10 Reasons Behind Why Your Favourite Video Game Franchises Died

3. Sonic Relied On Gimmicks To Compensate For Terrible 3D

For years it has been common knowledge that 3D was a death sentence for Sonic. The myth goes that the fast-paced platformer just couldn't be translated to a 3D space, where the hedgehog's mechanics came across as awkward and uninspired.

But while this is true in part, what really killed the franchise wasn't the inevitable shift towards 3D, but actively terrible decisions by Sega's creative team. Instead of sticking to the core ethos of Sonic after multiple failed attempts at 3D (the 2006 Xbox 360 title perhaps being the final straw), Sega just threw everything at the wall in an attempt to make its iconic mascot relevant again.

But what that meant was one baffling mistake after another. A game where Sonic becomes a werewolf? That happened. A shooter that drops Sonic entirely in favour of the darker and more teen-oriented Shadow? That must have made perfect sense at the time. A Kinect-only Sonic hoverboard racing game? How could that have failed?

Sonic lost its identity, and the franchise has never been the same since.