Poll: SSMB's favourite Sonic game?

[Osmium]

This is something I've been thinking about a few. I want to know coming out of the wide SSMB field of people, what is statistically the favourite game here. The answer probably seems obvious among the audience here, but I want to see if there's any surprises. 

So here's how it works. You will list your favourite game, and give reasons why. I'm not expecting an essay, but back it up. Also if you can put 2 or 3 of your other favourites in order down. Then, state your age and how long you've been playing Sonic games, and how you got into the series and/or what game got you in the series. If you aren't comfortable stating your age, then you can say "relatively old or young",  but it would probably be more helpful if you could put a number down. 

 

So I'll give all my stuff. 

My favourite is Sonic 3 & Knuckles, big surprise. Just about everything in this game is dramatically improved from the previous games. Good level design, good badniks, good music, good story AND storytelling, good designs, good everything. Insta-shield an amazing addition. Only complaints is that some levels are surprisingly linear than what you would expect.  I could go on, but you've heard about how good this game is forever. 

Second favourite is Sonic CD. Love the exploration, and absolutely love the level design in this game. It's wonderful. 

Third favourite is Sonic 1. Quite like all the zones here, I like very much how it's structured, a cozy game. 

Fourth favourite is Sonic 2. Great game, improves everything from 1, but gets a bit "stretched out" and points and the enemy placement is a bit cheap at points. 

I'm very nearly 18 as of writing this, in two days in fact. I got into Sonic when I was around 13, closer to 14. I played the classic games first and am the most used to them. I think Sonic 1 was the first one I ever played and gave a shit about. Those games along with StC are what largely kept me into Sonic at the time. 

[Indigo Rush]

For the time being, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is my all time top favorite Sonic game, and top video game in general; and as a caveat, I play the Sonic 3 Complete rom hack, and you should too. It's the definitive version right now, until Sega contracts our boys Taxman and Stealth to make a mobile version. As you can imagine, this pedestal is in very real danger of being usurped in about two weeks, but for now I'll give it one last well-deserved soliloquy. It's by far the definitive Sonic experience.

The blend of speed, platforming and exploration is fine-tuned to an almost perfect degree, the flow and feel of controlling Sonic and friends is on point, the music is exceptionally catchy and poppin, the art style is colorful, varied and quite detailed, and the light storytelling and seamless transitions from one level to another is, by my standards, the best integration of narrative and gameplay in the series to date. I love how many places there are, how playing as different characters adds immense replay value via secret passages, on top of the many branching pathways that are accessible to any character, I love the bonus and special stages you can find, the Glowball and Blue Sphere levels being my top favorites... and shout out to Blue Spheres for being incredibly addicting and having that algorithm that creates over ONE HUNDRED MILLION levels to play through. Also, there's a competition mode, just because there can be.

It's a long game. It's a fun game. There's more valuable replayable content in it than any other Sonic game to date, by my measure. There's nothing quite like it. So far.

Runner ups include the speed-heavy Sonic Advance 2, the Genesis starchild Sonic 2, about 1/3 of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 (the bits where you do Soniccy things), and Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, because puzzle perfection by any other licensed branding is just as addictive. Generations is a good time, too.

At the time of writing, I'm inching towards my 30th year of existing on this planet. I've been playing Sonic on the Genesis as early as 1995, perhaps earlier, with Sonic 1 being my first game. My first experience with Sonic was sampling Sonic & Knuckles' Mushroom Hill Zone at a friends' house, and watching the AoStH cartoon on VHS. I also like long walks across the beach, can cook and once caught a fish THIS BIG.

[Red Hot Jack]

SSMB's overall favorite is obviously Sonic Forces.

[Bobnik]

It is hard for me to choose an actual favourite as it changes depending on my mood, so I'll cop out and give 2 games that stood out to me the most. They are Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Generations (PC version). 

Why S3&K: I don't think I need to explain much - the game is overall an improvement to Sonic 1 and 2, which are already great, though flawed, games. The music is memorable, the levels were expansive, but not too confusing (unlike CD), the game looks gorgeous for its time, and it's just enjoyable to play. 

Why Sonic Generations: this might be a bit of a weird choice, but I replayed this game more times than any other Sonic game. Classic Sonic, while not up to standarts of classic games, was still pretty fun to play as. The main reason I consider it to be one of my favourites is the Modern Sonic and his levels. Sure, Green Hill is linear and Planet Wisp is too long, but I love blasting through the levels while listening to one of the greatest OST in the franchise, even though it consists of remixes of previous games. The game in my opinion is one of the best-looking games to this day, the 60 FPS that PC version provides makes the game even more gorgeous in motion. Also mods help too - that way I played Unleashed daytime stages, Eggmanland, Emerald Coast, Mystic Ruins and Pyramid Cave, Water Palace, etc. Even with such flaws as the game being really short and being nothing more than a nostalgia-pandering game, goddamnit, this game is one of the most fun games I've played, and that's probably the most important thing in video games in general for me.

Some runner-ups for me are Sonic Heroes (probably due to nostalgia, if nothing else), Sonic 2 (a good game with some frustrating enemy placement near the end) and probably Sonic Rush.

At the time of writing I'm 20, but was following this franchise for 13 years or so. My first experience was Sonic X on TV, I liked that show, but didn't really care about Sonic. I started caring about the franchise when I saw Sonic Heroes for PC in the shelf of the store and pretty much begged my parents to buy me that game. I guess it was pretty cheap so they bought it for me. After I played Seaside Hill as Team Sonic, I got hooked. Now I still like the game, even though I see the flaws I didn't see when I was 8 years old.

 

also I still replay Crisis City Modern from time to time to try to get the fastest time. I love that stage.

[JosepHenry]

1. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is my favourite so far. Few other platformers reached to this level of an amazing adventure. The level design is great, keeps the flow going, the sprites are colorful without being overly saturated, the story is simple but really well done, the music is great and varied... I love this game. I would replay it over and over again.

2. If Sonic Unleashed didn't had the Werehog and instead other characters it would be easily one of my favorite games of all time. The graphics are gorgeous, the music is near perfection, the level tropes are the best in the Sonic series, the different cultures to see are always fun, the NPCs are the best in the Sonic series, their sidequests are fun... I love this game to death but the Werehog gameplay sadly makes it number 2.

3. Sonic Advance 2 is quite fun to go through, with beautiful sprites, amazing music and thrilling gameplay. What else I have to say? Is great!

 

I know Sonic since I was 3 years old! I'm 18 now. I remember playing the demo of Sonic 3 for PC, Ultimate Flash Sonic, Sonic Neo Universe, Sonic Robo Blast 2, and a lot of other old fangames while I was waiting for '06 and thinking that was the most amazing thing ever. Soon enough I got a PS2 with Heroes and I adored that game. I then I found the world of emulators. The rest is history.

[rosedust]

My personal favorite is Sonic Adventure 2, despite the backlash it's been receiving as of recent, it's always stuck out to me and introduced some of my favorite characters. Definitely my favorite story (it was the early 2000s people, the story was good for it's time, okay?!) and I also love Heroes and the Advance series. Sonic Battle is fun, I enjoy Sonic 2006, I enjoy most Sonic games I have played. I haven't played a Sonic game since Unleashed though. So I can't speak about Colors/Generations/Lost World/Boom/etc. though honestly, it's a good thing. I always preferred the 06/Adventure style so I would have lost interest in it anyways. Hopefully Forces and Mania, my first games since Unleashed blow it out of the water.

[RictalRose0]

Sonic Heroes. Yes it might not be as story-driven as Adventure but getting to play as all the characters was really fun. And it has some of my favorite music and stages in the franchise.

[PaulyBFromDa303]

Ok, Sonic 3&K is the obvious answer right? Classic platformer, made Sonic who he is today, wonderful music, colors, and a story?  Yeah it was pretty great. Is it a favorite?  No

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. A revolutionary 3D platformer. Wonderful gameplay, assorted characters including Eggman, which is a great change,  chao garden, the works. Is this a favorite? No.

My decision is the Advance series, specifically Sonic Advance 2. 

With the Advance series, you had portability. Of course, you also had that with the DS, Game Gear, and the new one recently,  but this was also a time in my life where I was hassled a lot, I was often bullied in high school, so I would go off on my own somewhere, alone, and play some Sonic. So these games got me through rough times and for that will always hold a place in my heart.

Enough personal stuff, lets talk about the gameplay. Can we talk about the gameplay? I felt this one exacted the classic feel with more action involved. Rail grinding, faster speeds, the R button after you hit a spring, which I loved. This one also had a Chao Garden, with one chao and it could talk, though fails in comparison to the REAL Chao Garden in Adventure 2 Battle, is still pretty cool. I loved how badass they made Cream in this game, quite an explosive debut for sure. Even the bosses, though different as well, were a wonderful challenge.

I don't really have any complaints about this one, at first I wasn't a fan of the special stages. Accessing them was enough of a challenge, having to find all 7 Special Rings in the level could be a drag sometimes. I actually had to look up on the internet how to get through Special Stages 6 and 7. The SS itself was pretty cool, but still not great. 3D running around getting rings where they lie, but the steering was rough at times and you'd often miss a necessary group of rings, resulting in failure. But that feel of accomplishment once you got it . . . Oh!

So,  definitely Advance 2. Still play it to this day. I just turned 29 last week, and I was first introduced to Sonic at age 3, on my birthday, with the original Sonic for Genesis 

[RictalRose0]

Oh yes the Advance series is so underrated. I wish they got a re-release or a remaster. Or better yet, something like Sonic Advance Mania.

[Phos]

The bare Sonic & Knuckles cart.  Aside from Ice Cap Zone, all the best levels are in S&K.  

[Wraith]

Worth noting that we actually did do a top 100 games poll like 2 years back but it was wiped in the server crash. Sonic 3K and Sonic Adventure 2 were the highest placing Sonic games, but the demographic has changed just a bit since then. I doubt it will be much different but who knows. 

Sonic 3K is the best Sonic game by a wide margin for me. It has the most content and the best content. 

...kinda telling that they could only pull it off by releasing it in two halves, but hey, it's not hard to find them together. It's a fantastic game with top notch aesthetics, level design, controls, replay-ability, and even played with some storytelling techniques. Shit's good. 

Sonic 2 is my first Sonic game and one I have a bit of an attachment to. It's not as refined as Sonic 3 but it's still really fast and fun and I don't get the complaints about it's level design personally. It's probably my second favorite when I get down to it. 

Sonic Adventure,  and Sonic Rush Adventure would also be runners up. Sonic Adventure isn't a bad attempt to bring the series into 3D and does stuff  better than a lot of the games after. Sonic Rush Adventure is just a game I ran into on a whim and kept playing and replaying. I think it's as good as "boost" Sonic gets and the Rush series introduced my favorite character in the series. Shout outs to Sonic CD also for having the best soundtrack in a series full of gold in that regard.

I'm 20 and I've been playing Sonic for about 15 years now.
 

[Darinian]

My favorite would have to go to Sonic Unleashed. My first playing of this game was at my uncle's house 4 years back if not more (yeah probably 5) I started it up expecting Sonic 2 but it looks cooler (because this was literally my second Sonic game) and I was blown away. It looked heavenly, had this cool new thing where at the press of a button you could be ULTRA FAST and had this other thing where you could walk around and talk to people in some city and it was done for me. I loved that game. I only got to play act 1 and 2 of Apotos before we left but I wanted the game soooo badly. And after a couple years I got it... Except for Wii.But that never stopped it, all it did was make even more challenging and thrilling to me with less boost and lives to unlock(?) and there were more stages. I played that game more than anything else in my life. And then A couple years later (a year back from now) I got the game for PS3 and noticed that this was the real deal. My speed game from my uncle's house had finally returned to me. Having already played Unwiished and having that tiny bit of memory playing it back then It was a breeze getting back to it. I play through it and had the time of my life. There was quickstepping and drifting and all sorts of things that were there in later 3d Sonic games that I played, but all that would had never come if not for Unleashed.

My second favorite game Sonic the Hedgehog wise has to go Sonic 2. The game seems to have the perfect sense of flow and the difficulty rises in a nice, slow and fair way that really invites you into the game. From the rush of speed you get in Emerald Hill, to the terror of getting crush in Mystic Cave Zone it still gets the title of my favorite Sonic game even when they make more. It was what introduced me into Sonic the Hedgehog in the first place and won a place in my heart.

I'm 14 and I've been playing Sonic the Hedgehog games since I was 8 years old. I've been playing Sonic games for 6 years and I love all of them, old or new.

[rosedust]

11 minutes ago, Zorua & Flare said:

My favorite would have to go to Sonic Unleashed. My first playing of this game was at my uncle's house 4 years back if not more (yeah probably 5) I started it up expecting Sonic 2 but it looks cooler (because this was literally my second Sonic game) and I was blown away. It looked heavenly, had this cool new thing where at the press of a button you could be ULTRA FAST and had this other thing where you could walk around and talk to people in some city and it was done for me. I loved that game. I only got to play act 1 and 2 of Apotos before we left but I wanted the game soooo badly. And after a couple years I got it... Except for Wii.But that never stopped it, all it did was make even more challenging and thrilling to me with less boost and lives to unlock(?) and there were more stages. I played that game more than anything else in my life. And then A couple years later (a year back from now) I got the game for PS3 and noticed that this was the real deal. My speed game from my uncle's house had finally returned to me. Having already played Unwiished and having that tiny bit of memory playing it back then It was a breeze getting back to it. I play through it and had the time of my life. There was quickstepping and drifting and all sorts of things that were there in later 3d Sonic games that I played, but all that would had never come if not for Unleashed.

My favorite game Sonic the Hedgehog wise has to go Sonic 2. The game seems to have the perfect sense of flow and the difficulty rises in a nice, slow and fair way that really invites you into the game. From the rush of speed you get in Emerald Hill, to the terror of getting crush in Mystic Cave Zone it still gets the title of my favorite Sonic game even when they make more. It was what introduced me into Sonic the Hedgehog in the first place and won a place in my heart.

I'm 14 and I've been playing Sonic the Hedgehog games since I was 8 years old. I've been playing Sonic games for 6 years and I love all of them, old or new.

No way, me too. 

[Red]

My favourite is Sonic Adventure 2. Chao Garden aside, I enjoy every bit of it! The Sonic and Shadow levels are heaps of fun, same goes for mech shooting and treasure hunting. I always seem to go back to it every so often, it's just a lot of fun to replay and I really like the story as well.

Second favourite is Sonic Unleashed HD.

Third favourite is Sonic CD.

I'm 28 years old and got into Sonic when I was very young. My first Sonic game was Sonic 2. I became a Sonic fan ever since I got Sonic 2 for my MegaDrive and have been a fan ever since.

[Alienrun]

My favorite is Sonic CD, reasons are as follows:

Best balance of exploration and Speed.

Music is really good for both soundtracks.

Time travel mechanic is really good too.

Level design is very expressive.

Physics are more realistic compared to 1-3. Diagonal springs actually send you diagonally instead of just up and to the side. You can jump out of a spindash. Camera is more centered ect.

Sonic 3 is a close second. Sonic 3 seems to focus more on speed and occasionally give you a way to explore, thus its more rewarding to go fast. Sonic CD is the opposite as your almost always exploring and are given the occasional moment to go fast. What makes CD better for me is that I think it handle's its freedom just a little bit better. I feel more in control and that I know what I'm doing when I play CD, plus the soundtrack is better by a considerable longshot, helped even more by its 2 soundtracks and time travel mechanic!

3rd would probably be Sonic 2, just cause its a beta to Sonic 3 basically, not much else explanation is needed. Good physics can surprisingly go a long way!

4th is SA2. Most fluid 3D sonic game to date. If only just for its Sonic/Shadow sections. The story is good too, even if its comprimised a bit by its character selection and somewhat rushed ending. The theme's presents are enough to make me care about this game despite not growing up with it what so ever.

I'm currently 22 and I got into Sonic when I was 4 years old.

Theoritically my first sonic game was Sonic CD, but I was too young to remember it in comparison to 3D blast, but even then most of what I remember of that game was my bro playing it. Sonic 3 is the game that stuck in my mind the most, as I was just old enough to understand everything that was going on at the age of 5. Prior to this I had only played old 8-bit DOS games on my PC that my dad had, the idea of a video game being 3D had not crossed my mind. With that being said Sonic somehow was the exception to all this and Sonic 3 blew my freaking mind! It wouldn't be till I got a PS2 a year later along with Spyro 3 that Sonic would temporarily start to leave my memory...

...I played Secret Rings years later, it was alright...

...but what really got me back was Gens, it supplied the illusion that all of sonic's past games were connected to each other and that most of them had some merit to them! (Oh was I wrong on this!) I do remember trying out Sonic 1 and 2 on an emulator before I found out about Gens and thought they were alright. But it wasn't till CD that I really gushed all over Sonic again! (ironically it took me a few years to enjoy Sonic 3 again as it didn't play like CD lol)

Even then I have come to enjoy fangames more than the official games, Boom, Erazor and Eggman Hates furries just to name a few! Freedom Planet is currently my favorite game period, after going through a few IWBTG fangames as "top game" during my teenage years haha! (figured I'd mention it since FP was originally going to be a Sonic Fangame)

Obviously I left out a lot of details, but I hope this contributes to your survey...thing!

[Alienrun]

EDIT: Did I say "jump out of a spindash"? haha...I meant "You can control yourself after you jump out of a spindash!"

[simtek34]

1. Sonic the Hedgehog CD

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3c/& Knuckles/Complete/Limited Edition 

3. Sonic Adventure

4. Sonic Colors

[AdrenalinDragon]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles, easily. It has been my favourite game of all-time from day one.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive) would be next, as it doesn't have a single bad level in it.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 would be 3rd best, because the second half is weaker than the first half.

 

[Flame Lance]

This is a bit of a cop out I admit,  but I honestly don't know if I can narrow down my favorites to just 3 or 4 games, so I'll just pick a slightly bigger amount in no particular favorite order. I'm almost 25 years old and my first game was Sonic 2 on Genesis that I played at my neighbor's house as a child. My brother and I collected the classic Sonic games on PC so I was exposed to the blue blur as a young age. I sadly missed out on a lot of the games as a kid, but when Sonic rolled onto the Nintendo consoles, I got back into it in a big way and have been a huge fan ever since. 

My favorite classic era games are definitely Sonic 2 and Sonic CD. I know Sonic 3 & Knuckles is typically considered the best of the classic lot, and no doubt I adore the game as well, but I prefer my Sonic games to combine speed and exploration, and I think CD just does that the best. Combine that with the amazing quality music of both soundtracks, the gorgeous graphics, the epic animation sequences, and the innovative and highly intriguing time travel mechanics, and I think CD is a pure masterpiece. Sonic 2 gets a mention mainly because of the nostalgia factor as it was my very first Sonic game, but I just love the charm of it. It's fast, fun, simple, and yet has perhaps the toughest final boss as well as special stages IMO. It also has that nifty 2P mode and probably my favorite classic soundtrack excluding CD. 

I also must confess my love for both of the Sonic Rush games. For modern 2D Sonic games, I think Rush was just the best because they offered something really new and different, instead of trying to imitate the classics while failing miserably *coughSonic4cough.* I just love how exhilarating these games are. As someone who has virtually never been interested in speed runs or the time attack mode in general, the Rush games were so fun to play that I gradually got into seeing how fast I could go. I'm not sure I'm any kind of pro at either game, but I did S rank everything in both games. I think one of my favorite things about the Rush games is how they keep the mood and tone of the game very light-hearted and I think both games offered really fun stories that were just the right feel for the series IMO. Not melodramatic or edgy, nor self-defeating or corny either. Eggman got to be the big bad, along with Nega, and I think that's to be appreciated as it is reminiscent of the classic games. And yeah, I really love Blaze as well, so there's that too. xP

And as for my favorite of the 3D games, I gotta go with both Sonic Adventure games since I can't really choose which one. Sonic Adventure was really revolutionary for its time, and I disagree that it hasn't aged well. I have played it many many times over the years, including within the past month, and I still maintain that it is a very fun game. Yes, it has some issues with glitches and such, but I have rarely had glitches actually ruin my fun or experience in any significant way. As for SA2, it definitely lacks the same charm as the first game, but it feels a lot more refined and polished. And just to be clear, I love the mech shooting and treasure hunting gameplay styles. Yeah, sue me. I think they added good variety to the game, and didn't feel too terribly out of place as both were still fast paced. And of course, I'm a sucker for the Chao World stuff. I dumped hours upon hours into that as a kid and still enjoy it to this day. I completed both Adventure games with 130 emblems and 180 emblems respectively, so I definitely don't just love these games for any one particular aspect. I love how both games offered so much content. It's disappointing when much newer games like Colors and Generation have so much less to offer in terms of replay value. I think the Adventure games are still the kings of 3D Sonic, and I know it's cool to hate on these games these days, but I really don't care what anyone says. I've played them all. I'll be my own critic. 

[TailsTellsTales]

1. Sonic 3K. This was my number one game I rented at Blockbuster as a little kid. Being able to finally fly as Tails was the greatest thing for me. Everything looked beautiful in the game. Lets not forget the multiplayer levels either. Those were nice. The music was great. The fast gameplay was awesome. The only thing I can think of that I did not like was no Hyper Tails.

2. Sonic 2. This was the first Sonic game I played at a friends place. I thought the game was great.

3. Sonic Adventure. This was hard to choose but went with this. I liked how all the characters were given their own story take.

I really do not like saying my age but it is listed. I found Sonic when a friend introduced me to it during the mid 90s. I was very hooked and begged my mom to get Sonic 3 back than. I also went many years where I left Sonic then came back and here I be today.

[Austroid]

After a couple hours of writing/rewriting:

1. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: All these years and it still my overall-favorite game of the series. I just love all the different gameplay styles, (being able to play as Eggman was a real treat for me!) its pretty intense story (at least by the end), great music all-around, (E.G.G.M.A.N. and all of Knux's level music are just earworms for life!) fun power-ups to find for everyone, (I miss that element) the ridiculous amount of extras to do even after the main story's over. (I'm finally close to having all 180 emblems. Like under 10 to go! ) Yeah, its just a nostalgic wonderland for me that'll never, ever lose its charm!  

2. Sonic Heroes: I remember getting it for my birthday in 2004 and loved the gameplay concept of having a trio of characters and switching between their abilities in the levels. The variety of teams/difficulty was nice, the graphics where bright and appealing, the music was great, and the bosses were memorable ("Oh no! Both rotors are gone!"). Sure it was a bit buggy sometimes with the hit detection, and the voice clips DO get annoying after the 40 billionth time. But overall Heroes was just plain honest-to-goodness fun!

3. Sonic Colors: It helped get me back into the games again, after skipping Secret Rings and Unleashed at the time. Loved the overall gameplay and the Wisps were cute, non-intrusive power-ups. I loved the music for Colors! I liked all the different arrangements for each world's stages, most if not all were so upbeat and catchy (especially Aquarium Park and Planet Wisp!) the simple story was fine, and I liked Roger Craig Smith as Sonic at the time. It was a relief to see Eggman as the final boss after so many ancient god and/or robot betrayals! Good overall but a bit meh after awhile I recall nearly beating the whole thing the day I bought it.

Special mention to Sonic 3D Blast (PC) that port's soundtrack is nothing short of SPECTACULAR! There's not one song I hate in it. I could listen to Rusty Ruin all day <333

Others I enjoy include Sonic Battle, Sonic Advance 2, and SADX.

I'm 24 right now, 25 in Dec. I've known of the series since the mid-to-late 90s, as I remember having "Sonic Look & Find" and "Sonic's Shoes Blues books" as well as going to my cousins and watching him play Sonic on his Genesis. I've been playing since I got 3D Blast in 1998, when Jack-in-the-Box had those Sega toys. I started reading the Archie comics at #118, and when I saw Sonic X on TV in 2003 I got hooked instantly! I was quite the obsessive Eggman fan for most of my late elementary and middle school days, always shoving it into people faces when I could. (to the point of cringe but hey, we all go through a phase like that right?)  

So yeah, that's pretty much it! "Hmm, that wasn't so difficult!"