Sonic games you liked/loved... but didn't pick up again afterwards

[batson]

Which games did you play when you first got your hands on them and were like "Wow, this is so much fun!" but after the initial playthrough, or shortly therefater, you put it aside and basically never (or at least very rarely) went back to in the years that followed? In short, games you liked or even loved but were somehow never compelled to seriously revisit.

For me the biggest example would probably be Colors. I thought it was extremely fun back in 2010 and a return to from for Sonic. But I dont know, somehow I've never really felt like playing again afterwards. I guess I did play a few levels here and there in the years directly after I got it, but I'm pretty sure that over the past 7 years or so I haven't even done that. This is in sharp contrast to older Sonic games like the Mega Drive classics, the Adventure games and Heroes that I keep revisiting relatively frequently. Maybe a large part of it is because Colors lacks the nostalgia factor or older games. Of course, that hasn't stopped me from frequently revisiting Sonic Mania in the years since it's release (but then again, it could be argued that if the Mega Drive games holds nostalgia for you, then so does Mania by proxy).

As for other more modern Sonic games, I either didn't love them all that much to begin with (Unleashed, Lost World) or I just don't own any console that they're available on and so only ever played them at friends to begin with (Generations).

I have though about buying the recent Colors remaster for Switch so that I will feel an incentive to play through it again. And I suspect that if I do, I will probably find that I still enjoy it (after all, at this point I've forgotten so much about it that I'm sure a lot of sruff in it will basically feel like playing something brand new).

[Wraith]

Games like CD , the Advance games, Colors, Sonic Pocket Adventure etc where they seem like proper 2D Sonic games at first, but a lot of little things are just...off. The physics are usually the main problem, but maybe things are a little too blocky and it doesn't flow right. Maybe obstacle placement is a bit too inspired by Sonic 2. Maybe they added a gimmick that's mostly detrimental to the coee gameplay. Sometimes you get a case like Advance 3 where it's all of these things and more. Most of these games aren't bad at all. A few are even pretty good, but it's a case of 'death by a thousand cuts' for me where a lot of little problems add up.

The things they get right are really similar to some great Sonic games but that just makes me want to play those games instead and skip the added BS.

 

[Indigo Rush]

A lot of spin-offs, even as recent as Team Sonic Racing (so much so that I ended up selling it) but if we're talking the mainline platformers, I'd say Sonic CD and most portable entries held the least replay value for me for the 16 bit era for reasons Wraith stated. Sonic Heroes is another game that I played over and over again when it came out, but going back to it is always such a painful experience that I can't in good conscience even call it one of the "good" 3D Sonic's. 

I won't count 06, Unleashed or Lost World as I never found them to be games I liked that much the first go round. I wanted to say Sonic Colors at first, but y'know, I actually ended up liking it more on my second and third revisit. 

[Blue Blood]

I really enjoyed Lost World on my first playthrough. It was riddled with unfair moments and problems pre-patch on Wii U (no extra lives for 100 rings, enforced motion controls for Wisps etc etc), but as someone who didn't really like boost all that much, Lost World really resonated with me. But eventually the novelty of something new wore off and I've never been able to enjoy Lost World again. It's just not good. 

[CertifiedNobody]

I can't think of a single one. Either I've played the game endlessly or haven't gotten around to it.

[Razule]

Never finished Unleashed because of those goddamn medals.

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

I'd have to say the advance games and sonic rush and rush adventure. After I 100%'d them there just wasn't anything else to do. I love them to death but if I did return to these games, it was just to listen to the music.

[BadBehavior]

Like I mentioned in the sister thread, my opinion on Sonic games has gone down more than up. Especially post-Colours. I put in Heroes cos I was bored and I'm  having more fun with that. (the truly incoherent pinball levels aside)

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, Razule said:

Never finished Unleashed because of those goddamn medals.

When you say "finished" , do you mean 100% or just the main story? 

[Razule]

17 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

When you say "finished" , do you mean 100% or just the main story? 

Main story.

[iambitter21]

I used to play Sonic 3 & Knuckles a lot when I was a kid, but after I 100%'d the game and got all of the endings I began to stop playing it. I mean if I ever wanted to, I could pick it back up and play a few levels and have a really fun time, but overall, there's not much else I can really do with the game anymore.

I could probably count SA1 as well since back then I loved the absolute shit out of the game, especially roaming around in the hub world, but after a while I kinda started to get bored of some of the aspects of the time, like Amy, some of Tails, especially big, haven't touched a big stage after I beaten one which was God knows how long ago. I still play a few levels of Sonic stages, maybe even Knuckles & Gamma (and if I'm really feeling like it, a bit of Tails as well), but then I'd get a bit bored and play Adventure 2/Unleashed instead.

[CashIn]

Sonic Rush was one of my favourite games as a kid, but I never go back to it. I still think it's a good game, but the pull of replaying it just doesn't exist for me. Same applies with Rush Adventure.

[Solister]

PS2 Sonic Unleashed is the one which comes into my mind. When I was 12, I thought it was the Sonic game. I did even finish the story, but now 6 years later, and I can barely touch it again if not for replaying the same Sonic levels of Windmill Island, Rooftop Run and Dragon Road.

Sonic Heroes is another one I remember playing it a lot 6-8 years ago, despite never finishing. I've always promised myself I'd give it another chance but that never happened.

[TailsGotTrolled]

When I was a kid I used to play through sonic 1 every night while my mom thought I was in bed.  Now I think it's the best worst sonic game of the genesis era and have no desire to pick it up again.  Cant even be bothered to check out the romhacks for it (except S factor a few years ago)

[sassytassie]

• Prob Colors and Advanced. They're both good imo but I never want to reach for either.

[Cosmos Rogue]

Honestly I don't think there's been a single Sonic game I enjoyed that I haven't returned to at some point. It's been a long time since I've played some of them, and in some cases that's because I don't enjoy those games anymore, but I've gone back to them all.

[King Conne]

SONIC COLOURS is fun but I have't played it very much, I think it's because of its storyline!!...
I bought SONIC COLOURS ULTIMATE on X-box One  and had a very good time playing it but the storyline is the main weakness of the game!!...

I think the only SONIC game I don't play anymore is SONIC 3D : FLICKIES' ISLAND, the levels are too long to complete and sometimes a bit boring!!...

The games I've played the more recently are SONIC HEROES (my favourite game), MANIA, GENERATIONS ("home version"), BLACK KNIGHT (one of the more fascinating spin-off), TEAM SONIC RACING (I love it but can't finish it because of two missions), CHRONICLES (even i I have to admit it's not part of the canon anymore, sadly), RUSH ADVENTURE and ADVANCE 2!!...

[JezMM]

Sonic Rivals 1 and Sonic Boom Fire & Ice are both decent little games.  Rivals 1 shares a lot of DNA with Sonic Unleashed, almost to the point that gameplay-wise, it almost feels like a prototype of Unleashed's gameplay slightly more than Sonic Rush was, even though Unleashed was touted as a 3D version of Rush at the time.  Rivals 1 I mainly don't go back to because for whatever reason it feels like a hassle to get the PSP out even though as a handheld console it really shouldn't.  It was my partner who bought it and I never used it much at the time other than to finally play the two exclusive Sonic games on it, so somehow it feels a bit "other" to me like it's gonna be a fuss to find the plug and dust it off and aah whatever I'll play it again some day, etc.

As for Fire & Ice, aside from the arbitrary character and element switching to complete square-peg-goes-in-square-hole puzzles along the way, it very much plays like something inbetween Sonic 4 and Sonic Rush - just a good, solid, speedy platformer with unambitious but very acceptable level design.  At the time I played, I felt like there was a good chance I'd revisit it in the future... but that hasn't happened.

[Eurisko]

Team Sonic Racing. Platinumed it and then went back to SART

[Spooky Mulder]

Lost World. It has some fun moments. I love spin dashing in some of the desert levels. I really felt the freedom of movement in some of them. Unfortunately, the games flaws outweigh the good. There's a few stages that may be fun to replay but on the whole it's not an experience worth booting up a Wii U. 

[light-gaia]

Sonic Forces? Ok, I wouldn't say I liked/loved Sonic Forces, definitely not. But I didn't hate it either. After I finished the game, I only come back to play years later because I was hungry for more Sonic content and Forces was the only 3D game I hadn't played much at that time. I think it's the game in the franchise I never feel like playing again. Even Sonic Lost World I've played for like 70 hours each version.

Another game I almost never feel like playing again is Sonic Generations. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but it's the way I feel. I think Generations is unquestionably the most polished boost game in terms of gameplay, but it lacks almost everything besides that. It's too short, easy, unoriginal, the story is awful, and I didn't feel excited to play as classic Sonic in a modern Sonic game. Generations is like a bad Sonic Unleashed to me. Almost everything about Unleashed is better.

Finally, I've never finished 2006. I've been trying since the game came out, but it's so boring and broken that I always get tired and stop playing.

[McGroose]

tbh, Sonic Spinball

I think it's a really good game, just an incredibly hard one that I'm terrible at, and It's pretty offputting that I can barely make it halfway through the game without getting a game over. 

Knuckles Chaotix is another one. The game is good, but the gimmick is definitely not one of my favorites and I kind of forget it exists half the time.

I was genuinly looking forward to replaying Sonic Colors with Ultimate, but I'm not giving money to play that botched mess, so it's been a while since I played it. 

I haven't touched a handheld Sonic game in nearly a decade. 

[Celestia]

Almost every Sonic game I like I've been able to go back to years later. The more obvious exceptions that come to mind are if I eventually stopped liking them, like Heroes or Advance 3. Even then I definitely replayed them a few times as a teen. Even Secret Rings I'm pretty sure I replayed a few times, and probably the only reason I didn't replay Black Knight is that I only rented that game.

...But then there's Sonic Battle. It's a shame because I like the story, and even the gameplay itself, but it can't be overstated how repetitive it is. If I really forced myself to sit down and keep playing it I probably could, but that sounds unnecessarily miserable lol.

[Bobnik]

If I said "every Sonic game" that'd be both very sensationalistic and kinda wrong, because I play Generations from time to time, though either only replaying a stage or 2 or playing some PC mods. 

I guess the more better question would be "what I don't even want to think about playing" and for me, and it'll sound really dumb, it's Sonic Mania. I liked playing the game, multiple times even, and I did buy and play through Encore mode once, but even after the 3 initial playthroughs I burned myself out so hard in 2017 that I'm still feeling this to this day, and playing through Encore mode once did not help me at all and just evaporated any real desire to even touch that game.