10 Garbage Games Everybody Bought Anyway

Envisioned as a one-off character in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog proved hugely popular, inspiring SEGA to launch a spin-off.

Though 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog featured Sonic staples like ring-collecting and high-speed gameplay, it felt disconnected to its predecessors, due to its mature themes and dark tone. Rather than focusing on bashing Badniks and performing loopdeloops, the broody antihero sprays enemies with bullets while riding his motorcycle.

Even if Shadow the Hedgehog was disassociated with Sonic completely, it wasn't good in its own right thanks to its awful camera, laughable performances, and clunky controls. Also, Shadow's homing attack proves so unreliable, there's a solid chance he'll careen to his death when he uses it. Although the guns were a selling point, they're annoying to use, due to the sporadic auto-aim and non-existent target lock.

Thanks to its abundance of flaws, Shadow the Hedgehog was the worst-rated mainstream entry in the series (before Sonic '06 nabbed the crown for good). 

But at the end of the day, the fanbase love the character, which allowed Shadow the Hedgehog to sell over two million copies, making it among the most successful Sonic games. Shadow the Hedgehog might've been dubbed a failure, but the numbers suggest otherwise.