Bad Sonic Games Which You Enjoy

[Plasme]

To prevent this from being a list topic, please list your reasons for why you like these games despite their flaws. And don't just put obvious points like "i like the music of Sonic 06 and Knuckles Chaotix". Don't we all  

I'll start with Sonic Adventure, which is a bad game overall, but I really have a lot of affection for it. And I don't just mean for the Sonic stages, which I think are actually genuinely good, despite their age, but even the poor characters. A lot of people say Tails is one of the worst characters because his levels are far too easy and stripped down versions of Sonic's. I think this is arguably true with the obvious exception of Big, but it just feels so liberating to have free flight movement in 3D with no invisible walls or boundaries that I find it incredibly fun despite its obvious problems. I think Knuckles has some poor stages and that his emerald hunting is too shallow to be really enjoyable, but I appreciate his levels being smaller and it's fun to use his moves in the levels. I think the best thing about Adventure is that, despite its many terrible flaws, it really lets you play the game with no restrictions or boundaries. That approach to game design is refreshing now, and especially in the Sonic series.

I like Sonic 4. Yes I know, kill me, but I like Sonic 4. The physics are awful, the levels are carbon copies of the classic games aesthetically, it has way too much automation., but what I like about Sonic 4 is that the whole game focuses on fast, easy and fun platforming. It doesn't have many moments which pull a Marble, Labyrinth or Sandopolis and completely block you from playing. It's smooth sailing the whole way through, despite its many functional problems. If I want to just run around and have some dumb fun, Sonic 4 isn't a bad way to do it. I get all the memes about it, but I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy myself when unlocking Super Sonic in Episode 1 and 2.

Perhaps my favourite terrible Sonic game is Sonic R. I have no idea why, because it's very clearly fucking awful. It has dreadful controls, a tiny amount of levels and a hilariously unbalanced roster. One reason I think it's fun is because Sonic just suits 3D on foot racing, and it is the only game to actually try it. But I also think it has a certain uniqueness to it which makes it engaging. There are no other 3D racing games which play like platformers and where every character has a unique moveset to get through the levels. Even the way you unlock characters is different to everything else. I still find myself loading it up and just messing around in the game every now and then.

[UpCDownCLeftCRightC]

Sonic 3D blast probably. As in, it's genuinely a bad game regardless of age. At least with SA1 or 2, there are sections of the game that are genuinely good. Most of the problems have to do with padding or just the age of the game. 3D blast does just stink. 

 

However I love it. It's always been the last act of the classic Era to me (with the benefit of hindsight, nowadays SA1 seems more like the finale of the classic Era) . And in that game one could easily tell, even me as a kid, that Sonic was going to have some issues transitioning into 3D. But I still enjoyed mostly everything about it. It had a lot of the classic aesthetic that I like, but with just the most basic and uninteresting gameplay (especially those special stages, my goodness they suck). The bosses were decent, especially the final boss which I appreciated for not being easy on the first try. No super sonic was disappointing after S3K, made collecting the emeralds feel pointless. As I was playing I often jammed out to the music and enjoyed the vibe of the levels.... and pretended I was playing a much superior game. Basically, being a kid playing with a broken toy pretending it still worked, or a toy that wasn't fun and pretending it was something better using my imagination. That exactly why it was like. Very pathetic but when you're a little kid you just enjoy what you enjoy, the rest doesn't matter. 

I can't imagine playing that game again today, although the music is still awesome. Perhaps that's why I never got over my desire to see 3D Sonic finally get a great gameplay formula nailed down. SA1 quickly surpassed it in my mind, for actually having real hints of what I've always wanted. Although even after I played that for the first time, I remember feeling some of the hollowness in the Sonic stages as well because of how automated they were at times, despite how good the looked.

Sometimes I forget how long I've craved that ideal 3D Sonic game. It's been little crumbs here and there for me, and me pretending to see something, seeing the potential hidden somewhere that never quite manifested in a full game. Maybe it is truly something that just lies in my imagination or people like me anyway. If I hadn't seen the Sonic utopia concept, I'd probably have let go of that idea few years ago. ST team just never seemed to "get it", with what was special about the original games in their 3D attempts, something was always lost in translation. When I put my finger on it, it's really just the feeling of control and freedom that you get when playing a game like S3K, where one can travel in many directions.... But in 3D which in principle should have an even greater effect. The momentum translated over to SA1 somewhat, but the rest didn't. 

But now I know it's definitely out there waiting to happen. So I look back to games like 3D blast and SA1 and see them as the crude stepping stones to something that will eventually be amazing. So 3D blast is a symbol of the beginning of a long and bumpy road, but a road that will end up somewhere truly great, and worth it in the end. 

[Cayenne]

Sonic 06: When 06 actually works, it can be really fun. Shadow's story is the best and most playable part of the game, IMO.

Sonic Lost World (3DS): I'm one of those crazy people that likes this version over the PC and Wii U ones. Personally, I love every level in this game that isn't a special stage.

Sonic Heroes: To be honest, I think Heroes is more divisive than bad, but I usually see fans mentioning it as beginning of the end for 3D Sonic. Slippery controls and questionable design choices aside, this game has some of the best levels if not the best ones in 3D Sonic history. I would give a very good money for a Sonic game with more levels like Frog Forest, Egg Fleet, Rail Canyon and Hang Castle.

[JezMM]

Sonic 4 is probably the one I replay the most often.  Not gonna lie, whenever I start it up, it takes me pretty much until the end of Episode 1 to re-adjust to the completely bonkers non-sensical sense of physics and momentum it has, but I enjoy it as a straight-up Sonic platformer. It kinda feels like if you took Sonic Adventure's level design philosophy and turned it into a 2D platformer like, just chunky but kinda speedy platforming with unique platforming gimmicks on every single stage.

I have a genuinely enjoyable time with Shadow the Hedgehog whenever I do dust it off.  The stage design is a little lacking, but I'd take that "not quite good enough" level design with Shadow's fairly tight character handling and gameplay over its sibling game Heroes' decent level design but terrible handling any day.  The gunplay is fine too, feeling like just another iteration of the shooting gameplay from SA1/2, and again, being a vast improvement on Heroes' combat since the enemies having health bars actually make sense here (and they make sure enemies designed to be homing attacked across don't idiotically have multiple hit points).

I can't see myself going back to it again much in the future, but for a while I played a lot of Lost World 3DS too, certainly 100%'d it, which I didn't do with the Wii U version.  The parkour stuff is so much snappier and simple to do, it's a shame that each zone only has one really decent 3D platforming stage, with the other two in every zone always being a gimmicky puzzle affair or a 2D stage that plays like an okay follow-up to the Rush games but ultimately still not as fun as the main fast-paced 3D stage in each zone.

Finally, yeah Sonic R is a fun time.  If a "proper game" is a giant lego playset, Sonic R practically feels like a Polly Pocket toy in terms of scale, but there's something charming about that, and it plays fine once you get it into your head that the characters move like cars, not platforming characters.  Even though I play as Sonic, I have a much better time with it when I use the optional accelerator button to move forward and "steer" him left and right only with the stick instead.

[BadBehavior]

Sonic 06: I think it does everything better than forces. Level design, playable characters, general level of engagement and intriuge. It even looks better with lighting settings that aren't "all on" or "smother everything a colour." And it was a 7th generation console game that tried to run at 60fps which is a bonus. Plus the writing is... alright. At least theres no "baldy nosehair" or "That's why it's called war" level of cringe here.

Secret Rings: Fully upgraded, Sonic is a blast. On a tangent I don't get people who say "Why do you need to level; up, Sonic should be great from the start". 1. Hope you've never played the adventure games with it's powerups and 2. hope you've never played Metroid or Zelda or any other "get more powerful" games like that.

Maybe I just, like getting more powerful?

[McGroose]

I'd say Sonic 06, but I haven't played that game in several years since I lack the consoles to play it on. I did enjoy it though. Gameplay wise, there was a barebones skeleton for what I think could have been really enjoyable, gameplay-wise. The story would have always been bad but the game still gets a modicum of enjoyment out of me. 

Sometimes I wish I had a 360 again just so I could play console games I know I'll never get on PC, like 06 or Unleashed. 

[Polkadi~☆]

Sonic Heroes controls like arse, the team mechanic is a little clunky in how it functions, and the voice clips can get incredibly annoying. However, the level design, the music, the art style and more make me really admire it. Heroes is a return to the Mega Drive days, while still pushing forward a new modern aesthetic.

There's the whole Act 1 & 2 idea from Sonic 3, even if Heroes doesn't explicitly state it, and the level ideas are new twists on old formulas. The first level takes inspiration from the first levels of previous Sonic games, but creates something new out of them. A level that is both a bingo board and a pinball game is inspired, even if the controls work against it. And a jungle full of giant frogs and the level is developed in front of you? And a big ol' haunted mansion with all weird tricks like turning the level upside down? I could keep going on and on about all these creative ideas.

While I might not enjoy the gameplay, everything else about the game felt like what I wanted to see from a Sonic game. The story is naff, though. I love Metal Sonic, but don't do him like this...

[DryLagoon]

2 hours ago, BadBehavior said:

Secret Rings: Fully upgraded, Sonic is a blast. On a tangent I don't get people who say "Why do you need to level; up, Sonic should be great from the start". 1. Hope you've never played the adventure games with it's powerups and 2. hope you've never played Metroid or Zelda or any other "get more powerful" games like that.

Maybe I just, like getting more powerful?

Because the game has motion controls. If people who are used to playing games are struggling with poor controls they aren't going to think "well maybe there is a power up later that fixes this" they are going to think "wow this game controls bad". Power ups are better used for new tricks like the bounce.

[Catallena]

Sonic Spinball is probably my greatest guilty pleasure ever it's very clunky as a pinball game but it has a lot of personality and clever stages unlike that other pinball game no one cares about

 

it'd make a fantastic mobile game nowadays

come to think of it sonic probably should have a match three that's not SEGA Heroes (even moreso now that SEGA Heroes has been discontinued)

[batson]

Sonic Heroes: It has crappy controls (which is weird since the Adventure games controlled so well) but I still have a great time with it. I love the large levels, as well as the graphics and music. I even love the cheesy voice acting. It's definitely my favorite 3D Sonic game right after the Adventure games.

Shadow the Hedgehog: I don't like it as much as Heroes, but I still enjoy it. Apart from the gameplay I also enjoy the dark tone in a half-serious / half-ironic sorta way.

Sonic 4: It's a bad 2D Sonic game (the physics are bonkers), but I do think it's a rather fun 2D platformer. Like, if you just judge it on it's own merits.

[Eurisko]

Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric.

Yep I'm that guy. 

I like the setting and the characters. I find it kinda chillin.

 

 

[Sonario]

I really don't see how people can consider SA1 of all games to be BAD. The only real bad parts of that game were Big's fishing segments IMO, the rest was pretty damn good. A little rocky at times, but nonetheless a good first step into the world of 3D.

Now 3D Blast on the other hand, I think was kinda bad with the pointless flicky-searching parts, the abysmal special stages, the wonky perspective, the sloppy movement of Sonic himself and the mazelike level design. And yet, I enjoyed it. Sure it's nothing compared to the Classic games or Adventure games, but it was still an acceptable crack at Sonic in 3D. The aesthetics and music were excellent and the bosses were pretty fun to fight, especially the Final Weapon. I say it's one of the only bad Genesis Sonic games alongside Sonic Spinball but t's still playable and still enjoyable at times.

[GummiDreams]

Assuming Shadow The Hedgehog counts as a bad game what I think most people would say it is. I think the game is a bizarre experience what makes it enjoyable to me. How serious the game takes its self with these colourful cartoon like characters is a odd thing to see. If the game had a linear story I think it would have been received better.  

[Blueknight V2.0]

2006....enough said.

I personally like it for all the playable characters available. Just wish improvements were made to each. Blaze plays almost flawlessly though. Shadow yeah, I get the most glitches with him then any other character. Sometimes the glitches are funny, but some are more annoying & frustrating on a level I'd put with Crash Bandicoot. Music's good, levels look nice for an early-gen game. Doesn't compare to Unleashed though.

Amy is a huge pain to play as. She's slow & can't do anything besides a very, very short (& slow) range hammer smash. And for some reason that's never explained she can go invisible.........Okay you know what I change my mind she's the better Espio. No, just kidding she's the worst playable character in the game.

Story-wise I like how it interconnects to each characters story. But ultimately, Shadow's turned out to be the best of the bunch.

I would go further, but in short. 2006 is so bad, it's good! I'll just say that.

[Iko]

Sonic Lost World 3DS. There are some levels which I dilsike, but others are fun to play. I don't play it since a few years now, but I remember playing it online against some insane players and having a lot of fun. There were a lot of shortcuts that required a lot of skills.

Not a big fan of it, but I also enjoyed Sonic 4 episode 1 a bit. It's nice to play it mindless without much effort, only to kill some time. Physics and level design are bad, but abusing of the floatiness of the physics by jumping in the middle of a quarter slope while going fast, or doing the air dash trick that lets you kill chains of badniks without the homing attack, can be satisfactory and fun. Episode 2 has those sections that force you to use the tag team move with tails and I like it less because of that, it breaks the flow.

[Styx_Linoone]

Shadow the Hedgehog, because despite the story and general existence being only to focus solely on Shadow, the game is still pretty fun and do go back to it from time to time.

Sonic 06, there are some elements (music) which outweigh the others and it's probably the closest out of all of the post-Adventure Sonic games that feels likes a legitimate sequel. Not to mention, Silver is one badass hedgehog.

[GrounderSez]

Sonic 4.

It is a good idea but the only thing stopping it from being a true sequel to S3&K (like it advertises) is the physics and how they look.

Knuckles Chaotix

The ring mechanic is really fun to mess about with and the boss fights are good too (especially titan metal sonic/metal sonic kai)

[AzureLakeSanic]

Labyrinth has an interesting plotline, and I actually like it.

Rise of Lyric because Lyric sounds like Grid from LEGO DC Super Villains.

[Muscles Maximum]

Knuckles Chaotix is a blast for me to play. Mastering the rubber banding feels so good for me and knowing how to use it to your advantage to gain crazy speed is incredibly satisfying. It's my favorite of all classic series games, and it's music and aesthetics blow all the others out of the water and even gives Mania a run for it's money. I just love the Chaotix crew too.

Sonic the Fighters is a game I see everyone give a hard time, but I've always loved it. The characters are so colorful and full of life, the cartoony moves, animations, and watching the cast squash and stretch as they get pummeled is such a joy to look at. I seriously wish more games in the series took more ques from Fighters. The models of each character in this game are phenomenal too. I honestly think that if you took the character models from this game and just added a few subdivisions and HD'd them up, they'd be the ideal 3D designs for the whole cast for me.

I'll give an honorable mention to Shadow the Hedgehog, while I hate the games grungy aesthetics for this series I always had a lot of fun speeding through the most of the stages since you move so damn fast and the way the game handles wider, more open levels that force you to explore is honestly something I wish the series would've stuck with. I like objective mission based gameplay so what can I say. Destroying enemies in a single shot with the Shadow Rifle is really satisfying and I loved going through expert mode. I also love the way characters interact with Shadow through the stages and the call backs to SA2 hit me in just the right spot even to this day. There's a lot this game did that I enjoyed despite the overall package being incredibly lackluster and sometimes downright embarrassing.

I won't mention Heroes or Riders because those are good games. 

[Nintenboi]

I like Sonic R. I honestly don't know why, I just have a fun time racing against CPUs and my friends. I also find the tag and balloon modes really fun.

I don't know if this counts as a bad game but I also really enjoy Sonic The Fighters. I have fun fighting against friends and I have to say there are some pretty OP characters in that game. (If you want to cheese the game just use Fang because he is like the only character with a ranged attack) The music is great and the gameplay is great and it feels really good to land hits. (especially with Bark)

I absolutely ADORE Sonic Adventure. It's objectively really bad but I can't bring myself to hate it. Not only is does the music frigging BANG, but the gameplay for all the characters (except Big) is amazing, the story is great, and Gamma became one of my favorite Sonic characters after playing through his story. It's really a great game and I personally prefer it over Adventure 2!

The first two picks might be biased because I recently got the Sonic Gems Collection for my Wii but I honestly find them very fun!

[iambitter21]

 i kinda like lost world 3ds. I had to get sonic lost world 3ds because my WII U's left control stick was broken, but I generally enjoyed it. the wall running was fun, some of the set pieces were kinda boring some of the time, but it's alright. world's 1-3 while some mishaps were alright, I hated world 4, world 5 was my favorite, and worlds 6-7 can go screw themselves. objectively, the game is garbage, but in my opinion it's a pretty solid and fun game overall 

[Signmeup]

I'm seeing a lot of Sonic Lost World 3DS mentions, but honestly I'm gonna say the console version. I know its not technically bad by any means, but it seems to get a lot of hate online, and even gets compared to or called worse than Sonic Forces (which just makes me sad how unappreciated it is).

In general I think boost gameplay works for what its worth (In Unleashed and Gens mainly), but compared to adventure style Sonic? I'd take the latter any day in a heart beat. Lost World wasnt really "adventure style" per say, but damn did it feel good after so many years (since 2006!) to have a new Sonic game that doesnt have on rails or race car controls and actually lets you roam around in 3D. 

Having the spin dash again was just a pure joy. It's such a freaking underrated move in 3D sonic. Not even exaggerating when I say it made this game infinitely more fun for me. It wasnt exactly like the older games but man it was still sooo much fun abusing it and its pseudo drop dash mechanic, heck you could still dash off ramps and all that jazz. The whole run button fiasco was such a non-issue for me. Would I prefer momentum and building up speed? Yes, but who cares! after a few levels my hand was just instinctively glued to the button. 

I guess I might as well get to my negatives on it as well since I'm bored. For one, the wisps were kinda whatever, a lot of them were sluggish and I still dont know how the music wisp works. The only one I liked was the Eagle wisp but I wish it was available in more than uh... 3? stages. Burst wisp in this version wouldve been cool tbh. Moving on, 2D levels were weird, you ran at an oddly slow pace aside from the scripted stuff, and... It just paled in comparison to the 3D stages. If I had the ability to go back and change the game, I'd say remove the 2D stages entirely and make a few more 3D stages and expand the existing ones. They were so focused on the tubes and other gimmicks that they didnt even have a single loop de loop in any non-mach speed and non-rail grinding 3D section in the the whole game.

I didn't like the story either, it was basically as forced as it gets, but it didnt bother me too much since I wasnt really coming into this with any hope for a good story. The most annoying part though is that Sonic Team seems to be introducing new stuff like the Deadly Six and lost hex without any intention of explaining who or what theyre supposed to be (it gets worse in Forces), which I find weird cause its really not hard to just come up with a simple explanation at least.

But DAT spindash though. And the bounce coming back was very fun too.

In a nutshell, it's not perfect, its decent, and I can confidently say I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed Sonic Generations (which is a fair amount). Oh and compared to the 3DS version, eh I appreciate it being a 3D Sonic game on the 3DS cause thats ambitious in of it self, but the later level designs and the general floatiness and not being able to turn on a dime are my main gripes. I can see the appeal, but it wasnt for me. Funny enough I prefer the momentum-ish based console parkour (just kill the afterimages). Bosses are much better in 3DS though.

[Dr. Detective]

I actually don't consider Heroes or either of the first two adventures to be bad games despite their numerous faults but as far as a game I think IS ad and still enjoy... I guess the only one that falls under that banner is Shadow the Hedgehog.

That game is terrible and made almost every bad decision in the book but despite that I've always enjoyed the way it handled simulating a war going on within that universe. The levels were these BIG, WIDE OPEN areas with stuff happening all over in the background and at least one of Sonic's friends being ACTIVE and on their own mission within that chaotic mess was incredibly immersive to me. The idea that if I didn't help them out, whether they succeded or failed at what they were trying to do was left to chance did a lot to influence my decision.

They weren't just a bunch of talking heads in the background talking about how they were doing stuff I couldn't see.

Also, despite fully admitting they went too far, I'm a sucker for how dire things got. Seeing the Sonic characters deal with an invasion and destroyed cities and exploding landscapes is totally my thing. I apologize but I find it exciting. I do.