This seems like a contradiction. Either both 3K and 4 are single games, or 3, K, 4E1, and 4E2 are separate games. And yes, I'm responding to this post because it's the only one that's actually on-topic to the thread title, somehow we managed to go from "Which platform has the most complete Sonic library?" to "Which Sonic games are considered mainline?" in... well, basically the opening post. Perhaps it's better to just rename this thread and start a new one. What a disaster.
There isn't a seamless mode that connects 4:e1 to 4:e2 as one full continuous campaign from start to finish, as 3 and Knuckles does. It feels very segmented to me, 4:eM included. Maybe that's just me being arbitrary or misremembering how things are tho.
Good list. Thanks for taking the time to lay it all out like that. So it looks like what's left off the Xbox 360 is just Sonic 2 8-bit, Sonic Triple Trouble, Drift 2, Spinball 8-bit, Tails' Sky Patrol, Tails' Adventure, and Sonic R? Not to mention the GBA games. I think that probably cements the 360 as my choice in terms of quality. Having Generations and a better version of Unleashed makes up for the poor Sonic Adventure port IMO, though the lack of Sonic R still bugs me a little. And if we count non-Sonic titles, but still are in the realm of Sega, the Ultimate Genesis Collection is one of the better collections Sega has put out thanks to the arcade games. As for Ep 1&2 being distinct games... I think they are. Too much is different between the titles compared to 3 and S&K. Furthermore, I'd assume everyone would count Ep 1 on the Wii as "1 game" and not "half a game." Whereas if a console only had Sonic 3, people would argue whether or not that counts. Just considering the intentions of the devs, Sonic 3&K was always intended to be the experience and the game reflects that. Sonic 4 Ep1 and Ep2 were never intended to be one game (despite the episodic titling of the software), with Ep2 being developed long after the first. If the games were titled differently/without a title and just presented as they are, I think the vast majority of people would classify them as distinct games while most would recognise Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles as being part of the same experience.
Minor update, upon further analysis, specific models of the PlayStation 3 with backwards compatibility (PS3 20GB or PS3 60GB) actually have more than the Gamecube + Gameboy Player. Those specific PS3 models have innate access to 35 Sonic games. It loses the 5 GBA games and 1 Xb360 game (6 total), but gains everything else from both systems (33 total) and gains RidersZG and Unwiished, bringing us to (35 total) as the true answer to the thread title. This revelation leaves my original post on the subject in an odd spot, as the GCN+GBP and Xb360 combo has (39 total), and has the Wii U for it's own games which include RidersZG and Unwiished. Is the cost of trading in 6 games and some (all?) of the superior versions worth the benefit of having so much on a single machine??? ... guess that's up to the needs of the individual
This is awesome work! I’m probably gonna take the time to make a chart as well. I’m planning to make my next dive more complete than my initial post (I just focused on the main series for the sake of simplicity, but getting into the spin-offs will probably be interesting.)
For what it's worth, yes - this isn't a topic about "which games are mainline canon???", it's about the most on a platform.
Remember Wii also had backwards compatibility with GameCube. I'm not sure if it changes anything, but I haven't seen any reference to this in your posts.
GCN with the Gameboy adapter was your best bet up until 2006. After that it became a lot harder to play everything without spending some extra cash or emulation. Xbox with back compat should cover most of the main console entries now. Sonic basically has zero presence on the PS4 which is surprising given it's success.
It apparently beats out the previous thread answer, to my surprise and exhaustion. To save myself from making a fourth chart in the immediate future, I checked every game from my first scatter-sheet with every major seventh-generation console onward. Spoiler: Quick Results! 31 Sonic games -- Gamecube + Gameboy Player 35 Sonic games -- PlayStation 3 20GB or 60GB 27 Sonic games -- Xbox 360 36 Sonic games----Wii Classic Model REV-001 12 Sonic games -- DS 26 Sonic games -- Wii U 25 Sonic games -- 3DS 11 Sonic games -- Switch 19 Sonic games -- PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 20 Sonic games -- Xbox One or Xbox Series X The Wii has the PS3 Sonic library, minus "Sonic-06, UnleashedHD, Gens, 4:e2, and SnSASRT" (5 games), but gains "Colors, the two Storybook games, and the first three Olympics games" (6 games)... for 36 total Sonic games. and thus, I may finally rest... until I need to make an addendum, anyway =,=
GameCube has always been the obvious choice for me. I had, and still have, every Sonic game for that system minus two releases. That’s a whopping 31 games: Sonic Mega Collection contains 6 games: Sonic Sonic 2 Sonic 3 & K Sonic 3D: Flickies Island Sonic Spinball Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine As a side note, I might also argue that having S&K separate is also important, as Knuckles’ playthrough is canon and set after S3&K. Also, does Blue Sphere count as it’s own thing? Sonic Gems Collection has three main titles: Sonic CD Sonic R Sonic The Fighters Sonic Adventure DX This game also has all 12 GameGear games included. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Sonic Advance 1 Sonic Pinball Party Sonic Heroes Sonic Advance 2 Shadow The Hedgehog Sonic Battle Sonic Advance 3 Sonic Riders Additionally, the versions of Heroes and Shadow are the definitive versions of the games for both as both run the best of GameCube IIRC. You also have the Chao Gardens compatibility between GCN and GBA. As mentioned above however, the Wii adds to this. It removes the 5 GBA games but adds 9 more: Sonic & The Secret Rings Sonic & The Black Knight Sonic Unleashed Sonic Colours Sonic 4 Episode I Sonic & Mario at the Olympic Games Sonic & Mario at the Winter Olympic Games Sonic & Mario at the 2012 London Olympic Games Sonic & SEGA Allstars Racing That’s a whopping 35 titles! Additionally, most models of Wii can play these titles with only later models removing GCN access, meaning that this console is far more accessible and the winner in my book.
