1) People tend to like stuff they're good at. And 25 years of practice has made me good at Sanic (or at least 'good at knowing stuff about Sanic', I never had any particular talent for actual gameplay) 2) Nostalgia 3) Cool level themes
2D Platformers are my favorite genre, so it only stands to reason I'd like one of the major 2D platforming franchises.
I like his shoes. And the music. And the super saiyan thing. And the fact that you're a little hedgehog that goes in freakin' space every two games to destroy giant robots.
Always been in love with the soundtrack and even though I'm not loving all of his games, some of them were really enjoyable in terms of level design and exploration. For example, Sonic Adventure DX, which I spent years on when I was a kid. It's pretty much the elements of good controlled speed, platforming and especially good music. That's why even in some less successful games such as Lost World I find the game at least fun to listen to. Although I'm afraid this is not going to be the case with Forces.
Hmm. For me it would be broad appeal. Some games just seem too easy (Kirby) or taxingly difficult (Super Metroid Rotation), but Sonic is one of those games for which you don't need chops right out of the gate to have a good experience. Sonic--and most of its myriad modded titles--doesn't require a grandmaster rating to beat, and someone on a careful first playthrough can win the game. Very straightforward. Of course, if you're a connoisseur (calling Jay, Jay, calling Jay, please report to console #17) who purports to be an "A"-level player (or is that an "O"-level player??), there are plenty of frame-perfect moves and other challenging plays available in each zone. Mastery, especially grandmastery (the almighty "brass ring"), is rare air (based on AGDQ and other speedrunning attempts), although plenty are willing to try for that awesome time.
I never got the whole speedrunning thing. Idk if that's just because I was bad at it, or I lack some critical aesthetic capacity to appreciate GOIN FAST Mania brought me back to life. Literally power to raise the dead, it's that good. Made me wanna get my Sanic back onnnnnnnnn. And then I realised I could remember my forum password buy not my wiki password so thanks, Lazarus It's OK though, today I remembered that Gerbil exists and put him on the case
For me I must say that it is the characters and the story. When done right it is really good. I will use the Sonic Boom cartoon as my example. It focuses on the personality traits of the characters to make them feel more fleshed out. This is evident with Sonic and Amy, most games make the "relationship" really blatant with Amy confessing her love for Sonic and Sonic running away. In boom the relationship is more subtle you only get hits about how the two characters feel about each other. Also the use of jokes don't feel forced like in some of the games.
characters, storyline, atmosphere (art/music direction), and setpieces/spectacle. these are what drew me to the series initially and what captures my interest in the games, so i kind of lost interest around the time colors came out as i felt these elements had been stripped away - forces was the first game to interest me since through its use of the expanded cast and a more serious story, as flawed and stupid as it turned out in various ways
Can't say which reason was the most important, so their order is purely random: 1.Because it had some interesting gameplay style, definitelly different than platform games massively made on NES/Famicom. 2.I liked the variety of characters, it went a bit out of control after 2006, but still, I admit that sonic characters were one of the most appealing "mascot-style" characters (I like them as much as those from Jazz Jackrabbit series). 3.Even first three games made in 3D (SA, SA2, Sonic Heroes) had something quite unique and interesting, which I couldn't experience in other games. To be brutally honest, I don't know if I could name it, but still, it was "something", which I liked. 4.Because (historically) Sonic was made in opposition to Mario and Nintendo, which I appreciate. 5.Aside from interesting SP mode, it had also some nice competetive MP mode, with interesting gameplay style it was for me additional value. Sadly, after playing in Sonic Mania, I should rather name it "why do you liked Sonic" instead of "why do you like Sonic". I basically came to conclusion, that games from this series are no longer appealing for me (I probably won't change my mind after playing in Sonic Forces, despite the fact that it's completely different game).
I caught up to the series in the modern era, and had to back-track everything that came before it, so I'm naturally closer to Modern than Classic. I grew closer to the blue blur in let's plays and cutscenes than in the gameplay, quickly finding his personality endearing. This guy took the "Cool" to the next level, and I enjoyed both myself struggling through the stages and the godly let's players who managed to keep the incredible pace throughout one stage after another. I also didn't like Mario games, and Sonic was specifically made to compete with that. They didn't seem much fun to me and the character was your generic hero with almost no characterization. So what if the Sonic game itself was bad, at least you had some hilarious or so-serious-it's-funny moments you could enjoy nonetheless. Because this wasn't just someone, this was Sonic. There's just this... "Something Extra" to him that can't be copied. I think he's stuck around to these days for a reason connected to that "Something Extra". I think this "Something Extra" will stick around for ages. Maybe it's the Sonic Team getting a track of what they do. Maybe it's Taxman and Stealth's initiative. Maybe it's something completely diffrent. But I'm sure we'll only notice how time flies once we're celebrating his 50th anniversary. Unless we get another Sonic 06 title. That'd just plain suck in my opinion.
This post is small, so I don't think I'll be warned for quoting it entirely! (: Well... to be honest, I'd say both classic and modern have their appeals. Classic Sonic is more bad (butt) with his silence and willingness to jump off the platform. Modern Sonic makes some good comedy, but the games don't base around saving the planet anymore, they are based around him and his friends. Shadow the Hedgehog wasn't all that bad, just a bit edgy. Sonic Generations was OK, but it lost interest as quickly as it gained. Sonic Forces... well, I guess the idea of having an avatar save the world is alright, but they're basically a modified classic sonic (not speaking, etc). Don't get me wrong, it would be hard to make a created avatar speak, but it just seemed a bit of a fan-output. Also, this should support the second to last question: GOTTA GO FAST!!! (repeated x83028) Ack. The franchise haha. Well, I know I'm going to sound like a "SONIC FANBASES ARE ALL WRONG!!" person, but that is a strong word for it. Not every Sonic fan gets what they want out of the franchise. The reason that this is: Sonic has a lot of characters (no that is only supporting detail). Mario has a couple characters, making the fanbase less split about relationships, having side characters with games, et cetera. I will say, though, that the abundance of characters makes the story interesting. Just think about how many friends Sonic now has... (looks at picture of Sonic characters, shuddering at enormous amount of side-characters). Thanks for making the question!
In terms of modern or classic I've always preferred the modern ones... though I prefer Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders ZG more than any of them... For the modern Sonic games I really enjoy the sense of speed and getting better at levels over time adds some incentive to keep playing. As for the Riders games I enjoy how unique they are compared to something like Mario Kart, it almost feels like playing a different game altogether, different pathways due to different character abilities adds some reply value and the story mode is a nice touch. But classic Sonic? Well... I tend to find them more frustration than annoying. If I try to go fast you tend to get hit and (at least to me) there's little to no incentive to take your time and go slow either. I still enjoy them just not as much as others. (I didn't grow up with them that much... so no nostalgia here)