Did you ever get out of Sonic?

[Fox Gungrave]

No, never.

I'm not a fan who say "Amen!" to everything but when Sonic had his low moment, there was always something related to keep him as one of my major video game serie like series, comics or even seing some great pieces of fan-art around the internet. This is the advantage of the extended universe that we love, or hate

[ChikaBoing]

Shadow games? All one of them?

All one?

[Dr. Crusher]

No, two. Shadow the Hedgehog, and Shadow the Hedgehog 2 Feat. Silver.

Otherwise known as Sonic 2006.

[Azzy]

No, two. Shadow the Hedgehog, and Shadow the Hedgehog 2 Feat. Silver.

Otherwise known as Sonic 2006.

Did any of the characters really stand out more than the other in 2006?

Sonic played a big role by rescuing the Princess and preventing Iblis from being released early, and foiling Eggman's plot to build a machine to control time and space using the powers of Solaris, which turned out diidn't matter in the final story, and the latter part of the plot is there but receives no attention and barely any explanation whatsoever, it's eclipsed by a half assed unwanted romance plot. Shadow persues Mephiles, defeats him (Again, this doesn't matter when you reach the final story). Silver... er... beats up Sonic, realises he's wrong, goes back to the future and seals the released Iblis (which once again, doesn't matter when you reach the final story).

[Detective Shadzter]

I never got out of Sonic. I loved him since the first game in 1991 when I was a little kid. Now though, my interest seems to sadly be fading due to the recent games. I actually kind of liked Sonic 2006, but it was of course bad overall. The main games that have done it for me though are Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colours (Wii). No matter how hard I try to like this Generations dubbed Modern Sonic, I just can't. Sonic feels too much like a race car, which just isn't what I want in a fast-paced platforming game. The Sonic and Shadow sections of the Sonic Adventure games and Sonic Heroes weren't perfect, but at least they felt like platformers.

Sonic Generations is on the way, and just like with Sonic Colours, many of the fans are excited, but I just can't be all that enthusiastic. I enjoyed the Classic Sonic Green Hill Zone demo, apart from a few minor things, so I'll probably enjoy that half of the game, but Modern Sonic looks to be more of the same from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colours (Wii), which I don't like.

While I've not enjoyed recent main console games, I have enjoyed Sonic Riders, Sonic Free Riders and even Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 for what it is. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and the storybook games weren't very fun though in my opinion.

As for portable games, I've been enjoying them ever since the Game Gear days. I love the GBA and DS games especially. Even though the Rush games and Colours DS were boost heavy like Unleashed and Colours (Wii), I feel that gameplay suits side-scrolling much better. These games also had more multiple routes to explore than the console outings. I love multiple routes. I think if it wasn't for the portable games, then I'd have probably gone off Sonic by now. I appreciate that a lot of people like the current Modern Sonic gameplay style, but it's just not for me.

Outside of the games, I'm not really into any other aspect of the franchise, be it comics, merchandise, art or music. It's always been about the games for me. I do enjoy socialising on forums like this one with my fellow fans, but even that sometimes pushes me away, because of the trolls, know-it-all's, those who won't allow any bad criticism be said about Sonic and the "true fans" who blindly think every game is solid gold and those who don't aren't real fans. There are many in the community who are cool people though and they make forums and events like SoS really enjoyable.

Anyway, that's how I feel, and those are my personal opinions on current games. If you feel differently, then cool

[The Weeb with No Name]

The whole franchise had totally slipped my mind a little before 06 was released.

Convenient, all things considered.

[Blue Spineball]

To put it simply, no. I've liked the sonic franchise since i was a kid back in the 90's. Although there have been a few bad games, they were still playable for me.

[Delta Starfire]

Did I ever get out of Sonic?

I sure did. I don't really consider myself a fan anymore, given how little I play Sonic games now. I've been playing them this week because I'm visiting family in Nottingham, and my Gamecube is still here (along with my old TV) and I also brought my DS, but usually I play other games these days.

My interest in the Sonic franchise went into rapid decline when I borrowed my university flatmate's Wii around September 2008 and tried Sonic and the Secret Scrolls. It was the first ever Sonic game I actually hated. Then I wasted £10 on Sonic 06 when I got my Xbox 360 the following January, which I pretty much found to be unplayable, and I've never returned to it since. I got Sonic Unleashed the same year, but never played it much until quite recently (after another playthrough of the Mass Effect games); while it's not fundamentally broken in the same way that Sonic 06 is, it's still just not much fun to play once you hit the night time levels, which are too long and tedious for me. Once I hit an obstacle that I kept failing to get past, I lost all interest in the game and started a new game of Fallout 3. I probably shan't touch Sonic Unleashed again. In fact, I wonder if it would be worth trading both Sonic 06 and Sonic Unleashed in at Gamestation, because it's just wasting space on my shelf (and my Xbox's hard drive) now.

I've also started finding it very difficult to enjoy games like Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, both of which I used to be pretty good at and enjoyed quite a lot. But I couldn't play either for more than a few stages this week without getting frustrated and giving up. It amazes me that I ever took the time to persevere with these games to the point where I was reasonably good at them, but I imagine it was because my gaming experience was much narrower then and largely dominated by Sonic titles. Once I started playing other games, I started to become accustomed to better standards, and I just don't care enough about the Sonic franchise anymore to cut it any slack.

While Sonic games on the DS haven't been too bad, the console games in the series have started being just one disappointment after another, and I simply have no time for them anymore. So, yeah, not a Sonic fan here. Not anymore.

[MADMONKEY78000]

I lost my interest in Sonic sometime in 1996. I wasn't allowed to play my Mega Drive that much since we only had one tv at that point so my time with Sonic wasn't that long anyway, Just brief sessions in the morning or when I was rarely ill from school. By the time I did get a tv into my room I had a playstation and an N64. For a time Sonic was replaced as my favourite game animal by Crash Bandicoot and Banjo-Kazooie.

Sonic didn't make a return until 2003 when my mate was talking to me about Sonic Heroes in the morning at school. After school that day I went round his house and watched him play Sonic Heroes, I was surprised to find Sonic speaking(I hadn't watched a Sonic cartoon either at that point) and more amazed at all the new characters. He then showed me SA1&2 on his dreamcast and that did it really. I brought Sonic Heroes that weekend and had a Gamecube by Christmas with SA1&2 and Mega Collection. Since then I haven't looked back, If anything it's got stronger especially since my mates always laugh so it makes me stick with it even more lol. Don't get me wrong my games have grown a lot darker shall we say, I was surprised at the amount of 18 rated games I have in my collection. Though I can always find time to stop playing Gears or Bioshock and crack out some Sonic.

[Gaming Misfit]

If I have not read your posts and not know you, I would have totally saw you as a fan of the Shadow game, with your Avatar.

[Solid SOAP]

Shadow the Hedgehog left me extremely bitter, Sonic '06 had me believing there would never be a good Sonic game again, Sonic Unleashed left me optimistic that the series would improve, and now Sonic Colors and Generaions finally has me proud to be a fan again.

[Blackbell]

I was very young when the first few games came out and I didn't get any games after Sonic 3 until I got the Game Boy advance and Game Cube- I've pretty much been hooked since then though I have had a few concerns with some of the games (Sonic 06)

[AliceXSonikku]

I have loved Sonic basiclly all my life but there was a time where a faded out to like him but suddenly got back into my obbsesion again hahaha!!!!

[Dr. Mechano]

I became disillusioned with the series around the time of Shadow the Hedgehog, the game that utterly killed my love for the franchise (though Heroes upset me a lot too beforehand), and I've never looked back.

I can say that I'm still an Eggman fan, but I haven't been a fan of the series proper for nearly six years. I just can't seem to make myself care about these characters or this story anymore, especially after the Heroes-Shadow-2K6 cluster of awfulness. I stick around on a few forums purely because I just really like Eggman despite my disinterest in the series at large, and because of my friends in the fanbase.

[Tornado]

I too basically said "fuck it" not too long after ShtH's announcement. And though I "came back" so to speak, I'm nowhere near as active as I was pre-ShtH.

[ChikaBoing]

When I found out about Shth in a Magazine it said: "Sega's Answer to Ratchet and Clank and Jak 2". I was like OK, could be good.

Edited July 23, 2011 by ChikaBoing

[Light]

Left when they were trying to reboot Sonic in '06. I came back, and I'm probably going to close the door on Sonic for good at some point because of Sonic 4.

[CobaltBlue]

Yeah, since Sonic Adventure 2 onwards. I got back into Sonic when I played Sonic Unleashed.

[KCG]

Yup. I don't exactly remember when, but it was around the '06-ish era. It's not really from the bad games, but rather that I just moved on to other things. I came back full force because of Unleashed.

[SchemingMinor]

Off and on. It's more like a love/hate relationship which proves my indifference is a French movie romance.

On one hand I stay for the Botnik. I love the Eggman (not literally you twit) and so should you he has been keeping me in the fandom for the longest time. Another perk is teasing Ian Flynn and Jon Grey with redundant character questions on Bumbleking and collecting the frequent flyer miles that come along with the responses (It's like RPing with a professional basement dweller!)

Another thing that keeps me are the fans. How much all of you guys had to put up with my annoying Eggman shit, it's almost like staying in a marriage with a monomaniac.

Well, the thing is that you have fans that are just great people. Then there are those fans that make me distance myself from the fanbase on many accounts. You know who they are, then again you might not, but have a vague idea of the legendary crap they do on the internet.

Also take into account that I sometimes can't stand the titular character of the series. That just drives a stake through it.

You're too slow still plagues my nightmares.

[Xenos]

Strangely enough, there was a time where I did nearly quit the franchise altogether. It was around the time where the series was basically "Dead" in the eyes of critics and non-fans. I thought Heroes was okay, but then Shadow put me off quite a bit. 06 Was looking fine until it's release to the public, then it all went downhill for me there. But I still had some type of hope that I'd find a Sonic game that I'd love again.

Then came Secret Rings, which I also didn't like so much. I wondered why I couldn't just use a GC Controller, and why was the game play like this. I just couldn't get into it, and then Unleashed came along with Black Knight. Needless to say, I was really hyped for Unleashed because it looked incredible at the time, Black Knight, while having me not nearly as excited, I was looking forward to it. When Unleashed was released, I had the misfortune in picking up Unwiished. Yeah, that didn't go so well.

I actually enjoyed Black Knight better, but that wasn't saying so much, considering the iffy motion controls that didn't respond so well at critical moments, my arms ended being sore from playing it. I did like the story and dialogue though, not too serious, not too light, just at the right balance. But that was about the only thing that really got me into finishing the main game.

At this point the games were slowly fading in my eyes, and I noticed something when I was in a Wal-Mart years ago. I glanced at this copy of Sonic Heroes, staring at Sonic's face for what felt like hours, and I felt this.. strange frustration and anger. I didn't know what came over me at all, I never thought I could feel that way to the Blue Blur at all. It sort of scared me, It replayed itself in my head as I walked away from it.

After that I really stopped playing Sonic games for a while. Fast Forward to 2008, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I loved Melee and was sure to get this, as the game neared release and speculation of characters rose further, many people were mentioning Sonic, I forgot mostly about the series, so hearing his name gave me a flash of nostalgia. And soon enough, he was confirmed for Brawl, I couldn't help but smile when he said "Sonic's the name, speeds my game!".

Then jump to 2010, Sonic 4, Colors, and All Stars Racing. I got All stars racing first and liked it a lot, it was a fun racer that didn't get dull too fast for me. Colors I was the most hyped for, it had Unleashed gameplay with better controls and more platforming, with powerups that were optional to completing most of the game, and didn't hinder the main experience.

I didn't get Sonic 4 at that time though, I was looking forward to Sonic Generations after it's announcement, the best part is I got the HD Version of Unleashed after finishing Colors, and then re-buying 06 for God knows what reason to see if my thoughts on it would change, it indeed has, and I see it the game that gave me the most nostalgia, be it bad or good. I loved Unleashed for PS3, and it gave me a positive look on the Werehog, which I see as honestly a step up of the multiple playstyles thing. It gave me a challenge when fighting hordes of enemies, but also a challenge when it came to careful platforming segments of the night stages. After I finished 06 and Unleashed, I finally got Sonic 4. It never was good as the classics, and I loathe the special stages, but as a game in it's own right...it was... average. It wasn't as God-Awful as most people seem to call it, it wasn't that great to me either, it was just point blank average.

Basically, the franchise was slowly dieing in my eyes, I began to hate Sonic, quickly growing out of that after playing all of his recent games from 06-10 again, actually liking all of them to some extent. So now that Generations is looking to be the best game yet, I got pulled back into the franchise.

That was longer then I hoped it'd be!

[Unknown User]

Reading these comments from you guys made me a little bit sad.

Hopefully something will come good of the Sonic franchise sooner or later. If not, then...

Edited July 24, 2011 by Ishtar

[Chaos Fusion]

around early 2008 before we knew of Sonic Unleashed. When I saw the gameplay of Unleashed, I was like: Looks alright...At least the series is starting to get back on track.

I got back into Sonic thanks to 4 and Colours. Not really much to talk about here as it's not a big story to talk about.

Edited July 24, 2011 by bl4ckened-ang3l

[Kiah]

BUMP!

 

I knew there was a topic like this around here somewhere...

 

I did get out of Sonic, and it was for a long while too. I've been putting this off long enough, as I've mentioned time and time again that I would explain what caused me to get out of Sonic for 15 years, as my circumstances that caused me to leave were rather different, as they weren't caused by anything Sega or Sonic Team did or didn't do. Anyway, now that I've found the topic, here's my story:

 

My beginning with Sonic was back in June 1991 when I got a Sega Genesis with Sonic 1 as a reward from my father as I was the only one between me and my sisters that had made the Honor Roll for the whole school year. I remember seeing an ad from Toys R Us advertising Sonic and the Sega Genesis, and I showed it to my dad, telling him that's what I wanted after being undecided for about 2 weeks. I didn't know anything about either Sonic or the Sega Genesis, but I wanted it because Sonic looked so cool.

 

I loved the game and eventually I had Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Spinball in my collection. I really enjoyed the games but it was the cartoons that really got me into Sonic, especially Sonic SatAM. I was so into the cartoon that I would record the episodes and watch them repeatedly every day. I also started drawing, painting, crafting Sonic and the SatAM characters (as well as Knuckles) with whatever materials I could get my hands on. But my main thing that I was doing in regards to Sonic was writing fanfictions. And I wrote a lot of them, be it short or long stories, with or without pictures.

 

I was so into writing my fanfics that I would sneak a pen and paper in my pocket when I had to go outside to the park to play. I would sit behind a huge tree and I would continue my writing instead of playing with my siblings and friends. Then I bought a mini blue flashlight that I used at nighttime to continue writing my stories after my family was asleep, so I could write in peace. Some nights during the weekend I would pull an all-nighter as I would watch Sonic SatAM followed by more writing. I forget how many stories I had written, but I had hundreds of pages of writings and my drawings all based on Sonic. To say I was addicted to Sonic was an understatement.

 

Apparently, my father wasn't too fond of my Sonic addiction, and he took matters into his own hands on how to handle it. I was 11 years old at the time and one day, while I was at school, he went into my room and threw out my Sonic stories, my video cassettes with my Sonic SatAM episodes in them, my Sonic illustrations along with my supplies. I came home and saw everything was gone and knew what happened, as that day was a Monday-trash day. I couldn't believe it, and I was devastated. I cried myself to sleep that night as everything I Ioved and adored about and worked hard for with Sonic was gone.

 

My stories and drawings were in the trash, never to be seen again, along with my video cassettes. Both Sonic cartoons were cancelled at this point so I didn't have those as well. I didn't have my games anymore either because somehow my Sega Genesis picked up a virus from one of the games and it would freeze and got so bad to the point that the game was unplayable. So there I was with absolutely nothing in regards to my Sonic stuff. I had dreams of becoming both an author and an animator, so my dreams were thrown away along with my works. I found my losses to be too much to recover from, as I had nothing left but memories. Not mention I found the whole situation very painful. There was no way I could start all over again considering all that I had written and drawn. Heartbroken, I "walked away" from Sonic, never intending to come back to him ever again.

 

But one night in March of 2010, 15 years later, at 26 years old, I was playing with my new cell phone and somehow ended up on Youtube on its browser. After coming across some Animaniacs clips, my curiosity got the best out of me, as I wondering if Sonic SatAM was on there. I didn't know what it was referred to at the time, so I typed in "Sonic cartoons". The first thing I clicked on was a clip from the first episode of Sonic X and it caught my attention. But I really wanted to find something from Sonic SatAM so I kept searching. I finally found my favorite episodes of "Blast to the Past (parts 1 & 2)".

 

After watching both epsiodes I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and emotion. I realized that after all of this time I still adored Sonic like I had back when I was 11 years old. I was curious about the Sonic X clip and went back and watched the first episode. This was the first time I had seen Amy among others, not to mention the first time I saw Knuckles in a cartoon, so I was very excited and intrigued. I watched more episodes of Sonic X as well as cutscenes from Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic '06 and Sonic Unleashed. I got absolutely no sleep that night as my revitalized interest in Sonic got the best of me.

 

For the nearly 3 years since my return to Sonic, it's been an interesting and fun journey in an effort to make up for lost time. Thankfully there have been many provisions full of information to help make that possible for me, including the Sonic Stadium. I honestly don't know if I will ever catch up with all the Sonic games, cartoons, and media out there that I've missed for the 15 years I was away, but I am sure going to keep trying, and I will continue to enjoy doing so.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Sonikku_Kiah

[Harley Quinn]

I kinda had a falling out with Sonic from '09 to '12. I only just recently started to get back into the franchise. I think it was simply because I had moved onto other things - namely The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. But after watching my brothers play Generations, well...I fell back into the fandom.