Most underrated Sonic game

[CrimsonMoonMist]

I'm sure that we can all agree on that many of Sonic's recent adventures has gotten a rather unfair treatment in the media,

but what do you think is the game that offered the best, yet got completely ignored over the less-than-good aspects.

I think Sonic and The Black Knight is the game that was in my eyes the best game the Blue Blur has starred in for years, yet the media seem to think otherwise.

In terms of fun, it was probably the Sonic game I've had the most fun playing since SA2.

the swordplay, while basic works very well, doesn't slow you down at all, and gives you the reach you lacked in Secret Rings,

and they also removed the annoying side missions you had to do and instead makes them an extra, which they should have been in the first place.

Not to mention Knight of The Wind is in my opinion the best Crush 40 has done since What I'm Made Of!

So it really is just an improvement upon Secret Rings, but what an improvement!

[Chooch]

I honestly want to say.. Sonic Unleashed. Really. I love the game to death. I can't think of this game without praising it.

Gorgeous visuals, great level design, fantastic soundtrack and a fun gimmick. Everyone bitches about Werehog and yet..

It's not Tails racing Sonic.

It's not Amy running away from robots.

It's not Big fishing.

It's not Tails mech fighting.

It's not Eggman mech fighting.

It's not an overly simplified team system.

It's not Shadow shooting guns.

And it's not Sonic with a fucking sword.

It was actually put together really nicely and was a nice change from the core gameplay.

[LunarEdge]

I hate SatBK with the passion because it can beat fully (w/o extras) in about 3 hours, which wasn't worth my $50 at the time.

I feel as though Knuckles Chaotix hasn't received the praise it should. It's a fun game and it's a better version of Sadv3 in my opinion. It should see a re-release with online multi-player or something.

[Guest MaximumTH]

Sonic 2006, nuff said.

[agoodusername]

Sonic 06... the game is amazing when you look past the glitches.

[Octarine]

I'm tempted to say Rush Adventure, but that'd really be more appropriately called the most overlooked game, not the most underrated. Also, someone would probably come running in to pimp Sonic Jump and make me look like an idiot, so never mind that.

I say Shadow the Hedgehog, then. The gameplay wasn't quite as awful as people tend to claim, and its plot and dialogue are hilariously cheesy in a way that Heroes and '06 can't even begin to match. It's a classic example of "so bad it's good", and it certainly doesn't deserve all the bile it gets.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Octarine

[Rusty Spy]

Sonic Heroes is a pretty underrated one. It wasn't perfect, but it was competent enough to provide some enjoyment. The level themes were really nice, the visuals were astounding, and the gameplay... well it worked and flowed well when you were fully powered up. Nowadays people often don't give it as much credit as it deserves and genuinely clump it up with the rest of the crappy games that came after it.

[Nepenthe]

My top two underrated games would probably be Shadow and Unleashed.

Unfortunately, I didn't spend a lot of time with the former considering I was one of only seven people who got the Xbox version and said console died before I could finish the game, but from what I played, what I ultimately got out of it was that it was basically a Sonic Heroes hack that did some things better than its predecessor. Because it doesn't nearly hold your hand as much, the game is a lot less linear and patronizing. Each campaign at least has a few different levels from one another, which slaps down the feeling of monotony that plagued Heroes when I moved on to different campaigns. And I consider its design principle of focusing on and developing the offensive and maneuvering repertoire one character better than Heroes' copy-and-paste effort of its teamwork gimmick.

It is plagued with stabilization problems, sure (although I personally didn't have trouble aiming and shooting), and even as a Shadow fan I'm not enamored by the game due to its technological similarities to Heroes, but Jesus Christ the game didn't deserve fours. I found that mostly reactionary.

Same with Unleashed to an extent. It was, at worst, a competent experience that really did nothing that the Adventure series hadn't already done before. But I find myself enamored with the game for many reasons, probably mostly aesthetic. Beyond the gameplay, both styles of which I admire for different reasons, I liked the travel/vacation themes, I liked the fact that the hubs were lively, and I liked the silliness throughout the plot and its extension into the shorts. It felt like the first game in awhile in which Sonic Team had genuine fun developing, something that they put their heart into, so it helps me to enjoy it that much more. Unfortunately, I feel like the game was ultimately too little too late in coming along.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Nepenthe

[SuperStingray]

Frankly, I think most of them are underrated. That's not to say they're all necessarily good, but I think even Sonic and the Black Knight had one of the best stories in the series despite being weak as a game.

[Ebby]

Sonic Unleashed. Completely panned by the critics. If I'm correct IGN gave the Xbox version a lower score than Sonic 2006. How is that possible?

I won't say it was flawless and yeah Werehog wasn't the best route, but it was so fun. I loved everything about it. Boosting, Day AND Night levels, the humor, Chip, the voice acting, the soundtrack (I'm sorry but I liked it WAY more than the over-dramatic, mostly anti-climatic, and unfitting Sonic '06 soundtrack), buying food, the humans, the hub worlds, the QTEs (Yes, give me all the random buttons to press in 3 seconds and I'll get it done!!) and I can go on.

To me it felt like Sonic Adventure, with a Werehog.

And as for night levels, they're fun, even if they're long. And Jungle Joyride Night is one of the best level themes I've heard in a long time.

[Mr. Mackey]

Sonic Unleashed. I didn't mind the Werehog gimmick actually. The day levels were amazing and I really adored the overall atmosphere of the game. I loved the character design (cartoony looking humans fit better in Sonic's world than realistic ones). The soundtrack was perfect. After Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Unleashed has to be my favorite 3D Sonic game.

(I still can't believe that Sonic Unleashed got a lower rating than Sonic 2006 from IGN. )

[EXshad]

Sonic 2006 is fantastic if you look past the glitches, the sloppy controls, fugly graphics, poorly implemented amigos, bestiality, brooding story with time-travel, Eggman looking like this, the hilarious amount of loading screens, half the gimmicks in the manual not working, the absolutely asinine missions (lol, find the captain and talk to him, but I'm not the captain, seriously I'm not, just wait for the 20-second-load screen and talk to him... *loads* It's not me I swear! ...you really think it's me? FINE, it's me! You can pass after the next 20-second-load screen!), and how fucking slow Sonic was, then yeah, it was absolutely perfect

I'd say Sonic Unleashed for the 360. It was insanely fun to play at day, and not too bad at night, half the time. The problem with the Werehog wasn't his gameplay, but some incredibly long level designs the were cumbersome to get through, thanks to things like the balancing beams. However, some of the puzzles were intuitive, and the combat worked surprisingly well. Not to mention, some levels were pretty short, and as a result, much more enjoyable. But at day, it was just fantastic; it really felt like you WERE Sonic, and for the first time, you could do almost everything you saw Sonic do in the opening cutscene. The levels all had very different lay-outs, from being linear passages to sprawling areas with multiple paths. The graphics were stunning, as was the cartoony art-style, and the focus on Sonic was a refreshing change of pace (at the time). The only problems it had, for me, were the insane amount of QTEs and the crappy level progression system, but I view as the best 3D Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2.

Edited July 14, 2010 by EXshad

[Solid SOAP]

Sonic Unleashed. Jesus Christ, give this game a break. The night levels were pretty uninspired and the town levels were merely added to extend the game's length, but by God if the day levels weren't fucking brilliant, I don't know what's what anymore. The storyline and script was fairly entertaining up until after Eggmanland, which is where it started to get stupid, but everything before it was pretty good. The visuals were fantastic, the music was awesome, and above all, it was fun. The day stages rocked, the night stages, while uninspired, were fun in their own way, the game had tons to do after you beat it, and it just felt like a well designed game overall. 2nd favorite Sonic of all time, the first being Sonic 2, making it my favorite of the 3D games.

[Ekaje]

I'd say Black Knight, but to me that's more of a love it or hate it game. I like it, but I can see how people could dislike the swordplay.

I'd say Unleashed HD, but I haven't played it.

So I'd say either SRA or Sonic CD.

SRA is more ignored than underrated, but it was still a vast improvement over Rush to me. Less bottomless pits scattered everywhere, mission mode, and just generally better to me.

As for CD, while it does get loved in some places, in others it's downright hated*. It's certainly not my favorite of the classics, but I still think it's very good.

*Not referring to just not liking it very much like in the "least favorite classic game" thread, on other sites I've seen it be called an outright bad game.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Ekaje

[PC the Hedgehog]

Sonic 06 and Unleashed, easily.

Honestly, I didn't think 06 was that bad of a game. Unfortunately, you had to dig through quite a few glitches to really experience any fun. But when you do, the game is a blast. I feel that people really exaggerate its flaws to ludicrous levels.

As for Sonic Unleashed, it seems that many people say the game sucks solely because of the Werehog. The day levels were fast and fun...heck, the Werehog's gameplay was generally fun, if not a little repetitive. Again, I feel the flaws of the game get exaggerated to the point that people can't see any of its many good points.

[Sapphire]

Sonic Heroes seems to be overlooked a lot. I thought it was pretty good. I loved the return of classic themes, it was almost like an Act 1 and Act 2 for each "area", for lack of a better word. (Like Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace) and Special Stages were nice to see again. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of the "team" element, but it wasn't THAT bad...

Unleashed seems to be overlooked, too. Sure, the night stages could take forever and was seemed to be mostly button smashing, but those day levels were absolutely PERFECT. They were fast, a great mix of 3D and 2D, and were just beautiful. It was like a breath of fresh air. And the story was cool, too, not too complicated or too serious and it had it's funny moments. I just would have liked to see Robotnik as the final boss, rather than another monster.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Sonic 2006 is fantastic if you look past the glitches, the sloppy controls, fugly graphics, poorly implemented amigos, bestiality, brooding story with time-travel, Eggman looking like this, the hilarious amount of loading screens, half the gimmicks in the manual not working, the absolutely asinine missions (lol, find the captain and talk to him, but I'm not the captain, seriously I'm not, just wait for the 20-second-load screen and talk to him... *loads* It's not me I swear! ...you really think it's me? FINE, it's me! You can pass after the next 20-second-load screen!), and how fucking slow Sonic was, then yeah, it was absolutely perfect

I can look past ALL of that and still say that ShTH is s much better game...except for Knuckles and Rouge's Climbing glitch, and that was the ONLY glitch I encountered throughout that whole game.

I have to say tho, the most underrated game would have to be Unleashed for me. Sure there's somethings I thought were bland and could've been done much better, but that still doesn't stop it from being the most polished 3D game since...the Adventures?

The Werehog would start off as fun before getting repetitive, but that doesn't mean it's unplayable or bad to the extent others try to make it out to be. Sonic's Daytime stages were a bit of a problem in terms of what it was about, as in terms of what you can actually do all you could do for the most part is just run through the stages. I could do a helluva lot more than just run through stages in the Adventures. But even so, the sheer speed, and the fact that they came up with a way to keep that flow of speed through most of the levels was pretty satisfying.

I'll let it get off of being as lacking as I make it out to be on the count of it being as polished as it was. But it did kind of throwback a lot in terms of what the Adventures gave from Sonic's stages alone.

I can't consider it my all time favorite; S3&K holds that rank, followed by SA2, SA1 and Advance 1, but it comes pretty damn close to the top in my books despite how I view the game.

[Mick]

I will have to go with Sonic Unleashed. I found it to be a really fun game (especially the 360 version, but I only played a demo version of it). I really loved the werehog concept and I found it fun to beat up those weirdo thingies you had to fight. I will say that I got really frustrated with the game and I literally threw down my controller after trying to get through some levels. That is something that doesn't happen very often. I have the PS2 version, by the way. I had to watch some walkthrough videos to get through one or two levels. Sad, I usually do not do that at all. However, I did it with Sonic Unleashed.

Yeah, S. Unleashed is pretty damn underrated. Oh and definitely the PS2 version and Wii version. I say invest in a PS3 and/or 360 and get Unleashed for either one/both of those consoles. I will say that I did not waste my money on Unleashed. It was worth it. It was the first new Sonic game I played since Sonic & Knuckles! Yes, I'm not kidding about that.

[Blacklightning]

And so far, not a single mention of Tails Adventure. You all disappoint and disgust me.

Okay, so it's not the standard slope-based platformer that was common in the franchise back in the day. Frankly, I don't give a fuck. It's pretty neat to hunt down all those different items even in levels you'd already completed, and often you'd even end up finding alternate routes and secret areas you had no idea even existed without the means to access them. And besides that, it's fuckin' Tails, what's not to love?

I admittedly have a soft spot for Sonic '06, but it's still such a glitchy and flawed game that it deserves every ounce of hate it gets, especially after the "back to Sonic's roots" bullcrap it tried to publicise the release with. I can't really think of many other games I'd consider overrated - in fact, considering what the fandom's like I'd go as far as to say most of the fan favourites are the exact opposite. But I digress.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Blacklightning

[Phos]

Sonic R... When you play it with a flight stick. It turns out that that the finer control over steering helps a ton. It supposedly started life as a Gran Prix style game, so I wouldn't be surprised if the controls had been sorted for a steering wheel instead of a pad. That wouldn't have been much of a problem if Sonic and company behaved like cara, I'll bet, though they probably shouldn't have used that game as a base either way.

What's funny about ShtH is that it's low scores were probably brought on by it having guns. Having guns meant the reviewers were comparing it to shooters instead of platformers, more the realm of Halo than Vexx or whatever other platformers of the day. I actually rented it, and got fed up not being able to find the last two aliens on the first level. See, I wanted to do the hero path because Sonic was helping me and doom's eye was telling me crap I already knew, though probably my biggest problem was how tedious it was, having to tip toe between those exploding fruits in the first level then dealing with falling off in the second level. I don't like tedium in my games, so much so that Prince of Persia Is probably my pick for worst game that I've played this generation.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Phos

[Glenn]

I'll join in the legions of people giving this shout to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and nod along with Sonic Unleashed, too.

Nothing further to add than what's already been said, too!

[Aquaslash]

Sonic. Rivals. 2.

Both overlooked AND underrated because there are a grand total of five Sonic fans that own a PSP.

It's the closest thing to one of the classic since Sonic Advance. Hell it even has the mode where you can drop all the gimmicks and just play the levels. Personally, I think it's only flaw is that the slope physics could be better, but w/e.

[Machenstein]

There are so many underrated Sonic games to choose from that it's not even funny. It can't be helped that so many gamers have been brainwashed into believing that the only good Sonic games were the classic games, but nothing can be done about that.

The first underrated Sonic game that comes to mind is definitely Knuckles Chaotix. So the level design was rather repetitive and it came out for the 32X. It was still a rather charming game with catchy music and vibrant graphics. Sure, the backgrounds were quite muddy, but the foregrounds were just gorgeous. The elastic ring-band and all of the crazy power-ups also made things a little more interesting. There is also the fact that I have a soft spot for the Chaotix themselves due to the Archie Knuckles comics.

Sonic 3D Blast is another one that comes to mind... the Saturn version, anyway. With a soundtrack composed by Richard Jacques and those awesome special stages, how can I possibly resist. While I'm still talking about Saturn games, I guess I'll throw Sonic R in there too. Yeah, the game was short and the controls were slippery, but, again, Richard Jacques. TJ Davis also has the voice of an angel. For what little there were of the courses, there was a lot of exploration to be had. There is also the inclusion of Metal Knuckles, another obscure Sonic character I see some potential in.

I guess Sonic the Fighters is okay too. It's basically Fighting Vipers with old-school Sonic characters, and that can only be a good thing. I don't know what it is, but I guess I just have a thing for mid-90's Sonic obscurity. It could also be that I am a huge fan of Bean who shows the most personality in the game. But, just like with the Chaotix, my fandom for Bean stems more from the Archie Sonic comics than it does the few games he ever appeared in.

As for the modern games, I would say Sonic Unleashed for the 360 and PS3. Now I can understand why the game got so panned, but to give the game lower ratings than Sonic 2006? Please. The only games I know of that deserve lower ratings than Sonic 2006 are Big Rigs and Ninjabread Man. Sonic Unleashed is not Ninjabread Man material. In the end, Sonic Unleashed was an average game that had all of the same flaws that most games have these days. Of course, people want to be extra hard on Sonic due to the animosity surrounding the series post-Shadow the Hedgehog.

Of all of these choices, I would pick Knuckles Chaotix. The game wasn't even included in Sonic Gems Collection. That's like being rejected by the popular kids and then being rejected by the rejected kids. You're not even considered good enough to join the likes of Sonic the Fighters and Sonic R. You might as well go sit in the corner with the Sega Pico games and Sonic Eraser. It's a shame too, because Chaotix is actually a pretty good game.

[Ebby]

And so far, not a single mention of Tails Adventure. You all disappoint and disgust me.

Okay, so it's not the standard slope-based platformer that was common in the franchise back in the day. Frankly, I don't give a fuck. It's pretty neat to hunt down all those different items even in levels you'd already completed, and often you'd even end up finding alternate routes and secret areas you had no idea even existed without the means to access them. And besides that, it's fuckin' Tails, what's not to love?

I forgot how much I loved this game.

[Jay H]

Three games immediately come to mind, and they are all in the 3D era.

SONIC HEROES

This was a game that really tried to return to the classic style of the Genesis games, and I think did a fine job translating the gameplay into 3D. Some complained about the team-based gameplay, but I think it was extremely well done and didn't break the experience. The look has that Sonical feel to it, and the story (for the most part) wasn't taken seriously. I will agree with one criticism though that it got boring playing the same set of action stages and boss battles with all four teams. It would of been nice if each team got their own set of stages and bosses, I think it would of made the entire game much more exciting.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006)

Anyone who knows my thoughts about the game all ready know that I thought it was a broken mess and frustrating to play. But I've always been an advocate to give this game the benefit of the doubt, and it was that the story and setting were at least trying to be on an epic scale. Much like how Sonic Adventure 2 was a huge success for the 10th Anniversary, this game tried to be the "SA2" for the 15th Anniversary. The branching and connecting storylines, as well as the Solaris Project was very intriguing and thought provoking when I played it. It was also interesting from the perspective of Silver and Blaze, trying desperately to save their ruined time in the future. The tension and fighting between Shadow and Mephiles was also interesting, Mephiles is definitely one of the most threatening villains I've seen in the series. Really when I look past all the glitches, the game tried to be something special, and is something worth looking at for the fans.

SONIC UNLEASHED

This game I will always defend, because you can just tell a lot of effort and love went into this. Both day and night stages were very fun to play, and their more cartoonish/Pixar look at our world was creative looking as well. A lot of people criticize this game for the werehog and "non-Sonic" aspects, but the werehog night stages I thought was a huge step ahead of the other gimmicks Sonic Team experimented with. I also very much got from this game the same feeling of Sonic Adventure, where the setting and music were on a grand scale. But it didn't lose the magic of what made Sonic so likable in the first place. Anyone who hasn't played this, or any of these three games should at least give them a try. Maybe you'll grow a new liking to them yourself.

Sonic. Rivals. 2.

Both overlooked AND underrated because there are a grand total of five Sonic fans that own a PSP.

It's the closest thing to one of the classic since Sonic Advance. Hell it even has the mode where you can drop all the gimmicks and just play the levels. Personally, I think it's only flaw is that the slope physics could be better, but w/e.

Completely agreed, Aquaslash. Sonic Rivals 2 was a lot of fun, both Rivals titles have definitely been overlooked.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Spyne