10 Ill-Fated Choices That Wrecked Video Games Instantly

Sonic the Hedgehog was already on a losing streak in the early 2000s. After going multi-platform following the departure of the Dreamcast, SEGA and Sonic Team promised that their most popular character would return to greatness. Again and again, this failed to pass, with 3D titles slowly dragging the super-fast hedgehog to oblivion. The killing blow would come in 2006, Sonic's 15th anniversary.

Sonic 06 is notorious for being one of the most universally despised games ever made. Broken gameplay, a pathetic story, heaps of technical issues and intrusive loading screens are just some of the problems that made their way into its November 2006 release. SEGA required the game to be released in time for Sonic's special occasion, while splitting the team to work on the Wii title "Sonic and the Secret Rings". Instead of giving the team another year or so to polish the game, 06 was forced out the door and was subsequently ravaged by critics and gamers alike, a trend that would continue in the years ahead.

What SEGA didn't realise in 2006 was just how catastrophically damaging the game would be. The character has been trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of failed ideas and fan frustrations. While Sonic Generations and Sonic Mania were quality titles, they can't quite make up for the franchise's fall from grace. As the character struggles to overcome mediocrity, Sonic 06 was more than a failure; it was a crushing blow that still afflicts the character to this day.