You never knew when a new face to see/play as would pop up and that was an exciting thing.īut when outcries from some against characters, against plot, against the demographic/tone/atmosphere the franchise had always had for 17 years were given attention from the company, it resulted in the Sonic franchise post-Unleashed and it has led us into what/where Sonic is now.
You were always engulfed in a game full of stages and plot combined to immerse you in something worthwhile. The franchise was always growing in both locations and inhabitants. Some stuck with the franchise, some were one time only experiences. Throughout 1991-2008 new characters were fine. The one-off break from depth, from so many characters, for ONE game it was great, for ONE game it sold extraordinarily well, but when consumers found out everything Sonic had to offer was canned in favor of that game and its contents for the foreseeable future, therein lies where the other chaos began.
For one game it worked, but when THAT became the standard for the franchise completely, consumers clearly said no. Going back to the plot/lore focus, the action and mature focus, that 1991-2008 gave us was the way to go then, and it's still the way to go now, as it wasn't until after the reboot of everything Sonic was about and who he was targeted towards began that the chaos in the communities/consumers and the ever dwindling sales began.Īnd when it comes to the "Colors did good!" argument, that's because fans thought it was a one time break from everything 06 offered and from the Werehog half of Unleashed offered. Then after Generations they gave fans Lost World which further pushed the already uncomfortable direction and thus became one of if not the worst selling Sonic Team console Sonic title in history. It brought back the Genesis and Adventure atmosphere fans knew and loved and wanted more of. Sonic Generations profited because it went back to what fans expected out of Sonic, plot aside which is the only real complaint revolving the game because it's as much of a turn-off as every other titles story post Unleashed.
Instead the pre-teen and teenage audiences were cast out in favor of the current direction, and when you turn off older kids/teenagers, you turn off kids/children because they have an interest in what older kids want, and if you make something older people have no interest in/mock openly, therein lies the problem with what's tarnished the franchise and wiped away its sales throughout the years.
The only thing I ever saw necessary was keeping a pure 3D series and a pure 2D series in development side by side for fans, so those who don't feel the need for 3D or didn't feel the need for plots could have something they could jump into and enjoy at any time. All that needed to be done was to change how they developed their games, learn from the plot mistakes from 06, and keep going with the direction Sonic had always gone.Įach game tying comfortably together in some way, knowing where everything fit and when it fit.
There was no need to find a fix for multiple characters, certainly not to give Sonic all of their abilities so cheaply, there was no need for the wacky/pun filled direction. This is why I find there was absolutely zero reason/need for the post Unleashed titles to have ever existed. It did not mean the game play was the worst thing ever and needed an immediate change.Īll of the splits, all of the debates, pretty much everything causing chaos within the communities didn't start until the 06 mistakes and the post Unleashed portion of the franchise. These mistakes did not mean Sonic needed to abandon story depths and lore. Sonic 06 did two things wrong, glitches out of poor scheduling, and human romance/time travel. But out of the 06 outcry, everything was given a reboot of sorts after that.īut the thing is, 06 did not justify a hard reset of what the franchise was about nor who it catered towards. Plot/lore was always a key aspect of the franchise right back to the very first game up until the post Unleashed changes. Throughout the years, from Sonic 1 in 1991 through Sonic Unleashed in 2008, the franchises primary focus felt between the pre-teen to teenage audience.