Virtua Sonic #7: Top 10 Sonic Games

 Throughout gaming history, there have been conflicting game companies in something of an arms race to harvest this potential goldmine. Games came and gone with differing margins of acclaim and there were some that reached the rank of legend. Whether you think I’m overselling the blue hedgehog a bit much is up to the eyes of the beholders. However, no one can argue that there was a time when Sonic was literally everywhere in terms of merchandise and game sales. He has had a massive impact that took the world by storm. Since then things have changed. 

While Sonic the Hedgehog has had a severe lack of quality in a lot of his gaming timeline, we are here to speak of the gems in this collection (pun intended). Whatever your favorite game is, if it is not on this list, please list your favorites in the comments. While I may not have had a favorable experience with them, I am sincerely glad that you did. Sonic is a celebrated character worldwide and so now let’s celebrate with a look at what I think are the greatest games in the Sonic library. 

#10. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine

Alright, we all know that this is a Tetris clone, but who cares! It’s still fun. Sometimes it seems that the computer gets an unfair advantage sometimes as they get the exact right pieces right when they need them. However, the opposite is also true and it gets rather competitive. It has very little to do with Sonic other than the appearance of the characters, but it’s still enjoyable. You face against random robots until you get to the monkey robot who I forgot the name of. You face Robotnik at the end, but he gets ridiculously hard. Need a good time waster? Give it a glance.

#9. Sonic Adventure 2

While I can’t say I enjoy all of the game mechanics of this title, it’s still a whole lot of fun when it gets going. The speed sections are enjoyable and the world building through the story is fun to watch. This game still lives up to its Dreamcast days, though it’s certainly not perfect. The Knuckles sections and the Tails sections were good, but also a little monotonous after doing them for as many times.You can have a lot of fun raising Chaos, but it's not a whole lot of fun on the Chaos Emerald sections. It felt like there were just so many different mechanics they wanted to introduce. So, on top of an adventure game, it's a 3rd person shooter along with being a racing game. It has its boring sections but it also has fun boss fights. When it gets tense, it still gets fun. There's also a great port of it, an updated one you can get on Gamecube. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is a solid take on the title and worth a look.

#8. Sonic the Hedgehog

The premier title for our hedgehog himself. A great game in its own right, but not reaching its peak quite yet. It still functioned very well as a platformer, as well as performing as a hit for the Genesis. Both critics and fans loved its Mario-like gameplay, saying it gave that franchise a run for its money. This title is not to be overlooked for any Genesis collection. Some of the levels are not especially great and sometimes they can go overboard with the water levels. It’s still great, though, in retrospect, it is very obviously missing one mechanic that the second game would revolutionize.

#7. Sonic Generations

A surprisingly good game, considering the time in which it was created. By the time 2011, the Wii games and a few other Sonic duds had already hit the market. Generations was a great addition to the collection, featuring not only some awesome 2D levels to go along with some of their better attempts at 3D Sonic since the Adventure games. With some awesome battles between Sonic and Metal Sonic and a class act in level design, this PS3/XBox 360 generation game boasts some unexpected success in this title. 

#6. Sonic R

No, this is not a troll and no, I am not trying to get attention with unusual opinions. This game not only has a nostalgia factor for me, but there is also a lot of fun to be had here. The controls were bad, but they just take some getting used to. The balloon sections, the races and the freeze tag sections are all great to play with your friends. It's a good distraction along with the beautiful soundtrack. Don't let the janky graphics and occasional glitches stop you from unlocking the characters. This is Sonic on the Saturn and that just makes it all the better. The graphics are also not great, but they’re 32-bit goodness I’ve always loved. You don’t have to like it, but I will always love it.

#5. Sonic Adventure

A great return to form from the less than stellar performance on the Sega Saturn. Adventure truly brought Sonic to the open 3D world and it truly feels like the title suggests. Again, it is not a perfect game. The graphics were amazing at the time, though and the story is a lot of fun to follow as you play. It's also a great atmosphere and all of the levels are worth exploring. It is loads of fun and can get very engrossing, but there are times when the segments can be slow and, again, monotonous. Sometimes there is some drag, but I can honestly still call this title great!

#4. Sonic CD

Commonly considered the greatest title for the Sega CD, Sonic CD boasts some of the most beautiful 2D graphics in his early titles. CD has everything you loved about the first games with new and exciting mechanics and ways to take down the mustached menace, Robotnik! The real problem with this title is that sometimes its level designs can become very confusing. It also can have some game killing glitches on occasion. It is a game you can play for hours at a time and it is a great introduction to the franchise.

#3. Sonic Mania

The latest of the greatest Sonic titles on this list and it earns a staggering third place on this list for various reasons. Not only does it have some of the most beautiful 2D style graphics of any Sonic title but it also has some amazing callbacks to previous great titles while giving them a bit of an upgrade. Though the level design can be a little confusing at times, that does not detract from how much enjoyment can be expected from this fan-made classic that took Sonic fans by surprise. What didn’t surprise fans was that it out classed and ultimately overtook the official Sonic title of Mania’s release year, Sonic Forces in seemingly every way.  

#2. Sonic and Knuckles 3

Initially released earlier in the year, Sonic The Hedgehog’s 3rd title was soon joined by one of the first examples of paid DLC. Sonic and Knuckles was a separate cartridge that you could attach not only Sonic 3 but all three of Sonic’s original titles on the Genesis. Such an innovation did not escape the fans as it proved to be one of the single greatest titles of the original era. You could not only play as both Sonic and Tails, but also the newcomer, Knuckles. His gliding ability along with his climbing opened up older levels with a new way to explore them and it also changed the perspective of the ongoing story. Sonic 3 did not disappoint fans who got their start with Sonic 2 and it would become one of the hedgehog’s most widely beloved games.

#1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

While Sonic the Hedgehog was a brilliant starting point for the blue blur, Sonic 2 decimated expectations and wowed audiences and critics alike upon its release in 1992. Fans were delighted to find this sequel game included with their boxed up Sega Genesis just in time for the holidays. With the new added feature of the spindash and some of the most beautiful and practical level designs on the market, Sonic 2 left its mark as one of the greatest video game sequels. It was right up there with Mega Man 2 and Street Fighter 2 and it was a breaking point that made Sonic the Hedgehog a household name for decades to come. 

So those are my favorite Sonic games and there is always room for more in the future. Whether you love Sonic ‘06 or Sonic Colors, it doesn’t matter. By all means, make your own list! It’s always good to hear from a fellow Sonic fan. This icon of Sega has had the charm and the appeal to last for decades and it’s clear that he could easily last for decades more. Let’s just hope for some new releases soon and keep drinking water.

Full Motion Videos Were a Terrible Idea

If you are not in the know of what FMV's are, they are Full Motion Videos, which was titled very poorly. These videos are about as full motion as claymation, and that's no exaggeration. For some reason, back in the early days of gaming, developers figured out that they could record themselves and impliment the footage into video games. Once CD-Roms and 32-Bit systems, such as the Sega Saturn, were powerful enough, they were able to store a ton of these very stiff, awkward videos to "show off" between gameplay.

Then, there were also games that were nothing but Full Motion Videos. Yes, those exist. The Sega Saturn was not as guilty of wearing out the concept as the Sega CD was. Still, games like Double Switch, Myst, or The Horde have some of the worst cut scenes and gameplay footage on the system. The actors they got for these videos were beyond abysmal. The costumes were cheesy, and there were even a few parts that were absolutely digusting. 

If you would like to see one of those games that relies on FMV's and real people cut-outs, check out my review for Corpse Killer and get a glimpse of the idea at its worst. Even when the video was of slightly better quality, and didn't have that ridiculous amount of grain moving across it, it was still so janky and awkward to watch. 32-bits was still not enough. 

This could also be a case of keeping video games to themselves while also keeping films in their own category. Mixing mediums has bore fruit in the past with Mortal Kombat starting the craze of putting in real-life people into the graphics. The difference there is that the game is still fully controlled and the graphics are not "full motion" for... some reason. I don't know the the grimey details. The point is that putting 2D games into 3D games, making video games into movies, and making video game adaptations of movies can definitely work, so long as you go full tilt into that medium. 

Full Motion Video Games was a lot like taking a movie, and turning it 25% into a game and calling it a day. The aiming is often off-center in rail shooters, the controls are often slow and inaccurate and then there's the fact that the gameplay can often be described as very, very boring. 

Now, are all games that bring in Full Motion Video bad? No! There are exceptions to this, of course. From this standpoint, none of them exist on the Sega Saturn. There is always a chance there are hidden titles or titles that I missed, but by all means, if you have a loved FMV game on the Saturn, talk about in the comments. I know you'll talk about it somewhere.

A good FMV game that comes to mind is Wing Commander 3, which can be seen as campy and fun. The Mortal Kombat Sub-Zero game had some of the worst and most amazing FMV's ever. If you have not seen this video, you are missing out. Of course there is room for guilty pleasures and videos that are just so unintentionally hilarious that they deserve another good watch-through. 

There's always room for a good terrible FMV, but the problem is that these are lightning strikes. There is a fine line between enjoyably campy and absolutely cringeworthy, which is often very hard to sit-through. Making an enjoyable FMV game was a case, like any movie, of actors, directing and camera movement that didn't make you want to vomit. All of these elements needed to be just right and that happened once every other blue moon, it seems. 

Thankfully, FMV's have all but been phased out of existence in terms of recent games. All of them seem to be relegated to the fourth and fifth generations of consoles. The Dreamcast either had no FMV games or they were so few in number that a general search brings up nothing. It's always good to play with technology and experiment with mechanics and features. Full Motion Videos seemed to be something of a failed experiment that they just kept trying at with little to no success.

Even the best of the bunch are usually a one-time play-through, then it can be put away. If there are some favorite FMV games out there, by all means. The 7th Guest had its good points but by no means does it save the concept, nor does Phantasmagoria. If you have an argument for the Full Motion games, you're going to bring it to the table, so go right ahead. There are enjoyable ones but the vast majority were subpar to say the least. I may like to repeat my thesis a lot, but that's mostly because I'm almost finished with college. No, I'm not kidding. Virtua Diploma. 

Virtua Sonic #3 - From CD to X-treme!

 There has always been a great stipulation as to which Sonic game is the greatest among the greatest. While he has been no stranger to subpar games and questionable gameplay, there have been some amazing titles. One of the front runners for greatest Sonic game has always been Sonic the Hedgehog 2 around these parts but Sonic CD has also stood out as not only one of the greatest Sonic games, but also THE greatest Sega CD game. While that does sing some praise to its overall presentation, that also says a lot about the Sega CD. Either way, this title has stood the test of time in many ways. 

One game that has failed on several accounts, however, was the cancelled title, Sonic X-treme. Either way you look at this one, it was a travesty that thankfully didn't happen. It might seem strange to put these two titles together in one article, but why not? They're two titles that have been needing a closer look and it's just fun to make some comparisons, especially since these are two titles that were not so far apart. 

The Sega CD and the Sega 32x were trying to keep the Genesis alive and well and maybe even spawn their own group. While there did come some fanfare for these two, especially long after their deaths, the cult following didn't really translate into phofit and their libraries were basically scrapped. Sonic CD showed itself as a very early gem among the dirt that was left in its wake. It had superior graphics, while also remaining loyal to its predecessors and introducing some new spins on old levels. 

This also brought about some more interesting Dr. Robotnik boss battles. For some reason, these seemed a lot more challenging and part of it seems to be that he uses a lot more of his surroundings this time around. You can especially see that in the casino level "Collision Chaos". Those weird pinball mechanics really bring about that atmosphere while punching up the challenge. This was one of the more challenging games, especially compared to the past titles. This game is rightfully smashed in with the original trilogy as one of the greats and it most certainly deserves that. 

Never is that more seen in the fact that this is where we finally meet Metal Sonic. He is a complete badass and still a fan favorite Sonic rival to this day. He is a creation of Dr. Robotnik that stood the test of time both with the fans and in the story. This is where he makes his debut and completely takes the spotlight away from old Eggy boy himself. These boss battles are not the most challenging, but they can be if you're not familiarizing yourself very quickly to his patterns of attack and movements. These are also some of the most high octane boss battles of the game and are highlights of it through and through. 

Sonic CD really surprised a lot of people, being the fourth entry in the mainline titles, it was always the stipulation that the fourth games would be the dipping point. Not only was that not the case, it was said to be better by many fans. Whether that is true or not is a moot point opinion, but a lot of people also came under the false impression of one of the next titles for a long time. 

Being a longtime Saturn fan, you hear a lot about the titles that are mostly spoken in whispers. For a long time, there was a rumor that Sonic X-treme was so amazing that it could have saved the Saturn itself from its horrible fate. That was until there came a build that apparently brings about the demo itself. If this demo is any indication to its overall quality, this was honestly doomed from the start. 

Obviously, this cannot be confirmed as the actual game, and even if it is, the final product could very easily differ. As it is, though, the game looks and feels awkward. The demo isn't even all that long, but the game just looks so tight in on Sonic that you can barely see your surroundings and the controls in this demo are just terrible. It's hard to look at, especially with the 3D environment just being so awkward all around. 

To think that this was cancelled was now brought into sharp realization as to why, if this demo is any indication. It's popularly thought that, the more titles there are, the better off a system is and this is not true. These games take resources and talent away from other games in development. This is talent and machinery that are all crucial to other programmers. One single coder brought into help a team can mean the difference between a game getting made or not. Sonic X-treme seems like it needed to be pulled away, if for nothing else than to get a better grip on the gameplay because it just looks like nothing there was solid in any case. 

Sonic CD turned out to be the milestone for one system and it most certainly did not save the Sega CD add-on. I find it hard to believe that Sonic X-treme in this demo form could do anything in its finished state. Sure, if they brought the game to a more linear focus and maybe even as a 3D version of the 16-bit platformers before it, it could have been a smash hit. Even then, I doubt that it would do much in terms of helping the Saturn's sales in America. It had a lot of other things going against it. The Saturn's quality and performance outmached the CD by far, of course. Who wants to sit around playing FMV games all day? Their novelty wore off four or five games in. 

These two games share a lot of parallels on the opposite ends. It's kind of strange how closely so many successes and failures that Sonic has in his library resemble one another. The quality whirlwind that was the blue blur has a lot of myths and lore in and of itself. That can be said about a lot of Sega's industry standings, come to think of it. Either way, it's not hard to find the Sonic X-treme demo for free if you ever feel like playing it. Don't pass up a good deal on Sonic CD either, if you ever come across it. Metal it up!!