SEGA launches the Sonic 2020 project, promises to release Sonic news on the 20th of every month

I think the Crash Bandicoot series is a great example of such a drought-scenario. There was no new major game release for how many years? Then, eventually, after what must have felt like eons, Crash Bandicoot interest was finally officially reinvigorated with the N. Sane Trilogy. Having almost nothing except unfounded/unconfirmed rumours and official radio silence for many years, wasn't exactly a great feeling, but that didn't mean stuff wasn't in motion behind the scenes, however slow and convoluted that may have been.

Also, I'm in full agreement that Sonic The Hedgehog as a series will never fully die. Even if there would ever be a scenario, of over 10 years without a single official new Sonic game, the series is so well-known and immensely popular that you can solidly bet that fans would keep Sonic trending and relevant via fan games, ROM hacks, art, music, animations, and so on. Sonic is simply too iconic and firmly cemented into video game history, he'll very likely never leave relevancy entirely. Drop down in terms of people's optimism regarding official content, and a certain level of relevancy tanking? Sure, that has happened before, and it could happen again. Becoming totally irrelevant in every aspect however? Highly doubtful in my opinion.

My perspective, is that phrases such as "I'm done with this franchise" and "I think Sonic is dead/done" are perhaps (for the most part) less a genuine belief in those phrases, and moreso the product of people's doubt, pessimism and frustration about official handling of the series and its games/characters. Honestly, I don't blame some people one iota for feeling so negatively, considering Sonic's inconsistent official quality post-Classic 2D. era.

Nevertheless, I solidly stand by my opinion that Sonic will never (from all aspects, both fan and official) be considered truly dead. There's simply far too much interest in and passion for the series at any one moment for its death to ever occur.

 

Crash and Spyro aren't the same as Sonic. They all had great highs in their original trilogies, but Sonic, unlike Crash or Spyro, never sunk as low. Sonic also had a 2D side, Crash and Spyro didn't. Yes, Sonic 06 happened, as did Boom. But Crash and Spyro didn't have a Generations, Mania, Rush, or Advance series. They died, laid dormant for years, and only came back after their original games were remade, which Sonic also didn't have (yes, Sonic 1, 2 and CD had enhanced ports, but they still looked like the original games, unlike Crash and Spyro).

 

Still different. Unlike Sonic, their bases were 3D. The 2D games for those 2 were always spinoffs. Sonic doesn't have the luxury of ignoring entries because Sonic is both 2D and 3D.

 

Crash and Spyro also have the saving grace that their worse entries don't have a weirdly huge amount of fans. I can name many convenings of Sonic fans where surefire objective statements like "wow, Black Knight sure was bad" and "Heroes is not good" are met with such massive backlash that I stopped trying to educate Sonic Twitter to stop liking Heroes because hoo boy, legions of people will die on that sword defending that game with every inch of their soul

Beltway's signature is very funny to me because the big quote in it names BK as some unforgiveable sin of Sonic Team when I know that literally thousands of people will defend that game like their life depended on it.

 

I guess we have rather different definitions of "franchise-sinking low" in mind. Sonic "dying" for some years and then coming back like Crash and Spyro series did would actually be an improvement towards continuing the "bombing comedian that won't get off-stage" mentality that the series has been mired in for some time now. Even at its highest points from the 2010s, this series has not escaped needing serious franchise rehab for five years at minimum.

 

I'm not saying you're wrong, but you do realize that people are allowed to have their own opinions even if you don't agree with them, right? I, for instance, really like Lost World 3DS even though it's not very popular around here. There's no such thing as an "objectively good game". I think SM64 is the best game ever made, but I know a lot of people who don't even consider it good, and their opinions still are valid.

Also from the reviews I've read of Black Knight, that game has been extremely divisive since day one. Quite a few critics liked it, and quite a few didn't. I remember Nintendo Power gave it an 8/10 but IGN gave it a 3/10, to give a sense of what I'm talking about.

 

any news?

 

Ooof good for you for liking Lost World 3DS, thinking about that game gives me PTSD.

 

Why is "Heroes is not good" a surefire objective statement? I'm not being one of those fans that "will die on that sword defending that game", I am genuinely curious. As far as I'm concerned, it has a harmless story, slippery controls (although it's not the only Sonic game with bad handling) but overall great, albeit sometimes too long, levels, when it comes to both design and themes. I also understand the common complaint that you have to play the game four times to see the true ending.

I never played Sonic Lost World 3DS, but it looks better than the Wii U version, in my opinion. The core platforming seems more engaging, though I've seen complaints about some of the worse levels in that game and it scares me lol. Either way, looks like an interesting game.

 

My personal opinion is that it plays great (arguably better than the Wii U version because Sonic doesn't lose momentum whenever he turns), but roughly 50-60% of the levels are long, boring, and tedious, often containing too many gimmicks that slow down the pace to a crawl. However, there are still quite a few fast, really fun levels, that I think outweigh the duds. Also... I actually really liked the special stages? The gyroscope actually was really immersive IMO, and I never had a problem with the controls or difficulty.

 

The implementation of the team mechanic and formations is IMO probably its biggest fault. Remember how in SA2 you couldn't play more than a couple Sonic stages in a row before having other crap thrown at you? In Heroes you can't even get through a single stage before being forced to switch to Knuckles' awkward combat sections or Tails' godawful flight mechanics.

You're certainly welcome to enjoy it, though. I genuinely enjoy Shadow the Hedgehog, but I would NEVER in a million years call it a good game, or recommend it to someone.

 

And if that doesn't get tiresome the first playthrough, it surely will in the next 3.

 

SLW 3DS = good controls but had many dull levels
SLW Wii U = better levels that were marred by poor controls

Between the two, I honestly found the Wii U version to be the worse offender. The controls made even the best levels a chore for me; at least the 3DS version was fun at times.

I also enjoyed the special stages. Well, they were a pain in the ass at first, but once I got the hang of them they became fun... like most special stages in the series.

 

Eh, I'll concede. There's an argument to be made that Sonic Heroes' team mechanic is less intrusive than something like SA2's multiple playstyles, though. Not only playing as Tails and Knuckles in Heroes is more similar to Sonic's core gameplay, but the transition is seamless. It's almost as if you're playing as one single character with different modes (I'm quite sure this was their intention, perhaps as to "solve" the problem of Sonic being too fast to control). However, I can definitely see how the amount of jank can lead to thinking this game is objectively bad, namely how weirdly Flight characters work, Power characters sliding around the place and Speed characters flying off of edges.

Also, just like TheInvisibleSun said here, no matter how small I try to make these issues seem, they are only multiplied by the fact you play the same game four times.

Overall, I think Sonic Heroes is commendable for many factors surrounding the gameplay, but I'll never try to justify its controls, as good level design (in my opinion) will only get you so far. I guess I'm glad that I played it as a kid, got used to it and can enjoy it nearly painlessly now.

 

Dipping my toe in the Sonic Heroes discussion, my biggest problem with it was the rail sections, which was most obvious in Bullet Station but would occasionally show up in other stages as well. I got a LOT of cheap deaths due to how buggy that mechanic is, and it's alongside extremely tedious/cheap (lots of bottomless pits) gameplay too. I also strongly disliked the writing as well.

 

If you want a tip, stop accelerating when trying to switch rails. It feels way more reliable to me doing it like that, I also had a lot of trouble with those stages.

 

The new Crash trailer just came out, and from the looks of it Toys for Bob is disregarding everything that came after Crash 3 as non-canon (which they actually make a joke about in the trailer). I think that this could actually work quite well with Sonic, if we're being honest. I personally would want to see Sonic Team set the next game after Adventure 2 and just continue from there. Adventure 2: Battle is what got many modern fans into the series, so it'd really connect to them, and getting rid of everything Heroes and beyond could help alleviate some of the baggage the series has carried for so long.

By retconning a lot of subpar Sonic games out of existence, the developers could (A) get back to basics and (B) potentially bring back concepts that were cut in new and interesting ways. For instance, Shadow is still "dead" when the slate is wiped clean, but could be brought back in a sort of epic and surprising way (not just "ooohh Eggman's got him locked up!").

 

I don't quite feel the same. The Crash canon games that were de-canonized now are about only four, I think. It is easier.
Sonic has way more games than that, and even more when you remember that "small" titles count as canon because they introduce characters (Sonic Rush, for example).

To me, the best way to get rid of those tons of mediocre games is what Mortal Kombat 9 did. Some time travel/dimensional/source of energy shenaningan that returns the storyline to when was good, and then moves on.