Will Sonic's reputation ever be adequately restored?

[Kenny_Glover]

 As we all should know, Sonic has taken major blows due to the onslaught of poorly received games we have been receiving for years, particularly Sonic 2006. Things got better in 2010 with Sonic Colors and continued to improve with 2011's Sonic Generations, but have got worse again with 2013's Sonic Lost World. The games' decline in quality has also been a huge factor in creating the notorious fanbase Sonic is known for. All the arguments, terrible fanfiction, fanboys, furries and Autistic people (not that there's anything wrong with furries or Autistic people. But they turn others off). 

I really think for Sonic's reputation to be adequately restored, there must be a major onslaught of well received games. There have been too many bad games for people to let anything below satisfactory slide.

[Kuzu]

It's already restored.

 

 

/thread/

[Kenny_Glover]

It's already restored.

 

 

/thread/

 

 It's not. Due to all the bad games we've been getting and the resulting chaotic fanbase, Sonic's become a laughing stock. We've gotten a few good games in recent years, but it's not enough to get the bad taste left in most people's mouths out.

[Blacklightning]

Lost World was at best a missed opportunity, Boom is the most divisive game I've ever seen in the franchise thus far (and the show somewhat counts by extension I guess), and there's a movie coming up that just based on concept alone only seems to prove that Hollywood simply has no fucking idea how to handle a licensed videogame adaptation. If repute for the franchise is coming back, it's not going to be anytime soon, that much I can promise.

 

Beyond that, it mostly depends on whether Sega can pull their heads out of their asses and stop designing gimmicky throwaway bullshit thinking it somehow counts as progress... assuming Boom doesn't immediately bankrupt them.

[TearForFear]

 

Since gamers are excited to have four videogame icons all in the same game, and Sonic is one of these four, I don't think his reputation is questioned.

 

To elaborate:

 

-Gamers are happy to have Mario, Sonic, MegaMan and PacMan in the same game

 

therefore

 

-Gamers consider Sonic as famous and iconic as Mario, MegaMan and PacMan

 

therefore

 

-Sonic's reputation as a videogame mascot and icon is not questioned

[Salamander]

I don't know.  If they were to have just one really good game, possibly following a ten-year hiatus, then that might do the trick.

[Sami]

It'll take several really good games to make that happen. Lost World and Boom certainly don't help.

[Wraith]

They'd need to pull off a few Generations level games in a row for that to happen. Maybe even more, since Lost World and Boom seem to be making Sonic's reputation even worse.

[DarkLight]

Something tells me that regardless of how many good games the series makes, it'll never reach the same amount of popularity it had in the 90's.

[SuperLink]

For Sonic's reputation to be permanently fixed, they need to make as few bad games and missed opportunities attached to his mainseries as Mario does.

 

So.. none. There aren't many franchises and IPs in which the fandom is in a perpetual state of having no idea if their next entry will actually be any good or not, that's something that only Sonic fans have to put up with. It kinda sucks. It also sucks that SEGA have been doing this song and dance for over a decade now and apparently still don't care enough to make sure the series gets the same kind of quality assurance other popular franchises get.

[Wittymations]

It's not even JUST if the next game will be good or not, we have to wonder how the next game will play. We never know what kind of formula they will use.

 

First step will be solidifying a working formula that actually sticks around for more than three games.

[TearForFear]

I don't get which reputation this topic is talking about.

 

The reputation of Sonic as a character an icon, or the reputation of Modern Sonic Games?

[Kenny_Glover]

I don't get which reputation this topic is talking about.

 

The reputation of Sonic as a character an icon, or the reputation of Modern Sonic Games?

 

 Sonic in general.

[Jolt_TH]

Really? I doubt it.

I mean, sonic is the industry go-to punching bag, he has had a slew of games that have been average at best and terrible at worst. Even if he has consistently good games for 5 or 10 years he will still be the industry punching bag with reviews even for Generations starting with the classic "Sonic has fallen on hard times" or something similar.

If he has a period of great games then he may not be as seen as a failure anymore, but his reputation will always be tarnished. No other mascot has had a fall as great as Sonic. Not only has he fell, but he is now like clawing his way along aswell with nerumerous games that don't really know what they are doing, no matter how fun so a of these games may be.

The only way he may be possibly redeemed is if another ico falls as hard if not harder, the only icon I can think of that is that big is Mario , but I doubt he will fall like Sonic. Megaman is out of the picture as he hasn't really been seen in ages.

[Solkia]

They've had a decade to do that and never did.

 

So no, in between the current gaming demographic and the laughing stock Sonic still is, his bad reputation isn't going anywhere soon.

 

EDIT: And before you pull the "Colors and Generations were found good" argument, keep in mind that we're still in a state that we can't trust a Sonic game to be good off the bat. Nothing has changed.

[Kenny_Glover]

They've had a decade to do that and never did.

 

So no, in between the current gaming demographic and the laughing stock Sonic still is, his bad reputation isn't going anywhere soon.

 

EDIT: And before you pull the "Colors and Generations were found good" argument, keep in mind that we're still in a state that we can't trust a Sonic game to be good off the bat. Nothing has changed.

How about if we were given a decade of amazingly received games starting in 2015 (when Sonic Team's next game will probably come out)?

[Kuzu]

 It's not. Due to all the bad games we've been getting and the resulting chaotic fanbase, Sonic's become a laughing stock. We've gotten a few good games in recent years, but it's not enough to get the bad taste left in most people's mouths out.

 

Look, Sonic's reputation will never truly be repaired because even when it does put out good games, it's always met with the same exact "This might actually be a good Sonic game" response by pretty much everyone. This is probably the best we can expect unless the gaming media gets their head out of their asses, which is unlikely due to, like Solkia said, the gaming demographic has  simply changed and Sonic doesn't appeal to it. Sonic is an icon, and no matter how much crap he gets from everyone, he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Especially since he's set to appear in Smash later this year.

[Marcello]

Depends on who we're talking about.

 

With the older crowd, Sonic needs to continously have games at the quality level of Generations and not do things like a Live-Action/CGI movie.

 

They could win a lot of younger people over with Sonic Boom and the movie, I think. Despite what people say on the internet, kids seem to love things like the Alvin and the Chipmunks and Smurf movies.

[Indigo Rush]

Depends on what you mean by reputation and restoration.

 

The fact of the matter is that Sonic's a multi-million dollar franchise that sells gangbusters as a recognizable icon. Regardless of the quality of the games, television shows, comics, merchandise, toys and any other form of entertainment media, Sonic as a brand is thriving rather well. If the games are terrible, then the t-shirts and pencil-notebook packs and bed sheets with Sonic's face plastered over it will keep selling. If the comic is put to a halt, the television show will still be guaranteed a lot of viewings and ratings due to the network it's being put on.

 

Now, that is Sonic as a brand. Sonic as a videogame icon?

 

He's mainly reputable for his Genesis days and not much else. Even if the modern-day games are going to be good, the popularity and fame that Sonic as a game franchise enjoyed in his heyday can not be recreated. Sonic's success was a combination of a good, solid line of games, genius guerrilla marketing and expert timing for the videogame market. Whether you like it or not, Sonic will never have anyone as famous as Michael Jackson work on his music ever again. Sonic won't be on the news as a Mario-killer any more. Those days are gone, and it'll never reach that level of fame again. This doesn't mean, however, that Sonic isn't still popular. As I mentioned before, as a brand, Sonic is SEGA's golden goose. 

 

But I think what the OP wants to know is if Sonic will get his reputation back in the eyes of gamers and critics.

 

That's going to take a long time, if it ever happens. The problem is that, as a game, Sonic has been woefully inconsistent with it's presentation and focus. At first it was a momentum-centric 2D platformer, then it became a 3D action-adventure platformer with different genres roped into it, then it became a high-speed interactive roller-coaster that switched between 2D and 3D perspectives, and now it's anything between a gravity-defying parkour platformer or an action-exploration-combat brawler. And it's gotten to the point that when they want to recreate a successful formula, they don't know how to implement it properly. (Sonic 4 comes to mind.) Adding to that, the narrative has gone from minimal but effective to over-dramatic to overtly cheery to extremely dark to incredibly complex to insultingly simple to character-driven but empty and so on and so on.

 

The biggest barrier to Sonic's positive reception in the eyes of the gaming community is his lack of consistency in almost every aspect. The only thing that hasn't really changed is Sonic as a brand, and that's truly the only reason he's still around. He made a huge impact in the 90s and is riding off of that brand identity and nostalgia to the effect that not only older gamers still care, but young children also can get into the Sonic craze.

 

That's the only upside to the wild inconsistency - because Sonic has been in many different focuses, it's become a catch-all to many different audiences. Genesis Sonic for the retro crowd, Adventures/Shadow/06 for the pre-teens and "I think I'm mature" teens, Boom, Colors and Lost World for the younger children, etc. 

 

But now that Sonic's impacted so many different audiences, it's impossible to meet everybody's expectations. 

 

Once they can figure out how to allocate their focus and market their games properly to the right audiences, they could have a chance at improving Sonic's image to the gaming community. Is it likely? At this rate, no. Sonic as a brand is making money no matter how good the games are, so it's not likely that SEGA will care that much as long as the moolah comes in.

[Brad]

No matter how many good, critically acclaimed titles they release, Sonic will always be remembered for his period of dark games and slow transition to 3D. It's just a stigma that he's always gonna have at this point honestly. He just needs some really great games to make people scoff and think "how was he that bad?"

[Milo]

They've had a decade to do that and never did.

 

So no, in between the current gaming demographic and the laughing stock Sonic still is, his bad reputation isn't going anywhere soon.

 

EDIT: And before you pull the "Colors and Generations were found good" argument, keep in mind that we're still in a state that we can't trust a Sonic game to be good off the bat. Nothing has changed.

 

This. "Good" games won't mean much in the grand scheme of things because for every "good" game like Colors and Generations, they are a few "not (so) good" games like Unleashed, Sonic 4, Secret Rings, Black Knight, and Lost World to negate whatever positive rep they bring.

 

Sonic will need a steady string of "great" games in order to fully re-gain his reputation back, which I don't think the current Sonic Team is capable of doing.

 

It's not even JUST if the next game will be good or not, we have to wonder how the next game will play. We never know what kind of formula they will use.

 

First step will be solidifying a working formula that actually sticks around for more than three games.

 

Revisiting the tried-and-true gameplay styles that worked in the past and giving them some modern-day polish (with the help of promising game concepts the old guard screwed up the first time around) wouldn't also hurt.

[SuperLink]

How about if we were given a decade of amazingly received games starting in 2015 (when Sonic Team's next game will probably come out)?

Sure that could probably fix it or at least turn him into something people look forward to again, but does anyone really believe that'll happen?

[TearForFear]

Sorry if I may sound whining, but are we talking about our perception of Sonic, or what do we think is the general perception of Sonic?

[Solkia]

The general perception. Our perception of Sonic is we want him to be good again. The general consensus overall is that no one gives a shit anymore.

[Kuzu]

Yea, I'm kind of inclined to agree with that sentiment; the only people who really care about the quality of Sonic game are Sonic fans themselves, the majority of gamers have just moved onto bigger and better things.