Has Sonic become a joke?

[Swing]

I'm not saying this to make fun of you guys trying to be one of those haters. I'm pretty honest here with you. Has Sonic the Hedgehog, the series as a whole and the character, become a huge joke in the public eye of today? Is this the future of Sonic? To be nothing more like a laughing stock? Characters that try way to hard to be cool, stories that try way to hard to be edgy and serious, broken games full with buggy and glitches, creepy fans (not you folks here on Sonic Stadium) but yo know what type of fan I'm talking about and all the ridiculous memes surrounding Sonic. 

Actually, speaking about it, I think this is what Sonic is mostly these days. A huge meme. And the memes keep Sonic alive. Even the official Sonic Twitter, the Sonic Boom show and even now the games themselves are including memes in them. 

I mean... for me it is totally okay, if Sonic ic nothing more than that. I mean, the reason why I got into Sonic again is because of the Game Grumps. Their Sonic playtroughs are some of the funniest things I have seen on the internet. I get my enjoinment from Sonic that way. But what about your true Sonics fans? What do you think about that? Is Sonic nothing more than a huge joke and only can survives because of that?

[Osmium]

From my experience; most likely yes. I was known in my school for being partial to this IP and the responses were pretty much memes like "gotta go fast" and "Sanic" and being linked with how I like to run since no one actually played any sort of Sonic games. This is pretty much an analog to a large part of the internet where the name Sonic the Hedgehog is equivalent to a bunch of memes and "freaky people" and nothing really else. 

I don't really mind that much to be honest, but that's because I'm able to enjoy interests easily within my own vacumn. 

[Diogenes]

1 minute ago, Swing said:

Has Sonic the Hedgehog, the series as a whole and the character, become a huge joke in the public eye of today?

Well, yeah. And it's hardly a recent thing; the series has been embarrassing itself at least since ShtH and '06.

And it sucks but, like...ain't much we can do about it. The series' reputation won't improve until the series improves and ultimately that's in Sega and Sonic Team's hands. Unfortunately they just keep digging themselves deeper and deeper into the hole.

[StaticMania]

Yeah, Sonic's been a pretty funny joke. Though, it's a bit late to ask this question, it's pretty obvious.

[RedFox99]

It has become a lot more apparent given how memetic the franchise as a whole is becoming (Sonic Boom, Sonic Twitter, there was even an Angry Birds reference in the comics).

[Swing]

Is their than any hope that the series can redeem itself once again? Or is it to late at this point?  

1 minute ago, RedFox99 said:

there was even an Angry Birds reference in the comics).

And what is so bad about that? Simpsons and Family Guy also mad Angry birds references. 

[StaticMania]

It's never too late for quality to return, but it is too late for people to really care whether or not it returns. People won't take it seriously regardless.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

Of course it has. It's only been able to maintain good standing in the public eye because Aaron turned Sonic as a whole into a god damn meme. 

[Diogenes]

1 minute ago, Swing said:

Is their than any hope that the series can redeem itself once again? Or is it to late at this point?

It's certainly possible. They've got a deep hole to climb out of, and the bad games are never going to be forgotten completely, but if they can ever start consistently putting out genuinely good games, the series' reputation would improve over time.

That's really where the problem lies, though. It's hard to imagine Sonic Team getting their shit together after so many mistakes and failures.

[dbzfan7]

Yep nothing but a joke that most can't take seriously A big meme. Like an old fart who tries to be really cool with the kids but comes off lame. He's I think more known as a self aware makes fun of himself kind of guy. At least that's all I hear in my surroundings. I've been told he's the class clown of Mascots who does anything he can to get attention now a days instead of being the cool alternative to Mario in the 90's. 

The twitter has done great in getting people to like Sonic, but I don't think it was for the right reasons.

[Splash the Otter]

I don't know if it's possible for Sonic to stop being a meme, but that doesn't mean he can't redeem himself. Of course there will always be people who hate the series, but those people shouldn't be listened to.

[StaticMania]

9 minutes ago, dbzfan7 said:

...Instead of being the cool alternative to Mario in the 90's.

Sonic was never going to be teh cool alt. to Mario, obviously it should've been this:

[Almar]

4 minutes ago, dbzfan7 said:

Yep nothing but a joke that most can't take seriously A big meme. Like an old fart who tries to be really cool with the kids but comes off lame. He's I think more known as a self aware makes fun of himself kind of guy. At least that's all I hear in my surroundings. I've been told he's the class clown of Mascots who does anything he can to get attention now a days instead of being the cool alternative to Mario in the 90's. 

The twitter has done great in getting people to like Sonic, but I don't think it was for the right reasons.

Bold. I can't avoid wondering if Sonic's role as the cooler, more edgy, counterpart has played a role in this too. That is, what makes him "cool" really ends up dating him in the eyes of modern gaming (with latest attempts being targets of mockery see Infinite). Mario in comparison is really more like a Disney character in that he's not meant to be "cool" so much as just appealing.

Anyway, yes Sonic is a joke. Sega of Japan doesn't care since it's a gaijin series.

[SatAMhog]

I think that's a little bit of an overstatement that Sonic in general is a joke.  Classic Sonic is revered, but MODERN Sonic is more "the joke"...when anybody thinks anything good in relation to Sonic, it's always Sonic 3 and Knuckles or Sonic 2.  The jokey stuff is MOSTLY anything to do with Modern Sonic save for that one exception, the "Adventures Of" Robotnik meme in all it's glory....that's god tier.  Long John Baldry, rest in peace.

[Polkadi~☆]

Sonic as a series gets mocked, Knuckles is no longer a character anyone can take seriously (i still love the guy with that aside), the memes are all he's known for, and he's reached a point of no return if the series remains on the path they're on.

Mania was a swerve off the path, and it got people to treat Sonic seriously for a moment, before turning back into a laughing stock months later. Even after Colours and Generations, people started treating Sonic seriously, before the collective shitting on him by gaming sites.

In the foreseeable future, unless we get a stream of quality titles out of nowhere, the series will continue to be a big joke to the larger gaming public.

[Splash the Otter]

2 hours ago, Polkadi said:

Mania was a swerve off the path, and it got people to treat Sonic seriously for a moment, before turning back into a laughing stock months later. Even after Colours and Generations, people started treating Sonic seriously, before the collective shitting on him by gaming sites.

So is the only way for Sonic to be taken seriously if he pretends it's still the early 90s?

[StaticMania]

Maybe if he pretends to re-enter the 2000s, he could make a natural progression from the 90s.

[Harkofthewaa]

Classic Sonic isn't a joke... Modern, on the other hand, was a joke when he first reared his blue head, and he will be a joke until the day SEGA finally retires that design and gives us "Modern-Modern" Sonic. Just keep in mind that Modern's first game was this:

[Polkadi~☆]

25 minutes ago, ElectroKyurem said:

So is the only way for Sonic to be taken seriously if he pretends it's still the early 90s?

He needs to have quality titles to be taken seriously short term.

He needs to have a constant stream of guaranteed quality titles to be fully taken seriously.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Well. If you want to belong to the "cool guys" in the gaming community and/or you want to become big on youtube. Bash and insult Sonic and especially his fans as hard and merciless as possible. At least it seems to be the way.

[EzSonic01]

Answering the question asked, yes, Sonic is a joke, and has become a lot more in recent years. Not trying to sound mean, but a big reason Sonic is not taken seriously is the fanbase this series has, or at least that's what I have noticed in gaming sites and YouTube. I really don't pay much attention to what people say anyway.

[Swing]

8 hours ago, Almar said:

gaijin series.

What's a gaijin series? Never herd of this term before until now.

4 hours ago, Polkadi said:

the memes are all he's known for, and he's reached a point of no return if the series remains on the path they're on.

If you are talking about the Uganda Knuckles meme. Then yes, it really seems that this will be probably the new direction for this character. This meme is really poplar and will maybe stick as long to the character like the Sanic meme for Sonic.

[Johnny Boy]

3 hours ago, Harkofthewaa said:

Classic Sonic isn't a joke... Modern, on the other hand, was a joke when he first reared his blue head, and he will be a joke until the day SEGA finally retires that design and gives us "Modern-Modern" Sonic. Just keep in mind that Modern's first game was this:

I’m pretty sure moderns first game was adventure dude.

[Swing]

No one I know takes Sonic as a series seriously. But they love Mario, Pokémon, Crash Bandicoot and also Banjo-Kazooie much. And B-K died many years ago. Sonic isn't really a natural character, if you know what I mean. He always tries to sound, act and look cool. In my eyes Sonic really needs to just find his own natural style. Something that is cool, but not really on your nose.

I'm not sure if this will help, because a lot of people that I know do actually find enjoinment in bad Sonic games. A lot of people on the internet actually seem to hope for a bad Sonic game. Either to bash it or to make fun of it. My best friend and I actually had really many laughs with Sonic 06. Not because it was good, but because it was such an over the top, ridiculous bad game that we couldn't stop laughing. 

[Polkadi~☆]

59 minutes ago, Swing said:

What's a gaijin series? Never herd of this term before until now.

Gaijin is non-Japanese. Quite a few people in Japan have a thing against foreigners.

 

59 minutes ago, Swing said:

If you are talking about the Uganda Knuckles meme. Then yes, it really seems that this will be probably the new direction for this character. This meme is really poplar and will maybe stick as long to the character like the Sanic meme for Sonic.

I was specifically referring to Sonic as a whole. Embracing those memes is one thing, and it's okay, but you cannot make it all you're known for. It's one of Sonic's crutches in the gaming community.