10 Things Sega Wants You To Forget About Sonic The Hedgehog
5. Sonic Lost World's Offensive Language
SegaSonic Lost World for the Wii U is said to be one of the more enjoyable and well polished Sonic titles in recent years, however, Sega encountered a problem of a different kind with the ESRB rating system. Though the game is quite colorful and was attempting to appeal to children, some of the game's language could be considered mature or offensive, which ultimately knocked the ESRB rating up. Considering Sonic's home for now is on Nintendo consoles, this use of language seems like an obvious blunder on behalf of Sega.
The official ESRB synopsis of the game says this ' the characters sometimes use aggressive language (e.g., You're going home in a box, 'I'm going to skin you alive,' and 'I long for death's cold embrace.'). Cutscenes also depict laser fire and explosions, as well as dialogue that references violence (e.g., I'll get fat from eating your black hearts, One second you're contemplating genocide, and As long as I can still strangle a Zeti, my hands are fine.).
References to genocide, strangulation and skinning - strong language, especially for a Sonic game.