring a robot OC named Emerl who does a thing.
15) Sonic ’06
GASP! What’s Sonic 06, the worst game ever made according to Youtube, doing on this list? Are you crazy. Well, yes because I’m a fan of Sonic games. Now hear me out. Sonic The Hedgehog for the Xbox 360 and PS3 is broken, I know that much, but think of it like this: If you remove the extremely long load times and increase character speed, you know what the game would be? A more playable version of Sonic Adventure.
That’s right. Don’t deny it. Sonic 06 is no different than any other Sonic game aside from the glaring lack of speed and ridiculous loading screens. You have an asinine plot, dumb original characters, story modes for individual characters, a last episode, and a soundtrack that’s way too good for its own good. This is the closest thing to a true Sonic Adventure 3 you can get right now. If it weren’t for the insanely high expectations of the fanbase for a series that has never been good and the two glaring issues previously stated, this game would probably be adored. It fits right on the Dreamcast with its surreal insanity.
14) Sonic Heroes
Sonic Heroes is the narrative sequel to Sonic Adventure 2 for those of you who care. It would be a pretty alright game, if the team mechanic surrounding it wasn’t so “meh”. I like seeing the Chaotix team and everyone else in action, and the game looks and feels like a Sonic Adventure game, but the team based gameplay is very very clunky. Also, the Story for each team features the same levels and environments in the same order, just with slight variation. Sonic Heroes gets very repetitive. But hey, there’s the hilarious and really strong soundtrack and story that doesn’t make sense still, so that’s a plus.
13) Sonic CD
We are approaching the halfway point on this list meaning it’s time for things to get controversial. Yippee.
I don’t like Sonic CD. I don’t. It suffers from Donkey Kong Country 64 syndrome where everyone thinks it’s one of the best in the series, but mainly because they just remember it’s amazing intro cinematic. Sonic CD’s color scheme is vomit, the level design doesn’t feel good, the time warp mechanic is confusing, and the sound is BAD. It’s a very mediocre platformer in my eyes. Hell, I don’t even think most of the people who claim it’s “The Best Sonic Game EVER” even played it considering it’s on the SEGA CD, a system that time forgot for good reason. Still it’s playable and keeps you stimulated throughout the experience which is more than can be said for many of the game appearing before it on the list.
12) Sonic R
Remember what I said about controversial? Here you go. Sonic R is widely regarded as one of this worst Sonic games ever, but hear me out. First, the game is on SEGA Saturn. Already amazing. Second the music in the game is some of the best in the series featuring completely unnecessary tracks sung by a bootleg Donna Summer. Last, this game is as close to a perfect replication of the 2D sonic games in 3D as you’re going to get.
That’s right. It’s a platformer that has a heavy focus on rewarding precision and timing with speed. The momentum of the characters feels right out of the genesis era and all the characters use their classic designs. The only difference between this game and the original Sonic from a gameplay perspective is that it’s 3D and you are racing laps. If this game was longer than an hour long and featured more tracks, it could have been one of my all-time guilty pleasures.
11) Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing
Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing is one of the few kart racers that can hold a light to Mario Kart’s flamethrower grip over the genre. This was even more amplified as this game was much more enjoyable than the current Mario Kart game at the time, Mario Kart Wii. This game is SEGA fan service. An amazing character roster, tracks from classic levels, and a soundtrack that featured Sonic R music. It was also a really solid racer that had seamless online play and plenty of unlocks and challenges to complete.
So why this over the sequel, Transformed? Well, because I enjoy the simpler track design in this one which allows for more of a focus on the racing. Also, the character roster in this one was vastly superior. You have OpaOpa, Virtua Fighter, Ryo Hazuki, Chu Chu Rockey, the Bonanza Bros, and even Banjo Kazooie if you were playing on Xbox like I was. What does Transformed have? NASCAR racer Danica Patrick in a Hot Wheels car. SEGA!!!
10) Sonic Pocket Adventure
How many of you own a Neo Geo Pocket? How many even know what a Neo Geo Pocket is? Well, to answer that question it’s SNK’s answer to the Gameboy color and a vastly superior system hardware wise. It also features Dreamcast connectivity which is always a good thing, albeit severely underused due to the short lifespan of both platforms.
You also may be surprised to hear that there’s a classic 2D Sonic game on the systems developed by Capcom that’s actually really good. It’s more of a mashup of the Game Gear titles only with some original ideas and not terrible physics, gameplay, and music. There’s also a multiplayer mode for those of you who can find another pal with a Neo Geo Pocket. It’s weird to think this game isn’t talked about more, especially considering it was released to nearly unanimous perfect review scores.
9) Sonic Rush
Sonic Rush is pretty good. There’s a neat boost mechanic which is now a series staple and it lets you go fast and do tricks. This game is what recreated Sonic’s identity in nearly every “traditional” Sonic game following it as many of them took elements from it. (Not including Sonic 06) There’s not much to say about it. Ask someone to picture a modern Sonic game in their head and they’ll probably think of something along the lines of Rush.
8) Sonic Colors
Sonic Colors was the second game to feature the shifting between 2D and 3D movement sections in the series after its popularity in Sonic Unleashed. And just like Sonic Unleashed, the developers didn’t think that was good enough and added on a gimmick to “sweeten” the pot in someone’s mind who doesn’t know anything about game design. That gimmick was the Wisp power-ups. As you run through the levels, you collect Wisp power-ups which are supposed to help you get past certain sections and take shortcuts, but instead completely destroy the pacing of the level. Literally none of the power-ups are fun to use or seem handy. The best levels in Sonic Colors are those that don’t require you to utilize the little buggers, which are few and far between. Oh yeah, there’s also a multiplayer mode where you place one of your Mii’s heads on Sonic body in some Frankenstein monster mash. That’s worth the price of admission.
7) Sonic Generations
Sonic Generations was widely hailed as the return of Sonic to gaming greatness. I disagree because Sonic was never there to begin with. Sonic Generations feels like a game that was made to fill a quota at Sonic Team for the 20th anniversary. You split the game playing as Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic, where both game styles feel like a watered down version from their origins. Speaking of watered down, there’s also little to no story outside of two Eggmen yelling at each other and Sonic saying Saturday morning cartoon, dad-joke one liners to his soulless friends as he saves them.
Sonic Generations exists, and only serves, as a nostalgia trip. It is still fun nevertheless and there is plenty to do and unlock. However, if you never liked Sonic before, this game won’t change your mind. Unless you’re a fan of mods, because the PC version has some of the best mods in any game I’ve ever played.
6) Sonic Advanced
Sonic Advance is what 2D Sonic games should be. Simple, fun, clean. In this GBA Sonic revival after the tragic death of the Dreamcast, Sonic returns to his roots with momentum based platforming that rewards precision with speed. This time around, you can play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy who each have unique abilities which make replaying the levels and trying to achieve the best times more enjoyable. I’m ranking Sonic Advance as the best in the trilogy due to spending the most time on it, and it having a preferred soundtrack, but really any game in the series can land on this spot.
5) Sonic Unleashed
I like Sonic Unleashed. A lot. Fight me. The game features some of the best level designs in the day stages that the series has ever seen. Far superior to Sonic Colors and Generations because they don’t rely on stupid gimmicks. Just raw speed and precision.
That’s not what people dislike about this game though. That would be the Werehog segments. These lengthy, slower paced segments are often what people remember from the game and immediately dislike because “it’s not Sonic”. Nope it’s not. But it isn’t bad. It’s actually fairly good and complex. As a fan of character action games, Sonic Unleashed’s Werehog segments are actually pretty fun and interesting. There’s combos, a decent leveling system, and solid platforming. It really doesn’t deserve any of the hate it gets, other than maybe the levels can go on a bit too long.
Sonic Unleashed is a good game. I like it. And the Tokyo Philharmonic played some of the music in it. That’s pretty high-class for a Sonic game.
4) Sonic Adventure
If there’s one word to describe Sonic Adventure, it’s ambitious. This game was the Dreamcast’s system seller after all. There are so many ideas in Sonic Adventure that never even existed during the time of its release that it can be seen as an innovator of many things common in today’s age of gaming. A weird thing to say for a Sonic game, not many games before Sonic Adventure had cinematic set-pieces integrated into levels. How many games today feature cinematic set-pieces in levels? Exactly.
Doesn’t mean the game isn’t a mess of ideas still, but the fact that all the ideas were implemented, and for the most part achieved, in 1998 is kind of godly. This game features kart racing, snowboarding, fishing, 3rd person shooting, collectathons, virtual pet, pinball, and more random genres all in one game. Do they all work? No. But the effort is there and it is valliant. Plus this game started the trend of simultaneously horrible and well composed soundtracks and the trend of ludicrous Story modes that are so bad, they’re good. God bless you Sonic Adventure.
3) Knuckles Chaotix
Knuckles Chaotix is another forgotten gem in the Sonic Universe. Why’s that you ask? Well, because it was on the 32X, a system that flopped harder than the Virtual Boy due to releasing at the same time as SEGA’s own, stronger console the Saturn. However, that’s not to say the console is all bad. Other than making your Genesis system look like a lab experiment gone wrong, it hosted a solid library consisting of 40 titles. One of those being Knuckles Chaotix, the first game to star Knuckles in the lead role with his band of crooks, the Chaotix.
Knuckles Chaotix looks like what you’d get from Sonic CD, only with 2 major mechanics. First, being the ability to select two characters to play as at once, each with their own unique abilities. Second, being the Ring Power that ropes the two players together by a restrictive elastic rope. While this may seem like a bad concept, it actually works astonishingly well with the momentum based movement of the Sonic franchise. By exploiting the Ring Power’s physics, you can launch your characters at speeds and heights never before seen in a Sonic game. Not only that, but due to the heavy cooperation, Knuckles Chaotix is a compelling co-operative experience unlike any game before it which requires solid cooperation from both parties to really succeed. There is a solid argument to be made that Knuckles Chaotix is the best traditional 2D Sonic game. Plus, it features Knuckles and the Chaotix, who are unconditionally the best Sonic characters.
2) Sonic Jam
I might be breaking one of the preset rules, (being no compilation games on this list) but I think Sonic Jam stands out and adds enough to be the definitive way to enjoy classic 2D Sonic platforming. Sonic Jam, above all else, is indeed a compilation of Sonic 1-3 & Knuckles. However, unlike every other port and compilation released after Jam, these games are not emulated, but are direct ports. That’s right, this is the only way to play the true classic Sonic games un-emulated other than on their original console. Because of this, the game was able to add unique changes to the game’s code to remaster them and add features. These include updated audio, bug fixes, Spin Dash in Sonic 1, Time Attack with records, and the ability to play the “& Knuckles” versions of the games. You get everything you’d get from owning the original games in their truest forms, on one disc. You even get digital manuals for each of the games.
Outside of that, the other big feature was the Sonic World mode. This served as a 3D museum of Sonic’s history and enough goodies to make every Sonic fanboy salivate. You get concept art, original artwork, trailers, OVA footage, history, a sound-test, and much more. This mode also served as testing ground for Sonic in a 3D world which would later be used in Sonic Adventure. In the end, if you’re as nutty for Sonic as you possibly can be, Sonic Jam is the best way to experience the birth of the spiny fellow.
1) Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2 is a masterpiece. Not in the way a video game would be considered a masterpiece by having solid gameplay and design. No. Sonic Adventure 2 is an artistic masterpiece in our day and age in which worshiping vapor waves and David Lynch is no longer surreal enough for our taste buds.
Some backstory. Sonic Adventure 2 was made by Sonic Team USA, a team of Japanese developers located in San Francisco to learn about American culture and try to make a Sonic game that would ideally appeal to the American demographic. After they completed the game, it was sent back to Japan to be edited and quality checked, and then shipped back to the USA to be localized again. That’s right. This game was made by Japanese men in the United States, shipped back to Japan to be translated and edited into Japanese, then once more back to the USA to be translated back into English. In other words, this game has the Earthbound effect where it’s a game that fully captures a Japanese person’s take on American culture in the form of a game.
That could possibly explain the game’s edgier tone, but yet absolute insane plot which features a globetrotting adventure in the first half of the game, while the later portions of the game take place on a laboratory in space. All this leading up to a final showdown against a mutant space-lizard with a space station shoved up its ass. This, in combination with a truly unique and cheesy soundtrack, the best photorealistic backgrounds the Dreamcast could process, charming dialogue with many audio errors, and a plot that is memorizing in the sense that it is so bizarre, and you have the workings of a game that is so unique and surreal, nothing even pales in comparison to it.
That’s not even going into the gameplay which ranges from excellent in the speed levels to downright annoying in the 3rd person shooter stages. They’re all pretty entertaining though and reward speed running and score with a ranking system. There are also 5 challenges per level to add some replayability.
Then there’s the Chao Garden. The Chao Garden is its own aesthetic. Not only is it a really solid virtual pet game, but it’s also an acid trip. Raising blue angel babies by feeding them animals to get them to the ultimate goal being Heaven or Hell while running through a space portal to bring them to a Kindergarten sounds bonkers. But that’s what happens in the Chao Garden.
Sonic Adventure 2 is an artistic masterpiece. You’ll never get another game like it. It will forever stand out as a completely unique experience that cannot be reproduced or improved upon. Really because there is no way to make it better. Like all Sonic games to come, and all Sonic games before it, it’s a flaming pile of garbage. Only this flaming pile of garbage is in a golden bin and the flames are shooting out fireworks with Comic Sans subtitles. God Bless you Sonic the Hedgehog. You beautiful marketing dumpster fire.
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