Sonic: The Good, The Meh, And The Ugly.

Ahhh, Sonic. Where to even start? Sonic was my first 'favorite' gaming series, I think. The Sega Genesis was the first console I ever owned, and Sonic 2 was my first game. That started a love for the series that hasn't subsided to this day.

Ah, the memories.

I spent countless hours playing Sonic 2, and attempting to collect every ring and chaos emerald surely attributed to starting me down the road to poor vision. The game never really got old to my brother and I, and we came up with all sorts of ridiculous ideas from playing it so much. The one that sticks with me the most is the dance we created in the sixth zone, Mystic Cave. If you've played the game, and you can remember the music, just imagine Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles looking up and bobbing down with the music. Ahh, the memories. Next to mind comes the Genesis freezing in the later levels and us yelling and screaming at it. Good times.

Sonic 3 eventually rolled in with it's mind-blowing opening sequence(hey, it was at the time) and the introduction of Knuckles. With Sonic 3 came an addiction possibly even greater than what Sonic 2 offered. The largest reason for this was the introduction of the multi-faceted multiplayer. Sure, there was multiplayer in Sonic 2, but it wasn't nearly this competative. The heated battles caused by the Time Trial mode was my big introduction to competative gaming. My brother and I were always up in arms about who was the best at each level, even though I ended up losing some because I would always rep a slower Tails in the face of his Sonic. However, I would throw down some Knuckles or a bit of Sonic when the situation was serious enough. The single player action was just as great, too. It was definitely easier than Sonic 2 was, but I welcomed that with open arms at the time(the end boss in Sonic 2 kicked my ass...a lot). I don't want to say it was a pushover, because it wasn't, but it didn't take all that long until I was ripping through it with ease. Also, one strange habit I came into with Sonic 3 was to make up my own lyrics for each song. And, to give you an idea of how much I played it, I still remember a lot of the lyrics to this day. Yeah, I'm a huge geek.

Originally meant to be one long, epic adventure, Sonic 3 and S&K was split into two due to time constraints.

Sonic and Knuckles dropped soon after with its attachable tech and neverending glory. Not only was it another great addition to the series, but it let players attach Sonic 3, and even Sonic 2, for a ton of new gameplay options. The only gripe I have with Sonic and Knuckles, and I'm sure many other Sonic fans feel me on this, is how incredibly annoying the second act of Sandopolis Zone was. I eventually made my way through it, but it's one of those times when you think the dev. team put it in just so it wouldn't get a perfect score. It was my childhood version of the skeleton archers from Ninja Gaiden. Aside from that, S&K was spectacular. From the one-on-one fight with Knuckles in Hidden Palace to the showdown with Mecha Sonic in Sky Sanctuary, S&K delivered an amazing game with an incredibly epic feel.

I'd also like to include the original Sonic title so no one has to leave me a comment asking why I left it out. I didn't get the chance to play the original until sometime after I had played the second, and while it was still really good, it just never held up against the other additions since it lacked the spin dash.

At this point of the post you're probably wondering exactly where I'm taking this. Hopefully everything you've read so far has gotten the point across that I've been a fan of the series since time immemorial. Since his glory days on the Genesis, Mario's one-time competitor has really had his ups and downs, leading to the series less-than-stellar standing with many gamers today. The reason for this is Sega's willingness to release a plethora of games in the Sonic universe without giving them a proper polishing. Or, you know, adding a core gameplay system that functions properly.

For example, Shadow The Hedgehog and Sonic Riders were released four months apart. Four. When two games suck that bad you really need to spread them out, but it seems that Sega was in the mood to throw a real shit-fest. They decided to really expose their fetish for it this past fall with the release of Sonic The Hedgehog on the 360. The title implied something big for the series, and I know I wasn't the only one excited before it released. Now, to be fair, I haven't played any of those three titles myself, and I'm just going by how they scored. However, they all scored extremely poor, and any redeeming points they could've had seemed to be outweighed by a number of negative aspects.

Sonic Team used to be synonymous with quality, but their reputation has suffered quite a bit the last few years. I think some of that has to do with some team members leaving, and the fact that they merged with United Game Artists a few years back, so their line-up is a bit different these days. Here's a quick comparison of what made them legendary, and what has really dealt a blow to that status.

- Sonic The Hedgehog(1991)
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2(1992
- Sonic The Hedgehog CD(1993)
- Sonic The Hedgehog 3(1994)
- Sonic And Knuckles(1994)
- NiGHTS Into Dreams(1996)
- Sonic Adventure(1998)
- Phantasy Star Online(2000)

Compare that to this.

- Sonic Heroes(2003)
- The Rub Rabbits(2005)
- Shadow The Hedgehog(2005)
- Sonic Riders(2006)
- Phantasy Star Universe(2006)
- Puyo Pop Fever 2(2006)
- Sonic The Hedgehog(2006)

As you can see, the newer titles don't exactly stack up to the earlier releases in the least. They're not all bad, but they aren't spectacular, either. Also, noticeably absent from the newer titles is Sonic Rush, which is definitely the best Sonic title released in several years. Rush, along the the Advance titles, was developed by the Osaka-based Dimps.

Sonic Team showed that it was possible to stick our blue hero into 3D and make it work.

Sonic Team hasn't really done anything positive with the franchise since Sonic Adventure 2 in 2001. This is where the pressure comes in. The Sonic Franchise is in need of a revival to show that it's capable of delivering another good 3D title. Due out on February 27 for the Wii is Sonic And The Secret Rings.

Secret Rings looks extremely promising so far, and one screen doesn't really do it justice.

Rings has a fixed camera that looks like it will avoid one of the big problems that has plagued recent Sonic titles. Also, all the video I've seen so far show off a great sense of speed that controls quite well(the Wiimote is held sideways during play). The arabian nights motiff adds a unique sense of style as well, letting it stand out from its brethren. While I don't want to get my hopes up too high in case things don't turn out as well as they look, it's hard not to geek in anticipation.

Sega really needs Rings to be succesful, and so far it looks like they're on the right track for the first time in a few years. Nostalgia is hitting hard at this point, so I think it's time to dust off the Genesis and show off my skills.

Also, I highly recommend any long-time fans of Sonic check out Hedgehog Heaven and Project Chaos, remixes of the soundtracks from Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and S&K. The original soundtracks owned, and I wasn't alone in that opinion.