So I saw this thread about series that have games on every Sega platform, and it got me thinking about Sonic. Sonic games are on a lot of platforms. But which platform has the most Sonic games? I want to try to determine, excluding PC and unofficial emulation, which video game console offers the most complete Sonic library. I'm going to restrict my findings to the "main" series (platformers starring Sonic, so no Knuckles' Chaotix or Shadow the Hedgehog), but everyone else is welcome to help determine which platform has the most spin-offs. I'm also not going to cover Sega platforms, since, y'know, they don't have the most complete library. First, let's define the main series: Spoiler Classic Era Sonic the Hedgehog (16- and 8-bit) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16- and 8-bit) Sonic CD Sonic Chaos Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Sonic & Knuckles Sonic Triple Trouble Sonic 3D Blast Sonic Blast Dreamcast/Adventure Era Sonic Adventure Sonic Adventure 2 Sonic Advance Sonic Advance 2 Sonic Heroes Sonic Advance 3 Sonic Rush Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Sonic Rush Adventure Modern Era Sonic and the Secret Rings Sonic Unleashed Sonic and the Black Knight Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I Sonic Colors Sonic Generations Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II Sonic Lost World Sonic Mania Sonic Forces With this in mind, let's get to the sixth generation consoles (GameCube, PS2, Xbox): The GameCube is the clear winner here. It can play every main Sonic game up to Advance 3 (of course, the Advance games need an add-on to be played on it). Neither the Xbox nor PlayStation 2 have the Adventure games, and the Xbox can't play Sonic CD, 2 8-bit, or Triple Trouble since Gems Collection never came out on it. For the seventh generation (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3), it gets a bit trickier. The Wii can play every Sonic game on the GameCube, in addition to the Storybook games, Unleashed, Sonic 4: Episode I, and Colors, and all the games that came out on the Virtual Console. However, it can't play the Advance games, the Rush games, '06, Generations, and Episode II. The Xbox 360 can play every Sonic game on the Xbox and gains the ability to play CD and the Adventure games, not to mention '06, Unleashed, both Sonic 4 episodes, and Generations. However, it can't play Colors or the Storybook games. The PlayStation 3 seems to be a similar case to the Xbox 360, though Heroes actually did get a digital release (so it can be played without backward compatibility required). Now onto the eighth generation! (Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4): The Wii U can play every Sonic game released for the Wii, but loses the ability to play GameCube games, meaning that the Adventure games, CD, Triple Trouble, and Heroes can't be played on the Wii U in any official capacity. Mania and Forces aren't playable on the Wii U either. However, the Wii U is the only eighth-gen console that can play Lost World, and is also the only console that offers the Advance games. (Japan only, but still.) The Xbox One can play every Sonic game that was available on the 360 except '06. However, since Mega Collection Plus and Heroes were never made backward-compatible, there's no way to play any of the 8-bit games or, well, Heroes. It's also missing Lost World, since that's a Wii U/PC exclusive. The PlayStation 4's a little more pathetic. There's no way to play any of the 8-bit games, or Sonic 3, or Sonic & Knuckles. Heroes can't be played anymore either. That means your options, mostly via PlayStation Now, are Sonic 1, 2, 3D Blast, Adventure, Adventure 2, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Mania, and Forces. And shockingly, the PS4 is currently the only current-gen console that can play Sonic '06 officially! (via PlayStation Now in Japan) Now we get to the ninth generation (Switch, Series X/S, and PS5): The Switch is pretty skimpy. It can play Sonic 1, 2, 3D Blast, Colors, Mania, and Forces. The Xbox Series X/S and PS5 can play every Sonic game available on the Xbox One and PS4, respectively. For handhelds, the answer is probably the 3DS. It can play Sonic 1, 2, 3, Knuckles, the 8-bit games, the Rush games, Colors (the DS version of course), Generations, and Lost World. The DS can play the Advance games but not the 8-bit ones or the 3DS exclusives. And of course, Lost World is the only 3D game available on handheld. Overall... this is pretty difficult. I think the only conclusion I can come to is that there isn't a system with a complete Sonic library at all. Hell, I'm not even sure what system I'd recommend for the most Sonic games. Of course, this is limited to official means; I know there are ways to get the Adventure games and Heroes on the Wii U, or Sonic 3 & Knuckles on Switch. And I've probably made a few mistakes/omitted some games. But I thought it'd be a fun little investigation. Let me know what you think! If I made any mistakes or missed anything I'd love to hear about it.
It's a bit of a nitpick but I'd probably include Sonic '06 in the Modern era since that's how Generations handled it. I always got the impression that "Dreamcast era" was really just a shorthand way of saying "sixth generation consoles".
I'm not sure I'd count the Wii/PS2 and 360/PS3 versions of Unleashed as the same game. Nor the handheld and console versions of Colors, Generations, and Lost World (or the MD vs Saturn versions of 3D Blast, to an extent, though that's largely down to the Special Stages). Also, big list in the spoiler seems to be missing Rush Adventure, as well as Pocket Adventure (though, none of these consoles have access to that anyway lol). I'd personally also include Sonic into Dreams and Sonic World (from Christmas NiGHTS and Sonic Jam, respectively) in the large list, but they're both locked to the Saturn anyway, making them kinda moot to include for the purpose of this exercise. Funny that if the 360 had made Mega Collection+ and Heroes (and Shadow; that's more mainline to me than any of the 8 bit or handheld games) backwards compatible, then I think the Xbox Series X/S would be the clear winner.
Not sure why spinoffs for other characters are being excluded while 8-bit, handheld, and storybook games, none of which are main series entries, are. Might as well just include every Sonic franchise game, with the possible exception of crossover spinoffs that include non-Sega characters like the Olympic games. It's not like Chaotix or Sonic X for the Leapster are going to affect the end count anyway.
The handheld games are 100% mainline - they were developed with Sonic Team, tie into the console games, and Rush was even represented in Generations. The 8-bit games were treated as mainline at the time of release too, and while I can see the Storybook games being argued as spin-offs, they are traditional Sonic platformers outside the aesthetic. And plus we all know Chaotix and Shadow aren't available on any modern platforms, so they're minor omissions.
That doesn't make them mainline. They were still secondary products developed by a different studio, not primary flagship releases. And Rush was not actually represented in Generations to my knowledge, only the 3DS version which is not mainline. Of course the version of the game made by Dimps is going to include a previous Sonic game also made Dimps. The 8-bit games were separate entities from the 16-bit titles and were created to make Sonic available on Sega's weaker hardware for people who didn't have a Genesis/Mega Drive. They are secondary counterparts to the primary 16-bit releases.
fwiw Rush did have some representation in Generations through soundtracks and in the fact that Blaze's character bio follows Rush's canon instead of '06
I guess we just have different definitions of what’s a spin-off. I don’t think being handheld/on lesser hardware automatically makes a game a spin-off. I classify a spin-off as having a completely different genre (eg Sonic Drift or Sonic R) or being clearly distinguished from the main series by main character and/or gimmick (Chaotix or Shadow). To use Mario as an example, Super Mario Land is a still a mainline Mario game even though it was a handheld game on lesser hardware, but Wario Land is a spin-off even if it’s similar to the main series. But what is/isn’t a spin-off isn’t what this topic is about. It’s about determining which non-PC console offers the most complete Sonic library. My post is about what I’ve found based on my understanding of the main series.
I'm not in the mood to sit down and count, but I think the Wii probably provides the best experience for someone looking to get the most for their money. The GCN releases of Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 are not ideal, but they are far from being the worst possible ports of the game. Furthermore, the games included in Mega and Gems Collection are not terribly impacted by the emulation (though I can't say I've played them in 15ish years so maybe there are issues). The Gems Collection release of Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters are also pretty great. The only real downside is the absence of Unleashed and Generations in my opinion. My second choice would probably be PS3 or Xbox Series X. The big downside on those is how crappy Sonic Adventure's port is and the lack of 8-bit games to my knowledge on Xbox. PS3 does offer Mega/Gems Collection but at the expense of worse versions of Unleashed and Generations. As I wrote this I have switched my opinion to Xbox Series X/S. The lack of Heroes and Mega Collection isn't huge. I just looked it up and saw Shadow also isn't included and maybe I'm changing my opinion back to Wii. This exercise has just made me appreciate the fact that I own the actual hardware for the majority of these games lol. My CRT has the Mega Drive, Saturn, and Dreamcast on rotation, and I keep my PS3, PS4, and modded Wii U hooked up on a gaming monitor. I do need to grab a Series X when I can for Unleashed and Generations though. I just beat Unleashed for the first time on PS3 and it was a struggle to deal with the framerate.
I should clarify that "mainline" and "canon" are not the same thing. The Advance and Rush games are canon (I think) but are not main series entries. Think about it this way. Ask any average Sonic fan what the chronology of main series Sonic games is. Most would probably say: 1, 2, CD (some might not include that though), 3, S&K, SA1, SA2, Heroes, (maybe Shadow depending on the person), '06, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Lost World, (maybe Mania), Forces. I didn't include specificity regarding the games which have alternate handheld counterparts, because for the most part, they don't matter. The title in question refers to the primary version first, with the requirement of specificity only being placed on references to the secondary version. Unleashed is the only example where that gets weird, because both versions were on then-current consoles. To be clear, I'm not trying to appeal to some majority opinion, it's just an example scenario to help illustrate the logic behind my definition of a main series game. Those are (mostly) the flagship entries in the Sonic franchise. They were produced specifically to be the next primary release in the series. I don't put them in the same category as games produced specifically for the comparatively niche markets of underpowered/outdated consoles and handheld systems. My initial comment here wasn't intended to start an argument about this. I was just suggesting that because many games with at best dubious "main series" status are already being included in your criteria, everything else might as well be included too. Again, with the possible exception of the Olympic games and something like Mean Bean Machine which is just a reskin of an unrelated game. GameCube library would get Shadow and Riders, etc., but it wouldn't change the outcome all that much. No reason not to make a "complete" library actually complete. But regarding the topic itself, it seems to me Xbox 360 and GameCube have the most.
Saying that the Advance series' predecessor (Pocket Adventure) isn't mainline but games like 3D Blast and the Storybook titles (officially stated to be spin-offs) are sounds weird to me.
It's still an official game along the lines of the other Dimps installments that plays like the main titles (more so than 3D Blast).
Not to backseat mod, but it might be worth bracketing the "mainline vs spinoff" distinction for the sake of hashing out which platform has the biggest selection of Sonic games, since we just had a decently-sized thread on that matter a few months ago. + - But also because the distinction is basically pointless anyway.
Thread question is "Which platform has the most complete Sonic library?"... but arbitrarily cuts off games... not very complete, hmm. Have this list I made just now, trying to use the least amount of consoles and cover the most ground (if I missed a game then oops): It's pretty straight forward: Firstly, All major retro stuff is covered by Gamecube (via some combination of MegaCol, SA:DX unlocks, and GemsCol), and can run the other Gamecube games + GBA games in the GameBoy Player. Then, the Xbox 360 was chosen for being desirable for that 9th gen boost thing in like three games, as well as completing the Riders trilogy... 8 Sonic games (4 counted as two distinct ones, being nice to 4:e2) Next, having the Wii U (12 Sonic games) and 3DS (14 Sonic games) works as nets for catching every Wii and DS game. Lastly, modern systems that still get games coming out for them as of early 2022. (4 Sonic games.) The M&S Olympics aren't on all platforms under that definition, so it's not highlighted. The GameCube pulls the most weight with this as the dedicated port + emulation + cartridge reading machine, having innate access to 31 Sonic games (counting 3K as a single game like a sane person). Worth noting the Xbox 360 has it's own SA:DX, SA2:B, CD, and Fighters ports, and can read Heroes, Shadow, Riders, and MegaColPlus (which has some, but not all of, the removed SA:DX GameGear unlocks).
I highly doubt it is true. Sega published the game themselves and Sonic Team/Naka were involved in the development. Sega just shies away from talking about games they didn't produce internally.
it’s not mentioned in the encyclo-speed-ia while most, if not all, sonic games you can think of are listed there
