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Take a good long look at the image above. It the new image of Sonic The Hedgehog for Sonic Boom, the new game for Nintendo Consoles and a new 3D animated show coming to Cartoon Network. I'm sure you might like as well as I'm sure you might hate it. The thing is though this image represents a long standing problem with the Sonic series and older video game franchises. We love these franchises and want to keep playing them as great as we remember them. But is that was the series needs?

I joined the Sonic craze at an odd time. While I did play the original 2D Sonic games and watched the cartoons, I never really owned a Genesis so Sonic never made a real impact. Even after owning my first Sega console and Sonic Adventure, Sonic didn't click for me until I got my Game Cube. It was playing Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Sonic Advance that suddenly series clicked for me. After that I bought the Sonic Classic Collection and even the Gems Collection. So bizarrely, I got my appreciation and love for the classic Sonic through my love the 3D modern ones (well, at least the first two Sonic Adventures). Of course that was around the first real big real redesign of series, around his 10^th anniversary. I guess in away that has always been Sonic's strength, adaptability. Sure it doesn't speak much about the quality of the games that come from it but Sega has always found away to make Sonic much more adaptable in someway. The problem for me for every “new” Sonic that comes along every so often is the question of is it what the series really needs?

I always ask that question every time I get the urge to play Sonic Generations. I've heard from so many people that Generations is the best of the “modern” Sonic games. I disagree with that notion. I loved Generations, renting and almost beating the game saved for the last boss. However, to me really had nothing holding the game up except for nostalgia. 2D Sonic is about the same and 3D Sonic is good but that's also because it cherry picks the things that worked from 2D and 3D. Really Generations is a literal birthday cake for the series: Topped with sweet icing but lacking with real nutritious filling that we really need. Also like birthday cake, its supposed designate something special. Having Generations being the new template for the series like it Lost World, and Colors did with Generations, the series starts losing its edge and identity. I mean if you really liked Generations, what's the point of getting Lost Worlds? Both are very similar and you can get Generations anywhere. In that way, I can see why Sonic Boom went completely left field in its approach to redesigning Sonic, even going so far as to drop the Sonic Team from it and I can't think of the last time a major Sonic game never had Sonic Team behind it (or ever!)

Still I have to ask is this what series really needs? Sega wants to connect to younger fans which why they are going this direction. Older Sonic fans want the series to stay to the roots which is why Generations was lauded with much praise. So which need is greater? Its question a lot of older video game franchises have been asking for years with mixed results. Some take a very sheepish approach to it, like Mario and many other Nintendo franchises. Other franchises have rebooted themselves so many times to keep things fresh and failed at it, its hard to even count. Its still amazes me that only way that Activision found to keep Spyro relevant in gaming was through Skylanders, which now he is really not even the main draw anymore. I hope that Sega put more thought its new reboot of Sonic that what it initially looks. Which isn't that great to me.. Otherwise, I doubt the series will survive to see its 25^th anniversary.

 

What are your thoughts on the new Sonic? What do you think Sonic really needs to do? Feel free to leave your thoughts down below.