Theory: Periodic Turmoils of Sonic the Hedgehog

[superman43]

While thinking about Mania and Forces, there is something that popped up in my mind. Sonic Team is looking like having the ups and downs in terms of Sonic games in periodic intervals.

Ups (good/best times):

Sonic the Hedgehog: 1991 ---------> Sonic & Knuckles: 1994

Sonic Adventure/Adventure 2: 1998/2001 ---------> Sonic Heroes/Shadow the Hedgehog: 2003/2005

Sonic Colors/Generations: 2010/2011

Basically: beginning, 10th and 20th anniversary

Downs (bad times):

Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis/Saturn): 1996, Sonic R: 1997, while not having a proper (mainline) Sonic game for Sega Saturn

Sonic the Hedgehog: 2006

Sonic Forces: 2017 

Basically: 5th, 15th, 25th anniversary

 

After any of those worse times, the sales of the better-again games got lowered a lot. Do you think that even if we get a solid (and probably better than Forces is) game from Sonic Team before or during the 30th anniversary, would it sell better than Generations ? Or is the third time the charm and Sonic Team games won´t surpass 1M for like, ever, because no one is trusting them ?

Also, do you agree or disagree with the sinusoid-like trend of Sonic games (the ups and downs mentioned there) ?

[MetalSkulkBane]

Whilte it's hard to deny it, it's also no suprising.

"I predict things will get better, then worse, then better.." is prediction that is always true. It just happened to more less-fit with anniverseries here.

Conicidence.

[superman43]

3 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Whilte it's hard to deny it, it's also no suprising.

"I predict things will get better, then worse, then better.." is prediction that is always true. It just happened to more less-fit with anniverseries here.

Coincidence.

Or the fact that anyone involved in Sonic games gets tired after roughly 5 years.

[EzSonic01]

Sonic 3D and Sonic R were pretty OK to me. Their reception was mixed but did well and definitely did not tarnish Sonic's reputation as games like '06 did, so they aren't that comparable. I don't really think there is a truly bad classic game either. Sega and Sonic Team's incompetence to release a proper Sonic game for the Saturn did some harm to the series though, but the franchise is not to blame when that console's sales were bad in general. Up to ShTh, I would say Sonic in general was doing pretty good.

Then the series started to try too hard in being dark/melodramatic/edgy, and failed miserably, effectively ruining Sonic's reputation and, as a result, sales suffered as well. The 2007-2013 period was OK, with a significant number of well-received and sold entries. 2014 to 2016 was a very mixed bag, and the focus was almost solely put on the Boom subseries, which gave us the disaster that was Rise of Lyric/Shattered Crystal. 2017-present has been, so far, nice, with Sonic Mania being great, and Sonic Forces could count as OK at best, terribly mediocre at worse.

[superman43]

8 hours ago, FairPlay said:

Sonic 3D and Sonic R were pretty OK to me. Their reception was mixed but did well and definitely did not tarnish Sonic's reputation as games like '06 did, so they aren't that comparable. I don't really think there is a truly bad classic game either. Sega and Sonic Team's incompetence to release a proper Sonic game for the Saturn did some harm to the series though, but the franchise is not to blame when that console's sales were bad in general. Up to ShTh, I would say Sonic in general was doing pretty good.

Then the series started to try too hard in being dark/melodramatic/edgy, and failed miserably, effectively ruining Sonic's reputation and, as a result, sales suffered as well. The 2007-2013 period was OK, with a significant number of well-received and sold entries. 2014 to 2016 was a very mixed bag, and the focus was almost solely put on the Boom subseries, which gave us the disaster that was Rise of Lyric/Shattered Crystal. 2017-present has been, so far, nice, with Sonic Mania being great, and Sonic Forces could count as OK at best, terribly mediocre at worse.

Sure, Sonic Mania is great. But I was talking about games developed by Sonic Team. And most of all the mainline games made solely by Sonic Team itself.